Wynguard RV antenna

[petenkathy]

I have a wynguard antenna on my motorhome that has never worked. I didn't worry too much about it since I use my satellite most of the time. But, here at this park in Texas we don't have cable for the local news. So, I started looking into why the antenna doesn't work. Of course the wiring is hidden so there is no way of checking that and there are 4 cables in the front where the wires should go. So I tried running a separate wire from the antenna head direct to the TV, and that didn't work. I started reading online articles about it and they made mention of checking the voltage through the cable going to the antenna and it should read 13 volts DC. It does. This is supposed to be an indication that the antenna board is bad. This with the fact that I couldn't get a signal straight to the TV would seem to indicate that there was no completion of the circuit. Do I need a new head? Do I need an amplified head, as I have a wynguard box to hook into the circuit? This is said to work as an amplifier and must be hooked up around the amplified circuit. Boy, am I confused, Help.

[Haffie]

Heyas,

How far are you from the city/town with the transmitter and what is the terrain like between you and the transmitter?

If you have an older (not a flat screen or HDTV) ANALOG tuner, you probably need a digital converter box. Satellite and Cable already supply digital signals. Most Winegard antennas were built in the era of ANOLOG signals and I'm not sure if their built in electronics can handle the DIGITAL signals now required by the F.C.C.

Have you tried to call your satellite provider, explain your situation and ask that the local channels be substituted for the locals you signed up with? I know Directv will do this for a customer in an RV.

Have a good one,

Haffie

[drifter]

Yeah, you need a converter box.

The "bat-wing" antenna for over-the-air broadcast is designed to work with 12 volts supplied to the amplifier in the head. That's why it won't work when attached directly to the television - the 12 volts (or 13) comes from a box installed somewhere in the RV and probably has a little green LED on it.

The antenna will happily receive the digital signals now being transmitted but an older television will not convert them to a picture. I think WalMart still sells the converter boxes. They were about $59 and for a while a rebate was available from the government for $50 but that program has long since expired. Get one with "pass-through" capability and you won't have to remove it when you want cable or satellite.

[Haffie]

Heyas,

Yeah, you need a converter box.

The "bat-wing" antenna for over-the-air broadcast is designed to work with 12 volts supplied to the amplifier in the head. That's why it won't work when attached directly to the television - the 12 volts (or 13) comes from a box installed somewhere in the RV and probably has a little green LED on it.

12 volts is supplied to my antenna through the closest "antenna outlet" which looks like a standard wall outlet cover, but contains a "cigarette lighter type" receptacle and a coax connector. There is a small slide switch on the bottom to turn the electronics on.

The antenna will happily receive the digital signals now being transmitted but an older television will not convert them to a picture. I think WalMart still sells the converter boxes. They were about $59 and for a while a rebate was available from the government for $50 but that program has long since expired. Get one with "pass-through" capability and you won't have to remove it when you want cable or satellite.

Winegard also has a clamp on piece that helps receive HD signals, it runs about $25.00. It's called "Winegard Sensar DTV Antenna Upgrade RV-Wing Wingman".

But as I pointed out, it all depends on the distance and terrain between you and the transmitter.. You might want to ask a few neighbors if THEY can get a signal on their RV antenna.

Have a good one,

Haffie

[petenkathy]

My TV is a flat screen. As I said I have the 12 volts supplied and it gets to the end of the cable that plugs into the antenna. This wire has a connecter in it above the roof line. I read this could cause a problem to the antenna or the electronics inside it. It is sort of an expensive way to find out if the probelm is there to replace the head. But, this article was quite sure saying if you have 12 volts up the wire and no picture the antenna is bad. I am quite close to Ft. Worth and Dallas so that shouldn't be a problem. All my neighbors have their antennas up and working. Yes, I have Direct TV but I have the NY/LA package as that works great for our travels. Thanks for getting back to me.

[Mickey]

Not sure how the thread got sidetracked over the need for a converter box.

As has been established, the ant is powered and has an amp up in the head. Needs to have the D.C. power run up to the head to power the amp. Did you measure the 12V power at the connection at the roof-line or at the base of the ant head? If at the ant head, how adventuresome do you feel? Have nothing to loose to do some additional exploring.

Pull the head, break the seam for the 2 halves of the cover to get access to the amp. Once open, when connected is there D.C. power to the pcb? Do you see anything obvious that might be causing the problem? What I did was disconnect the connections between the wings and electronics and clean them to insure there is a good electrical contact and re-tightened. Before closing things back up reconnect the cable and give the ant a try. If all is well, reseal the case halves back together with silicone RTV and finish putting things back together.

Been many yrs since I had to do something like this. Forget what all was wrong but after the "repairs" worked like a champ and has ever since. Do know at least once I had to replace the cable between the roof-line connection and the ant head. If in fact you do have a problem on the pcb itself. You might be able to find a used ant head from a dealer of one of the RV junkyards.

[petenkathy]

Thank you very much, that sounds like a project that needs to wait for warmer weather. I do have the 12 volts at the connection to the head so I guess I will try to take it apart when it warms up a little.

[drifter]

Yeah, but what I meant first of all was that the antenna won't work if connected directly to the television (unless maybe the transmitter is very very close) because then there is no 12 volts for the antenna head amplifier.

The flat screen TV may well be digital ready but there were flat screen TV's long before digital broadcasting came along. So it may not be and if not, it won't work without a converter. How old is it?

And coming back to Haffie's question: How far are you from the city/broadcasting that you wish to receive? Perhaps you need the Winegard Wing-man which greatly increases digital signal strength.

Here's a helpful website that predicts how many digital signals can be expected in an area:
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

And, of course, it may be that the antenna is broken but that's looking for a complicated fix when a simple one hasn't been addressed. It sounds to me like the TV is an analog type and so my money is still on the need for a converter box.

Hey, maybe one of the neighbors that's getting digital broadcast programming would agree to hooking your TV up to their RV for a test. With and then without their converter box, they have one.

[petenkathy]

My TV is a new HD model. I can see the antennas from my RV. That is the reason I was not worried about that.

[drifter]

Well, shoot. So much for an "easy" solution.

[petenkathy]

Mickey you hit it on the head. I took the plastic halves apart and all looked alright but I cleaned up the connections and it worked like a champ. I am getting beautiful HD broadcasts from several channels and beautiful reception from 15 others. Without even turning the antenna. Thank you to all who contributed we got the job done. I got to be out in this beautiful Texas weather today. It was in the mid 70s.

[Mickey]

Glad to hear you tried my suggestion and it worked for you. Feedback like this makes offering suggestions worthwhile.

For anyone trying something like this, you might want to use some dielectic grease on the electrical connections as you put things back together. The grease keeps the contact clean and free of oxidation.

[petenkathy]

Now there is a great idea. I wish you had included it in your first suggestion. But it is back together now without the grease that I had on hand before but didn't think of. Oh well, it's working.

[Russ Chastain]

I have one of those antennas, and it's never worked worth a hoot. If I ever find the desire to care more about it than I currently do (right now I wish I had thrown it away when I did the re-roof, and prevented another roof penetration), I'll have to give that a try.

I generally don't care about watching TV when I'm in the trailer... the most I'll do is watch a DVD, and no antenna is required for that.