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OTA - Rayzar Automatic HDTV RV Antenna


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Does anyone have any experience or tested this OTA antenna? http://www.winegard.com/over-the-air-television-antennas?q=mobile.

Seems like this antenna would make OTA signals a little easier to acquire?

Thanks

 

George and Ann Marie

2014 Cedar Creek 36CKTS, 640W of Solar

2012 Ram 3500, DRW, Cummins, Big Horn, Q20, Retrax Pro

Retired US Army

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For 400 bucks + , it better serve those OTA stations with your choice of beverage . ;)

I know, you got that right ! Currently we are on a 5 day travel cadence, and seems like we are constantly turning the antenna and searching for channels. The DW likes to watch ABC, and when we can't get Directtv (because of trees) OTA is the only option. Trying to ease the pain with or without a beverage !

George and Ann Marie

2014 Cedar Creek 36CKTS, 640W of Solar

2012 Ram 3500, DRW, Cummins, Big Horn, Q20, Retrax Pro

Retired US Army

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For 400 bucks + , it better serve those OTA stations with your choice of beverage . ;)

And have someone available to serve them to you. :>) Sometimes prices for rv related items just doesn't make any sense at all.

2010 Newmar Dutch Aire 4304-Spartan Chassis-Cummins ISL 425hp-2013 Chevrolet Equinox AWD Towed-SKP# 120487-FMCA #402879-

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Here's my 'secret' for OTA reception :

 

HPIM0002_zpsebvjjysu.jpg

 

That added wire loop is 9" front to back and about 3/4" wide . I simply attached it to the booster terminals , located inside Winegard housing .

 

I added it over 3 years ago . Our reception increased 4 times ( went from 4 stations to more than 16 ) .

 

Mostly I just raise the antenna , sometimes I leave it in the travel position and once in a while , I'll have to raise and turn it to have good reception .

 

Sorry for the poor photo .

Goes around , comes around .

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We have both the RAZR Automatic, and the Sensar IV, both installed at the sometime in A/B mode. I primarily added the Sensar IV to get the raisable mast, to attache other antennas too. They're set up in A/B switching, so I can change between them when wanted.

 

We use the RAZR Automatic 99% of the time, as over the year we've had it, we've primarily been in areas that the Automatic has done the job.

 

I know from reports I've read of others testing the differences between these two antennas, and also my own experience the few times we've been in a fringe area for a specific OTA station, that the Sensar IV will pull in those fringe stations better then the Automatic. Frankly, of run, it has not been a problem using the Automatic the bulk of the time. I like the KISS approach, and very seldom 'tune' the default location it stops in, but when I have, it's been more then enough to strengthen a station I might have been interested in at that location. (One was to watch a football game. It was 'on' at the default stopped location, but it was sometimes breaking up on the sound. By me changing the Automatics direction for that specific channel, it stopped the breaking up.)

 

We usually use DirectTV for our primary watching. Jumping to OTA for local news, and weather and events.

 

I have had no noticeable problems with interference from the AC, as the Automatic is located far enough away. The owner of Temecula Valley RV, who installed all of our antennas, including our Travler, said that one of his customers was getting some blockage from the AC. To work around that, he got a 5 gallon white bucket, like the Home Depot orange ones, and cut it down to 8-10", used "L" braces to mount it to the roof, and then mounted the RAZR Automatic to the bottom (Now pointing up.) of that bucket. This cleared his AC, and any other blockage, and yet he was not too much higher then the AC. Only mention this if your application might have the AC too close, as it seemed like a good work around solution.

 

Best to you,

Smitty

Be safe, have fun,

Smitty

04 CC Allure "RooII" - Our "E" ride for life!

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Pat & Pete. What a great idea! I tried to put the add on yagi antenna, but it hit my air conditioner. Is this coat hanger or copper wire? Is the loop on one side of the antenna or both? I'm definitely doing this mode next weekend.

Jerry and Joan

2014 Ford F350 with 6.7 turbo, TrailerSaver

2014 40' Heartland Gateway Fifth wheel

iLoveRVlife.com

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Pat & Pete. What a great idea! I tried to put the add on yagi antenna, but it hit my air conditioner. Is this coat hanger or copper wire? Is the loop on one side of the antenna or both? I'm definitely doing this mode next weekend.

 

The loop is a single piece of copper wire that I had laying around . I think it was 14 gauge . There's a small booster board inside the housing , with a terminal to both sides . I simply attached the loop ends to each screw terminal . I had to make a couple 'holes' in the edge of the upper housing cover . I did that with my soldering gun . Heat melts plastic , real nice . ;)

 

I misunderstood your question : "one side or both?"

 

The loop is on the outside only . The other side has the dual mast mount which I left original .

Goes around , comes around .

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We have both the RAZR Automatic, and the Sensar IV, both installed at the sometime in A/B mode. I primarily added the Sensar IV to get the raisable mast, to attache other antennas too. They're set up in A/B switching, so I can change between them when wanted.

