One more thing I would like to point out, there is no need to use a signal booster from your RV. Which will save some battery. Thanks for watching and giving a thumbs up. NO PATREON!! Just thumbs up!
I am a retired electronics technician... and your antenna is a good design. Only thing I would add is a small item called a "matching transformer". They are only a few dollars. What it does is perform a MATCHED resistance from the coaxial cable to the antenna. You connected directly.... and that will work pretty good. You might get a little better signal level if you place the matching transformer (also called a BALUN) on your design.
Personally, I looked into it quite a bit and to me an omni-directional King Jack made the most sense. When you are mounting something like a bat wing it means you are punching a hole or using an existing one in your roof. That also means you need to rely on some sort of seal or chinese made washer between a stationary base and a moving part to last through the seasons. As well the seal around the base has to keep water from the crank hole and all for what? I found quickly that what matters most in an RV isn't 2 or 3 extra TV channels....it's keeping the water out. I mounted my omni-directional away from any obstruction and put the coaxal in a cable sleeve, ran it about 7 feet and down through the roof vent and I only ran 2 small screws into the roof (put sealant over them) for clips to attach the cable. The real benefit in omni-directionals is since there is no crank you can pick the most unobstructed spot. Don't punch any holes in your roof if it can be avoided especially when it's for plastic cranks and seals that "might" last 4-5 years.
Thanks for sharing. For all the commenters asking, this design is pretty standard and is known as a Hoverman or Gray-Hoverman if I am not mistaken. They work great if done correctly. I don't see much wrong here so I think we could build with confidence that it should work ok. There are some options to be researched if you want more performance.
You are mistaken. This is a variant of a bowtie antenna (actually it's half of a 4 bay whisker antenna) definitely not a hoverman which if made right would trounce this thing by 9 decibels before the SWR losses are subtracted from this antennas gain. The grey-hoverman that was designed by the collaboration of a group of amateur antenna modelers deserves the title super-antenna. I didn't see any dimensions or I cpuld model it and give exact figures but having modeled hundreds of these whisker antennas I can see a few tweeks and a couple mistakes.
@@ghz24 thank you very much. I love building and experimenting with antennas. I simply forgot the nomenclature on this one. I am very grateful for your time to help me. You are clearly far more advanced on this topic than I.
Interesting project. One suggestion that I would like to make is to sand the ends of every copper wire splice/connection. There is a coating on the copper that needs to be removed for a better transfer of signal through the joint. Cheers!
there are many other videos that explain in better detail how to make one, using same principles that I did. It was difficult to make and explain while holding the camera. Check here on youtube you'll see 100's of others making them. Good luck, and have fun
That was funny Dave. My wife would have killed me even with the camera rolling..lol. You and Purdy seem to have a really good relationship. Life is better when you have someone that you can really get along with to share it.
Lol not the prettiest thing to look at, but I may give it a shot. Bought a 2010 Carriage Cameo about 3 months ago. Has a standard batwing with a wingman and it's worked really well until my wife was scrubbing the roof the other day. Stopped working completely. Everything I can see is in good shape, so I don't have a clue what happened. If this saves me from busting sealant and checking 20 feet of coax, I'm all in.
I made some that didn't look this bad, after some trial and error. I made one that looked like a robot. Basically just follow the criss cross formula of the wires. There are lots of videos on youtube showing same basics in different appearance. Best of luck, let me know how it does for ya. Thanks for comment
Mine did the same thing as I found out that the aluminum inside the white box where the cable hooks to was corroded I cleaned it up and put electrical grease on it and it works great again
Just a suggestion. You should use what they call a balun or matching transformer. It is a small cylindrical transformer that you screw your coaxial cable into and it has two wired ends that you can connect to the antenna. It will probably make the antenna work better as It changes the antenna which is 300 ohms to 75 ohms which is what your TV wants to see. You can get these at Walmart, any big box store or even dollar stores. They are not that expensive.
Have you ever used an old Direct TV satellite dish as an antenna? I have one on the house and was wondering if it could work. If I put copper on it it might but I'm not sure. We use a HDTV antenna from wallymart.
I have seen plans on using satellites and there are some here on youtube. I had the best HDTV money could buy from ebay and walmart, and actually the best antenna I have ever used, I made out of a screen door.
So Dave, I'm in a small town NE of Tampa, I probably have 1/2dz TV stations in a 50mi radius. I wanted to make an antenna for my RV. I made the antenna exactly to your specs (6 wings, 3 on each side). I connected the co-ax cable from the antenna to the cable connection on my TV. I scanned for channels from my RV TV & got nothing. Tried it on a TV in the house - same result. Still nothing. I know you can't diagnose remotely but, any ideas? Thanks.
