Original Bat Wing replaced with King Digital Antenna Question

[Paul & Deb]

Decided to go the "easy way" and just replaced our batwing with the King antenna that goes on top of the original lifting mechanism. This gets it well clear of the nearby vent cover (we don't have a front AC). Installation took literally 2 minutes (and didn't use most of the alternative parts in the box ). We get exactly the same number of channels that we got with the batwing, although the signal strength seems to be stronger. Interesting that the signal direction is 90 degrees to what it was with the batwing because of how the antenna mounts to the lifting mechanism. This actually helps us on our long term winter site because previously, the best direction was exactly in the segment of rotation that is not reachable. Now we can fine tune in this area.

Rob

So Rob, do I understand your review to essentially be that other than the signal direction difference, that does help you in your winter spot, the overall reception might not be worth the change all else considered?

[Cate&Rob]

So Rob, do I understand your review to essentially be that other than the signal direction difference, that does help you in your winter spot, the overall reception might not be worth the change all else considered?

Hi Paul - That is pretty much the sum of it. To put this in perspective, we are about 50 miles from Tampa in one direction and 50 miles from Orlando in another. These are our two main sources of broadcast signals. We receive about 80 channels . . . 10 of which we would ever watch . Our smart TV has a signal strength meter and this shows slightly stronger signals with the new antenna. But we are not receiving any additional channels. Our other reason for doing this is that sometimes the wind would "wobble" the batwing cutting out reception. I expect that this will be better with the smaller King unit.

Rob

[Paul & Deb]

Hi Paul - That is pretty much the sum of it. To put this in perspective, we are about 50 miles from Tampa in one direction and 50 miles from Orlando in another. These are our two main sources of broadcast signals. We receive about 80 channels . . . 10 of which we would ever watch . Our smart TV has a signal strength meter and this shows slightly stronger signals with the new antenna. But we are not receiving any additional channels. Our other reason for doing this is that sometimes the wind would "wobble" the batwing cutting out reception. I expect that this will be better with the smaller King unit.

Rob

Thanks Rob. I still haven't gotten up on the roof to see if I can figure out why I'm having troubles with mine and it may be a very simple fix but I was buying into the hype on the King. Reading your review and the earlier review of the front A/C blocking reception on the roof mounted system, I'm not so quick to make a change.

[Clsfly]

I replaced my original bat wing using the original crank up hardware AND tightened all the coax connections including the booster/amp which were barely attached, same with the splitters going to the main TV. Reception is much better. It makes sense the higher the better that's why I kept the crank up feature. It also means it is higher to snag when you forget to lower it!!

[Cate&Rob]

Hi Paul - The mechanism is fairly simple and does benefit from regular lubrication. There is a small plastic plug up top that can be removed to lubricate (silicone spray) the rotating surfaces . . . this really seems to help. All the parts are available on Amazon, BTW.

One additional observation . . . we have recently added a second TV and having both TVs on would cause some channels to pixilate, even with the TVs on different channels. This problem seems to be gone with the new King antenna.

Rob

[Paul & Deb]

Hi Paul - The mechanism is fairly simple and does benefit from regular lubrication. There is a small plastic plug up top that can be removed to lubricate (silicone spray) the rotating surfaces . . . this really seems to help. All the parts are available on Amazon, BTW.

One additional observation . . . we have recently added a second TV and having both TVs on would cause some channels to pixilate, even with the TVs on different channels. This problem seems to be gone with the new King antenna.

Rob

Thanks Rob. When I get a chance I'll get up there and take a look.

[TucsonJim]

Paul - From the picture below, you can see the separation distance between my antenna and the optional AC we had installed. So far, I haven't noticed any signal blocking when the broadcast station is in the relative direction of the AC. But in all honesty, there may be stations that don't register that I'm not aware of if they don't scan.

Like Rob - I've not noticed any signal degradation when running two TV's off of the King antenna.



Jim

[SouthTX]

Here's another very, very unscientific observation. This week we're camped on the same exact site at NAS Corpus that we were in a few months ago with our SOB with the crankup batwing. This time I had just a little difficulty and needed some extra tweaking to get a good signal on one of the network channels. Didn't have the problem with the batwing. Coincidentally, the antenna is pointing toward the AC.

It could be that channel is just a little weak or perhaps I have a loose connector or who knows, but my very subjective observation is that my non-crankup King Jack is just slightly less sensitive than my old crankup batwing.

Why don't they put an arrow on the knob showing what direction to point the antenna - even looking at the antenna I'm not sure which side to point. If there were a pointer on the knob it would be real easy to look up the antenna location online.

[TucsonJim]

Why don't they put an arrow on the knob showing what direction to point the antenna - even looking at the antenna I'm not sure which side to point. If there were a pointer on the knob it would be real easy to look up the antenna location online.

John - Here is a snapshot from the owner's manual (link below) that shows which direction to point the antenna. I've circled it in red.



Link to the Owner's manual:
https://kingconnect.com/wp-content/u...ers-Manual.pdf

BTW, page 5 of the manual makes reference to the optional Surelock SL1000 signal meter. I purchased one and it makes the job of finding the strongest signal much easier. Here's a link for the meter from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/KING-SL1000-S...urelock+sl1000

Jim

[Cate&Rob]

When you put the King antenna on the original lifting arm, the arrow on the rotator now points in the direction of best reception. (With the original batwing, the direction of best reception was 90 degrees to the arrow).

Jim - My SL1000 should be here tomorrow . . . recommended to me by some guy at the last Rally

Rob