Antennas

SYE · 01-23-2013, 04:08 PM

Can anyone answer the question as to why the Manufacturers are still putting regular TV antennas on the campers instead of Digital Antennas such as the Sensar IV from Wineguard. My old camper that I just traded in received 45 channels where it sits. My new camper, parked in the same spot, only receives 4 channels. I had the Sensar Iv antenna in the old camper, the new one has the Sensar III.

**Christopher Columbus** · 01-23-2013, 04:35 PM

Good question. You have my attention I will look into this for Columbus
Chris

SYE · 01-23-2013, 04:41 PM

Thanks Chris

Witch Doctor · 01-23-2013, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syencer

Can anyone answer the question as to why the Manufacturers are still putting regular TV antennas on the campers instead of Digital Antennas such as the Sensar IV from Wineguard. My old camper that I just traded in received 45 channels where it sits. My new camper, parked in the same spot, only receives 4 channels. I had the Sensar Iv antenna in the old camper, the new one has the Sensar III.

It is going to end up the cost. The sensar 4 is high deff. and is twice the cost. You can check the other questions and debating on high diff TV on this issue at another thread.

SYE · 01-23-2013, 06:03 PM

Well if they are putting Hi DEF TVs in them, they should put the proper antennas to go with them

Happy Vibe · 01-23-2013, 06:11 PM

There is no such thing as a high def antenna. That is just advertising lingo. Any quality antenna will pick up digital HD signals.
I would check to make sure the amplifier is on, should see a green light on the coax outlet. Also make sure all the connections are tight. In my trailer I had to tighten all of them.

**Herk7769** · 01-23-2013, 06:12 PM

I think they are talking about the UHF boosting antenna elements.

**huntr70** · 01-23-2013, 06:39 PM

Even a 1978 whatever with a roof top antennae will pick up digital signals. The TV needs to have a digital tuner to translate the signal.

They add ons such as the Winegard Wingman help pull directional signals, as does the Jack replacement head.

SYE · 01-23-2013, 08:24 PM

On my last camber I went through 3 antenna's in 5 months. I ripped off the first 2 by staying at parks that were not big camper friendly and the trees branches ripped them both off. Sensar III, and the Sensar IV. The third antenna that I put on was the Jack, I really liked that one it did a little better then the Sensar IV but it was a real pain to mount because all the wood where the other antennas were was all busted up, I installed it and I got about 50 channels with that on. The other disadvantage to the Jack is it sits up taller that the Sensar antennas. But it worked great.

WEMig · 01-23-2013, 09:18 PM

I catch digital channels just fine on my 2012 Crusader. It has the standard crank antenna, not a high end aftermarket antenna. You may want to ensure that your digital TV settings are correct and your antenna boost is on.

SYE · 02-06-2013, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christopher Columbus

Good question. You have my attention I will look into this for Columbus
Chris

Christopher,
I was wondering if you found out anything about this yet?

jimh · 02-06-2013, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Vibe

There is no such thing as a high def antenna. That is just advertising lingo. Any quality antenna will pick up digital HD signals.
I would check to make sure the amplifier is on, should see a green light on the coax outlet. Also make sure all the connections are tight. In my trailer I had to tighten all of them.

that's my understanding as well.
the add on will not stop u from receiving off the back but should give u some improvement when pointed directly at the station. the add on adds on reflector behind the driven element.

what i've found is that the digital chanels are a lot more sensitive to antenna aiming.
i also wouldn't depend on the channels being on the same frequency for the same channel no. in all areas. that is why u have to rescan when u move around.

lswartz · 02-06-2013, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Vibe

There is no such thing as a high def antenna. That is just advertising lingo. Any quality antenna will pick up digital HD signals. .

Absolutely correct.

Wiscampsin · 02-06-2013, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimh

...what i've found is that the digital chanels are a lot more sensitive to antenna aiming.

X2

rip · 02-06-2013, 10:40 PM

My only experience with the Sensar IV was that my cousin camped next to me last year could pick up more digital channels than me with my Sensar III when we were sitting side by side and antennas pointed in similar direction.

