TV antennae

[sarah j]

A pic of the antennae that I said I would post. Haven't had the chance to see if it works yet.

[Doug Mager]

Thnaks for posting the pic.




only a few more months and we won't have to worry about an aerial anymore anyhow <heavy sigh!!>

[Carolyn Patterson]

I wondered about that...

Installing an antenna on a trailer when boadcasting over the airwaves will come to a close in February of 2009 (next year).

Sarah,
Since you went thru all the installation of your antenna, do you have another way to get TV once this new digital broadcasting goes into effect?? If you do, can you share it?

[Mike Taylor]

That antenna or any other rv antenna will still work when we go digital next year. The only thing that is changing is the switch from analog to digital broadcasting. I've been watching several of the stations right now that have their digital broadcast going using just rabbit ear antenna inside trailer. The only thing you'll need is a newer tv or digital converter box when the conversion is done.

[sarah j]

I didn't install it. I bought it this way 3 weeks ago.

I wondered about that...

Installing an antenna on a trailer when boadcasting over the airwaves will come to a close in February of 2009 (next year).

Sarah,
Since you went thru all the installation of your antenna, do you have another way to get TV once this new digital broadcasting goes into effect?? If you do, can you share it?

[Kurt & Ann K.]

Sarah,
I believe Frederick has the same antenna. Perhaps he'll chime in sometime soon with his observations.
Kurt & Ann K.

[Frederick L. Simson]

I believe Frederick has the same antenna.

Yes, I have the same antenna that I mounted on my Fiber Stream.


Stowed for Travel


Extended for Use
I mounted it to an upside-down "L" made out of aluminum bar stock.

[Frederick L. Simson]

That antenna or any other rv antenna will still work when we go digital next year.

I used my government coupon and bought an RCA DTA800 Digital TV Converter. It connects between the antenna and the TV set and operates like any set-top cable box. At my home here in San Diego I get awesome reception with it over my trailer's antenna, since there are about 13 channels here broadcasting digitally over-the-air [b]in addition to the analog transmissions. Away from this city, I have zero digital reception, and go back to using the TV's analog tuner in the small market communities near where I camp.

[Connie M.]

Do any of you folks get your TV reception through a repeater? Up here we get some of the Anchorage stations best through the Kenai (peninsula) repeater, and some best straight from Anchorage. We got a DTVPal converter box for the straight Anchorage stations, but found out that the repeater broadcasts analog, and will remain analog after the February, 2009 switch. The DTVPal has an analog pass-through feature, and that might come in handy for rural/boonie (camping!) locations if the TV stations are being broadcast via repeater. ???

I just wanted to throw out that possibility. Don't know what the situation is down there in Lower 48.

[Ed Harris]

The stations will certainly continue to broadcast over the air.(PERIOD!)

The method and frequenies will change but it may be easier to receive thm after the Analog is turned off.....then again it may not be easier.
Most stations will be using UHF frquencies only which are best received by UHF antanna which are much more compact than what we arte used to.
Around cities most antenna' will work anyway but there are a few nice UHF antenna around if you need one.

They are also simple to make and there are articles all over the internet showing how.

I have been going to nursing homes and trying to help some who will be most affected by this terrible government mandate and it is frustrating to say the least how much non-information is being put out,mainly by the broadcasters themselves.
The way they have been "Educating" us has left many very confused and the details are not really that complicated.

Change is just BAD here.

[Ed Harris]

Oh and I almost forgot,Fred that RCA box is simple to convert to 12vdc power too.
Inside there is a seperate little switching power supply board that just unplugs from the converter and then it can be modded for 12v input.

They use a full 1 amp on A.C. and have to be more efficient on D.C. I figure.

Ed

[Frederick L. Simson]

Oh and I almost forgot,Fred that RCA box is simple to convert to 12vdc power too.
Inside there is a seperate little switching power supply board that just unplugs from the converter and then it can be modded for 12v input.

Awesome! Thank You!

[Pete Dumbleton]

Change is just BAD here.

