lappir Posted May 3, 2015 Report Share Posted May 3, 2015 Last year in Florida I picked up one of the indoor square pad type OTA antennas while in Florida. It worked very well in the location in Florida but when I got to Iowa I had less success with it than with a pair of 30+ year old Rabbit ears. This year when I returned to Florida I found the "Long Range Indoor/outdoor " unit on sale for about what I paid last year for the indoor only model so I purchased it. Again it worked great at the location in about the same place as the other one (inside). I have moved in Florida to a new spot where I will be for another two months and the TV is having a few issues with reception so I am considering mounting the antenna outside. What thoughts does anyone have about a temporary mount? I will not be mounting it directly to any part of the trailer, I might devise a mount for the truck but it is off site for a couple weeks so that is out for this weekend. I was able to see the Derby yesterday and hope we have a Triple Crown winner coming this year. That horse was pretty impressive at the end. Rod White 2000/2010Volvo VNL 770 with 7' Drom box with opposing doors, JOST slider hitch. 600 HP Cummins Signature 18 Speed three pedal auto shift. 1999 Isuzu VehiCross retired to a sticks and bricks garage. Brought out of storage the summer of 2022 2022 Jeep Wrangler Sport S Two door hard top. 2007 Honda GL 1800 2013 Space Craft Mfg S420 Custom built Toyhauler The Gold Volvo is still running and being emptied in July. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lappir Posted May 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2015 Our slides have a 'lip' on the edges. A painter pole, some wood spring clamps (plastic now) and tie wraps to hole the antenna on the top. 2 segment pole, about 14', worked well attached to the ladder. clamps - http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=552510-281-59400CD&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=50137708&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=rel&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1 Thanks Bill I will try that. Rod White 2000/2010Volvo VNL 770 with 7' Drom box with opposing doors, JOST slider hitch. 600 HP Cummins Signature 18 Speed three pedal auto shift. 1999 Isuzu VehiCross retired to a sticks and bricks garage. Brought out of storage the summer of 2022 2022 Jeep Wrangler Sport S Two door hard top. 2007 Honda GL 1800 2013 Space Craft Mfg S420 Custom built Toyhauler The Gold Volvo is still running and being emptied in July. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXiceman Posted May 3, 2015 Report Share Posted May 3, 2015 First, there is no such thing as a Digital or HD antenna. It is the TV that converts the signal for the nice picture. You can built a very nice antenna to receive the digital station from some coat hanger and a board. http://makezine.com/projects/digital-tv-coat-hanger-antenna/ http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/tv/how-to/a6608/build-your-own-digital-tv-antenna/ Have fun making a better antenna. Ken Amateur radio operator, 2023 Cougar 22MLS, 2022 F150 Lariat 4x4 Off Road, Sport trim <br />Travel with 1 miniature schnauzer, 1 standard schnauzer and one African Gray parrot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scouserl41 Posted May 4, 2015 Report Share Posted May 4, 2015 All receiving areas are not equal. All directions are not equal. WHAT? I have a digital/HD/OTA antenna in our house and another in our rig. It's the only TV we get. No Cable. So what the heck has that got to do with anything? Well the identical antenna and TV in the house gets 12 channels. The same setup in the rig in the driveway of our house gets 34. How? What? Why? Simply because the antenna in the house points one direction due to it being stuck in the window that points south while the one in the rig points west due to it being stuck in a different window. If you have a rooftop antenna that can be rotated then you can select the direction that gets the most channels. Move the antenna around in the rig and rescan each time you move it to find the most channels and/or the channels you want most. 75% of the time ours works best in the rig when we throw it on the passenger seat laying horizontally!! The self same setup gets more or less channels as we move from campground to campground due to the number and strength of local TV broadcast towers. Sometimes there are no channels available so we have DVD's, streaming and books to fill in the blanks. If all else fails we find talking to each other a novel experience!! Have fun BnB 2009 Monaco Cayman DP 38' bnbrv.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom_M Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 Here's my solution for TV reception when in a fringe area. I purchased an aluminum mast on eBay. It's military surplus and consists of four foot sections of tubing that stack together. 12 sections cost about $75. I think I'm using about 6 sections in the photo. This is at Bear Island campground in Big Cyprus National Preserve Florida. Tom—————————————————2005 Born Free 24' Rear Bath Towing 1978 VW Bug convertible Minneapolis, MN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lappir Posted May 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 Here's my solution for TV reception when in a fringe area. I purchased an aluminum mast on eBay. It's military surplus and consists of four foot sections of tubing that stack together. 12 sections cost about $75. I think I'm using about 6 sections in the photo. This is at Bear Island campground in Big Cyprus National Preserve Florida. Nice lightening rod, especially this time of the year in good old FLA. Didn't get a chance to put the unit outside last weekend will start off with it on the ground pointed toward the weakest signal and see what happens. Hopefully I get off work next Friday before 2 AM Saturday like last week. Thanks for the suggestion. Rod White 2000/2010Volvo VNL 770 with 7' Drom box with opposing doors, JOST slider hitch. 600 HP Cummins Signature 18 Speed three pedal auto shift. 1999 Isuzu VehiCross retired to a sticks and bricks garage. Brought out of storage the summer of 2022 2022 Jeep Wrangler Sport S Two door hard top. 2007 Honda GL 1800 2013 Space Craft Mfg S420 Custom built Toyhauler The Gold Volvo is still running and being emptied in July. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom_M Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 The sections are also available in fiberglass if you're worried about lightning. Tom—————————————————2005 Born Free 24' Rear Bath Towing 1978 VW Bug convertible Minneapolis, MN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vladimir Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 I just use a very good quality extendable paint pole and then use zip ties to tie it to the ladder. Clip the zip ties when I am ready to move. Vladimr Steblina Retired Forester...exploring the public lands. usbackroads.blogspot.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpatrickc Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 I use the fiberglass version of the military masts with a FlagPole Buddy mount. It works great and you can put up the antenna from the ground. It's very easy to bring the antenna down if a storm or high winds happen. http://flagpolebuddy.com/ Pat 2006 Chevy Duramax, DRW, ext cab, Long bed, Reese 18K hitch 2011 Carriage Cameo Ham radio operator, WA3UOE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXiceman Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 It seems the best antennas for digital are the tried and true bat wing Winegards with the Wingman add on. When they made the change to HD the low VHF stations were eliminated as were most of the medium VHF stations. They were shifted to the UHF band. The UHF band is shorter range. The digital signal is either good or no good. You do not get the weak, snowy or ghost pictures as with the old analog TV signal. The "digital" antennas are more sensitive to being aimed properly for the max signal. The Winegard Sensar IV is the antenna of my choice. It has an internal panel to help aim and locate stations without the many scans of the TV to get to the right station area. Of course, getting the antenna as high as possible on a portable pole will help greatly. Be sure and use a high quality quad-shielded coaxial cable to minimize signal loss for the antenna run. Ken Amateur radio operator, 2023 Cougar 22MLS, 2022 F150 Lariat 4x4 Off Road, Sport trim <br />Travel with 1 miniature schnauzer, 1 standard schnauzer and one African Gray parrot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch_12078 Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 It seems the best antennas for digital are the tried and true bat wing Winegards with the Wingman add on. When they made the change to HD the low VHF stations were eliminated as were most of the medium VHF stations. They were shifted to the UHF band. The UHF band is shorter range. There are still over 300 TV stations on either the lo-VHF (ch 2-6) or the hi-VHF (7-13) RF channels. Las Vegas has a station broadcasting on RF channel 3 for instance, and Albany, NY has one on RF channel 6. Dutch 2001 GBM Landau 34' Class A F-53 Chassis, Triton V10, TST TPMS 2011 Toyota RAV4 4WD/Remco pump ReadyBrute Elite tow bar/brake system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXiceman Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 There are still over 300 TV stations on either the lo-VHF (ch 2-6) or the hi-VHF (7-13) RF channels. Las Vegas has a station broadcasting on RF channel 3 for instance, and Albany, NY has one on RF channel 6. Yes, there are still some (small percentage) of the station still in the VHF bands and are generally low power stations. This is why the old bat wing still works good as it can pick up the VHF band. The Wingman enhances the UHF signals, but does make the antenna more directional. Ken Amateur radio operator, 2023 Cougar 22MLS, 2022 F150 Lariat 4x4 Off Road, Sport trim <br />Travel with 1 miniature schnauzer, 1 standard schnauzer and one African Gray parrot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch_12078 Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 Yes, there are still some (small percentage) of the station still in the VHF bands and are generally low power stations. This is why the old bat wing still works good as it can pick up the VHF band. The Wingman enhances the UHF signals, but does make the antenna more directional. Ken RF channel 3 in the Las Vegas market is the NBC outlet, RF channel 6 in the Albany, NY market is the CBS outlet, and RF channel 7 in the NYC is the ABC outlet, just for a few VHF examples. None of them are low power. You might find this spreadsheet at RabbitEars.info informative. Click on the arrow in the "RF Ch" column and do an ascending sort. Note that the majority of the 465 VHF channel broadcasters listed are major network outlets. Of course the Wingman yagi director array is a good addition to the batwing for enhanced UHF reception, but let's not write off VHF performance just yet. Dutch 2001 GBM Landau 34' Class A F-53 Chassis, Triton V10, TST TPMS 2011 Toyota RAV4 4WD/Remco pump ReadyBrute Elite tow bar/brake system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom_M Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 Yes, there are still some (small percentage) of the station still in the VHF bands and are generally low power stations. Ken According to the list that Dutch linked to, there are 1817 full power TV stations in the US and it's territories. 461 of these are VHF which is 25.6%. The Winegard Batwing started life designed to favor the VHF channels. Once digital broadcasts started, Winegard developed the Wingman attachment to boost the UHF channels. They later came out with the Sensar IV which has the Wingman built in. Considering that there actually is a fairly large percentage of VHF stations, one must not dismiss the VHF band. Tom—————————————————2005 Born Free 24' Rear Bath Towing 1978 VW Bug convertible Minneapolis, MN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevekk Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 Just newly installed, I have been trying this antenna. So far, so good. The new Winegard Rayzar. Steve LIFETIME MEMBER 2011 Born Free Class C OR/ CA border NEWBIE, so I have everything to learn ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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