Jack Antenna Installation

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by Gene

Use it at the outlet, inline between the outlet and the TV. That kind of box is not frequency selective so as you turn the antenna you may find more that one "hot" direction. A lot better than waiting for the TV to scan "dead" directions.

Duh..... Thank you for pointing out the error of my ways... Don't know what I was thinking... Wrong obviously. Thanks again.

Yes, the dead channel scan can get old quick....

[Poppy & Nana]

Not us! We went from mid 50's this morning down to 30 now (7pm), dropping to teens tonight and guess what we have snow AGAIN and major flooding....the Moose River has flooded its banks in soooo many places - docks are being ripped from the banks and are floating down the river.....this has not been a good week. Singing Waters Campground on Route 28 (just sough of Old Forge) is under water and the water has gotten into some of the seasonal trailers on site......

[Gene]

Originally Posted by JohnB

Duh..... ......

I have heard of a lot of people wanting to put that signal finder into the circuit between the outlet and the antenna, you are not alone by any means John.

Seeing that link reminded me what I forgot to put on my "Santa List" last Christmas.

[dtstanton]

Originally Posted by Gene

I have heard of a lot of people wanting to put that signal finder into the circuit between the outlet and the antenna, you are not alone by any means John.

Seeing that link reminded me what I forgot to put on my "Santa List" last Christmas.

They show two ways it can be used.

[mainah]

Originally Posted by Poppy & Nana

Not us! We went from mid 50's this morning down to 30 now (7pm), dropping to teens tonight and guess what we have snow AGAIN and major flooding....the Moose River has flooded its banks in soooo many places - docks are being ripped from the banks and are floating down the river.....this has not been a good week. Singing Waters Campground on Route 28 (just sough of Old Forge) is under water and the water has gotten into some of the seasonal trailers on site......

One local campground's parking lot and most riverside sites are under water 30 acres of my lower fields are 6 to 8' under water (Saco river) and we got 2" of snow a day ago Our vernal pond froze last night and there is still 50' of snow in Tuckerman's ravine on Mt Washington (head waters of the Saco) but spring and camping is coming I know it is.

[Gene]

I saw the gauge for the Saco River was at 13 feet early Wednesday, flood is 9 feet.

[mainah]

Yeah the news people never have much to say about the Saco flooding I guess because there are a not a lot of people living on the upper Saco It does get their attention when it runs over the road in East Conway. I'm going to send the TV news people pictures of my fields and the camp ground just for grins. There is a big camp ground in Conway right on the river they chain down there picnic shelters for good reason the water has been up to their store at about 20'

[Wannabes]

Dale,

You do nice work! Just wondering, how much higher is the Jack antenna than that AC unit?

[dtstanton]

Originally Posted by Wannabes

Dale,

You do nice work! Just wondering, how much higher is the Jack antenna than that AC unit?

Thanks, Matthew! Actually, it's about the same. Specs say 11.75" H.

[Wannabes]

Thanks, Dale! Was wondering b/c on the pixs it looks a little higher than the AC unit but that could be an optical illusion. We gave up our satellite dish (in our home) about 2 years ago b/c we just didn't watch enough TV to justify the cost. No TV in the Sunline but, if we come out West next summer with Lisa's Mom in tow, she'll want to watch TV as she is addicted to "Dancing with the Stars." Our 2363 has a Wineguard antenna but we might replace it, especially if the Jack gets better reception. Let us know how it works out for you after you've used it for a few months.

(Yikes, I didn't mean to insinuate that we're going to tow my MIL.)

[dtstanton]

You're welcome!

It may be slightly higher, but not enough to be concerned about. I will let you know how it does this weekend. We're going to be out in the middle of nowhere as far as TV goes. Keep in mind that you can get a Jack replacement head for your Winegard crank-up. At this early stage, I would recommend the signal finder, too. Again, I'll let everybody know how it does.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Wannabes

... with Lisa's Mom in tow,...
(Yikes, I didn't mean to insinuate that we're going to tow my MIL.)

Now that was funny ...

[dtstanton]

We just got back from Caprock Canyons State Park near Quitaque, TX. All I can say about the Jack antenna is.....I am impressed!

When we got all set up, I flipped on the signal finder, rotated to the strongest signal, and started scanning channels. With the signal finder's gain maxed out, the strongest signal was only lighting 2 of 4 led's. All of Amarillo's HD (and some SD) stations were there for the picking - and some I've never heard of. A total of 11 were there - and I would have been happy with 2 or 3. After sunset, that number increased to 14. (I didn't even bother to check Lubbock's direction.) We're talking 70-80 miles distance to either city's transmitters/towers, according to the FCC's maps. They said there was no signal at Caprock, BTW.

There was some stormy weather in the area and we could easily keep track of what was going on - to the point of cutting our stay a little short. We saw where some nasty weather was coming in this afternoon, and Caprock Canyons was supposed to get the worst of it (including a good possibility of golf ball sized hail). We broke camp, headed home and checked the radar on the way home when our hot spot found a connection, and they were getting hit pretty hard.

The Jack smoke test was a success! Like I said, I was (and am) impressed!

[dtstanton]

Originally Posted by Wannabes

Was wondering b/c on the pixs it looks a little higher than the AC unit but that could be an optical illusion.

Here's a better pic of the height of the Jack, Matthew.

[Gene]

Dale, thanks for that first hand report of your success with the Jack antenna. The results ARE impressive. It looks like you nailed it with the installation, getting everything done correctly.

Also, very glad to see you got away from the bad weather in a timely fashion.

[mainah]

Originally Posted by dtstanton

Are amplified RV antennas very good at filtering out EMI from things like air conditioners? I may find out pretty soon. Going to do a little camping this weekend.

Frankly no, they are very broad banded and kind of pickup every thing but there is not much in the A/C to give you any issues.

[bunjin]

Thanks for the feedback. I was watching with great interest. Glad it was a success. Love when that happens!

[dtstanton]

Originally Posted by mainah

Frankly no, they are very broad banded and kind of pickup every thing but there is not much in the A/C to give you any issues.

Thanks, Tim. I wouldn't expect so, but I had to ask anyhow - given the close proximity.

[dtstanton]

To add a little follow-up info to this project....

We spent Mother's Day weekend in Palo Duro Canyon (over 20 miles to local stations and 600'+ canyon walls all around). When checking out other campers in one of the campgrounds, I was surprised to see many more Jacks in use than before. About 1/3 of the campers in that CG had Jacks - some, the Winegard crank-up replacement, some the fixed mount like ours. They are apparently becoming fairly popular - presumably a testament to their performance and quality for the price.

I got the necessary connectors/adapters and tried the FM stations through the Jack, and got to try that part out! I simply plugged the FM antenna cable into the 2nd TV connection on the power supply via an RCA-F Connector adapter. (Our Coby KTFDVD1093 has an RCA port for the FM antenna.)

As for the EMI and its proximity to the AC, I had no problems at all when running it even with the antenna pointed right at it. It is possible that I could have had some diminished signal, but I wouldn't know it. I had no problems with station loss.

For us, money well spent.

[bunjin]

I came across this and thought it may be of some use in this thread for those that may want to update or thinking of change, etc.

Jack RV Digital TV Antenna - YouTube

I believe in the answer/comment section of the page it is acknowledged that the power is DC...not AC. It comes with a AC to DC adapter.