Wineguard wingman

Greg58 · 07-01-2020, 04:23 PM

I know this has probably been covered before but the search function doesn't work on my phone or tablet, since I don't use a computer I thought I would share my findings. With my TT under our metal building I raised the antenna and pointed it at the most stations in our area and scanned for channels, I located 20. I then went up and installed the wingman without moving the antenna and ran scan again, with the wingman I got 28 channels. This shows that the add on does work, I'll have a better idea in a couple of weeks when we get a chance to try it while camping.

Whatsupchuck · 07-01-2020, 07:38 PM

I have had two previous crank up winegards that worked very well. My 2019 Jayco has an alleged newest and best that hasn't exactly rung my bell at all. When all this mess is over and I can get away, I may find myself going back to what you have now so don't fall for the hype. That extra 30 inches of height is worth having to possibly rotate the antenna a bit.

Greg58 · 07-01-2020, 07:47 PM

We have a 2018 outback that has the Omni directional low profile antenna and I don't think it receives as good as the bat wing on the little Jayco. We were camping at a favorite site at the lake a couple of weeks ago in the outback and had zero Chanel's, we have always had a few with the previous unit with the bat wing. We have a playmaker coming so we can have something to watch.

Whatsupchuck · 07-01-2020, 08:38 PM

I neglected to mention my 330RSTS Jayco uses the Rayzar Z1 much like yours I imagine. Due to lots of delays, the rig has been used one time in College Station, Texas and I was not happy with the range and number of stations found. At home, the shorter antenna will not pick up two stations my old one did and they are within 25 miles of me on the same tower. I believe not being able to see over my house like the old one did is the main problem. Both trailers used the same parking location. Several things are keeping me from changing, but, it is in my game plan.

Looking to get back in to satellite again but my old carryout G1 is not compatible with Dish now so Winegard told me. Shopping for possible move from Spectrum cable at home and add RV whichever way is better for me. In the past, we carried our bedroom receiver with us and just reset it each time we parked. Never had a problem.

Travel lately is sketchy due to virus and I'm responsible for my mom who is locked down in assisted living.

Trials of our times. Back to shopping avoiding African Dust.

Greg58 · 07-02-2020, 03:14 PM

Like I mentioned before we have a wineguard playmaker on the way from CW, I don't know much about it or the tailgater by King. My in-laws have the tailgater and it work well with a clear view, I'm hoping the playmaker does as well. We ordered the wineguard on the advise of a long time rv dealer that is trusted and respected, he said he has less problems with the wineguard than the King.

campingva · 07-02-2020, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg58

Like I mentioned before we have a wineguard playmaker on the way from CW, I don't know much about it or the tailgater by King. My in-laws have the tailgater and it work well with a clear view, I'm hoping the playmaker does as well. We ordered the wineguard on the advise of a long time rv dealer that is trusted and respected, he said he has less problems with the wineguard than the King.

Never had a problem with my King Jack and have had it for about 4 years.

Whatsupchuck · 07-02-2020, 08:54 PM

I had one King product that was not to my liking but traded the rig before changing to a Wingman. I've owned my Carryout GM-1518 since 2011 and it served us well until Dish changed their programming somehow causing it to no longer be usable. I've been to some parks that the cable provided left a lot to be desired so as I only live one time, will go back to Dish. Winegard makes good products but I believe the old Wingman works better than the flat on the roof models for where I travel.

Best of luck with your new dish etc. and I'm still going to look into replacing my Rayzar with the proven older device.

Greg58 · 07-03-2020, 04:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by campingva

Never had a problem with my King Jack and have had it for about 4 years.

This is the information I'm looking for, as I said my in laws have the king antenna and if it has a problem I have to troubleshoot it. I set it up and got it going for them at first. I am hoping the playmaker does as good.

Greg58 · 07-22-2020, 04:09 AM

I don't know how accurate this test was because we were camping on a different site this past weekend, in June we camped on site 38 at Holiday Park on Westpoint lake, we were in our Outback with the low profile wineguard antenna and had zero tv stations. On this trip we took my little Jayco with the bat wing and camped on site 51, we had 36 Chanel's. I'm not impressed with the low profile antennas, the old tried and proved bat wing received better for me.

North of 49° · 07-22-2020, 08:39 AM

One thing I've found that really helps with the Wingman is I put a mark on the aiming ring inside the trailer indicating where the Wingman is pointing. Then, before our trip, I go here:

TV Fool

to determine where the transmitters are. Then when we're setting up, I use a compass and point the Wingman toward the transmitters, and I usually get a better signal instead of searching all over for it.

The only problem is that we usually camp far enough away from civilization that we're lucky if we can get any signal at all!

Whatsupchuck · 07-22-2020, 09:47 AM

The extra 30 inches (give or take) in height seems to be the big difference.

I also check antenna directions and just replaced my compass that seems to have walked away.

Problem with my Schwintec slide and of course virus thing has me grounded to be near my mom until it's safer.

**norty1** · 07-22-2020, 01:40 PM

I have a app called
Antenna Point
Simple and no reports.

Greg58 · 07-22-2020, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by norty1

I have a app called
Antenna Point
Simple and no reports.

This is what I use too.

Whatsupchuck · 09-21-2020, 08:38 PM

Finally got my rig back and the Sensar IV produced 31 more stations than I had gotten with the Rayzar Z1 before. YES! 20 stations before and 51 after the replacement. I only wish I'd done the job myself as the dealer cut the shaft to short and tried to hide it by jamming the crank up and saying just push up on the ceiling to turn it. I have to deal with this down here.

Ordering parts from Winegard is crazy as the shipping was to be more than the whole order of replacement parts. PPL Motorhomes to the rescue again.

Greg58 · 09-22-2020, 08:06 AM

Replacing the antenna is an option I’m still considering, with the playmaker finding a clear signal path can be a challenge. I will do the install myself.

Jay2504 · 09-22-2020, 09:09 PM

On our previous camper we had the Wineguard bat wing. When I added the wingman, we got more channels while parked in the same places. It did however, make the antenna much more sensitive to being pointed in the right direction. Later on, the antenna performance fell off and we got More stations when the antenna was pointed 180 degrees from where the best reception should be. I called Wineguard and they had never heard of that happening, saying it should not be possible. I did some testing and found only about 6.5 volts was getting to the antenna head. It ended up being that the cable from the antenna head to the roof was bad. Replace it and all was good again. I think turning it back and forth shorted the cable out. Jay

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