In a former life, when I was a Corporate Cubicle Convict, a la Dilbert, I noticed that the very best way to upset people is to change something they are used to (and I imagine it's worse as we grow elderly) -- If we made a change to the weekly time sheet input forms, even something as simple as switching two fields, an incredible amount of time would be lost as everybody discussed it and speculated why the change (this is where corporate paranoia would be at its finest!).

I started to watch an explanation of the change on public broadcasting TV the other day and they managed to confuse me to the point that I turned it off! Add to that the amoral marketeers who are implying that one now needs a digital antenna and it's no wonder that folks are rather confused.

Since I use (literally) a set of rabbit ears at home, I guess I should get a coupon and a converter box -- I'll use the money I 'save' with the coupon to purchase a converter to change my rabbit ears into a digital Energizer bunny or something...

[pjanits]

I am pretty sure that people camping will hate digital TV. In town it works just fine. I can pick up 35 stations in Chicago with rabbit ears from 30 miles away. Because it's pretty much a clear shot to the transmitting antennas.
However each time I have gone camping I get Nada. Nothing ,Digital is extremely sensitive to everything. Especially leaves!
Yes, when camping at the edge of Rockford at Rock Cut State park I got nothing usable. Much pixilating and no sound.
Now I realize it might be better with an outside antenna, but I can still pick up good signals on Analog with the rabbit ears at the same state park. I will have to put an external antenna up but I doubt it will help much. I hope it does.
Lucky for me the TV has a DVD player in it and I have a ton of old movies from TCM that I recorded.

If you remember the old days when cell phones were analog you could get interference but still understand what someone was saying then digital came along and when interference came the signal dropped or became a mishmash of noise.

Same thing with DTV.

The whole deal with the change is that Public Safety radio , Police , Fire, etc.
are running out of space and they want those nice juicy frequencies that the TV stations are using. And really they do need them especially now in these times.

But sometimes change can be a bad thing.

[Pamela S.]

Frederick, who makes that TV antenna? It looks really compact for travel. I'm rather interested in getting one if they're not overly expensive.
Thanks,
Pamela

[Tom Trostel]

As Ed said, the new digital channels are UHF. If you have the simplest rabbit ears, you may not receive much because this is a VHS amtenna. If you have rabbit ears with a loop or bow-tie wire at the base, you should be okay. And if the base has a dial for fine adjustments, make sure it is on UHF settings. The best solution may be a dedicated UHF antenna like the Phillips Silver Sensor.

Tom Trostel

[Frederick L. Simson]

Frederick, who makes that TV antenna? It looks really compact for travel. I'm rather interested in getting one if they're not overly expensive.
Thanks,
Pamela

It is the Winegard Hideaway, model HA-0130

[b]HA-0130

For motor homes, camper trailers, mobile homes and boats. VHF/UHF/FM travel antenna picks up stations in all directions without rotator. Opens and closes like an umbrella, stores inside weatherproof tube. Includes weatherproof housing with rain cap, 75 ohm cable with connectors, mounting hardware.

Omni-Directional, means antenna will receive signal in all directions. Non-amplified.

I have found that their "Omni-Directional" claim is not entirely accurate; I can get better reception of specific stations by rotating the antenna within the sleeve and re-tuning (new channel search) the TV.

I paid $41.99 +tax for mine at a local RV parts store. (not Camping World)

[Pamela S.]

Sounds good. Thanks for the info. (And I'll try to avoid Camping World when I'm ready to buy!)

[Frederick L. Simson]

(And I'll try to avoid Camping World when I'm ready to buy!)

I was meaning to say that Camping World does not carry it.

[Robin G]

Our Casita didn't come with antenna, And I didn't have time to check out the external attenna's before leaving on our first trip. So just threw in a rabbit ear and figured if we wanted to watch Tv, it would work for that trip. Well I plugged it in inside and then my p-brain thought hmmmmm, wonder if it would work better being hooked up outside on the cable/antenna hook up. So I took my little rabbit ear antenna out and hooked it in. Got even more channels........ So for the rest of our trips this summer, we have been hillbilling it. Just a $12. Rabbit ear antenna, nothing more. Even in the remote places we have been, we have picked up several channels. Don't need no fancy antenna. Robin