rooftop antennas

[Doug and Anita]

I live fulltime in my 3295 for over 3 years now and I work full-time so now we have flowers,BarBQ pits, and porch swings almost like living in a home. It is a great lifestyle for us until we retire and then travel. However, we have a cabover camper for our truck for weekend trips and I have a antenna question. Does anyone know if you can use any TV antenna with a amplifier. It is not a satellite setup just regular TV. I had a omnidirection antenna with the amplifier that disappeared off of my roof and I want to replace it with a different antenna. Any recommendations?

[noneck]

You should stick with the standard RV types as they allow easy crank down and low wind resistance when traveling. Amplifiers are not uncommon to be used on any antenna...although they do boost the static as well as broadcasting.

[H. John Kohl]

As Charles said, I also recommend putting a bat wing up there. It is low profile, has the amplifier built in at the antenna and the newer replacements are even better adapted for Digital.

If you want to use a house type TV antenna (beam) you will also have to buy an amplifier for it if needed. The white panel and green LED is only the power switching system for the amplifier up in the bat wing on your trailer.

Hope this helps.

[Waynem]

I saw this low profile, omnidirectional antenna from Radio Shack at a CG we were staying at. The gut swore by it for his digital signals, and analog.

The one I saw was mounted on a pole and guyed, but I'll bet you can put it on a ladder rather uniquely.

Edited:
At present, the digital signals are occupying the UHF frequency band. As analog goes away they will most likely drop down into the VHF band and free up the UHF band. That's what the whole switch to Digital was about, wasn't it?

So, for the time being, the present antenna you have will work. Until it is known what frequency band the TV stations in your area will be broadcasting in (Yeah! Your area in an RV) choosing an antenna now may not work with digital stations in the future. Wait until after June 12, 2009, and then decide which antenna to buy. They are supposed to have the frequency allocations sorted out by then.

Here is some information from the FCC. Also a search on "digital antenna" with or without the quotes will get you a lot of information.

Good luck.

[deerrahn]

I saw in one of the Highway magazines that there is an "ADD ON" to the batwing antenna that is supposed to help the digital reception. It is about $26.oo. Does it actually help or is it just a sales ploy. Of course it is at Camping World. That is why i wondered. Any info would be appreciated.

[mcgiver2]

I had one of the radio shack round omni-directional antenna on my other camper and it worked great, i really liked it better then the bat wing........Allen