Make sure none of the wire connectors are bad. Also not sure how well I expressed it in video it’s been years since I made it. Your wires that cross each other, make sure they do not touch, the wires you made the 6 wings from. Hope this helps
@@davesrvchannel4717 Hey, I appreciate you taking the time to comment! Nope, all connections are solid, no shorting from side to side. If you don't mind, let me ask. Is position or direction critical with this style of antenna? Would higher be better?
@@mikewortman6561 absolutely critical on both points you made. Since I made this video I’ve purchased one that has signal booster in it. I’ll be making video on it over next few weeks on my next trip.
You are only using 2 of the makeshift antennas as the the mesh "wire" is a shield to help prevent what is known as crosstalk. And now you are exceptible to it and you may now encounter more interference with this setup.
I do not follow your statement. But I live 25-40 miles from any TV antenna, and pick up more channels than anything I bought from any store and better than a $55 one bought from ebay that said it could pick up 100 miles. So my makeshift antennas serve me well
You can make any antenna any size you want. It’s basically just using the concept of this design. I made one for outside at my house, v shape pieces are about 6”. For one I have inside house it’s about 3” v shape pieces.
Wish I had seen this video earlier. I was using an old antenna and lightning knocked out the connector. You kno, going from cable to the twin leads for the old antenna. Could NOT find one in my town anywhere. Even stopped by a cable office, and the lady said she hasn't had em or seen them in years. I didn't want to cut my cable and jerry rig it in case it didn't work. A cable technician had fixed me up with a cable with the factory ends installed.
I'm going to make one next time I'm at home and try it out in my truck. I've tried 2 different store bought antennas and they don't do very well at all. Thanks Dave.
I'm here right now the year 2020 I had a weird feeling about my RV Winegard antenna i fortunately found at my scrap yard Job the supervisor let me have it I don't own an RV I just knew it was I just connected it to my television put it on air for antenna pressed auto scan picked up 35 and all the channels work AWESOME.
Or..... I can go buy one for $40..... I am so inept at making anything that even this project, with you instructional video, is beyond my skill level. Oh the good side, I have not watched tv in almost 8 years. Oh I still watch Netflix and UA-cam, but we haven't had cable or an antenna for almost 8 years now. Thanks for sharing! I am interested in seeing how this works for your subscribers!
I will get to test it out on signal mountain here in a few days. Last year we got somewhere around 50 channels, while there. We cut out Dish about 3 months ago, life is $80 a month better. As for an antenna, the old double bow tie antenna is one of the best. The ones that are about 40 years old. You have to get a $2 converter from Best Buy, but trust me, the older the antenna is, generally the better they work on todays TV. The new antennas are complete trash.
I’ve been doing UA-cam long enough to know, if I showed it hooked to the tv, there would be someone saying it was fake. No matter what you do on UA-cam people complain, people rarely show gratitude for the fact that I share tips and tricks, they just complain
It depends on where I am. In Nashville using the antenna I get right at 50 channels. At Signal Mountain I got 57, at home we get 27 or 28, but spend most of our time on UA-cam, Firestick, or Netflix. Thanks for watching and comment
I was looking for better reception for my RV radio, not TV. I had to get to 10 mins. into your video to learn that you are making a TV antenna. Oh well...
most companies tie them in together. If you make the similar antenna of the video and have it hooked to the system of your RV, it will also improve your radio
Dave's RV Channel. ok, then how do I connect your antenna into the receptacle in the back of the RV radio that is in my RV? It has an antenna like one used in a car, not a TV.
You should have shown the difference between the one you had and the one you did. Until then I doubt yours is better and I wont waste my time building one.
Even if he demonstrated how it improved his reception at his location with his local channels doesn't mean it will perform similarly for you or even that it's actually better than the stock antenna. Antennas always trade off high gain/narrow beamwidth for low gain/wide beamwidth.
Love it when people build these antennas then never show it working with it hooked and bringing in a signal . Makes you question this whole thing. The bottom line is , does it work? Your tv signal and reception answers that ,not your testimonial.
Technically... Especially since this is a free resource.... He doesn't owe you proof. You can research it some more or build it and try it out. If course, at that point, we would love to see your build video and proof of it working.
well I have been using the same design on 3 TV's of mine and 2 at my moms, haven't burned up one yet for years, yes years. Not sure how you burn up a tv through the antenna, that is a new one on me. I did recently lose a TV in my Rv, but it was plugged into the factory antenna of the RV. My generator cycled up and down causing a surge. Got it repaired and he said it was due to surge
One more thing I would like to point out, there is no need to use a signal booster from your RV. Which will save some battery. Thanks for watching and giving a thumbs up. NO PATREON!! Just thumbs up!
