jensen air antenna quality

[derh20]

I am getting poor reception from my Jensen air antenna in my 2011 B+. A neighbor in my campsite, about 300 feet away with the same antenna, is also hot happy with the Jensen, but they do get about 5 channels more than we are. Any thoughts about the Jensen? Is there a way to increase reception? Is the bat wing better?

[rockhillmanor]

Bob Vaughn wrote:

LarryJM wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:

derh20 wrote:
I am getting poor reception from my Jensen air antenna in my 2011 B+. A neighbor in my campsite, about 300 feet away with the same antenna, is also hot happy with the Jensen, but

they do get about 5 channels more than we are

. Any thoughts about the Jensen? Is there a way to increase reception? Is the bat wing better?

I found the 'TV' itself makes a big difference on how many channels received.

I have one TV that gets about 20 channels. When I put the other TV in the same spot, parked in the same spot, hooked up to the same antenna.....I get maybe 8 channels.

Each brand TV has different quality antenna receivers. So you can't compare to your neighbors. Actually if you want to prove that your TV doesn't have as good antenna reception ask your neighbor to switch TV's with you.

Also as mention above digital TV needs real tight connections and good coax. I finally broke down and bought a new coax for the new TV and got several more channels.

And lastly check where the antenna connects to the back of the TV. I found the whole circuit board for the antenna connection was loose. I took it into a RV repair and they replaced the coax unit for 65 bucks and voila I got 10 more channels!

TV repair says he sees a lot of this especially in RV's where many of us take our TV's down a lot of times each time we hit the road and taking the coax in and out so many times it loosens the wires inside the antenna board.

You bring up IMO an extremely and not well understood consideration especially with digital signals. The sensitivity, quality and specific design of the TV receiver can have a HUGE effect on the number of channels you get.

Larry

We have 2 different brands of tv's in our rv and they do not receive the same stations...

Gotta tell you I was very happy to find this out purely by accident because there were a couple of times I went postal in the RV trying to get a channel in. t least now I know it was the TV not my lack of expertise in spinning the batwing around.

And size does NOT matter! :B

I bought a real real small Vizio and that is the TV that gets 10 times more channels than the big screen TV it replaced.

[Bob_Vaughn]

LarryJM wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:

derh20 wrote:
I am getting poor reception from my Jensen air antenna in my 2011 B+. A neighbor in my campsite, about 300 feet away with the same antenna, is also hot happy with the Jensen, but

they do get about 5 channels more than we are

. Any thoughts about the Jensen? Is there a way to increase reception? Is the bat wing better?

I found the 'TV' itself makes a big difference on how many channels received.

I have one TV that gets about 20 channels. When I put the other TV in the same spot, parked in the same spot, hooked up to the same antenna.....I get maybe 8 channels.

Each brand TV has different quality antenna receivers. So you can't compare to your neighbors. Actually if you want to prove that your TV doesn't have as good antenna reception ask your neighbor to switch TV's with you.

Also as mention above digital TV needs real tight connections and good coax. I finally broke down and bought a new coax for the new TV and got several more channels.

And lastly check where the antenna connects to the back of the TV. I found the whole circuit board for the antenna connection was loose. I took it into a RV repair and they replaced the coax unit for 65 bucks and voila I got 10 more channels!

TV repair says he sees a lot of this especially in RV's where many of us take our TV's down a lot of times each time we hit the road and taking the coax in and out so many times it loosens the wires inside the antenna board.

You bring up IMO an extremely and not well understood consideration especially with digital signals. The sensitivity, quality and specific design of the TV receiver can have a HUGE effect on the number of channels you get.

Larry

We have 2 different brands of tv's in our rv and they do not receive the same stations...

[LarryJM]

rockhillmanor wrote:

derh20 wrote:
I am getting poor reception from my Jensen air antenna in my 2011 B+. A neighbor in my campsite, about 300 feet away with the same antenna, is also hot happy with the Jensen, but

they do get about 5 channels more than we are

. Any thoughts about the Jensen? Is there a way to increase reception? Is the bat wing better?

I found the 'TV' itself makes a big difference on how many channels received.

I have one TV that gets about 20 channels. When I put the other TV in the same spot, parked in the same spot, hooked up to the same antenna.....I get maybe 8 channels.

Each brand TV has different quality antenna receivers. So you can't compare to your neighbors. Actually if you want to prove that your TV doesn't have as good antenna reception ask your neighbor to switch TV's with you.

Also as mention above digital TV needs real tight connections and good coax. I finally broke down and bought a new coax for the new TV and got several more channels.

And lastly check where the antenna connects to the back of the TV. I found the whole circuit board for the antenna connection was loose. I took it into a RV repair and they replaced the coax unit for 65 bucks and voila I got 10 more channels!

TV repair says he sees a lot of this especially in RV's where many of us take our TV's down a lot of times each time we hit the road and taking the coax in and out so many times it loosens the wires inside the antenna board.

