tv antenna

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mellis

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Nov 23, 2017
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i have a 2007 monaco cayman  class A  36 ft,,,  the antenna  on the roof has the crank handle inside to raise it, does anyone know of a really good  antenna to get to replace this  unit ,,,
 
If this is the Over the Air antenna.. Well the 3 best antennas are the Winegard Sensar IV, which has a crank handle.. The Sensar II and III (Which have the Crank Handle) with the added WINGMAN (about 30 dollars DIY) UHF Director array.. And the difference between them is.. Not much.

If it's a satellite antenna, then I doubt it.

On the OTA antenna.. If you have a wall plate with Switch, Light, LED and 12 volt socket, Replacing that with the Senar Pro (about 100 DIY) makes a BIG and I MEAN BIG improvement.

Currently Watching Macy's Thanksgiving parade, Sensar II or III (Really don't know which) |+ WIngman and Sensar Pro.

If you have the famous BOMB (Box of many buttons or matrix switch) as I do the Sensar Pro goes AHEAD of it.  I mounted it in a standard outlet box in a spot that was all but designed for the job.

NOTE the Sensar Pro does a whole lot more than just improve the signal. Read the Manual to know.
 
it is a crank handle inside that raises the antenna, up  and a round disc that moves it around ,,,  i am looking for something that is going to be the best of the best to replace it 

thank you
 
It is likely the best already if you are talking about the Winegard Sensar series (batwing style) Antenna for OTA (Over The Air) as described by John above. There are others that claim to be better and don't need to be raised and lowered but... That is only an advertising claim. And no, the Sensar models are not cute... but they work very well.
 
mellis said:
it is a crank handle inside that raises the antenna, up  and a round disc that moves it around ,,,  i am looking for something that is going to be the best of the best to replace it 

thank you
Why are you replacing it? If you are looking for better reception that can only be obtained by having the antenna higher. At least five feet higher. A different antenna at the same height won't do you any better than what you are getting.
 
mellis said:
it is a crank handle inside that raises the antenna, up  and a round disc that moves it around ,,,  i am looking for something that is going to be the best of the best to replace it 

thank you

That describes both an over the air TV antenna model and a satellite TV dish model, so it's not clear which one you're asking about. Does your existing antenna have two long "wings" on it? Or does it have a round "dish" with an arm sticking out in front of it when it's raised...
 
is it better to have a satellite  dish type antenna  or  the wing antenna  for reception
 
Depends on what you want to receive
For Sat Reception you need the proper Sat Antenna, DIsh and DirecTV use different antennas now days (In the old days that was not true)

For over the air. The "Batwing" (Wing type) is what I use.
I have something between 20 and 30 channels here.. And with two DVRs I can barely keep up with what they record.
 
For satellite subscription TV service reception, you would need both the correct dish for the carrier, as well as the correct receiver for it. For free over-the-air TV, the Winegard Sensar "batwing" antenna you have, if it's in proper working order, is a good choice. If it does not have it, there's a low cost add-on called the "Wingman" that significantly improves the UHF performance and is an easy 5 minute installation. Another available add-on is the Winegard SensarPro that replaces your existing inside power inserter, adding several features including a couple that help with aiming for the best signal, and a secondary inline amplifier that gives the signal even more of a boost than the existing primary amplifier in the antenna head on the roof.
 
Make sure you have the power turned on if you have the sensar antenna, makes all the difference in the world. If you have the box of many buttons the power switch is probably on it. I just bought a new antenna that has the wingman on it for a few dollars more than just buying the wingman alone. Gets 7 more channels just sitting in my driveway.
 
I tried the jack antenna,not good.Put on a sensar 4 many stations now...have read on these forums its the best,I believe it.Rember digital doesent go as far as analog,somtimes you are in a hole or an area with little or no over the air signal.
 
Remember, there is no such animal as a  "digital antenna". All antennas receive both digital and analog signals, the only difference may be in the frequency range sensitivity of any given unit, hence the "Wingman" addition available for the older Sensor brand antennas
 
Re "Digital does not go as far as Analog"

Using the same radio transmitter, same antenna, On voice I have problems going cross country (Analog) with 100 Watts... A better antenna and I would be good but a proper antenna is hard to do when mobile...

ON digital.. Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Cuba, Russia, and I have cards from many countries.. 30-40 watts digital, 100 analog per the meter.

What happend was two things.. A general shift from VHF to UHF which may not travel as far

And a shift from hundreds of thousands of watts to 10's of thousands or less.
 
Not so sure. the "Official" reason the FCC ordered the transistion to Digital was to free up the VHF so they could re-sell it. (Big bucks there) that plan... Well it's not gone well.. Like so many government plans.
 
thank you everyone for your responses ,  as always confusing but , I learned a lot ,, thanks  again
 
John From Detroit said:
Not so sure. the "Official" reason the FCC ordered the transistion to Digital was to free up the VHF so they could re-sell it. (Big bucks there) that plan... Well it's not gone well.. Like so many government plans.

Maybe this article will help your understanding of the current channel repack, John. Channels 52-69 are being "repurposed" to other non TV services.

http://www.tvtechnology.com/news/0002/fcc-releases-repack-channel-assignments/280840
 
Hi Mellis,

When I purchased my RV about 17 months ago, the TV antenna really didn't work well. I have the feeling that things were rewired and a better set taken out and the old heavy TV put back in. There was an electronic switch to go from cable (campground supplied), over the air and the DVD player. The TV reception was really not good at all. I'm about 30 miles from stations.

I unhooked things and put in a larger screen TV that would fit in the motorhome. I also put in a booster that I had laying around that plugs into the power supply along with the TV. I also crawled on top and found the connection to the original antenna was loose. ( I wonder if this was made lose by the outfit that checked out our RV so they could add another bill to things we had done. Could have just been loose from travel.) After rewiring the coach back up to the set, I have been able to get stations as far as 120 miles. Now that depends on where you are at and the terrain. The sets really works good and I have not had to do anything to the antenna except I cleaned it up from scum and oxidation it had on it. Mine is on a hand crank as well. I sometimes get better reception when it is closer to the roof than putting it up all the way.

You may or may not need a new antenna. Sometimes just cleaning things up is all you need. Good luck!
 

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