Digital TV Signal

6CatDaddy · 10-30-2017, 03:21 PM

I did not know digital tv signals were out there till we got our minilite...

It has the Winegard antenna up top that turns with the knob inside.

When we are home, it gets about 13 channels, we used it camping last week in the PA. mountains and barely got 3 channels.

I ordered a Winegard signal strength amplifier wall plate, to replace what came with the minilite, just has a power button and a green led that stopped working after 1 day.

I am hoping the new Winegard meter will work better.

Any input on improving the digital signal, or just some input on what we should expect to get reception-wise , we will put to good use.

Thanks!

Scrapper · 10-30-2017, 03:28 PM

Actually your lucky getting 3 channels in the mountains. Signals, whether digital or analog cannot travel through mountains. Just because you lost 10 of the 13 channels doesn't mean any thing is wrong with the power injector, the amplifier is in the antenna head on top.

Steeljag · 10-30-2017, 03:42 PM

All about location....location....location ! Those Mts and or distance is what hurt your reception.

5picker · 10-30-2017, 03:48 PM

I agree with Scrapper... don't expect to get a lot of digital channels everywhere you camp.

Terrain has a LOT to do with reception of digital channels.
Proximity to the station's broadcast antennas is a big factor too.
If you live near a city you might get a bunch of stations but go 25-30 miles away and most digital signals from there are gone. You either get digital channels or you don't. It's not like the old analog channels that you could see a snowy picture from miles away. Digital doesn't work that way.

I can't say whether the new amplifier will work better than what you have cause if the indicator light on the current one isn't working then maybe it isn't getting 12v?
Have you checked?

6CatDaddy · 10-30-2017, 04:07 PM

Thanks for the replies everyone!!

The antenna amp "is" worki g, but the green led power light quit... I know it still works, cause if I do get a channel, it stops coming in when I hit the power button.

It looks like the wall plate I ord will work better at showing what channels are avail and their strength, without having the tv scan through whats out there...

I will post how it works after I put it in.

Thanks for info on how the reception is, like I said before, I did not even know tv stations still broadcasted signals... a few years back where we are you had to go with a digital converter box cause they were gonna stop the signal you could pick up with the ole tv antenna on the roof of the house, haha.

I always had cable, or direct tv so I never paid much attn to broadcast tv signals.

bubbles · 10-30-2017, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6CatDaddy

Thanks for the replies everyone!!

The antenna amp "is" worki g, but the green led power light quit... I know it still works, cause if I do get a channel, it stops coming in when I hit the power button.

It looks like the wall plate I ord will work better at showing what channels are avail and their strength, without having the tv scan through whats out there...

I will post how it works after I put it in.

Thanks for info on how the reception is, like I said before, I did not even know tv stations still broadcasted signals... a few years back where we are you had to go with a digital converter box cause they were gonna stop the signal you could pick up with the ole tv antenna on the roof of the house, haha.

I always had cable, or direct tv so I never paid much attn to broadcast tv signals.

That converter was not for the antenna it was for the TV to convert the digital signal to analog. Digital TV"s took care of that. That old antenna you speak of is still ok for todays digital broadcasting. There is no such thing as a digital antenna, at least when talking about TV station home receiving.

rracer5 · 10-30-2017, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6CatDaddy

Thanks for the replies everyone!!

The antenna amp "is" worki g, but the green led power light quit... I know it still works, cause if I do get a channel, it stops coming in when I hit the power button.

It looks like the wall plate I ord will work better at showing what channels are avail and their strength, without having the tv scan through whats out there...

I will post how it works after I put it in.

Thanks for info on how the reception is, like I said before, I did not even know tv stations still broadcasted signals... a few years back where we are you had to go with a digital converter box cause they were gonna stop the signal you could pick up with the ole tv antenna on the roof of the house, haha.

I always had cable, or direct tv so I never paid much attn to broadcast tv signals.

That could take you a long time finding the right direction & "tuning in" each channel number on the new amplifier. Also, some channels "scan" as one number but show up on the tv as another. Better to use "antennaweb.org" on the computer, tablet or smart phone to find out which direction to aim the antenna. Then, just let the tv do a channel scan. 30 - 35 miles from a tv stations transmission antenna is about the limit for digital reception, all things considered such as terrain & distance. Sometimes even the time of day can affect digital signals. Late at night the signal can deteriorate due to atmospheric conditions. Especially on far away signals.

Jay2504 · 10-31-2017, 09:09 AM

6Cat, can you post a picture of your antenna? I have what is called a “ bat wing”. I just put on a “Wingman” attachment that helped us a lot. We just got back from Martinsville Speedway and was able to get channels from Roanoke about 45-47 miles away. It does make the antenna much more “ directional “ though. Jay

rockfordroo · 10-31-2017, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6CatDaddy

Thanks for the replies everyone!!

