Tv antennas

[brog741]

Hi, what is a good tv antenna for the rv. One to mount on the roof with a good range.

[dodge_guy]

I love my Jack. So do many others. Mine pulls in 72 stations in my driveway. My old Batwing I was lucky to get 10? Yes it needs to be positioned properly, but with a compass and knowing where cities are it works great. I know of a few people personally that complained of bad reception with a Batwing. I told them about the jack and after they switched they were amazed at how well it pulled in stations. Well worth the money.

[Lynnmor]

marcsbigfoot20b27 wrote:


Sensar totally sucked getting only 48 channels, the directional Vilso scored 84 channels......and more if I use the remote and rotate to a channel from a different tower. No interference from LEDs with this one since Im not using the TT booster.
Sensar $48
Vilso $34

How does the Vilso mount so that one can travel?

[marcsbigfoot20b]

A few years ago I added a cheap $15 RCA flat plastic square passive antenna on top of my TT, booster is in the TT.

In North Phoenix at my house I get around 44 channels. LEDs also affected performance, probably from the wired in booster.

The other day I decided to upgrade. Ordered the Vilso 360 Deg motorized and by accident also the Sensar IV batwing (cocktails and Amazon dont mix)

Sensar totally sucked getting only 48 channels, the directional Vilso scored 84 channels......and more if I use the remote and rotate to a channel from a different tower. No interference from LEDs with this one since Im not using the TT booster.
Sensar $48
Vilso $34

[Dutch_12078]

ng2951 wrote:
I know that Grand Design switch from the Winegard clone (wasn't a Winegard but looks like one) to a King. I had a King on the old Puma and was not impressed with its performance over the Winegard. They were roughly the same.

When I switched out the Winegard clone on my Grand Design and put in a Winegard Sensar Pro. I am in a fringe area and notice little if any performance inprovement. I did not switch out the power converter as I could never get an answer if I needed to do that.

One thing I did find out is that the manufacturers are not cautious about tightening the antenna connections. The antenna connection on the old antenna was quite loose. It would be a good idea to check them all to make sure they are tight as well.

The Winegard SensarPro replaces the standard power injector and adds an additional adjustable signal amplifier in addition to its signal strength meter.

Winegard SensarPro

[ng2951]

I know that Grand Design switch from the Winegard clone (wasn't a Winegard but looks like one) to a King. I had a King on the old Puma and was not impressed with its performance over the Winegard. They were roughly the same.

When I switched out the Winegard clone on my Grand Design and put in a Winegard Sensar Pro. I am in a fringe area and notice little if any performance inprovement. I did not switch out the power converter as I could never get an answer if I needed to do that.

One thing I did find out is that the manufacturers are not cautious about tightening the antenna connections. The antenna connection on the old antenna was quite loose. It would be a good idea to check them all to make sure they are tight as well.

[RoyB]

Even my OFF-ROAD POPUP camper has the BATWING install... I can rotate it from the inside by reaching though the window flap... Gets great HIGH DEf TV reception from the local towns and it is all free to the public...


Roy's image


Roy's image

I have played with them all for camping off-road including the long $90 LOWES yagi... The long YAGI and the BOW TIE 8-Element antennas were the best but not practical for using with my POPUP trailer..


Roy's image


Google Image

It was a toss up between the JACK antenna and the Batwing Antenna and my selling point went to the BATWING as I could could get the same results without moving the BATWING to tune in some stations that were at the same location but on different sides of the city like at Washington DC. I had to rotate the Jack antenna to get them...


Google image

It is my opinion your best results will be getting a setup like this Crank-up BATWING with the added dipoles...

This BATWING is pointing to digital HDTV stations to the right of the photo...

google image

Roy Ken

[prichardson]

ditto on Mr. Wizard

[ncrowley]

I have the fully enclosed automatic Wingard and we really like it because we do not have to worry about putting it up and down. We have not compared the ability to pick up signals with batwing types, so we cannot comment on it. It has worked well in the places we have gone.

[wildtoad]

As a kid watching Mr. Wizard on TV he was always right. So is the above post. 😉

[SCVJeff]

AND.... Mic Drop...

[MrWizard]

when it comes to signal reception, two things are king
direction and height
a directional antenna either manual or automatic is better than a Omnni directional antenna

the higher you get the antenna above the roof the better

the one with the best reputation and the most liked is probably the winegard batwing style , I think current version is called the Sensar IV
the PRO version comes with a signal strength meter/amplifier that helps you find the best direction to point it

it cranks up and down from the handle inside the rv
crank it up turn on the tv and the amplifier, and rotate for the best signal

winegard also has a fully automatic enclosed dome style antenna, that mounts on the roof and costs more money, but in really weak fringe areas where the extra crank up height helps, the bat wing gives the best performance