As far as I could read on about his better IV, I gathered it had improvements in UHF reception similar to the bandwidths used by digital channels. I'm no scientist on this reception stuff, just confused about why his seemed consistently better.

Last year, I got the Sensar Pro wall plate which helped me with direction/pointing the III antenna on my previous 2005 model trailer. My cousin would point his in the direction where I was gaining most and strongest signals. He still got more digital channels than me.

I don't know if the IV is actually scientifically better than the III, but it appears to have some improvement in reception somehow.

I feel the comment about direction being important is true. I used the strength meter on my Sensar Pro wall plate to better locate channels that I didn't find on previous trips. Still some channels would drop in and out on mine, and I'd go over and watch them on my cousin's tv where they were clear.

No experiences with the Jack antenna.

I thought the current price between III and IV was only $15 or less, and at some suppliers the III was not even listed any more. I admit I could be wrong about this.

Personally, I was disappointed that Forest River installed a III on the great new trailer I ordered and picked up this week. I looked today, and there was adequate roof-top landing space for the UHF elements on the IV model, so using the out-dated III seemed very unnecessary to me. I think it will cost me more than $15 to add IV's apparent capabilities.

To be less negative and more positive here, I'm glad they installed a digital-capable LED tv and not an out-dated cathode-ray-tube model where I'd need to buy a converter/tuner too. Smiling...

DougP47 · 02-06-2013, 10:46 PM

I wonder if they have the booster turned on. or if the antenna is pluged into the right port. not the cable port.

rip · 02-06-2013, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DougP47

I wonder if they have the booster turned on. or if the antenna is pluged into the right port. not the cable port.

When I turned my booster off, there was little or no digital signal reception. This was dramatic signal loss not just a few less channels.

On my original Winegard wall plate and the new Sensar Pro wall plate, turning booster off switched to cable connection input, and turning it on switched to antenna input and supplied voltage to the signal booster in the antenna head.

With my Pro wall plate, I could also slightly adjust gain in one of the operating modes.

**Herk7769** · 02-06-2013, 11:27 PM

There is extensive information on the site regarding this topic.

Search for Winegard Wingman for most of the threads on how they work.

There are also threads on how to find the best direction from your campsite to get the best reception on every channel in range.

Check Out www.antennaweb.org and be sure to switch the display to "Satellite" to zoom in on your camp site.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ster-7037.html

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ster-9994.html

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...otes-3781.html

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...g-21586-2.html

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ons-23384.html

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...lem-12233.html

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...tion-8290.html

**Terier** · 02-06-2013, 11:45 PM

Not sure if this is correct or not but I was told that some models of TV are better than others when it comes to getting more & clearer pictures.

After installing the Wingman I get clearer pictures but seem to get less channels than before. But then I haven't put a lot of effort into trouble shooting yet either.

rip · 02-07-2013, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by herk7769

There is extensive information on the site regarding this topic.

Search for Winegard Wingman for most of the threads on how they work.

Thanks Lou, educated me again.

I especially liked a part of one of your posts... "2) Add Wingman and you make that non-directional loop directional by using those narrow to large elements to "bend" the incoming UHF signal like a magnifying glass to focus more RF energy onto that non-directional loop UHF antenna. The "Arrow head" of the wingman MUST point directly to the broadcast tower to be most effective."

I was wondering how my cousin's Sensar IV was outperforming my Sensar III. I suspected the IV was just a III with the Wingman added. And, I was wondering how unwired (unconnected) elements worked their expletive "magic."

But after reading all that wonderful information, it only "boosted" my disappointment that Forest River did not install the Sensar IV on the Windjammer they just built for me.

However... the television is a thin light-weight 1080 capable LED model (as opposed to an older heavier LCD model) with three HDMI inputs allowing me to add my blue-ray disc player too. So, they are technology current in one aspect (the tv) while less so in another (the antenna).

Trying to end on a positive note.

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