The antenna amp "is" worki g, but the green led power light quit... I know it still works, cause if I do get a channel, it stops coming in when I hit the power button.

It looks like the wall plate I ord will work better at showing what channels are avail and their strength, without having the tv scan through whats out there...

I will post how it works after I put it in.

Thanks for info on how the reception is, like I said before, I did not even know tv stations still broadcasted signals... a few years back where we are you had to go with a digital converter box cause they were gonna stop the signal you could pick up with the ole tv antenna on the roof of the house, haha.

I always had cable, or direct tv so I never paid much attn to broadcast tv signals.

Can you post a link to whatever it is you ordered? I'm intrigued.

rracer5 · 10-31-2017, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

Can you post a link to whatever it is you ordered? I'm intrigued.

I think he means this to take the place of the existing tv/cable switch/amplifier:
Winegard SensarPro TV Signal Meter - White - Winegard RFL-342 - Antenna Accessories - Camping World

I have this as well as the "wingman" & have seen an improvement.
Winegard Wingman - Winegard RV-WING - Over-the-Air Antennas - Camping World

6CatDaddy · 10-31-2017, 09:31 PM

The antenna we have on the roof is a Winegard Rayzar Z1 , the wallplate/strength I got is the Winegard Sensar Pro, google those an youll see what they look like...

I have bigger issuez with the antenna and cables though, while having it all apart, I find if I take the coax coming out of the tv itself and I touch the wire in the center of the coax, the signal strength goes to good, I can auto scan 42 channels...

When I hook everything back up, I get 13 pixelated channels and the tv shows bad signal strength.

I am stumped.

rockfordroo · 11-01-2017, 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rracer5

I think he means this to take the place of the existing tv/cable switch/amplifier:
Winegard SensarPro TV Signal Meter - White - Winegard RFL-342 - Antenna Accessories - Camping World

I have this as well as the "wingman" & have seen an improvement.
Winegard Wingman - Winegard RV-WING - Over-the-Air Antennas - Camping World

Thanks!

Jay2504 · 11-01-2017, 09:32 AM

6Cat let me try to help you if I can. Am I correct that you are at home where there is strong signals? Also you just put your finger on the coax wire at the end of about a 3 foot cable that runs from the tv to the antenna wall plate that you just installed. Is your TV set to “antenna”? If not set it there. By touching the cable end your body is becoming the antenna. Next thing to check would be which of the other cables on the back of the sensor pro wall plate is the antenna. One way to check this is with an multimeter set on ohms and a long piece of wire or coax cable. Check the long piece of cable that you are going to use for resistance. It should be near 0. Next hook the cable to the “cable”connection on the outside of the trailer. Run the wire or coax inside through a window. One at a time pull off the other cables off the back of the sensar pro and test with the meter. The one that reads near 0 is the “cable” connection for the back of the wall plate. The other cables should read “OL”. Repeat for the “Satellite” connection. The one cable connection left on the back of the plate will be the antenna comming from the roof. Please let us know what you find out with these tests, like the back of the plate miswired etc. Jay

6CatDaddy · 11-19-2017, 04:45 PM

Sorry took too long to update.

Tv is fixed now after trip back to dealer.

Short version is it had a bad coax end on ths dvd/radio and was shorting out coax...

Also, the original antenna amp was not working per dealer. I know the green led quit working, but thought it was still powered...

New antenna amp, the original style with the green led light, coax repaired and now in my driveway at home, near a big east coast city it gets 65 channels to come in. Some a little pixeled, but before it only found 13 and about 6 of those were clear.

Wobbles · 11-19-2017, 07:51 PM

I am satisfied if I can watch the news and weather in the morning.
My fortune is that I can get good reception from 28+ channels at home. When I go to a park, I average about 7+ channels. More often than not, the only channels that come in wherever I go are the church channels.

6CatDaddy · 11-20-2017, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wobbles

I am satisfied if I can watch the news and weather in the morning.
My fortune is that I can get good reception from 28+ channels at home. When I go to a park, I average about 7+ channels. More often than not, the only channels that come in wherever I go are the church channels.

I was going to change the amplifier but when I realized it was more than the original amp not working, and a coax problem, I figgered let the dealer fix it under warranty, which they did. (of course they did not hook up the HDMI cable to the back of the tv, and forgot to put the screws and faceplate back on the DVD player) ... so it goes from taking it back, Haha!

Found those issues before we left the dealer, I was just happy to see they found the problem and now it works after fixing their fixes.

I am still amazed at how many channels this thing picks up while in the driveway at home and how clear they come in... at a campsite it will probably be a whole different scenario, but we have DVD's for that problem.

I did not know the digital TV signals were even out there till we got back into an RV, I thought they phased all that out with satellite and cable...

You may also like: