Digital Add-On for Winegard Batwing antennas.....

[nasa42a]

Folks.......
Ran across this a few minutes ago:

Winegard upgrades its Sensar TV antenna
posted on January 13, 2009 10:17

BURLINGTON, Iowa -- In preparation for the transition to digital television Feb. 17, Winegard Company introduces the Wingman DTV Upgrade for Sensar RV television antennas.

Designed to increase performance up to 100 percent on DTV channels, consumers get more antenna range so they can enjoy free local programming in both digital and high- definition, assuming their TV is digital ready or they have a converter box.

Winegard Sensar antennas currently provide excellent VHF reception (Ch. 2 - 13) and great UHF reception (Ch. 14 - 51), the company said in a press release. With the Wingman DTV upgrade, RVers will enjoy excellent reception for both VHF and UHF frequencies.

"The No, 1 antenna in the RV industry just got better," said Aaron Engberg, director, mobile and digital TV reception products, Winegard. "The new Wingman is a simple and very affordable upgrade that will significantly improve over-the-air television reception for RVers now and after the switch is made to digital in February."

The Wingman, model RV-WING, is compatible with all Winegard crank-up Sensar antennas and lists at just $29.99 MSRP. The sleek, lightweight add-on easily attaches to the existing Sensar head with four simple snap-on screws. It installs in just minutes with no tools required. Compact Wingman add-on measures 16.5-by-14-by-1.4 inches and the elements are powder coated for long-lasting durability in harsh environmental conditions. It weighs in at just 1 pound

For more information, visit www.winegard.com

Frank

[Tweety]

So does this mean that we HAVE to have this or we won't get TV over the air even if we have an HDTV? (link wouldn't work)

[clueless campers]

Tweety, try this

http://www.winegard.com/wingman/

[kanyonkitty]

I "think" (yeah, I know that's dangerous !) If you have a TV with a digital tuner, your current antenna will work, if your TV has an analog tuner you will need either the "converter box" or I guess this new Winegard add-on item.

A HDTV does not necessarily mean that you have a "digital" TV, nor does having a flat panel TV. You need to find out if you TV has a digital or analog tuner.

OK, now somebody, please let me know IF I'm understandig all this TV/Digital stuff correctly

[larry818]

I've looked at the add on thingy and the original antenna. It appears that the original antenna is a dipole resonant across the VHF frequencies with no special attempt to cover the UHF frequencies. This was pretty common with TV antennas as most folks never watched uhf.

Now that all channels will be in the uhf band, folks will notice the poor performance of the original design. This add on thingy is actually a uhf beam antenna that is resonant in that band.

However, the digital signal does not need to be as good as it did with analog. You may have great reception with the original antenna and save the $.

I notice they don't publish the gain on the "wingman" antenna. It's a pretty smallish 2 element beam. I'm thinking of swapping our outside antenna with one of these:

http://www.winegard.com/offair/pdf/HD-9032.pdf

It's got a pretty good 15dB gain. The only reason to keep the VHF element now would be to listen to FM radio, which we don't do.

I'm also adding a second beam (yagi) antenna for wifi. It seems a lot of campgrounds have wifi at some central location that I'd like to get from the trailer. I have a 13dB gain yagi antenna that I've been able to hit access points 5 miles away with. Pretty cool.

[larry818]

Originally Posted by kanyonkitty

if your TV has an analog tuner you will need either the "converter box" or I guess this new Winegard add-on item.

The Winegard thing is just a better antenna. If your tv has an analog tuner, you will need the converter box.

I'm liking the converter box. It's annoying to have two remotes, but still no big deal. All the stations are clearer than they were.

[pwb01]

I use an old set of rabbit ears on the digital TV in my bedroom and they work just fine. Maybe an upgrade to the campers antenna will reach out a little further but TV is not all that important for us especially while camping. I think the existing antenna would be adequate. We dry camp most of the time and at this time I don't see a 12v converter available so that leaves DVD's only if we watch TV unless I find a small 12v digital at a reasonable price.

[dkasten39828]

We have installed a converter box (digital tuner) in our 2499. The antenna is the original one the coach came with. The television is a non-digital tube-type flat screen TV of about 20-inches.

The digital signal comes in great with this setup. Better picture quality (once you aim the antenna correctly) than the analog stations give us.

I am pretty certain if you have an HDTV, then you have a digital tuner and therefore can receive the digital signal without any additional box quite well with the existing antenna.

I have been told that Wineguard also makes a newer model of the Sensar antenna... I think it's the Sensar III... that will give you HD digital signal capabilities. The older models will pick up and provide a digital signal but it's only SD or Standard Definition. You can buy just the newer model head unit and swap it yourself, according to the RV Tech I spoke with.

So I figure that since I only have a CRT-type TV in the coach right now that cannot do HD, it makes no sense for me to rush out and buy a newer antenna head. I'll stick with existing Sensar until it quits working or I buy/inherit a HDTV for the coach.

[henryj]

I'm no audio/video tech, but I did recently buy a new 19" TV for the 2499 and learned a few things in Wikipedia as well.

In the US:
* By July 1, 2005 all televisions with screen sizes over 36" must include a built-in ATSC DTV tuner

* By March 1, 2006 all televisions with screen sizes over 25" must include a built-in ATSC DTV tuner

* By March 1, 2007 all televisions regardless of screen size, and all interface devices which include a tuner (VCR, DVD player/recorder, DVR) must include a built-in ATSC DTV tuner.(from Wikipedia)

Older TVs with the NTSC analog tuner will require a converter.

The 19" Samsung I bought has a ATSC/QAM tuner. Look up QAM in Wikipedia if you really want to know what it is. Basically it allows reception of digital cable channels without a set top box as opposed to the ATSC which receives the digital signal over the air. So ideally we should be checking for ATSC/QAM to have the latest and greatest.

Canada is not going digital until 2011 and it's buyer beware in the meantime to wade through all the lingo as HDTVs are still available without the ATSC tuner.

Henry

[kanyonkitty]

I have a 15" flat screen HDTV in the bedroom of Sunny and it does NOT have a digital tuner, so I bought a converter box for it. Now the new 22" HDTV for the living room IS digital.

I have a friend that purchased a 12V converter box, so I will get that info from him and post it here for anyone interested.

Kitty & KD

[larry818]

I have an HD TV with an analog tuner in it. It's only HD if you use an external HD source.

Most any converter box will be low voltage (they use wall wart transformers) so you can probably pick up a 12volt dc supply for any one of them.