prujak
Weirton West Virginia
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This problem probably has been covered in the past.
I am in an a campground as I write this with it rainning. I tried connecting my Directv but there are to many trees so it will not work. I tried to connect to the roof mounted crank up antenna and did a channel search but with no luck. The guy next to me is getting a channel or two because I can see his tv on through his window. Even my fm radio will not receive like it should. I am using a 22" RCA flat screen tv that was purchased last year. I have a 2005 Coachmen 300 tbs camper.
Any help and suggestions would be appreciated.
Paul & Patty
Two Grandchildren No pets
2006 Ford F150
2013 Coachmen 281RLDS
Freedom Express
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JJBIRISH
Butler, PA, USA
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Is the amplifier on…
Love my mass produced, entry level, built by Lazy American Workers, Hornet
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VickienFred
Plano, TX
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I have to do two things before auto programming for antenna. I have a switch box that must be set for antenna, not satellite. I also have to go through the TV menu and set for antenna, not cable.
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CavemanCharlie
Storden,MN
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Joined: 03/01/2012
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Digital TV sucks. See which way your neighbors antennae is pointed and then point yours the same way. That might help. But, it might not. Being just a few feet over from him is all it takes sometimes to make it so you can't get any reception. I keep a supply of Cd's on hand for times like this. If your near a town you can often find those "Red box" video rental machines and rent a CD or two.
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prujak
Weirton West Virginia
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Yes the amp is on. I checked the direction of my neighbors and turned mine to match. I did this before. This time I was able to get two channels. I guess that is better than none.
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Dennis Smith
Colorado Springs
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When we can't get TV we do this thing called reading a book. Kind of fun and I have really learned a lot by doing that. If that doesn not work we go for a hike or ride the bike or take the Kayak out.
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RoyB
King George, VA
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Joined: 04/13/2008
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We do pretty good using the OTA BATWING antenna for picking up the digital National Broadcast TV here on the East side of the US. We get from 6 to 36 digital chanels just about anywhere we go.
The one trick I do is first I will point the OTA antenna to a town that is broadcasting the digital TV signal. Then I select ANTENNA from the HDTV setup screen and then start scanning for digital signals. If I dont start seeing digital signals showing up the register count in the first 15% of scan then I will stop scanning and move the BATWING antenna a few degrees one direction or the other and restart the scan all over...
Just remember you have to scan in the channels every time you setup camp at the different locations.
The UHF HDTV signals are much more pinpoint than the old analog TV signals used to be so your antenna has to be almost exactly pointed to the town direction. HDTV signals unlike analog TV signals will for the most part be 100% quality or nothing at all. In the old days we could get close to TV signal direction and pick up a real snowy TV picture and then turn the antenna back and forth to really tune it in good. Cant do that with digital HDTV signals. They have to be scanned into the HDTV computer first to be viewed.
The ABC-CBS-NBC-FOX National Broadcast digital signals seem to be harder to scan in then the PBS digital signals are which are full of foreign broadcast stations etc... We always get the them hehe...
Make sure your BATWING antenna has the UHF dipoles on them. Should look this:
A Lot of folks have changed to the Kings Control JACK antenna and claim they are much better than the BATWING. The JACK antenna will snap right on the crank-up mount and will use the same RG cable and wall mount OTA antenna control box...
 
photos from google images
We use our OTA Antenna a lot even when we camp at regular camp grounds with CABLE hookup. We get full screen full blown high def HDTV digital signals from the local towns. The local channels from the CABLE TV hookup is not HIGH DEF channels and once you start watching TV in high def mode it is hard to switch back. The only thing we watch on the camp ground CABLE TV hookup is the cable channels like CNN TNT HALLMARK etc... We watch ABC-CBS-NBC-FOX from the OTA antenna in high def mode. I just select ANTENNA or CABLE from the HDTV setup and watch the one we want to after they have been scanned in.
My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - PM me
Roy and Carolyn
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fcooper
Richmond Hill, Georgia
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You can add an additional antenna amplifier downstream of the built in amp. Here's a post I placed in a different thread about this same problem.
Quote:An antenna booster will help.
We recently spent several nights at Stephen Foster State Park in White Springs, Florida. I could pick up one station fairly well sometimes, and one with the freezing picture. Both were from Gainesville, Fl. We have the standard batwing crank up antenna with the snap on addition that helps with the new frequencies. The coach also has a built in antenna booster.
I purchased a RadioShack® High-Gain HDTV-FM Signal Amplifier
Model:15-321, and wired it into the system after the built in booster in the coach. After that, we got two stations from Gainesville, Florida (48 miles) and two from Valdosta, Ga (again about 48 to 50 miles). All four stations were very clear. Since the two cities are in opposite directions, it did require rotating the antenna.
Fred
Fred & Vicki
Richmond Hill, Ga
2000 Holiday Rambler Endeavor/Freightliner/330 Cat
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skipnchar
Topeka or somewhere else
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Joined: 12/17/2003
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If your dish can't see the satellite you won't get a signal. I camp at LOTS of places that I can't get any signal. Trees should NOT block antennae reception however but of course you have to be within the range of your antennae to get over the air signals also.
When we don't have TV we sometimes will watch a movie on the DVR so just the fact that neighbors have their TV on doesn't necessarily mean they have a signal. It could also be that they are running different equipment than you.
Good luck / Skip
2011 F-150 HD Ecoboost 3.5 V6. 2550 payload, 17,100 GCVWR -
2004 F-150 HD (Traded after 80,000 towing miles)
2007 Rockwood 8314SS 34' travel trailer
US Govt survey shows three out of four people make up 75% of the total population
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Camp Winican
Grand Rapids, MI USA
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Thanks RoyB for your input in this string. I found it to be very informative.
Tom
Chevy Express 2500, 5.7L, 3:73
Gulfstream Kingsport 275FBS
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