Winegard RVWINGA Sensar Wingman Accessory

I was getting 1 of the TV channels somewhat meaning it would come in but would break up every minute or so freezing and leaving artifacts across the screen making it hard to follow a show (naturally it's the 1 channel with something worth watching). Sometimes saying NO SIGNAL No matter how I adjusted the antenna it would keep doing it, Also when I had the antenna positioned to get 1 channel in good then others would do it or not come in at all. What a pain in the posterior. I installed it Monday when it arrived and now I can get thru the whole show without it cutting out at all (it's on that channel right now and hasn't broken up or cut out yet 44.1). Also it now picks up all channels in a wider range of antenna rotation. I'm in NE Alabama about 30 miles from the nearest big city and about 60 to 80 miles from where I think this channel is broadcast from so it definitely is helping. I just scanned for channels and before I picked up 12 digital and 1 analog for a total of 13, now it picked up 22 digital and 1 analog for a total of 23. So 10 more channels. The analog channel sucks either way and only 1 is breaking up so 9 more with good picture and sound than before. So I am real happy with it!!! Installation was a breeze and only took a couple minutes. I wasn't sure when I read the negative reviews but now I am very happy with it and I'm keeping the rubber pads that were removed to install it and will be removing it when I sell or trade this trailer in and putting the rubber pads back on so I can put it on the next trailer I get. It works and shipping was real fast too.

Without moving the RV in my before and after my results were astonishing. I have two TVs in the RV and results were the same. Before I installed I raised the antenna and rotated it to a position that allowed me to install the wingman without moving the antenna. I then went inside, scanned for channels and had 6 total found which was better than I expected. I installed the wingman in about 10 minutes (most of the time taken dragging out the ladder). basically you pull out two rubber feet off the bottom of the RV antenna, the wingman has two holes that line up with these feet and you use two supplied plastic rivets where the feet used to be. The wingman has its own rubber feet so the old ones are excess. After the install, without moving the antenna or RV, I rescanned the channels and had 33 (not a typo). Now I admit, most are pretty much worthless and several were the same network just on different frequencies, but a lot has to be said for that kind of difference. Definitely worth the money and a breeze to install. I've taken two trips since installing (1600 to Las Vegas and 3800 miles to South Florida) no issues (as in I didn't lose it) and when we used it to watch TV we had many channels to choose from. Update: 25 Jun 14 One thing I forgot to mention in my original review is that my antenna on my motorhome was NOT amplified. We traded in the motorhome for a bigger 5th wheel and I removed the Wingman very easily by unscrewing the Philips head rivets and gently pulling them out expecting to use on my new RV. Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately) the new RV has an AntennaTek Signal Commander instead of Winegard. The new antenna is amplified too and the literature says it is designed for digital and analog signals. Although from a distance it appears that the wingman would work, there is a bit of a difference in the area where the wingman is to mount so a modification would be necessary to make it work. Since the new RV has an amplified antenna and I already get 30 channels parked within 15' of were I did the motorhome test above, it is not worth the effort. Hope this helps.

Easily installed, didn't help with holding channels in reception but found other channels, could be my location.

I ordered this back in February and wanted to give it some real-world testing before I wrote a review. First off, Kudos to Winegard for making this an very easy install. Attaching the Wingman to my existing Winegard Sensar III antenna took maybe 10 minutes and just as advertised, I used no tools at all. Note that although the Wingman isn't huge, your retracted antenna will take up some additional space on the roof of your RV, so make sure that you have adequate clearance before you order one. I spend a lot of time traveling in my RV, 19 nights in a variety of spots in the 2-1/2 months since I added the Wingman to my old antenna. Since I frequently camp in the same spots, at the same campgrounds and RV parks, I was able to do some "before and after" testing. Although the results are hardly scientific, I have noticed a marked reduction in pixelation and signal loss on the channels that I had been watching and a solid picture from stations "on the fringe" of my service area. The Wingman does seem to make the antenna much more directional, so a few degrees of antenna rotation can really help pull in distant stations. I don't watch massive amounts of TV when I'm camping, but this addition to my existing antenna has afforded both better reception and additional channels. For me, it's money well spent.

Does it improve reception? Yes. Does it always eleminate the pixeling from hd channels? NO, most of the time yes, but when you least suspect it, or REALLY want to hear something, the HD channel freezes up! MURPHY's Law applies! Easy to install, no drilling, don't even need a screw driver. Took longer to get up to the Antenna than it took to install it. I'd buy it again because I picked up more channels, and it eleminated most of the pixeling, but don't expect it to be 100%.

