Winegard Antenna Not on Roof Anymore

[NJKris]

It is the Wineguard Razor Z1. It just rotates.

[MilCop4523]

Originally Posted by DustinMobley232

Picked up my new 2019 E-Pro 19FBS a few days ago. Took it too a big dirt field in the middle of no where that has no trees. Never once touched the inside handle that allows you to rotate the antenna. I decided to check out the roof and noticed that no Antenna. Could it be that when I picked it up from dealer that the antenna was not in the correct position? We did get some wind gusts up around 30mph over the weekend.


The good thing is, when I did the initial channel scan on the TV, I was surprised how many channels it picked up and how clear they were.

yea NO its missing. I have the sister to your trailer in the GEOPRO 19 FD and hauled it 2400 kms home from Ohio Easter long weekend to N Canada. Mine is still attached. WARRANTY - or Part out the trailer as we say in the truck forums...

[Reverse_snowbird]

I doubt it was the wind.

We have one and we've driven with it at 70mph in the incorrect position.

[5picker]

It does not crank up/down but does rotate and there is a position for travel. (aerodynamically)

You are going to need a replacement.
If it isn't broken where it mounts then it should be covered under warranty. (improper assembly)

Do cover that hole with something until you can get it fixed.

[CedarCreekWoody]

At least your photo shows it was there during the PDI, fell off later. Hopefully dealer will replace.

[wesatspice]

We have a 2017 Flagstaff Micro Lite. Everything was fine for our first couple of weekend trips but after about 5 months of ownership we were camping and couldn't receive any channels. I went outside and found that the Winegard antenna was completely gone! This is the low profile model that does not have to be raised or lowered.

At first i thought it might have been stolen somehow but after closer inspection it appears to have literally blown off while traveling, breaking it's mount and wiring.

The trailer was still under warranty but we live 5 hours from a dealer so I called Winegard directly and they sent me a new antenna after I explained what happened. They did not acknowledge any type of defect in the antenna or known installation defects.

I installed it myself and so far it is still attached although the roof is really thin and I don't really trust the meager screws that are used. I also used the recommended adhesive caulk for all RV roof installations.

I think Winegrard actually has a 2 year warranty on these antennas.

Funnny side note - a month ago or so I received an email from Winegard stating that they had not received the old antenna back yet and to please return it to them as they had requested.

I guess they don't really get that it was really gone, maybe rolling down I-75 somewhere...

[DustinMobley232]

Got a few close up pics before started snowing. Wow, camper roof is not good place to be when it gets wet and slick. I don't see any damage or broken pieces.

[jbutcher83]

Same thing happened to ours, it is in between the front vent cover and the AC unit. NOT knocked off. found a retainer nut down inside the white direction knob, installed a new one and there in the new unit is a retainer nut used to hold the antenna unit to the base.
I figured it vibrated loose and lost to the road gods.....easy repair. found out HD means
hundred dollar.
Jim

[tomkatb]

Been there, done that.

In residential area the city relays on folks with trailers to trim the trees overhanging the street. Got to stay in the middle!

That antenna is all plastic. Sheared that dude right off.

It is a pain in the arse to replace. We had to take up all the goo to put a new one on. Couple of hours. Camping world has them in stock.

Learned this on day 10 of our long trip. We were entering a Colorado state park during baseball sized hail. I got under the nearest tree. Apparently too close.

[NorSnrub]

After we picked up our new trailor, and handle fell off. Put back on and tightened, if I hadn't cought and might have lost mine.

[Papatrc]

I can’t believe they even still use the crank up antenna anymore. Last 2 trailers I have owned have had a round flat dish with small wings on them. In fact I posted how Easter week on my first trip I hit a big branch and ripped the roof membrane. The branch also hit the antenna and it is still fine. It probably was a fixed antenna and not installed correctly by the factory.

[Campah]

We lost ours too. We have a 2017 2109S that we bought in the spring of 2016. When we got home from the dealer (Albany NY to Portland ME), I noticed that the plastic nut on the inside had loosened up so I removed the inside cover/crank and the "nut" fell out. So I got a deep socket and snugged it up and all was good.

