antenna broke, recommend replacement?
My tv antenna broke and it's time to replace it. It was the old-style rotating kind with a crank to raise and lower i, with the long horizontal bar elements (Winegard?) Looked like this (before it bro...
Forum Discussion
I have played with some different type of HDTV antennas on my two RV trailers.
My fifth wheel is fixed at home and has the BATWING with UHF add-on and does a great job on picking the new digital HDTV signals.
My OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer did not have any antenna on it so I added a easy-up antenna pole on the sided of the roof which is supported by the roof edge and the trailer frame. This two section pole is easily put in just a couple of minutes after we park the trailer. It extends some three feet above the trailer roof.
My first antenna on my POPUP was one of those dual DIPOLEs type called a disguise antenna which did work to some degree but lacked in having any gain to speak of after going to digital TV signals... I still keep it around for a back up...
Then I went with a LOWES $80 full blown house type VHF/UHF YAGI antenna that worked very good. Probably the best of all worlds picking up the HDTV signals you could have. It lasted about one year as I finally destroyed it beyond repair by folding it up for travel for the camping trips. This yagi antenna extended out beyond the roof and sometimes tree would be in the way to rotate it around haha...
Then I went with the BATWING antenna with the UHF add-on for the POPUP and it is working out great. The BATWINg has the built-in preamp. Easy to transport and works great giving us 6-36 local digital stations just about anywhere we go to here on the East side of the US. We still pick up some high channels VHF digital stations that are still out there but the majority are in the UHF bands.
I have tried the JACK antenna with built-in preamplifier on my POPUP setup and it seems to have more gain picking up the digital local channels but being small footprint it is very directional to use. I found you really have to be right on the digital signal to pick it up. I also had to keep moving the antenna to pick up different digital stations coming from the same local town but from different towers etc. The BATWING is somewhat broader in beam width and doesn't seem to be bothered as much with this as compared to the JACK antenna.
You mentioned the JACK antenna that doesnt not lower. They make two versions one being just the rotated type or one that will fit your present raise/lower crank-up assy. The JACk antenna that is rotated only usually sits in the near vicinity of the air conditioner which probably helps it alot from low hanging trees when in travel mode.
The best antenna to use for the digital HDTV signals IMO would be the eight dipole bow-tie type DB-8 model with preamplifier module. These are just not practical to use on the RV. It would work like gang busters however on my OFF-ROAD POPUP antenna pole setup.
Just some of my thoughts....
Roy Ken
My fifth wheel is fixed at home and has the BATWING with UHF add-on and does a great job on picking the new digital HDTV signals.
My OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer did not have any antenna on it so I added a easy-up antenna pole on the sided of the roof which is supported by the roof edge and the trailer frame. This two section pole is easily put in just a couple of minutes after we park the trailer. It extends some three feet above the trailer roof.
My first antenna on my POPUP was one of those dual DIPOLEs type called a disguise antenna which did work to some degree but lacked in having any gain to speak of after going to digital TV signals... I still keep it around for a back up...
Then I went with a LOWES $80 full blown house type VHF/UHF YAGI antenna that worked very good. Probably the best of all worlds picking up the HDTV signals you could have. It lasted about one year as I finally destroyed it beyond repair by folding it up for travel for the camping trips. This yagi antenna extended out beyond the roof and sometimes tree would be in the way to rotate it around haha...
Then I went with the BATWING antenna with the UHF add-on for the POPUP and it is working out great. The BATWINg has the built-in preamp. Easy to transport and works great giving us 6-36 local digital stations just about anywhere we go to here on the East side of the US. We still pick up some high channels VHF digital stations that are still out there but the majority are in the UHF bands.
I have tried the JACK antenna with built-in preamplifier on my POPUP setup and it seems to have more gain picking up the digital local channels but being small footprint it is very directional to use. I found you really have to be right on the digital signal to pick it up. I also had to keep moving the antenna to pick up different digital stations coming from the same local town but from different towers etc. The BATWING is somewhat broader in beam width and doesn't seem to be bothered as much with this as compared to the JACK antenna.
You mentioned the JACK antenna that doesnt not lower. They make two versions one being just the rotated type or one that will fit your present raise/lower crank-up assy. The JACk antenna that is rotated only usually sits in the near vicinity of the air conditioner which probably helps it alot from low hanging trees when in travel mode.
The best antenna to use for the digital HDTV signals IMO would be the eight dipole bow-tie type DB-8 model with preamplifier module. These are just not practical to use on the RV. It would work like gang busters however on my OFF-ROAD POPUP antenna pole setup.
Just some of my thoughts....
Roy Ken
