Winegard again

[TramcarTrev]

Are you talking about the antenna that looks like two bow ties?? phased loop array???

This antenna has a few nick-names but Wingard Freevision seems to be the most official.

Not sure that I would call it a phased loop array in the traditional sense but that's neither here nor there. I understand it to be 2 identical antennae mounted 90 degrees apart and each with its own amp and I assume combined to a single output. A phased array would normally have multiple antennae all equally contributing to a single output. This Wingard combination would produce most output on the single antenna best aligned with the TX polarisation.

I also understand that this Wingard is either an Oz design or has Oz design input but is made in the USA. I know the latter for a fact as Wingard told me 4 years ago ... http://www.candm.com.au/forum/viewtopic ... 83#p137783

Yes I agree these are not sold in the US so must be made for AU and or NZ frequencies. If I look at my mates with binos it does have "made in China" on the plastic part of it.
There is a single amp as per the conventional Winegard with the little black button that illuminates the green led. single cable to a splitter between the 2 antennae...

[TramcarTrev]

I see this antenna appearing on some of the new vans.

It sits as is and does not windup, I expect you can rotate it but not sure.
It does not look as though it would be any good for vertical polarization signals.

antenna.JPG

JR

Thats not omni.... Looks similar in function to the old Winegard with 2 wings and a slit. The wings are actually "reflectors" and the vertical edges along the slit is the actual antenna. It would not be any good for anywhere in a fringe reception area.... "Height is everything"
an Omni directional antenna is usually a circular thing with a ring antenna inside it, here is how to make one; http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-TV-antenna/

[Old Techo]

Thats not omni.... Looks similar in function to the old Winegard with 2 wings and a slit. The wings are actually "reflectors" and the vertical edges along the slit is the actual antenna. It would not be any good for anywhere in a fringe reception area.... "Height is everything"

TT, dunno how you arrived at your interpretation unless you have some inside info I couldn't find any info except a fairly useless advert.

To me it looks like a typical broadband folded dipole and the vertical edges are for rigidity.

I agree it looks impossible to be the claimed omni, unless it works in mysterious ways.

Also agree when hunting weak sigs that height is everything.

Here is an advert... https://www.caravanandrvworld.com.au/om ... al-antenna

While searching I found this old blurb I wrote 5 years ago... http://www.candm.com.au/forum/viewtopic ... 55#p111655

[TramcarTrev]

Thats not omni.... Looks similar in function to the old Winegard with 2 wings and a slit. The wings are actually "reflectors" and the vertical edges along the slit is the actual antenna. It would not be any good for anywhere in a fringe reception area.... "Height is everything"

TT, dunno how you arrived at your interpretation unless you have some inside info I couldn't find any info except a fairly useless advert.

To me it looks like a typical broadband folded dipole and the vertical edges are for rigidity.

I agree it looks impossible to be the claimed omni, unless it works in mysterious ways.

Also agree when hunting weak sigs that height is everything.

Here is an advert... https://www.caravanandrvworld.com.au/om ... al-antenna

While searching I found this old blurb I wrote 5 years ago... http://www.candm.com.au/forum/viewtopic ... 55#p111655

Im no expert...
But I was told by a guy who designed antennas that it was the vertical bits did the work and the rest is reflector... I remarked that surely the thing would just short out, he said that at the frequency its designed for it does not short out....
I dont see how 2 fully insulated bits of metal mounted in front of a conventional Winegard can improve reception, but it does work very well, it converts the thing into a weak Yagi style....
Now lets move on the the array type antenna, It has made in China on it, my mate spat the dummy when I asked him could I pull some of the plastic off to see whats underneath it... From what I know these antennas are very good at eliminating ghosting but then is ghosting a consideration with UHF?

[PeterD]

The worst reception was in a small seaside town in Patonga around 60 klm North from Sydney. Virtually closed in sea side town. I suspect a local had a high pressure signal device interfering with things, as we had a good sig one day and crap the next.

Patonga is an a shadow area from all the transmitters around it. I don't think any of the locals could have been interfering with the signal. Places like that are subject to things like ducting to bring the signals in. The local weather has a big influence on signal conditions.

Position in the grounds affects whether you can get TV or not. I use a separate mast so I can relocate the antenna around the van. sometimes I can get TV by locating the antenna at the rear of the van when I get nothing at the front.

WikiCamps does not show that good reception is available in the camp ground there.

[PeterD]

VHF is just about phased out.

This is far from the truth. It was the low band (band 1 & 2) channels that were phased out. That was done with the introduction of FM broadcasting. It was used for 3 TV channels, some of the other channels on the low bands were allocated for other uses. See this link Current Australian Channel Allocation by State/Territory as at August 2015
From this you may note that it is Band 5 that has just about been phased out, This spectrum is being used for the new mobile data services.

Whilst we are at corrections, there is no Sensor antenna, it's the Sensar antenna. Regarding the newer Winegard antenna, some are selling it as "Winegard Freevision HV Antenna," others simply refer to it as the "Winegard HV Antenna." The HV is not a bow tie, phased array or any of the other names bandied about on the net, the vertical and horizontal elements are fractal antennas.

[Old Techo]

G'day PD,

Whether it is fractal or not there remains a weak argument for a phased array, even though I challenged the use of the term. You can have a phased array of fractals.

This Wingard has 2 obvious separate identical antenna elements that are coax coupled, presumably to a combiner and logically must be correctly phased to avoid self-defeating - thus a phased array. But I explained why I thought the term phased array was not appropriate.

Six months ago I was prepared to say fractal influenced.... http://www.candm.com.au/forum/viewtopic ... 54#p189754 but my assessment was not strong enough to be adamant. My view remains unchanged. Would you kindly explain why you are prepared to be adamant? Is it merely an opinion (like mine) based upon a visual assessment or do you have some supporting info? If the latter I am quite interested in details

[dieseltojo]

Thanks Peter good stuff.
At Patonga it was good reception one day and bad the next. So you are no doubt right on the weather affects. Not that the weather changed much. To get in you come over a big hill and drop quickly to the sea side. Pretty well hemmed in.

I reckon in the summer you would need to be booked in a year ahead to get into this small park.
There is a river and homes across the other side, they have long antenna alright, so they are combating the problem.
I reckon a home set up with a large high antenna would be ok there.

Me, I went through the pole and external efforts in the rain calling to Trudy etc years ago. Bugger that, and when I got back inside the thing seemed to change again.

[PeterD]

G'day PD,
Would you kindly explain why you are prepared to be adamant?

I read it somewhere but I can't quickly find the two references.