Rv TV reception - RV-Dreams Community Forum

mesquite47 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Rv TV reception

azrving · RV-Dreams Family Member

Make sure the amplifier on your "bat-wing" is working properly, should have a little black button on/off button on the coax cable plate where the antenna cable hooks up. Some also have a green led light to let you know the amp is turned on. Not all but many of the stations are now digital so if your tv isn't set up to receive digital signal, you will need to get a converter box (I recommend a converter box with the "pass through" feature so you can receive both analog & digital) to hook inline. You need to be sure your tv is set up correctly too.

I still use an outdoor antenna in the sticks & bricks and of the 10-15 channels I watch, only 6 of them have been converted to digital.

Bill Adams · RV-Dreams Family Member

Unless you are serious in "the sticks" or on the wrong side of the mountain, you should be getting at least some of the available TV channels. You will want to start your trouble-shooting by going up on the roof and disconnecting the coax cable from the connection where it enters the side of your Winegard Batwing. You should read 12+V DC coming from that coax cable. If you get less or no voltage then you have found your problem and need to work your way toward a solution. As mentioned above, the most common issue is that you did not turn on the power to the antenna. This could be a separate switch on a wall plate about the size of a standard wall plate or it could be a part f your video control center marked with an on/off switch and a power light.
Tell us a bit more about your coach, what you have in the way of a video center and what, if anything, you have been able to determine from these couple of posts.

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

Like others have said you should be able to get something on the TV.

You're best bet is to go somewhere where you know there are TV stations in the area. Practice setting up the antenna and TV to get the best reception. Some TVs once they are disconnected from power require you to go back through the station discovery process to find all available channels.

Don't forget an older TV will require a digital converter to pick up the DTV signals most stations now are required to braodcast.

If you have a TV that is more than 5 years old, I would replace it with a digital and High Definition TV for ease of use.

Alie and Jims Carrilite · RV-Dreams Family Member

Same subject but a different question, Will the old batwing antenna pull the digital signal. We have a 19" flat screen that is digital ready but I haven't hooked it up yet. So I have no idea.

azrving · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jims carrilite wrote:
Same subject but a different question, Will the old batwing antenna pull the digital signal. We have a 19" flat screen that is digital ready but I haven't hooked it up yet. So I have no idea.

Yes biggrin It should pick up digital signals with no problem but may not pull in the old analog signals unless it has the ability to convert analog to digital.

Workinrvers · RV-Dreams Family Member

I found this site referenced on another RV forum. It is an FCC site where you put in as much of your location as you can (at least a city name) and it will tell you what stations are available and their signal strenghts. You can drill down into the list and it will also tell you which direction to point your antenna to recieve that particular station. I have not used it yet but it looks like it will come in handy provided you have access to the internet.

TV strength meter

-- Edited by Workinrvers on Wednesday 30th of November 2011 04:35:50 AM

Bill Adams · RV-Dreams Family Member

This is another good site for locating nearby TV stations. You just need to enter a zip code.
http://www.antennapoint.com/

Bill Adams · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jims carrilite wrote:
Same subject but a different question, Will the old batwing antenna pull the digital signal. We have a 19" flat screen that is digital ready but I haven't hooked it up yet. So I have no idea.

There is nothing magical about digital. TV signals (analog or digital) are broadcast on the VHF and UHF frequencies that they always have been so the "old" antennas work to pick up these signals just the same.

What has changed is that most of the digital TV programming was moved off of the VHF channels to the UHF channels (about 75% are now UHF). The batwing antenna is optimized for VHF so you do need to add the Wingman add-on for the best UHF channel reception.

azrving · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill Adams wrote:
Jims carrilite wrote:
Same subject but a different question, Will the old batwing antenna pull the digital signal. We have a 19" flat screen that is digital ready but I haven't hooked it up yet. So I have no idea.
There is nothing magical about digital. TV signals (analog or digital) are broadcast on the VHF and UHF frequencies that they always have been so the "old" antennas work to pick up these signals just the same.
What has changed is that most of the digital TV programming was moved off of the VHF channels to the UHF channels (about 75% are now UHF). The batwing antenna is optimized for VHF so you do need to add the Wingman add-on for the best UHF channel reception.

Bill,

Thank you for this information, I have ordered the "WingMan Add-On" for our TT. We get get pretty good reception now but I'll try out the add on and let all the RV Dreams members know how it worked out. Thanks again.

http://www.amazon.com/Winegard-RV-WING-Wingman-Antenna-Upgrade/dp/B001U2DPUE

-- Edited by azrving on Wednesday 30th of November 2011 10:41:26 AM

Alie and Jims Carrilite · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks for the great info. I'll pick up one of the add ons too.

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

I just re-read the original post and caught something that I missed the first time. Since you are living in a house, condo or apartment most of the time, you can get satellite TV service from Dish or Direct TV and buy an extra sat dish setup for your RV. All you have to do is take the receiver box along with you in the RV, setup the dish and you have the same coverage as you would at home.
No extra fees, just the extra onetime cost of the RV sat dish.

In our home we chose to go with Dish Network service instead of cable so we would be able to use the Dish Network service in the RV. It's great to be sitting out in the middle of no where and be able to get the news or your favorite TV program.

Jim Dean · RV-Dreams Family Member

We use Dish Network for our satellite service. If you go too far from your local network you may not be able to pick up the local channels which are the ones that carry the four major networks, ABC, CBS, NBC & FOX. What we do is call the 800 number and have our address changed to where we are at the time. This allows us to receive the big 4 and we get the local news and weather which is important in the event of inclement weather. If your receiver box has a DVR you must reprogram the shows you want recorded since they are being broadcast from the new stations.

FritzandCheryl · RV-Dreams Community Member

I agree with Jim Dean that you can call the 800 number, but depending on the area you are in, you may loose some channels because many packages of Dish are regional or area, such as if you are a fan of the Big Ten network, you will loose it as soon as you are in any state except for those that are in the Big Ten Network. I could give you more examples but I think that you will get the idea.

Fritz

DorisandDave · RV-Dreams Family Member

To call and change your locals with DishTV- you can only do it 3 times a year and then there is a $5 charge each time. DNS (distant network service)request is a little bit of a hassle, but once done is great. You have a choice of watching New York networks or Los Angeles networks. We use the batwing for locals.

Jim Dean · RV-Dreams Family Member

Do you have to have a specific DishTV receiver to use DNS?

Bill Adams · RV-Dreams Family Member

No.

MikeH · RV-Dreams Family Member

Is the issue possibly with the TV?
If you have an old analog Tv Tuner and are trying to acquire a digital broadcast it won't work.
You need to have a new digital TV tuner for the new digital signal, while there are some places that broadcast both not many areas still have analog TV signals floating through the air waves.