I am a retired electronics technician... and your antenna is a good design. Only thing I would add is a small item called a "matching transformer". They are only a few dollars. What it does is perform a MATCHED resistance from the coaxial cable to the antenna. You connected directly.... and that will work pretty good. You might get a little better signal level if you place the matching transformer (also called a BALUN) on your design.
Awesome!!! Thanks for suggestion and positive comment
Personally, I looked into it quite a bit and to me an omni-directional King Jack made the most sense. When you are mounting something like a bat wing it means you are punching a hole or using an existing one in your roof. That also means you need to rely on some sort of seal or chinese made washer between a stationary base and a moving part to last through the seasons. As well the seal around the base has to keep water from the crank hole and all for what? I found quickly that what matters most in an RV isn't 2 or 3 extra TV channels....it's keeping the water out. I mounted my omni-directional away from any obstruction and put the coaxal in a cable sleeve, ran it about 7 feet and down through the roof vent and I only ran 2 small screws into the roof (put sealant over them) for clips to attach the cable. The real benefit in omni-directionals is since there is no crank you can pick the most unobstructed spot. Don't punch any holes in your roof if it can be avoided especially when it's for plastic cranks and seals that "might" last 4-5 years.
Thanks for sharing. For all the commenters asking, this design is pretty standard and is known as a Hoverman or Gray-Hoverman if I am not mistaken. They work great if done correctly. I don't see much wrong here so I think we could build with confidence that it should work ok. There are some options to be researched if you want more performance.
You are mistaken. This is a variant of a bowtie antenna (actually it's half of a 4 bay whisker antenna) definitely not a hoverman which if made right would trounce this thing by 9 decibels before the SWR losses are subtracted from this antennas gain.
The grey-hoverman that was designed by the collaboration of a group of amateur antenna modelers deserves the title super-antenna.
I didn't see any dimensions or I cpuld model it and give exact figures but having modeled hundreds of these whisker antennas I can see a few tweeks and a couple mistakes.
@@ghz24 Ok, thanks for the feedback. Exactly which antenna is the Hoverman?
@@ghz24 thank you very much. I love building and experimenting with antennas. I simply forgot the nomenclature on this one. I am very grateful for your time to help me. You are clearly far more advanced on this topic than I.
That's awesome I'm going to make one but I'm using the ground wire from a power pole thanks for sharing your idea my friend.
wow- you done good with this vidoe. I am passing this on to a friend who is going wilderness-off the grid living. Thank you!
I forgot to mention that copper works better than aluminum by 25%, but either can be used. Thanks for watching and comment!!
I would love to see you search channels after you hook it on tv... To see it working...
I've always known this as jailhouse cable it works fantastic
Loved your enthusiasm and thanks for sharing. I will give it a try. Thank you.
Good video! Will give it a try. Thanks for the good instruction.
Interesting project. One suggestion that I would like to make is to sand the ends of every copper wire splice/connection. There is a coating on the copper that needs to be removed for a better transfer of signal through the joint. Cheers!
Ray Cuellar great advice!! You are correct and every little bit helps. Thanks for suggestion
You did not say how long to make the V shapes? 12” total length then fold in half?
Will get my grandson to help one for me. Once I get my RV. You are a Blessing in disguise
there are many other videos that explain in better detail how to make one, using same principles that I did. It was difficult to make and explain while holding the camera. Check here on youtube you'll see 100's of others making them. Good luck, and have fun
I see how he's a blessing, but how us he disguised?
I'm gonna try it out thanks bro
That was funny Dave. My wife would have killed me even with the camera rolling..lol. You and Purdy seem to have a really good relationship. Life is better when you have someone that you can really get along with to share it.
yes, we have lots of laughs and it does make for a more pleasant life for sure!
I have got to make one of these! Thanks!
I have made a dozen or so over the years, always works better than anything store bought.
Nice that'll definitely pick up digital signals because the Angles
Huh?
Lol not the prettiest thing to look at, but I may give it a shot. Bought a 2010 Carriage Cameo about 3 months ago. Has a standard batwing with a wingman and it's worked really well until my wife was scrubbing the roof the other day. Stopped working completely. Everything I can see is in good shape, so I don't have a clue what happened. If this saves me from busting sealant and checking 20 feet of coax, I'm all in.
