JACK Digital HDTV Antenna By King Controls

[nlahni1]

Has anyone installed a JACK Digital HDTV Antenna by King Controls on their coach? I have a 2004 Bounder and get really bad digital signal. Thinking about upgrading to this and wanted to see if anyone has done this and how it really works.

[Guest BillAdams]

I am going to have to find a picture of the electronics of the inside of that cheap Chinese import. Remember that 25% of the digital TV signals are on the VHF frequencies which the Jack cannot address.

If you have a Winegard you already have the best TV antenna on the market but with the move to digital there was also a move to UHF and you do need to add the Wingman antenna to your bat-wing for the best reception.

[bthomforde]

I installed the JACK at the Perry rally.

I like it, it seems to pull more channels with less pixelation.

Had the Wineguard with the Wingman addition before, the JACK seems to do a better job.

[1fatboyr]

My King sat receiver has a bit of red in the green light and I get ni-signal on my TV. Any ideas? Thanks, Ric

[rmcobb]

I'm reviving this thread in hopes there are others since June of 2011 that may have some insight into the Jack HDTV antenna.

I'm actually looking at that vs. the Winegard RS 3000. I like the idea of not having to crank the antenna up. The RS 3000 is supposed to be Omni Directional so you don't even have to rotate it to find signals......but the tech at Camping World said he didn't have any experience with the RS 3000 but felt any antenna that was spreading its search 360 degrees as opposed to a dedicated 90 degree just couldn't expect to bring in a solid signal.

So, anyone have any thoughts or experience with these. This was the only thread that popped up in my search for the Jack antenna, and came up with zero hits while searching for RS 3000.

Thanks

Randy

[Benfrench]

I installed the Jack on my old Pop-up and loved it so much that we just installed the Jack on my Falcon. It is a relativly easy job and well worth it, I especially like that I don't have to remember to crank it down.

[planocat]

I had one installed Spring '12. It worked very well for the limited time I used it before trading coaches. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one. And yes, it is nice not to have to worry about cranking it up and down.

[JacknKay]

So adding the Wingman is necessary or nice to have?

[nitehawk]

I put a Jack antenna on our Foretravel coach, to replace an old Winegard. Sitting in our driveway we went from 9 channels to 17 channels and did NOT raise the antenna. Camping up north in the woods we were the only campers to get our Packer football game. (Even though we were on the low end (topographically) of the campground.) A number of other campers asked what it was, where we got it, and how much it cost. Jack replacement head, less than $50, our RV dealer.

[RILIJO]

My Winegard booster quit working so I had to replace it. I purchased a Jack replacement head ( about the same price as a Winegard) hooked up the cable a put the head on a cardboard box and in my backyard I got more than 30 channels.

I am well pleased with the Jack.

[JacknKay]

Actually, I ended up replacing the Batwing, with wingman with the Jack. Why? Well I like how it works and it's easier to crank up too. It does pull in a lot of stations when I'm in an area with stations. If you are not, nothing will help except cable.

[Cruzer]

I've upgraded three times. Can't make up my mind, I guess.

Originally I had the Winegard batwing. I rarely used off-air TV so it wasn't a big deal.

Eventually I replaced it with a Winegard RS2000. The RS2000 is an omnidirectional antenna so I never have to aim it. It's just a saucer shaped disk that sits on the rear deck of my motorhome and I never have to wonder whether it's up or down because it just sits there. It worked well for my needs because I rarely use it and it's foolproof. However, when in fringe areas it doesn't have the power that the batwing did.

So I went back to the front of the coach and installed the King Jack, based upon favorable comments from others. The King Jack does need to be aimed but you don't have to raise or lower it so it's a no-brainer for transit and can't get damaged because you forgot to put it down.

I found that the King Jack got about the same reception as my former batwing. However, I've never tries the batwing with the Wingman addition to it so my "guess" is that the wingman setup would have more range in fringe areas. But then I have to deal with the up and down aspect and I rarely need off-air in fringe areas that bad so it works for me.

If you rely on off-air and aren't always close to major stations, the Sensar with Wingman would probably be your best choice.