Over the air antenna

I replaced a broken batwing with a Jack on my C about 10 years ago. I’m rarely in an area so remote that it doesn’t perform more than adequately.

Beyond never having to raise / lower / remember which position it’s in, I love the fact that it works as well at 65 mph as it does standing still. Getting news, traffic & weather reports or just giving the PAX something to do is great.

I don’t watch much TV, that’s not why I’m away from home, and for what I do watch picking up a station 150 miles is of little interest.

Tom_M wrote:

IAMICHABOD wrote:
Cheaper too than the Winegard

I always get beat up by the techies, The debate will go on and on, but I know what works best for me,in the real world.

You are comparing the Jack replacement head to a complete Winegard antenna assembly. Here's the complete Jack assembly:
Jack complete antenna assembly

This is true,I referenced the wrong one for the head only. The Sensor replacement head head is still more expensive than the Jack Replacement head by about $20

Same with the whole unit with the Winegard total assembly

Compared to the Jack complete unit at about $17.50 cheaper than the Weingard

IAMICHABOD wrote:
Cheaper too than the Winegard

I always get beat up by the techies, The debate will go on and on, but I know what works best for me,in the real world.

You are comparing the Jack replacement head to a complete Winegard antenna assembly. Here's the complete Jack assembly:
Jack complete antenna assembly

wa8yxm wrote:

snowpeke wrote:
Not the bat wing. All it does is get rattled in the wind. The new TV channels just need a small antenna. The wing does no good but that the little part on it does. I use the Jack antenna. Get many stations!

Not 100% true.. Not far from me is WJBK TV-2 Detroit. they broadcast on carrier channel 7 VHF high band.. Dang near the exact length of the Batwings.
Now Channel 7.. They moved up to a UHF carrier (The shorter antennas work best on UHF)

In independent lab tests done by a fellow forum member a few years back the Winegard Sensar III outperformed the JACK on all frequencies and he did not. as I recall have the wingman installed.

Here's a link to SCVJeff's test: Batwing vs. Jack shoot-out

It's not a lab test but he did use a lab grade spectrum analyzer.

About 25% of the TV stations in the US are now broadcasting on the VHF band. The newest Sensar IV (aka Batwing) includes the added UHF elements. The Batwing excels for the VHF channels because of the wide wings. The Jack does poorly for the VHF channels because it lacks the wide elements needed for good VHF reception. If you hang out where all the channels are UHF the Jack will work well.

wa8yxm, I sometimes use just rabbit ears in Grosse Pointe Woods and get quite a few channels including 2 and 7.

I do not want to put anything on the roof of my Class B. It has the old hide-a-tenna I think it's called, imbedded in the fiberglass roof. It gets channels, but I've been thinking of trying a portable antenna, just not sure which.

snowpeke wrote:
Not the bat wing. All it does is get rattled in the wind. The new TV channels just need a small antenna. The wing does no good but that the little part on it does. I use the Jack antenna. Get many stations!

Not 100% true.. Not far from me is WJBK TV-2 Detroit. they broadcast on carrier channel 7 VHF high band.. Dang near the exact length of the Batwings.
Now Channel 7.. They moved up to a UHF carrier (The shorter antennas work best on UHF)

In independent lab tests done by a fellow forum member a few years back the Winegard Sensar III outperformed the JACK on all frequencies and he did not. as I recall have the wingman installed.

When I bought my RV it had a Winegard Batwing that was not working, I cleaned up all connections and tested to see if it was broken, it was,so I replaced it with a new bat wing then ran a Channel Scan I was not impressed with the amount of channels that I got. This was done in my driveway here in the south bay of So Calif about 30 miles from the transmitters, using my SensarPro.

I then went out and got a Wingman add on, that put my channel scan up to 85,but I had a clearance problem with the Wingman,it would hit my A/C unit when lowered.

So I opted to put a Jack Antenna Head on and my channel scan went up to 174





TheJack replacement head Is Cheaper than the Winegard replacement head

I always get beat up by the techies, The debate will go on and on, but I know what works best for me,in the real world.

wildtoad wrote:
Hands down, the Winegard “Batwing” Sensar IV. Just keep in mind that regardless of which you choose OTA TV is a **** shoot depending on distance from towers, trees, weather, buildings in the way.

X3

Not the bat wing. All it does is get rattled in the wind. The new TV channels just need a small antenna. The wing does no good but that the little part on it does. I use the Jack antenna. Get many stations!

craig7h wrote:
Just remember no matter where you are or how far from a tower you will always get a PBS station.

Haha , ya, you will ! At least around my area.

That's OK though. I enjoy the PBS Create channel with shows like This Old House and the PBS kids channel usually has some cartoon on it in the morning to keep little kids entertained. Heck, they might even learn something.