TV Antenna

[Jason S]

I have a 2017 330 RSTS travel trailer. The previous owner had a cover on it, and the TV antenna was either broken off, or removed and not replaced/supplied.

Can anyone tell me what make/model that might be on this trailer?



Or - an improved replacement which isn't too invasive to install.


Thanks!

Jason

[Colorado]

Jason, Google is your friend. What is the best Replacement RV TV antenna?

[norty1]

Do you see anywhere on the roof that it may have been?

[triplebvalp]

Originally Posted by Jason S

I have a 2017 330 RSTS travel trailer. The previous owner had a cover on it, and the TV antenna was either broken off, or removed and not replaced/supplied.

Can anyone tell me what make/model that might be on this trailer?



Or - an improved replacement which isn't too invasive to install.


Thanks!

Jason

Jason, our 2017 Jayco Eagle HT 27.5 had this antenna:

https://winegard.com/industry/recrea...ayzar-z1-black

[campingva]

Look at a King Jack antenna for a replacement. Much better than a Wingaurd.

[AKRUEBBE]

Originally Posted by campingva

Look at a King Jack antenna for a replacement. Much better than a Wingaurd.

Just curious, what makes the King Jack superior over the Winegard?

[campingva]

Originally Posted by AKRUEBBE

Just curious, what makes the King Jack superior over the Winegard?

Much better reception over the same area. I had a Wingaurd on my hybrid and at my usual campground could only get about 4 channels. Switched to the King Jack and could get about 12 in the same area. Plus it has a smaller foot print. Yes it is an amplified antenna.

[Vista]

Originally Posted by Colorado

Jason, Google is your friend. What is the best Replacement RV TV antenna?

This is always an interesting reply to me.

Jason probably used Google to ask a Jayco related TV question, and found the Jayco owners group in some of his search results.

Forums are not static, unchanging sources of information. Information, opinions, experience all change, and so too may the answer to the same question over time. They also present a way to have conversation with others interested in the same topic, often experts. It's that level of dialogue, and often clarification that drives people to ask a question on a forum, even if they have seen an answer in google results.

I can appreciate it gets frustrating when it seems the answer is obvious. But, I can also understand people reaching out to a community to answer and clarify something they may be doubtful about.

I hope the forum always remains an RV Life "community". The word is right there in the sub title.

[RoyBraddy]

I have this setup on my off-road popup trailer...


Roy's image

I started out with KING antenna and it worked great but you had to really get it pointed right at the TV Station. Using the Winegard it is more forgiving on pointing and I also get great reception.. Both antenna uses a RF amplifier...

Roy Ken

[Camper_bob]

I would install a King Jack if I were you. And personally, I would install it on the short fixed mast so you never have to worry about whether your antenna is down prior to travel.

I replaced the antenna head on my TT with a King Jack, and improvement was noticeable, but not dramatic. My MH came with a King Jack on a short fixed mast, and I get plenty of channels whenever I try (which isn't all that often any more).

And if you find that you use your TV antenna a lot (as opposed to CG cable or DVDs), it might be worth your while to get a unit with a signal meter built in. Makes it super convenient when you go to aim your antenna. Otherwise you're looking for a bearing to the nearest tower on Antennaweb.org (or whatever your favorite tower finder app is) and using your compass to aim the antenna at that tower.

[DocBrown]

We have a Jack antenna head replacement for the stock Winegard Batwing. We like it a lot and it does a nice job of pulling in more stations. At the time we bought it in 2013 the Jack was the antenna to buy. If I did it now I would get the Winegard Wingman. Everything I've read about it says it's better. And it's cheaper. We don't really watch much over OTA TV when camping so it's not as big of a deal to us as it might be to others.

https://www.amazon.com/Winegard-RV-W.../dp/B001U2DPUE

[RetiredOne]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

I would install a King Jack if I were you. And personally, I would install it on the short fixed mast so you never have to worry about whether your antenna is down prior to travel.

I replaced the antenna head on my TT with a King Jack, and improvement was noticeable, but not dramatic. My MH came with a King Jack on a short fixed mast, and I get plenty of channels whenever I try (which isn't all that often any more).

And if you find that you use your TV antenna a lot (as opposed to CG cable or DVDs), it might be worth your while to get a unit with a signal meter built in. Makes it super convenient when you go to aim your antenna. Otherwise you're looking for a bearing to the nearest tower on Antennaweb.org (or whatever your favorite tower finder app is) and using your compass to aim the antenna at that tower.

I believe my rig came with the King Jack standard on the fixed based (see the picture below). So far, it's been OK. I had an issue this week where I pointed it toward the tower source (I use antennaweb to see what's available), but couldn't pull in the station, even though they were only 25 miles away.

I think part of the issue was that my A/C unit blocked the antenna, since the antenna sits lower. That was the direction I had to aim it.

So, I'm researching what other options I have. I'd like to get the antenna higher, at least over the A/C. Mounting a better, higher gain antenna would be my optimum choice.

Does anyone know if the base/mount of the King Jack can be changed/adapted to a taller and fold down and higher gain antenna? Or, is putting a telescoping pole and new antenna mounted to my ladder a better option? What's the highest gain antenna made that can be pole mounted?

[RetiredOne]

Anyone know if a King Jack can be mounted on a pole, instead of the fixed base? To get additional height, I'm thinking of maybe putting one on the top of my flag pole, to get it up about the rig's roof.

Also, if I did that, can I run the antenna coax into the cable IN port (where I normally bring in cable from the CG), and just use the signal booster like I do with the fixed antenna on the roof? Would a external antenna be recognized by my TVs, or does the splitter up in my cabinet where the booster switch is located do something different with the signal? Would having TWO digital antennas hooked up, at the same time, work against each other?

[campingva]

Originally Posted by RetiredOne

Anyone know if a King Jack can be mounted on a pole, instead of the fixed base? To get additional height, I'm thinking of maybe putting one on the top of my flag pole, to get it up about the rig's roof.

Also, if I did that, can I run the antenna coax into the cable IN port (where I normally bring in cable from the CG), and just use the signal booster like I do with the fixed antenna on the roof? Would a external antenna be recognized by my TVs, or does the splitter up in my cabinet where the booster switch is located do something different with the signal? Would having TWO digital antennas hooked up, at the same time, work against each other?

Yes it can be mounted in a pole using the brackets provided. Not sure about running it into the coax jack as it does not provide a voltage that the King Jack Amplifier needed. You might possibly get some "ghosting" by using two antennas at the same time.

[RetiredOne]

Originally Posted by campingva

Yes it can be mounted in a pole using the brackets provided. Not sure about running it into the coax jack as it does not provide a voltage that the King Jack Amplifier needed. You might possibly get some "ghosting" by using two antennas at the same time.

Thanks for that. I actually ordered one and mounted it on my flag pole (about 10 feet above the existing roof) today, and did some testing, to compare it to the fixed roof mount King Jack that I have. It came with a separate amplifier, and wouldn't receive without it, and it wouldn't receive using the onboard booster in my upper cabinet.

I first ran the antenna cable into the side coax jack, thinking it would feed the TV's. I ran channel searches with both antennas pointed the same direction. The pole mount only found like 3 additional channels compared to the fixed roof, but some of the channels were actually different, even pointing at the same tower... strange... these towers were about 60 miles away, not close by.

So, let's say, I wasn't impressed with the performance, being that much higher up.

So, I decided to do another test, and hooked the pole mount antenna directly to the TV, and bypassed all the coax in my rig. When I did my original channel search, hooked up to the coax in port, like 13 channels were found. When I hooked directly to the TV and did a scan, like 35 channels were found...

So, the biggest take-away, the internal coax/connectors/splitters installed by Jayco are crap, and a LOT of signal loss takes place... So, not being able to receive many channels on the existing coax/antenna Jayco installed, might be due to the crappy installation, and not the antenna itself...

Now, I need to determine if I'm going to rip out/or bypass Jayco's crappy wiring, and run all new coax and high quality splitters.... Just ANOTHER redo of the junk and poor quality Jayco is selling... really sad... this is getting old...