The installation was as simple as it gets. Of course you will need a ladder. Either one attached to your RV or a stand alone ladder that you can get to the top of your RV where your existing Winegard Antenna is located. You must remove the (4) four rubber feet (cushions)from the bottom of your exising Winegard RV Antenna. Place your New Wingman Sensor upgrade on the bottom of your existing antenna by matching the (4) four (male) ends... located on top of your new Winegard Sensor Antenna Upgrade to the (female) ends (where you removed the rubber feet (cushions)of your existing Winegard antenna. Then take the (4) four plastic screws and "PUSH" them up through the (4) four holes of the New Wingman and into the (4) four holes of the existing Winegard Antenna! Your finished! P.S. The (4) black screws are made to be "PUSHED" through the holes... if you attempt to screw them tight with a screw driver (like I originally attempted) the screws just turn and will not tighten up! Now realize that your antenna was just changed from a basic omni-directional antenna (not as good for clear High Def receiption) to a directional antenna. So you will find that as you stop at different RV camp sites... you will have to turn your Television ON and then rotate your Antenna until you get a clear HD or Analog channel... then have your Television scan for new stations in your new location. We went from Central Missouri to Eastern Tennessee and we increased our available television stations by 30% to 50% depending on the terrain. Of course if you use satellite or cable where you stop... then you Winegard Antenna isn't needed!

I at first couldn't understand why this isn't included with every RV that comes with the Wingman, makes no sense but now that I have installed it I can see why. It doesn't work!! I have a signal meter, in all positions with the new RV-Wing all signals for UHF stayed the same, not one bit of a change, how is something designed to bring in more signal, not capable of doing so, hard to believe they sell this on purpose to deceive right? YET, it simply doesn't work, I checked the booster, it's on so what the heck is going on? I'm going to order the Sensar Pro RFL-342 to add 10db of gain to try and help the VHF (which the RV-Wing doesn't look to be designed to help) and to of course help UHF which this POS is supposed to help with. If this doesn't work it looks like I'm ordering the JACK antenna and taking my chances again on getting one that works the first time. At least I know that works and the Sensar Pro can't hurt no matter what. The JACK HD antenna outperforms the Wingman in any form however it's built so cheaply it usually takes going through two before you get one that works. When we traded in our RV that I installed the JACK on I didn't bother pulling it off because the Wingman at the dealer pulled in a lot of stations, but in the same location as our previous RV was, it sucks eggs, and the RV-Wing doesn't improve the signal one bit. It installs in about 30 seconds, however it's like a tray that mounts directly below the Wingman which would be fine if this tray didn't extend beyond the plastic body of the Wingman itself, so any rain that hits it will build up and have to drain through the holes in the bottom. I don't know how it will hold up to high winds with the very cheap plastic push tabs either. It's like somebody didn't pay attention to how it should fit against the antenna itself. At least the rubber feet could be re-used so when you put the antenna down it lands softly. In the end, I don't recommend buying this, some people claim it works, if so that's great but using equipment to see how much it improves signals I can get, there wasn't any measurable change, none.

Installed in less than 2 minutes without any tools. We now pick up more stations and don't keep losing the weaker ones as we had with a brand-new standard Winegard. Worth the money for sure and doesn't cost a whole lot. But make sure you position or re-position the whole antenna as you're searching for channels as some transmitters are in different areas and distances. Weather conditions may also affect the signal strength. You still have to do a little bit of fine-tuning (turning) if you want to lock-in a specific channel that may be weak. But once all the channels are programmed into your set, they should stay locked 95% of the time. Excellent add-on accessory. To those that say they can't get any over-the-air channels on their RV with any type of antenna, check ALL your connections from top to bottom and make sure you're using coaxial cable ALL the way through. Some older RVs that depended on ANALOG television signals still have the original ribbon-type antenna wiring which will not work with DIGITAL television, even though adapters are sold to connect them to a set. Replace your old connection cables. Even coax gets old and brittle over time. Hope this helped.

Doesn't require more than 5 minutes to install. Tested in my driveway at home, without the Wingman I received 22 channels, some of which faded in and out. After the Wingman install I pulled in 28 channels, all of which were strong with no fade. If there are signals within range of your RV, this add on will help to pull them in and get good reception. Amazing, considering there are no wiring connections to the original antenna at all!

Happy

An excellent item, improved the TV reception heaps

Very easy to install.

My batwing antenna has had some difficulty picking up some of the upper channels if the station is a few miles away. This attachment brings in those channels quite well. It is easy to install and does not require any additional wiring or added amplifiers. It is nice to have something that actually works as advertised. The price is competitive, which is not always the case with Amazon.ca products.