TV Antenna Servicing and Upgrade

[FeatherFam]

After servicing our stock Winegard Sensar antenna yesterday, I am seriously considering an upgrade to a model with fewer moving parts. I would imagine that they all are made with cruddy, cheap parts and poorly assembled, so maybe fewer moving parts is as good as I can do. I do not want to spend the money nor drill new holes for the automatic scanning models. The King is more in line with my investment desire, and it uses the same mounting plate. The King rotates manually, but it does not need to move up and down.

Any thoughts? I am not at all impressed with the design or build of the stock Winegard, and I do not want to fool with it twice a year. What are the King's maintenance issues?

[Bassdogs]

You might not like the stock antanae but its probably as good as the others. If you lub the winegard at the beginning and end of each camping season it should give you good service for the life of your RV. Yes they have a few simple moving parts but my experience with the many RV's we have owned over the years is that they are pretty darn reliable. I did manage to trash mine back in November when I apparently backed under some low branches and bent both square tube uprights. I watch for heavy limbs and other low hanging stuff, but let my guard down backing in a parking lot at a tourist site in Natchez Miss. No damage to the roof or anything else so new tubes for $15 and a few [don't ask] extra trips up the ladder and I'm back in business.

[RVhiker]

I second what Bassdogs said about the Winegard antenna. I've had two fifth wheels since 2001 and have not had a failure of the Winegard antenna system. It does need to be maintained, but this is simply spraying with silicone spray in the right places once or twice a year. I also think that it is the best, or at least among the best, in receiving weak signals.

[namusmc65]

I replaced my wineguard with the King Jack as I heard they were much better and less subject to leaking. That may be true about the leaking but better reception is not true, in my case. I got better reception with the old Wineguard than I do with the newer King Jack. Wish I had not changed them out.

[Brownie]

I got a King Jack antennae about 6 months ago, and couldn't be happier with the results! Pretty much doubled the number of stations I receive at all the locations I camp. And it pretty much eliminated the pixilating the I would get as some station's signal would fade in and out. It does use the same mount and posts as the Winegard, so you're kind of stuck with that - unless you invest some big bucks in an auto-scanner or a multi-directional "dome" type. A little WD-40 on the friction plate might improve its rotating performance.

Just my $ 0.02!

[havnfun]

I agree with Brownie. Put in a King Jack in 2015 and added about 70% more channels than the stock Wineguard antenna. Installation took just a few minutes as it hooks right in to the existing mounts.
Happy RVing,
Jeff

[North of 49°]

I have to climb on the roof every spring to inspect the roof and clean the air conditioner coils, so bringing a spray can of lube up there with me is no big deal. We camp far enough away from the local stations' transmitters that we consider ourselves lucky if we get one or two watchable channels, so I don't think upgrading the antenna would make a difference. We have discussed and discarded the idea of a portable satellite dish; if we wanted to watch television all weekend, we would just stay home.

[Camper_bob]

Like many others here, I upgraded my antenna head to the King Jack. Install was SUPER easy. I didn't even get on my roof, I was able to do it from a ladder next to my camper. Reception is notably improved.

The only thing I'll say is that since it uses the same hardware from the roof to the top of the "mast", it doesn't offer any reduction in leak potential. I kind of wish I had gotten the one that replaces the entire setup. It looks MUCH less prone to leakage, is virtually maintenance free, and includes an electronic signal meter. Price increase over just the head replacement would not have been significant enough to scare me away from it given the advantages. I just didn't know it existed at the time I did the upgrade.

So, now I'm curious if I can get just the "mast" for the other setup and put my existing "head" on it and save a little money, but that's not offered for sale that I've found. So I'd have to call the manuf. to see if it's possible and how to get the part, and I just haven't done that yet.