I made some that didn't look this bad, after some trial and error. I made one that looked like a robot. Basically just follow the criss cross formula of the wires. There are lots of videos on youtube showing same basics in different appearance. Best of luck, let me know how it does for ya. Thanks for comment
Maybe she just rotated it ?
Mine did the same thing as I found out that the aluminum inside the white box where the cable hooks to was corroded I cleaned it up and put electrical grease on it and it works great again
Just a suggestion. You should use what they call a balun or matching transformer. It is a small cylindrical transformer that you screw your coaxial cable into and it has two wired ends that you can connect to the antenna. It will probably make the antenna work better as It changes the antenna which is 300 ohms to 75 ohms which is what your TV wants to see. You can get these at Walmart, any big box store or even dollar stores. They are not that expensive.
Would it work better or longer range if you added more prongs?
Love your voice 🤩
Thanks!!
I'm going to give this a shot for the pop up.
I have made many over the years for myself and family, they work great
Have you ever used an old Direct TV satellite dish as an antenna? I have one on the house and was wondering if it could work. If I put copper on it it might but I'm not sure. We use a HDTV antenna from wallymart.
I have seen plans on using satellites and there are some here on youtube. I had the best HDTV money could buy from ebay and walmart, and actually the best antenna I have ever used, I made out of a screen door.
Good video, Thanks for sharing.
So Dave, I'm in a small town NE of Tampa, I probably have 1/2dz TV stations in a 50mi radius. I wanted to make an antenna for my RV. I made the antenna exactly to your specs (6 wings, 3 on each side). I connected the co-ax cable from the antenna to the cable connection on my TV. I scanned for channels from my RV TV & got nothing. Tried it on a TV in the house - same result. Still nothing. I know you can't diagnose remotely but, any ideas? Thanks.
Make sure none of the wire connectors are bad. Also not sure how well I expressed it in video it’s been years since I made it. Your wires that cross each other, make sure they do not touch, the wires you made the 6 wings from. Hope this helps
@@davesrvchannel4717 Hey, I appreciate you taking the time to comment! Nope, all connections are solid, no shorting from side to side. If you don't mind, let me ask. Is position or direction critical with this style of antenna? Would higher be better?
@@mikewortman6561 absolutely critical on both points you made. Since I made this video I’ve purchased one that has signal booster in it. I’ll be making video on it over next few weeks on my next trip.
How to raise antenna on a travel trailer, heartland model
You are only using 2 of the makeshift antennas as the the mesh "wire" is a shield to help prevent what is known as crosstalk. And now you are exceptible to it and you may now encounter more interference with this setup.
I do not follow your statement. But I live 25-40 miles from any TV antenna, and pick up more channels than anything I bought from any store and better than a $55 one bought from ebay that said it could pick up 100 miles. So my makeshift antennas serve me well
Where do you shack?I don't remember the store man you're talking years ago
How does it hook up to the tv?
I made one of these years ago, yes they work, but in your video I never saw it being used on a TV.
Crackerssouth it was a pathetic video in not showing him using a bought antenna and this horrible think he made!!!
@@robertbutler8004 this horrible think? Huh?
Where's the window screen?
Dave, cool video. How long are the V shaped copper tubing?
You can make any antenna any size you want. It’s basically just using the concept of this design. I made one for outside at my house, v shape pieces are about 6”. For one I have inside house it’s about 3” v shape pieces.
Dave, you are just too cool for school.
LOL,,,,Thanks!!!
Wish I had seen this video earlier. I was using an old antenna and lightning knocked out the connector. You kno, going from cable to the twin leads for the old antenna.
Could NOT find one in my town anywhere. Even stopped by a cable office, and the lady said she hasn't had em or seen them in years.
I didn't want to cut my cable and jerry rig it in case it didn't work. A cable technician had fixed me up with a cable with the factory ends installed.
in my opinion the older the antenna, the better it works on today's tvs. If you still have the antenna, don't throw it away
I'm going to make one next time I'm at home and try it out in my truck. I've tried 2 different store bought antennas and they don't do very well at all. Thanks Dave.
This plan works well, I have watched other videos on it too, lots of similar designs, all work about the same. Good luck!
I'm here right now the year 2020 I had a weird feeling about my RV Winegard antenna i fortunately found at my scrap yard Job the supervisor let me have it I don't own an RV I just knew it was I just connected it to my television put it on air for antenna pressed auto scan picked up 35 and all the channels work AWESOME.
Christopher Sherman man that is awesome!!
Why can't you use your house wires in your whole house like the ground wires just a thought.
