TV Antennas

My seasonal campground in the Catskills will not be offering cable anymore. I wonder if other folks have found antennas tha worked or how you dealt with this problem when you really wanted tv.

Thanks in advance,
Andre

Antennas work fine for local station, but only IF there are local stations, and only within range of the broadcast tower. I've been gone from the NY Hudson Valley for many a year, but as I recall the Catskills fail on both counts. Few or no nearby stations and mountains between you and wherever those few are. I suspect you are out of luck for broadcast TV on any antenna you can mount on an RV.  What about streaming - can you manage any internet service? E.g. cellular?

Typical mountain area campgrounds are nestled in a valley, while any tv signal skips along the tops of the ridges.

I gave up on satellite TV years ago. Using two DVRs that record Over the air.. I have to be careful I do not overflow the hard drives.  More OTA than I can watch thanks to the modern Digital sub channels

Now, On to antennas
First some general comments.
Antennas come in two by two types. Directional v/s Omnidirectional and amplified v/s not

Directional need to be pointed at the station. The tighter the "Beam" (the more accurately pointed) the longer the range of the antenna. Think of 3 different ways to view a stage from the "Nosebleed" seats

Naked eyes.. (Ants dancing)
Opera glasses (low power bionaculars) you see the entire stage but about 1/2 the distance or 1/3.

Field glasses (A really GOOD set of binoculars)  You can no longer see all of the stage. but you feel like front row center.

Well, Omni antennas .. basically work only if you are parked very close to teh station (Say 25 miles or less)
King Controls JACK directional. is Opera Glasses
Winegard Sensar IV is FIELD glasses

And you can add the Sensar Pro module for more gain (Better signals) NOTE: not all pre-amps are as good as the Sensar Prol plus it has other attractions.

This is for an RV that moves about... What about an RV that's parked long term?...

Well HEIGHT is MIGHT (up to a reasonable limit, That limit varies if VHF or UHF but 100' is below it

Back in the Analog days. I routinely got signals from 50-100 miles away at my parents house.
Channel master's biggest antenna 100' up in the air with a mast head pre-amp unit.

One of the things nobody thought would ever happen.. (I'm acrophobic) is a photo of me installing that mast head amp over 100 feet up the tower (I fear heights but I trust my safety harness).

I live about 65 miles from Chicago, so from home I get, normally 60 or more channels. Camping of course varies by proximity to broadcasting cities. Last year I purchased a King Jack anntena (just the replacement head) and I have never been in a spot where I didn't get 20 or more channels. I have thought about the satellite option, but don't want to have to go through that setup hassle everytime that we camp. For us, tv is just not that important while camping. But we're happy with the King Jack. 

Hi Andre,

You have received a lot of good advise. Here is one option but based on Gary B.'s answer you might be cut off from signals where you are at (or will be at). You can buy a telescoping pole and hoist an antenna up like an RCA indoor/outdoor amplified antenna. You have to plug the amplifier in which boosts the signal (just before your TV set). You might possibly get a signal if there are any signals getting in to that area. You'd have to make sure it could stand winds if it is set up for any length of time.

I like John fro Detroit's suggestion of recording programs and watching. However you can't get local broadcast and sometimes knowing what is going on is important.

I can give you two spots where that Jack won't do so well.. QZ and Just north of Darien GA (Cathead Creek RV Park) but Bill provides free cable at Cathead Creek... I got 5 stations, and about 20 "Services' (Sub Channels, each station may be as many as six services) and some came in BETTER via OTA than Cable (3-x for example).

Jack only got 4 stations.

There is a site, myantenna.com, I think, that will show you where broadcast towers are in relation to you and whether or not you are in range for OTA TV.

Get some good books and leave the TV off.

Get some good books and leave the TV off.




Yeah, I'm with you. Or go enjoy the stars. However, if one does this often, the stars don't change a lot from night to night.


While we do both of the above, Netflix also allows one to download some programs to a tablet or computer for viewing later. We have done this on several occasions, and it works well. In some cases, there's a time limit on how long you can store them before you have to watch them, and there is a total download limit as well. However, one can get several hours recorded on the average tablet with no problem.

I spent a couple of seasons in the Catskills, I was on top of Hunter Mountain and the antenna was worthless. I brought my own Directv dish for television and had Hughes Net for internet, all was good!