Jack Digital HDTV Antenna Replacement Head?

[Fliposo]

Do they work as advertised? Easy to install? CW has on sale same price as E-bay

[SCVJeff]

Interesting.. This looks like a rotating version of the stick-on bow tie antenna I've seen around. We used to pass these out by the thousands for free during the digital cutover and they work really well in metro and semi-burbs, but I suspect of the 3: Batman (Batwing and Wingman), Jack, and Razair, the performance will also rank in that order, but this will sure make pointing less of a pain to those who just don't want to do it.

My only concern with the Razair would be reflections coming off the rear of the antenna canceling out the main beam. Rare but when it happens you don't know that it did. I've got no way to test for that short of trying to find a place that screwed up.. The ones we gave away had suction cups for exterior window mount, one side was pointed outside while the other had the isolation of the house.

[Bill_Satellite]

SCVJeff,
Winegard has a new antenna coming out shortly called the RazarAir. It's not expected to have the range of the Batwing but it will be much less directional and will work well with the VHF high and UHF frequencies. I would be great if you could give us a report on this unit. It will fit the existing crank-up hardware, uses the same power supply but uses a shorter single pole. I found this video on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYYJiIK8gt8

[OldF__t]

aruba5er wrote:
Down in Fl last year and no tv reception. Went to a local rv place and bought the wingman. Installed it and got nothing. Took it back and tried the Jack. great reception. The only thing i am sorry about is I bought the replacement head. When I got back home I showed my neighbor and he was impressed and bought the Jack complete and his has the idiot lights that tell you good signal. He can aim the antenna with great accuracty and then do the scan. Works every time. Mine I may have to scan 3/4 times before getting pic. Wish I had spent more money and get the complete system.

You can purchase a Surelock Add On Signal Finder that works with the Jack antenna. It is also made by King Controls.

[SCVJeff]

New or not, the Batwing was broken, not powered, or not pointed tight wnough. And i would say the same for the Jack if someone said the Jack didnt work at all and the Batwing pulled in a zillion channels. As TXiceman says, where the Batwing really shines is in the fringe areas. Anything else, at least on UHF you could call a draw.

[aruba5er]

Down in Fl last year and no tv reception. Went to a local rv place and bought the wingman. Installed it and got nothing. Took it back and tried the Jack. great reception. The only thing i am sorry about is I bought the replacement head. When I got back home I showed my neighbor and he was impressed and bought the Jack complete and his has the idiot lights that tell you good signal. He can aim the antenna with great accuracty and then do the scan. Works every time. Mine I may have to scan 3/4 times before getting pic. Wish I had spent more money and get the complete system.

[TXiceman]

Without all of the test equipment, I consistently get more channels with my Sensar IV (batwing with wingman) than neighbors with the Jack.

The Wingman makes the antenna a bit more directional and as a result a bit harder to aim. The Jack is not as directional and pick up some stations easier, but the Wingman will win in the end especially with fringe area stations.

Ken

[JaxDad]

My C came with a Winegard, going down the road at 70 mph it made a terrible noise in the wind.

I swapped it out with a Jack, it's silent at any speed.

I am pleased with it all-round and would never choose a Winegard over a Jack if i ever have to do it again.

[phranc]

When the plastic base on the Batwing (with wing man) broke the easy and cheap
Jack head fit the bill . It works OK but not impressively so . As we are not much on watching broadcast TV , the jack will stay for another year . To summarize , if I were to do this replacement again , I would bite the cost bullit and get the newer style of Wingman with the sensar

[NHIrish]

I have been happy with mine...but replaced a non Wineguard batwing...if I had a wineguard, I would add the wingman...if a mongrel brand like me...the jack is the best replacement cost wise.

[We_Cant_Wait]

We had the Batwing with the wingman addition on it. At one campground I could not pull in a usable signal on any local stations. I had the Jack antenna head with me and just hadn't time to install it before leaving. Climbed up and changed to the Jack antenna (Bear in mind I hadn't moved my camper 1 inch) and had 5-6 local channels with a strong enough signal that there was no picture break up.

[Campfire_Time]

Given that you haven't bought anything yet give the Wingman serious thought. It's less than $29 on Amazon right now. Far less than a Jack.

The Jack isn't bad, I have one and am very pleased. Then again we don't go camping to watch TV, we just wanted more than 2 stations at some of the places we camp at. And I didn't know about the Wingman until 6 months after I bought the Jack. It's like Jeff said, "it depends on what you want and what you expect from it". Unless you're really serious about getting every little bit of that signal, you'd probably be happy with either. But at less than $30, the Wingman is a no-brainer even if you don't think its better.

[fla-gypsy]

Nice research Jeff. I was pleased with my batwing after adding the wingman. May be aggravating to get it aimed just like I want but signal is good once set up.

[westend]

Before the Jackovites weigh in, I'd just like to suggest--believe Jeff, he has done us all a favor with his testing.

[SCVJeff]

Depending on what model you get they are extremely easy to install. There is one thats a direct masthead replacement for the Batwing, and there are others that are permanently mounted around 10-12" off the roof. Do they work?: Yes. Are they the best out there?: No. So it depends on what you want and what you expect from it.

There will be a few trolls weighing in as they always do disputing that with nothing to back it up, so believe who you want. My research is posted HERE. Looking at a few of the places you camp on your sig, you might find this helpful.