winegard

[boingram]

Hi all....anyone had experience with the winegard wingman and winegard sensar pro booster scanner....thx...bo

[camperpaul]

MrWizard wrote:
The previous tv we had Olevia had an add stations menu option, that did not loose stations already found

Our cUrrent TV, a vizio does not have this menu option
I wish it did

My Vizio set has that function.
It's in the menus:

"TV Settings"

"Tuner Settings"

"Additional Scan" (On/0ff)

Make sure "Additional Scan" is on, then select "Auto Channel Scan".

[Bill_Satellite]

BFL13 wrote:
Even if you have the perfect aiming antenna, you still have to pass the IQ test on adding new stations that your TV set didn't find the first time you aimed the antenna.

I have the "find some stations" thing down once the antenna is pointed somewhere. But then if you rotate the antenna to find some more stations, you gain some and lose some if you run the "find stations " again. I know there is some clever way to just add the newly found stations to the old bunch so you can just then rotate and get tuned in without losing the first set, but it is way beyond my skill set.

So it doesn't matter what high gain super-dooper antenna set you have unless you have enough IQs to get the TV set working right 😞

Have you tried using the Sensar Pro to point your antenna? My best guess would be that you have not. An IQ test really should not be necessary if you had.

[MrWizard]

The previous tv we had Olevia had an add stations menu option, that did not loose stations already found

Our cUrrent TV, a vizio does not have this menu option
I wish it did

[BFL13]

Even if you have the perfect aiming antenna, you still have to pass the IQ test on adding new stations that your TV set didn't find the first time you aimed the antenna.

I have the "find some stations" thing down once the antenna is pointed somewhere. But then if you rotate the antenna to find some more stations, you gain some and lose some if you run the "find stations " again. I know there is some clever way to just add the newly found stations to the old bunch so you can just then rotate and get tuned in without losing the first set, but it is way beyond my skill set.

So it doesn't matter what high gain super-dooper antenna set you have unless you have enough IQs to get the TV set working right 😞

[Bill_Satellite]

Yes, that generally means there is a short. You want to disconnect the cable at the head on the roof and measure the voltage there. It must be a solid 12+VDC. If the lamp goes out when the cable is disconnected from the head, the cable or the power supply has a short. If the power stays on and reads good voltage while disconnected but the light goes out when you plug it into the head, the head has a short and that needs to be replaced.

[FrankK]

I have the Winegard Sensar (replaced the head about a year ago). It worked OK for a while. Now I seem to have problems finding channels again. I checked the coax connector at the head and on the back of my video control selector. One thing that I noticed is that the power indicator lamp on the video selector goes out when the cable from the antenna is connected to the video selector. Does this imply a short in either the head or the cable? I am going to try a different piece of cable this weekend and see if the results are the same.

[MNtundraRet]

Ron3rd wrote:

boingram wrote:
Hi all....anyone had experience with the winegard wingman and winegard sensar pro booster scanner....thx...bo

That setup is the gold standard IMO. Gonna do the same someday.

Not quite the "gold standard".

Just adding a second inline adjustable amplifier works better. Having the ability to get up to 20 dBs in attenuation gets me up to 185 mile range (cloudy day or nighttime for digital channels). Also more channels are located off the side of the antenna and better range off the side.

Using the Sensor Pro signal finder will interfere with the additional amplifier. Either antenna height or additional amplification is needed for extreme range.

[wa8yxm]

Your results will vary depending on your location but here is my expierence.

I spend (usually) half my summer in a campground that is in a dead zone.. NO tv reception with the winegard batwing save a couple of stations from across the River (Canada).

Added Batwing: Picked up a couple of Detroit stations about an hour's drive away

Added Sensar Pro: Picked up the rest of them. (Well all but one).

NOW... Some facts:
The wingman is a UHF director array, the basic batwing is bi-direcitonal, If the wings point east and west, then stations to the north and south are "Peaked" .. The wingman makes it so only one direction is peaked, and it is way more peaked. Gives the antenna a range of about sixty miles on UHF.. (VHF range is already about 60 miles) (NOTE Range depends on many things, the 60 miles is over a test range, odds are you won't do that well)

IT sharpens the antenna's vision, like a set of field glasses (Binoculars) or a telescope.

The antenna has a small pre-amp in it.. Non adjustable.

The sensar pro has a second ADJUSTABLE pre amp in it, along with some aids for pointing.


Page 2.

IF you are in the middle of a bunch of statiosn so they are all about you not all in one basic direction... This won't work as well as say a Jack.. but if you are "A long way from happiness" (The tv tower) it's the best there is.

[myredracer]

The wingman got us about twice as many stations. Well worth it,especially for the $30 or so it costs. The only thing that bugs me is that with all the extra stations, a third or so of them are shopping channels or in a foreign language.

The Sensarpro is nice too. I installed one on the wall below our TV. They are made to replace the basic amplifier/CATV jack/12 volt outlet. With the LED display and buttons, it's not great to have it on the ceiling where they typically put the basic amp. I ran 4 co-ax cables and 12 volt wiring from the original ceiling location inside the upper cabinet with radio/DVD player, into the wall, down to and across the dinette seat, and back up the wall. The ceiling cavity was extremely cramped due to the arched ceiling near the outer walls. I wanted to put it in sight of the antenna crank handle but couldn't get wiring anywhere close to the antenna. The beeping sound for aiming the antenna works very well. I keep the amp turned up to max. gain.

I really like the all high def OTA digital stations but there is no programming schedule and you need to go onto the internet to find out what's comming up. Someone posted this link recently for finding out what stations you have locally and where to aim your antenna. TVFool.com

[BarneyS]

I have had the old Wineguard antenna head and amplifier for quite a few years. A couple of years ago, I added the new (at the time) Wingman to the antenna which improved reception somewhat.

Late last year, I added the Sensar Pro amplifier which made it easier to aim the antenna correctly.

This year I added a new SensarIV antenna replacement head and am now equiped with the latest technology in RV antennas. This new head, combined with the Sensar Pro amplifier allows an easy way to aim the antenna to get the best reception. It draws in distant stations well and just takes a minute or less to get the antenna aimed for the station I want. I highly recommend it to anybody.:)
Barney

[Ron3rd]

boingram wrote:
Hi all....anyone had experience with the winegard wingman and winegard sensar pro booster scanner....thx...bo

That setup is the gold standard IMO. Gonna do the same someday.

[BarneyS]

Moved to Tech Issues forum from DIY.

[Bill_Satellite]

Yes! Lot's. Take a look here as a starting point.
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27171026.cfm

The short story is the Wingman works. You will also find that the Sensar Pro (not tested in that article) works very well to properly point your Sensar plus add the secondary in-line amplifier to help bring in the weaker UHF signals.