That fall we were up in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia and we crossed the bridge back to NB in a very strong wind-so strong that the ferries weren't running to NS. When we got to our campground about 5 hours later, we could see a storm coming so I tried to tune in to a TV station for the weather and nothing. When I turned the crank there was no tension. So up on the roof I went and guess what? No antenna-the wire had parted and away she must have flown! (I just hope it didn't hit another car!)

So with a pending storm coming, I cut the bottom out of a 3 liter water jug and it fit perfectly over the flange on the roof. A little duck tape and it held until we got home.

I then called Forest River (Deb Rimsa 574-642-8942) and told her what happened. She offered to send a new antenna to either my dealer or directly to me which is what I had her do. It took me about an hour to unscrew and carefully pry off the old flange on the roof and install the new one. (Make sure that you have a tube of Dicor sealant (Amazon about $10).

You can also buy an entire antenna on Amazon for about $100 if you are no longer on warranty.

[JohnD10]

I can’t believe they even still use the crank up antenna anymore. Last 2 trailers I have owned have had a round flat dish with small wings on them. In fact I posted how Easter week on my first trip I hit a big branch and ripped the roof membrane. The branch also hit the antenna and it is still fine. It probably was a fixed antenna and not installed correctly by the factory.

The crank up antenna works much better than any of those omni-directional antennas.

Reports from users I know that have the omni's are that since they are relatively close to the roof, the AC units sometimes cause interference, plus the AC units themselves block signals if they are between the antenna and the signal source.

Getting that extra three foot lift is often the difference between getting TV reception...or digging into your DVD collection.

Also, seems the only reports of the crank-up antennas being lost while on the road are when they are left cranked up.

Personally...I'll stick with my crank-up antenna arm with the King/Jack head on it.

Best OTA RV antenna I've had ever!

I've had this one on two different RV's and will keep it when I change trailers.

What I wish is that the RV makers would offer the King/Jack batwing replacement head on the batwing arm as an option instead of the batwing antenna itself.

[o0amybeth0o]

Winegard has a retrofit antenna head you can use on the Sensar/Batwing arm called the Rayzar z1. Winegard.com/rayzarz1

[NJKris]

I still can't believe the lengths some people go to for tuning in commercials, lol.

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by NJKris

I still can't believe the lengths some people go to for tuning in commercials, lol.

That's why I dumped my DirecTV...

[Mistye]

Ours disappeared too. Unfortunately it was parked in storage when it happened! Our neighbor had their solar panels disappear! Supposedly high security and you need to use your finger print to access! Not so much! Amazing what people will steal!🥴😡 Good luck!

[GeoPro Enthusiast]

This is a pic of our 2019 GeoPro 19FD. This is the position of our antenna when we picked it up and have driven it at hwy speeds since.

I'm guessing yours just wasn't attached properly from factory.

[boonebiker]

I have a 2018 GEO Pro with the same antenna and it is also a 19FD. I live in the Mountains that have 60+ winds all winter almost and my antenna has stayed in place. That antenna has been pretty rugged. This antenna coming off going home would have to be a dealer or factory problem. I did notice your antenna is located midway on top where mine is close to the rear of camper. I would make the dealer replace it, it does have some warranty.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by DustinMobley232

I have asked my dealer, awaiting for their response. We typically don't use the TV, so not a big deal, but I also don't like have a new rig that something is broke.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but almost every new RV has something in it that isn't working properly/broken. There are so many sub systems that something is wrong. Much of it is easily fixed by the owner and it often isn't worth driving back to the dealer. Example given, if you checkout the rv daydream youtube channel, they just bought a new trailer. The dealership is a couple hours away. When they returned, they noticed the blower fan on the furnace was noisy. They could schedule a repair weeks in the future and spend a couple of hours driving there and back for 'free' warranty work or fix it themselves. They took the cover off the furnace and found that the plastic squirrel cage fan was defective as it was deficient in plastic in part of the fan. Solution? Some glue. New squirrel cage fan in the future. Easy part to replace. Bottom line is unless you enjoy spending your time hauling your rv back and forth to the dealer, first check to see if you are better off fixing it yourself.

In your case, maybe the dealer will just give you a replacement antenna and you can probably have the job done in less time than it takes to hookup your trailer to tow to the dealer.