KING OA8201 Jack HDTV Over-the-Air Antenna

[aintnothin]

I'm thinking about buying one of these because I don't watch tv a lot while away from home. Has anyone else installed or have one? Are they worth it?

[dodge_guy]

SCVJeff wrote:
Does it work? Debatable. Is it the best? Absolutely not.
Dodge Guy and I (along with most others on this forum) will never agree on this. The truth is that the Winegard Batwing is by far a better antenna than the Jack. It is significantly better on UHF and head and shoulders better than the Jack on VHF that it's not even designed for, and that's going to be an important issue in the next few years as TV stations start moving back onto the VHF band. Like I told him more than once: if a Jack out performs a Batwing, then the Batwing is broken, and unfortunately that's a true statement more than it should be.

If you are interested in the testing I did on this, that even Winegard has used on their website, let me know and I'll find it when not on an iPhone.

No problem with me! but then there are far too many broken Batwings out there. many, many of us have replaced the Batwing and are very happy with how the Jack performs! there are way too many positive before and after`s with the Batwing to Jack to say that all of them must be broken! my tests are real world! 1 or 2 weak stations before and 10-12 strong after! and I`m not the only one. Sorry!

[Dutch_12078]

SCVJeff wrote:

If you are interested in the testing I did on this, that even Winegard has used on their website, let me know and I'll find it when not on an iPhone.

I'll save you the trouble, Jeff. 😉

Batwing vs.BatMan vs. Jack: The Results..

[SCVJeff]

Does it work? Debatable. Is it the best? Absolutely not.
Dodge Guy and I (along with most others on this forum) will never agree on this. The truth is that the Winegard Batwing is by far a better antenna than the Jack. It is significantly better on UHF and head and shoulders better than the Jack on VHF that it's not even designed for, and that's going to be an important issue in the next few years as TV stations start moving back onto the VHF band. Like I told him more than once: if a Jack out performs a Batwing, then the Batwing is broken, and unfortunately that's a true statement more than it should be.

If you are interested in the testing I did on this, that even Winegard has used on their website, let me know and I'll find it when not on an iPhone.

[seaeagle2]

My trailer came with the Jensen omnidirectional which was a joke. I replaced it with a King Jack rather than the crank up wingard for a couple reasons. The King Jack mounted in the same location so I didn't have to drill a new hole. The wingard wouldn't have laid flat on the roof in that location, also we driveway camp a lot, and the King Jack fits under my carport. I get the impression that the wingard gets better reception because it is taller, but in my case it wouldn't work, so the King Jack is much better than the omni directional...

[dodge_guy]

In reference to the above post, my Jack was a replacement for the Batwing. So it attached to the existing crank up antenna mast.

[Rolin]

We upgraded to the King Jack antenna a year ago. It does ok as far as pulling stations. However, there are situations where the original antenna did better because it was elevated about 2ft above the roof when cranked up.

That said, I am very glad we changed to the Jack antenna. Don't have to worry about forgetting to drop the antenna...been there done that. I occasionally see trailers or motorhome cruising down the freeway with that antenna flapping in the breeze.

They do sell a jack antenna that can attach to the original antenna arms. I tried that and it did better than the mount on the roof one. However, in my case, it would hit the air conditioner when lowered so could not use it.

[dodge_guy]

I replaced my old Batwing that barely got 10 stations with the Jack. Now I get 72 in my driveway. At a campground I went from 1-2 blacks stations to approx 10! My buddy ended up switching the next year and he had the wingman and it never helped!