Roof antenna

[mykidsrv]

Just got back from a camping weekend near Jacksonville FL. I know it is camping but this is todays world.There just happened to be a rather big football game here in the south and as tried to get the stock jenson antenna to lock in all I got was very sporadic pictures. I wouldn,t feel bad but as I walked around the park I saw almost every other TV locked in and solid.The real kicker is that there was 2 guys in a pop up next to me that had it great. What am I missing? Has anyone done any mods to the stock roof mount Jenson unit. I have seen some of thr crank up ones but I sure hate to mess with the roof.

[rewindgy]

Throw the crap factory antenna away and get a Jack unit!

[webslave]

Unfortunately, you've got one of the short, always up antennas, right? Those things, really aren't that bad, but... There's always a "but"...

Being short so that it doesn't get caught by low hanging branches, unfortunately, puts it down in the clutter on the roof - vent covers and the worst for signals, the A/C unit. Nothing like a large mass of metal with a spinning electro-magnetic compressor in it to destroy a signal. The only reason the manufacturers have gone to them is cost...they are cheaper and the company can advertise that you no longer have to do that dreadful job of cranking up the antenna and then remembering to lower it before you pull out...

Television signals are "best" when the antenna is high and clear of obstructions. That's why off the air antennas for homes have typically been mounted on 5 to 10' poles from the highest point on the house; get them high and away from ground clutter. A lot of dedicated tailgaters have even gone to using a home antenna on tall pole attached to the ladder on the back of their RV to get the best signals. I've yet to see one of the shorty types perform anywhere near as good as a crank up. For my money? Get rid of the shorty and put a crank up unit in its place with a Jack head on it. The conversion isn't hard to do if you are inclined to DIY and it isn't that expensive to have a shop do it either if you aren't a DIY type or you don't feel confident crawling around on the roof. As long as your shorty is down in the clutter on the roof (and the clutter of the roofs nearby), you'll always be at a disadvantage in signal reception compared to those around you with the crank up type antenna.

[jerkar]

Turn on signal booster??

[Hitman]

My roof ant was junk from the factory and now its leaking into the cabinet.

Any ideas on how to plug or cap it off after removing it?

Thanks

Hitman

[Eagle]

Originally Posted by Hitman

My roof ant was junk from the factory and now its leaking into the cabinet.

Any ideas on how to plug or cap it off after removing it?

Thanks

Hitman

I removed the POS Jensen antenna and installed a powered, directional Jack antenna....but not the crank up style. The installation required removing the Jack, enlarging the hole thru the roof slightly......and some butyl cault and a piece of rubber roof membrane. All available from your local RV parts store.

IF just removing the Jansen, once removed cut a wood plug and glue it in the roof opening where the Jensen was removed then cover it with roof membrane and sealant.

IF not handy at that sort of thing, best leave it to your RV dealership.

[Wil8701]

My roof top antenna is in tack but there something missing from wall to TV. On wall there is a quarter size hole that maybe a cable plugs into and goes somewhere, to tv I’m guessing? Does anyone know what cable I might be missing? Forgot to mention we just purchased this rv and trying to figure it all out
Thank you in advance
George
Midland ,TX.

[profdant139]

There should be a coaxial cable that runs from the antenna to a wall socket. Then you would connect the TV's coaxial cable to that one. That is how analog TVs were hooked up to the antenna.

Come to think of it, do contemporary digital TV sets come with coax? Or do they use HDMI?

If the latter, I have no idea how you would hook up a TV through an HDMI plug into a coaxial fitting. Maybe there is an adapter?

[LJAZ]

HDMI isn't for an antenna connection. It's for data. Like connecting to some sort of device like a stereo amplifier, cable box, game console or similar. Kind of an upgrade over the old 3 plug rca connecters. TV antenna is still coax.

[profdant139]

Thanks for clearing that up!

[wishuwerehere]

Our roof antenna was crap too, I tried this on a whim and where the roof unit pulledi n 12 channels, this brought in 34 clear and in HD. I hand it on our flagpole.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1