 

We use the RAZR Automatic 99% of the time, as over the year we've had it, we've primarily been in areas that the Automatic has done the job.

 

I know from reports I've read of others testing the differences between these two antennas, and also my own experience the few times we've been in a fringe area for a specific OTA station, that the Sensar IV will pull in those fringe stations better then the Automatic. Frankly, of run, it has not been a problem using the Automatic the bulk of the time. I like the KISS approach, and very seldom 'tune' the default location it stops in, but when I have, it's been more then enough to strengthen a station I might have been interested in at that location. (One was to watch a football game. It was 'on' at the default stopped location, but it was sometimes breaking up on the sound. By me changing the Automatics direction for that specific channel, it stopped the breaking up.)

 

We usually use DirectTV for our primary watching. Jumping to OTA for local news, and weather and events.

 

I have had no noticeable problems with interference from the AC, as the Automatic is located far enough away. The owner of Temecula Valley RV, who installed all of our antennas, including our Travler, said that one of his customers was getting some blockage from the AC. To work around that, he got a 5 gallon white bucket, like the Home Depot orange ones, and cut it down to 8-10", used "L" braces to mount it to the roof, and then mounted the RAZR Automatic to the bottom (Now pointing up.) of that bucket. This cleared his AC, and any other blockage, and yet he was not too much higher then the AC. Only mention this if your application might have the AC too close, as it seemed like a good work around solution.

 

Best to you,

Smitty

Thanks for your comments Smitty. We have the same viewing habits, just so happens the last two stops have been heavily wooded, and could not get Directv. You mention that feature I am interested in, and that is the RAZR remembers the "other" azimuths" where it picked up signals, thus allowing you to manually tune to that signal. My neighbor right now has a RAZR and he says he is getting 30 channels, but would have to "de-tune" the RAZR for some of them. I have to get up on the roof and measure my real estate.

George and Ann Marie

2014 Cedar Creek 36CKTS, 640W of Solar

2012 Ram 3500, DRW, Cummins, Big Horn, Q20, Retrax Pro

Retired US Army

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The loop is a single piece of copper wire that I had laying around . I think it was 14 gauge . There's a small booster board inside the housing , with a terminal to both sides . I simply attached the loop ends to each screw terminal . I had to make a couple 'holes' in the edge of the upper housing cover . I did that with my soldering gun . Heat melts plastic , real nice . ;)

 

I misunderstood your question : "one side or both?"

 

The loop is on the outside only . The other side has the dual mast mount which I left original .

Did you have the add on wingman(or whatever it is called) also? I have the add on and wonder if the new loop would help me.

http://www.toadswildadventures.blogspot.com/

Just travelin' down life's highway-toot-toot!

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Did you have the add on wingman(or whatever it is called) also? I have the add on and wonder if the new loop would help me.

 

I did not have the Wingman ad on . I'd researched the ad on Wingman and wasn't impressed with the results that most folks were reporting . Anyway , I decided to try the folded dipole ( fancy name for the loop ) and it worked so well I considered my search for improvement done . I can say that the loop seems to pull stations from about 40 miles away . It's design is meant to improve UHF channels ( 14 - 51 ) . The standard Winegard does a good job for VHF channels ( 2 - 13 ) .

 

I'm not sure if the loop would work with the Wingman or interfere . The loop uses the same contacts as the Wingman , but from the top instead of the bottom .

 

You might wait to see if jerryneal posts his results .

Goes around , comes around .

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  • 3 months later...

Pat and Pete, I finally found one of those round-2-its and added the loop to my antenna. It does make a difference. I have a signal meter on one of my TVs and for one of my weak channels the signal went from 50 to 74. The reading is not a true dB meter, but good enough to determine the before and after. The loop removed the data pixelation seen before the mod. It was pretty simple, but I had to be very careful removing the outer housing. The plastic had been baked by a couple years of sun and I was concerned it would break.

 

https://www.flickr.com/gp/jerryneal/0W1y5b

 

https://www.flickr.com/gp/jerryneal/181159

 

Thanks again for the tip.

Jerry and Joan

2014 Ford F350 with 6.7 turbo, TrailerSaver

2014 40' Heartland Gateway Fifth wheel

iLoveRVlife.com

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We use satellite most of the time but the Bounder came with a King Jack antenna (about $105) has a built in signal meter in the base where you adjust the direction. It works pretty good when used with an app that tells where the stations are.

 

As for the wire loop addition, the frequency of UHF band which is what you are trying to get has antenna elements shorted that that wire loop. The Wingman addition for the Sensar antenna is tailored to the UHF band.

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We too use satellite, but like getting locals for weather and news, I've looked at the King Jack in operation. They're very nice antennas and price is reasonable for the features offered. I could be a little more resourceful and experiment with the elements, but the results work for now. I had the #6 copper wire and the only investment was 30 minutes and a little sweat in the Georgia sun.

Jerry and Joan

2014 Ford F350 with 6.7 turbo, TrailerSaver

2014 40' Heartland Gateway Fifth wheel

iLoveRVlife.com

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