Antenna SUCKS

[Abcd]

I bought this trailer in Feb of this year (hideout 272lhs) with a antenna that you don't wind up. The guy told us this is better than the other one. Well he's totally wrong. What can I do to get better reception with this antenna? Do I need to buy another booster?

[chuckster57]

Welcome to the forum :wlcm:
The fixed wing antennas aren't the greatest in the world as you found out. Adding a booster isn't going to improve the reception if the booster that came with the trailer is on. You have few options, there are "fixed" antennas made by triple vision that kick butt, or depending on the location of your current antenna, you could replace it with an antenna that rotates. Installing a rotating antenna would involve drilling a hole through the ceiling to attach the rotation control knob and that's why it matters where your current antenna is mounted.

[LarrySharon]

I so agree with you. I was so disappointed in this style as well. I debated what to do, I tried a booster but that did not work (Chuckster57 said) So after much thought and investigating I decided to go with the Dish Tailgater. Camping World had them on sale and I got a free receiver to boot. (Good Sam mbr) Haven't gotten it yet so I can't say how that is working out. :)

[ncgrl1]

I have one of those useless pieces of junk also. They might as well mounted a Frisbee up there. You could at least play with it...

[Abcd]

Went to the camping store down the road to see what they have.There is no easy fix obivisouly. They only had 2 options Available. They had the crank style And the roof style. Both Styles required work to the camper. So going to wait tell next year

[chuckster57]

They are considered "omnidirectional" but I have found they are very dependent on "heading" and physical location on the roof. It seems that the AC unit can block the signal, and replacement choices are very limited.

Since we have had Directv since about 2002, we use a receiver from a bedroom and a wineguard carry out. Being a tech and seeing/testing many different brands of antennas, I like the king Jack and the "wingman" both not an option for the OP.

[notanlines]

ABCD, we use the Wingman recommended by Chuckster. If you and your "friend" are handy at all this is a job for a short afternoon.

[vantage32fls]

I seen one at antenna deals.com that had good reviews anyone ever try one? Thinking about one for us.

[ken56]

I have one also on my new rig. My old unit had the Sensar with the Wing man and I was able to get 32 channels. This one I can get all of 6......maybe. Short of a total replacement or going satellite I am not as yet willing to put out the money for either.

[madmaxmutt]

I think this is weird because, I get more channels with the flying saucer than my Sensar wingman ever got and I don' have to turn it around.

[Tinner12002]

Not sure whats on mine but until I found the booster button mine got hardly no channels. After I found booster button it gets 47 out of 67 channels scanned! I thought it was doing good!

[briyoung]

Just curious, do all of these types of antennas have a booster button? We get almost zero channels no matter where we are.

[chuckster57]

Just curious, do all of these types of antennas have a booster button? We get almost zero channels no matter where we are.

Yes there should be a booster button on all RV antennas. It should be on one of the plates where the coax connects.

[briyoung]

Yes there should be a booster button on all RV antennas. It should be on one of the plates where the coax connects.

Thank you, that would explain no channels then lol. We were never shown that during the walk through.

[PARAPTOR]

Just as a reminder, when you are connected to campsite cable turn that booster off

[madmaxmutt]

Just as a reminder, when you are connected to campsite cable turn that booster offAnd... When you are not using it when not connected to shore power.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[Desert185]

The Wingman on my crankup antenna made a big difference...FWIW to those who have the similar antenna.

We also bought a Blu Ray WIFI DVD player from Costco for ~$50. We don't go to movies much anymore, so we buy new release DVD's and pop our own popcorn for movie night in the boonies. If near a good WIFI, Netflix is available, too. That's enough TV for us when not at home.

[CamperDave]

The fixed wing antennas are horrible unless you are really close to a tower that just happens to be inline with the signal path the wing is tuning to. I scrapped mine and replaced with a King OmniPro Omnidirectional antenna. My first experience with it was just as bad as the wing antenna. There was nothing in front of it and the towers were about 50-60 miles away. We went to a campsite a mile down the road and the reception was decent (Cartoon channel for the kiddos), about 10 channels total without pixelation. It all depends where you are but is definitely an improvement over the stock (no name) wing Keystone provides.

When two TV's are on at the same time (on different channels), one TV will pixelate, so the signal going out to the TV's are pretty weak (splitters in between also reduce the signal). To eliminate this, I installed a small in-line 10db power booster to the TV farthest away. This solved the low signal issue.

I have even worse luck finding an opening without trees in the South West sky for my dish (missed many ball games as a result). Location, Location, Location.

[Tinner12002]

Thank you, that would explain no channels then lol. We were never shown that during the walk through.

Don't feel bad as we weren't shown were ours was either...I had to go on a search for it and found it were I never would have thought it to be, in the ceiling above our heads while laying in bed, staring at the red indicator light...what a stupid place for one!!!!!!

[MarcS]

I didn't know we had an antenna booster, until I read this thread. Found it behind the television. It has always been on. I asked my DW if she knew we had one, she did not.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[dblanch57]

My trailer came with the roadstar fixed antenna. Worked ok in the yard but the one campground we frequent, it wouldn't pick any channels. The crank up one on the last trailer picked up a few channels. So here is what I am doing. I bought one of those $35 dollar house antennas and three sections of PVC pipe. 2 of them are 1.5 inch and the other is a 2 inch. I take my step ladder along to clean slideouts off before leaving, so I cut a hole in the paint tray for the 2 inch pipe to fit. I run this antenna up about 14 feet and hook the coax into the cable outlet on the trailer. I put another booster on the line to the TV, and I can get 35 channels where I used to get 3.

[Propilot11]

Sounds great. Can you tell us which model antenna and booster you used please.