We all doing fine. Both of me!!
Does it work good for VHF receiption ?
Yes
i need pme that get 60 miles away is there any way
I was wondering if anyone has tried this out, and if so, did it really work? What was the pros and cons to it?
I'm planning on doing this for my Motor home. After all, what is life without Jeopardy???? The game show that is.
Well did it really work? Just curious as I too am planning on doing this to my camper as well.
Dave, You need to sharpen your Boy Scout Knife.
Why can't the copper wires touch each other?
causes interference
Or..... I can go buy one for $40..... I am so inept at making anything that even this project, with you instructional video, is beyond my skill level. Oh the good side, I have not watched tv in almost 8 years. Oh I still watch Netflix and UA-cam, but we haven't had cable or an antenna for almost 8 years now.
Thanks for sharing! I am interested in seeing how this works for your subscribers!
I will get to test it out on signal mountain here in a few days. Last year we got somewhere around 50 channels, while there. We cut out Dish about 3 months ago, life is $80 a month better. As for an antenna, the old double bow tie antenna is one of the best. The ones that are about 40 years old. You have to get a $2 converter from Best Buy, but trust me, the older the antenna is, generally the better they work on todays TV. The new antennas are complete trash.
How many channels do you get
depends on what city I am in. Signal Mountain Tenn I get about 50, Huntsville Alabama area I get about 30
Show the tv working off of your contraption
I’ve been doing UA-cam long enough to know, if I showed it hooked to the tv, there would be someone saying it was fake. No matter what you do on UA-cam people complain, people rarely show gratitude for the fact that I share tips and tricks, they just complain
YOU ~ ROCK ! !
Great video I've been thinking about building one of these antennas
you will not regret it. Not joking, mine picks up better than anything I found in stores. Have fun
How many channels do you get? We just recently cut our cable off and I bought an antenna do $20.00. We kept our wifi. How about you?
We pick up 35 channels.
It depends on where I am. In Nashville using the antenna I get right at 50 channels. At Signal Mountain I got 57, at home we get 27 or 28, but spend most of our time on UA-cam, Firestick, or Netflix. Thanks for watching and comment
How much would u sell one for me n ship it? Always bz @ work never have time 4 anything!
So how do I know it worked won't waist my time to even try
Waist is a body part. Waste is probably the word you meant.
I was looking for better reception for my RV radio, not TV. I had to get to 10 mins. into your video to learn that you are making a TV antenna. Oh well...
most companies tie them in together. If you make the similar antenna of the video and have it hooked to the system of your RV, it will also improve your radio
Dave's RV Channel. ok, then how do I connect your antenna into the receptacle in the back of the RV radio that is in my RV? It has an antenna like one used in a car, not a TV.
I did everything and no channels
You should have shown the difference between the one you had and the one you did. Until then I doubt yours is better and I wont waste my time building one.
Galena Illinois why don’t you just outright call me a liar??
@@davesrvchannel4717 I do not believe in faith, like believing without seeing...equals indoctrination like life after death! Sure! Give me a break!
Even if he demonstrated how it improved his reception at his location with his local channels doesn't mean it will perform similarly for you or even that it's actually better than the stock antenna.
Antennas always trade off high gain/narrow beamwidth for low gain/wide beamwidth.
looks like a dogs breakfast
My dog would never eat an antenna. You might wanna have your dog looked at by a professional
Love it when people build these antennas then never show it working with it hooked and bringing in a signal . Makes you question this whole thing. The bottom line is , does it work? Your tv signal and reception answers that ,not your testimonial.
I was thinking the same thing... Not seeing that working how do we know if it really works.??? It would be nice for him to show that too...
Technically... Especially since this is a free resource.... He doesn't owe you proof. You can research it some more or build it and try it out. If course, at that point, we would love to see your build video and proof of it working.
12 min I'll never get back
Withou a side by side signal strength comparison with a standard bat wing, this is just more snake oil, and not well made at that.
WTH? All that and you never really show the completed product?
He does show it standing.
????
????
!!!!
Go geet geet shux where's flash?
you lost me with that one,,, I am guessing its an insult to me for having a southern accent,,,no idea,,
I bet your TV burns up. Bet ya. 🦅 Eaglegards...
well I have been using the same design on 3 TV's of mine and 2 at my moms, haven't burned up one yet for years, yes years. Not sure how you burn up a tv through the antenna, that is a new one on me. I did recently lose a TV in my Rv, but it was plugged into the factory antenna of the RV. My generator cycled up and down causing a surge. Got it repaired and he said it was due to surge