Have you upgraded your Antennatek Commander/Winegard Antenna with Winegard Retrofit Kit?
Goldfinger said
09:04 AM Sep 2, 2017
Damm, put my folding antenna up on my 2005 Jayco Heritage last night, and the coaxial cable broke/snapped at the point it enters the roof antenna...coaxial degraded by the elements/time...
Its the standard Antennatek Commander Antenna Jayco fitted at that time, being almost identical to the Winegard Sensar Antenna....
Q: Do I "repair" the degraded coaxial cable on the roof?,... or fit the Winegard Sensar HV Retrofit Antenna Kit which I understand replaces the existing Commander/Winegard set up on the roof antenna....my Commander has the extra Winegard wing fitted and has been working reasonably satisfactory with local area signals.. I understand the Retrofit shaped like two big flowers rather than the wing is purported to be better for the recent UHF and VHF digital signals.....
Q: Has anyone carried out this 'upgrade'..and did it improve signals?...at $259 best price on Ebay,I would like to know if it is worth the expense...and the 'risk' involved with me working up there....is it difficult to fit?.. and particularly to connect the coaxial cable at the roof cap connection?..I understand all other fittings inside Van remain the same including the installed booster.....I'm mindful years ago of being the home handyman and slipping off high house roof, fitting a new TV Antenna and dislocated 4 fingers and teeth through my lips etc upon landing..!..lmao...
I have a mobile Access Antenna Sat Kit, but its a bit much to set it up for temporary/overnight stays just to find out local weather conditions etc....plus grandkids like kids TV....
Thanks for any input...Hoo Roo
PeterInSa said
11:35 AM Sep 2, 2017
Re ( Has anyone carried out this 'upgrade'..and did it improve signals?...at $259 best price on Ebay,I would like to know if it is worth the expense...and the 'risk' involved with me working up there....is it difficult to fit?.. and particularly to connect the coaxial cable at the roof cap connection?.)
Have done the upgrade sometime ago. Purchased the upgrade kit at a Caravan and Camping show for $150 soon after they became available. Still have the old Wing model just in case.
I think the hardware is easy to replace, one pole support rather than 2,(like the original uses Long Rivets and Cir-clips, from memory) BUT.... Because only one pole/support this pole does not fit into the V that stops the aerial moving around the roof, when laid down for travelling, so a section of similar size AL tube needs to be screwed on the the single pole/support to stop this happening.
Re the cable, have seen some setups that have the cable coming thru the roof with no join right up the the aerial connection on the wing. Others that have a connection on the roof and a 1m cable between this connection and the aerial connection, to me if your cable is OK should be able to just connect to the Sensar HV. or if cable not OK replace with another 1m cable with connections, or put a connection on the damaged cable and a join cable.
Peter.
-- Edited by PeterInSa on Saturday 2nd of September 2017 11:39:50 AM
-- Edited by PeterInSa on Saturday 2nd of September 2017 11:40:51 AM
PeterD said
02:39 PM Sep 2, 2017
Goldfinger wrote:Q: Has anyone carried out this 'upgrade'..and did it improve signals?...at $259 best price on Ebay,I would like to know if it is worth the expense...and the 'risk' involved with me working up there..
I see you can now get a complete unit from CaravansPlus for $251. It is an improved model with an "8 element Log Periodic Dipole Array (LDPA) for highest quality HDT." This will beat the performance of the old single element wing. See Antennatek LPDA200 HDTV Antenna - Complete Kit
Big Mal said
01:26 PM Sep 11, 2017
Replacing the cable with cable and fitting fom Bunnings is easy enough but if you want to upgrade and improve your aerial I would bite the bullet and buy a Winegard Snow Flake or a Saturn, then you will be able to pick up any signal thats available, horizontal or vertical transmission, most of the others just do horizontal unless thevertical is very close.
Damm, put my folding antenna up on my 2005 Jayco Heritage last night, and the coaxial cable broke/snapped at the point it enters the roof antenna...coaxial degraded by the elements/time...
Its the standard Antennatek Commander Antenna Jayco fitted at that time, being almost identical to the Winegard Sensar Antenna....
Q: Do I "repair" the degraded coaxial cable on the roof?,... or fit the Winegard Sensar HV Retrofit Antenna Kit which I understand replaces the existing Commander/Winegard set up on the roof antenna....my Commander has the extra Winegard wing fitted and has been working reasonably satisfactory with local area signals.. I understand the Retrofit shaped like two big flowers rather than the wing is purported to be better for the recent UHF and VHF digital signals.....
Q: Has anyone carried out this 'upgrade'..and did it improve signals?...at $259 best price on Ebay,I would like to know if it is worth the expense...and the 'risk' involved with me working up there....is it difficult to fit?.. and particularly to connect the coaxial cable at the roof cap connection?..I understand all other fittings inside Van remain the same including the installed booster.....I'm mindful years ago of being the home handyman and slipping off high house roof, fitting a new TV Antenna and dislocated 4 fingers and teeth through my lips etc upon landing..!..lmao...
I have a mobile Access Antenna Sat Kit, but its a bit much to set it up for temporary/overnight stays just to find out local weather conditions etc....plus grandkids like kids TV....
Thanks for any input...Hoo Roo
Re ( Has anyone carried out this 'upgrade'..and did it improve signals?...at $259 best price on Ebay,I would like to know if it is worth the expense...and the 'risk' involved with me working up there....is it difficult to fit?.. and particularly to connect the coaxial cable at the roof cap connection?.)
Have done the upgrade sometime ago. Purchased the upgrade kit at a Caravan and Camping show for $150 soon after they became available. Still have the old Wing model just in case.
I think the hardware is easy to replace, one pole support rather than 2,(like the original uses Long Rivets and Cir-clips, from memory) BUT.... Because only one pole/support this pole does not fit into the V that stops the aerial moving around the roof, when laid down for travelling, so a section of similar size AL tube needs to be screwed on the the single pole/support to stop this happening.
Re the cable, have seen some setups that have the cable coming thru the roof with no join right up the the aerial connection on the wing. Others that have a connection on the roof and a 1m cable between this connection and the aerial connection, to me if your cable is OK should be able to just connect to the Sensar HV. or if cable not OK replace with another 1m cable with connections, or put a connection on the damaged cable and a join cable.
Peter.
-- Edited by PeterInSa on Saturday 2nd of September 2017 11:39:50 AM
-- Edited by PeterInSa on Saturday 2nd of September 2017 11:40:51 AM
I see you can now get a complete unit from CaravansPlus for $251. It is an improved model with an "8 element Log Periodic Dipole Array (LDPA) for highest quality HDT." This will beat the performance of the old single element wing. See Antennatek LPDA200 HDTV Antenna - Complete Kit