You bring up IMO an extremely and not well understood consideration especially with digital signals. The sensitivity, quality and specific design of the TV receiver can have a HUGE effect on the number of channels you get.

Larry

[Carb_Cleaner]

I think bubble-gum would be a better antennae than the round piece of Jensen poo attached to our truck camper's roof. Finding the roof real-estate for a crank-up antennae is on my short list. Barring that, maybe a rear ladder mount/removable pole.

[Gonzo42]

Have you made sure there is no obstruction such as trees in the way?

Are you sure you are pointing accurately toward the transmitter? You can use one of several websites such as https://www.antennasdirect.com/transmitter-locator.html to get the azimuth. There are several others like this, too. Make sure you know both true and magnetic bearings.

[wa8yxm]

All Television antennas are a compromise.. You decide what you want and someone makes one that delivers.

There are a couple of Flying Saucer designs these are usually (There is an exception) Omni directional antennas,

Advantage: No need to aim,, Disadvantage, Short range and subject to multi-path intererence causing them to not be very effective.

Wide beam antennas like the JACK. (They also make an Omni) rotatable.

Slightly longer range on axis (in the direction they are pointing, or in the case of the jack, opposite the direction the antenna appears to point)

Some multi-path rejection,, Better performance

Disadvantage: need to aim

Tight beam (Winegard Sensar IV)

Advantages: Better range still, better long range performance, Narrower beam width means you are more likely to need to re-aim for different stations.

VERY HIGH GAIN ANTENNAS.. Like Channel master's biggest offering.

Advantage: Much longer range, much better performance

Disadvantage: Not compatible with RV life style as folding these up for transport (And setting them up again on site) is like a 30 minute to an hours' work and you need a mast and rotor to handle them. Recommended for folks who park it for long periods where the Winegard don't cut it. I have seen VHF LOW stations over 100 miles away with one of these (on top of a 100 foot tower).

Improement: Antennas that use 12 volt to the head can benefit by replacing the indoor module (power supply/switch) with a Winegard Sensar Pro multi-function device. If you have a matrix switch (Box of many buttons) as I do put the Sensar Pro between it and the antenna.

Normally I do not recommend ANYTHING in that position, but the Sensar Pro is the exception.

[tegu69]

If its that Omni directional one, it makes a good frisbie. I think there is a lot of discussion on this site about antennas.

[rockhillmanor]

derh20 wrote:
I am getting poor reception from my Jensen air antenna in my 2011 B+. A neighbor in my campsite, about 300 feet away with the same antenna, is also hot happy with the Jensen, but

they do get about 5 channels more than we are

. Any thoughts about the Jensen? Is there a way to increase reception? Is the bat wing better?

I found the 'TV' itself makes a big difference on how many channels received.

I have one TV that gets about 20 channels. When I put the other TV in the same spot, parked in the same spot, hooked up to the same antenna.....I get maybe 8 channels.

Each brand TV has different quality antenna receivers. So you can't compare to your neighbors. Actually if you want to prove that your TV doesn't have as good antenna reception ask your neighbor to switch TV's with you.

Also as mention above digital TV needs real tight connections and good coax. I finally broke down and bought a new coax for the new TV and got several more channels.

And lastly check where the antenna connects to the back of the TV. I found the whole circuit board for the antenna connection was loose. I took it into a RV repair and they replaced the coax unit for 65 bucks and voila I got 10 more channels!

TV repair says he sees a lot of this especially in RV's where many of us take our TV's down a lot of times each time we hit the road and taking the coax in and out so many times it loosens the wires inside the antenna board.

[Dick_A]

Fifty years ago the Jenson name meant quality but just as almost every American audio company they could not compete with the imports. Many of these company's name and trademarks were purchased by importers or foreign manufactures.

As mentioned above the "Jenson" now has a reputation of less than quality product but very inexpensive for RV builders.

[Ron3rd]

Jensen has a reputation for being low end junk for a reason. Get a real antenna like a Winegard batwing, and some say the Jack is decent too. Batwing owner here.

[n7bsn]

We have the Jensen "saucer" antenna and it suxs.
I am an antenna "nut", I have studied antennas, designed antenna, taken advanced classes in antenna design (College 400 and 500 series) and published on antennas.

When we got the rig and I started testing I was appalled. At home, with the new RV in the same location as the old RV (which has a Winngard Batwing) I got roughly 1/4 of the number of "stations".
So I disconnected the antenna and connected random chunk of wire to the coax on the roof and got more stations.

I then bought a "disc" antenna from Radio Shack and connected that. The new antenna was at roughly 6 ft high (vrs 13 ft for the one on the RV). I got the same number of "stations" as with the old RV.

I couldn't install the regular batwing as the crank would be higher then I could reach.
But yes, IMO almost any antenna will would better.

[Gonzo42]

Before you go out and spend some $$$ you might spend a little time doing a thorough cleaning of all coax connections. They tend to get a little dirty, corroded, and loose fitting over time. Use some Q-tips and alcohol. You might want to tighten them just finger tight then use a 7/16 open end wrench just a TINY bit to make them tight.