Batwing vs. Rabbit Ears Antenna

Ann P · Post by **Ann P** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:15 am

I have the factory issued rabbit ears tv antenna, which doesn't work very well if you are not in a city with a good signal;forget rural areas. Fortunately, a lot of RV parks have cable. But since Camping World has the Winegard Sensar III batwing on sale now ($99 plus install), I want to switch. I had heard that the batwing is much better than the rabbit ears, but want to get some feedback from you folks, especially if you replaced the original BF set-up. I can't afford to go with those fancy satellite dishes and domes, so don't tempt me!

Dallas Baillio · Post by **Dallas Baillio** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 9:32 am

Ann P,

If you have not done so go to:

Page 6 of the forum and scroll down to item 22 "TV Reception,"

and

Page 5, item 23 "Installing Winegard Antenna."

You'll find a wealth of information on these two posts to get you started.

whemme · Post by **whemme** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 10:40 am

Also look on this forum under Coach Modifications for the topic CONVERTING TO THE WINEGARD 'BATWING' SENSOR III TV ANTENNA that I posted earlier about my experience having the Born Free factory replace my poor performing Delta TV antenna with the Winegard Batwing TV antenna,

CHARLOTTE · Post by **CHARLOTTE** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 11:47 am

Ann...I too had the Winegard antenna installed at the factory last year & Boy! what an improvement...So glad I had that done because like you I can't afford some of the new expensive options available...Heck, I'm still figuring out my new channel changer....

Ann P · Post by **Ann P** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 6:22 pm

wow- thanks for the suggestions on where to find the previous posts about this. It was quite a popular subject last year, which was before I started using this forum regularly. Now I want to be right on top of the guys at Camping World to see if they use the proper tool and make the hole 1/4 " wider and deeper and leave enough room by the A/C ,etc. Also I read that Kim O. said the old Delta antenna is out of production so I hope you folks with the newer BFs have batwings already. I also noticed all sorts of interesting subjects when I scrolled back on the lists from last year so I'm gonna be up late reading this stuff!

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 7:20 pm

I know no one likes a complainer; but for years many of us tried to get BF to use the batwing - but no.

So now we have to go to the expense and time to make an after market change and NOW they switch - cheez.

George Boley · Post by **George Boley** » Fri May 04, 2007 7:14 pm

Brent,
The factory had no choice, the manufacturer abruptly stop making them. Didn't even stay long enough to make extra parts. So any of you that made the swap, save the old rabbit ears, tha rest of us will need the parts. George B

Ann P · Post by **Ann P** » Tue May 15, 2007 1:31 am

Ok- I got the new batwing, and I saved my old rabbit ears antenna just for you guys who need parts. So if anyone wants the whole thing, or part of it, let me know. Not sure how well the batwing works yet 'cuz my first stop has free cable (which I love; all those channels!)...but it'll get good use later.

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Tue May 15, 2007 4:25 am

Ann, I'm interested in how you think it works - please keep us posted.

robert · Post by **robert** » Tue May 15, 2007 3:09 pm

I just had a Batwing installed on my BF.

What convinced me was when I would walk around the campground at night and I would see other campers with a batwing receiving the local stations while all I was receiving was snow.

Camping World recently had a sale on the Batwing for about $99.00. I had it installed by my local RV Repair Man as the nearest Camping World is about 60 miles away.

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Mon May 21, 2007 10:55 am

I just installed the "batwing" on our rig yesterday, we purchased it from Campingworld for $99.00 and after reading Bill Hemme's article decided to install it myself. I'm putting together the pictures and info on the "upgrade" and will post it this week. I also have a spare Delta if anyone wants it.

Steve
Sequim,WA.
2005 24RB

norijake · Post by **norijake** » Mon May 21, 2007 5:20 pm

My wife and I replaced the Delta rabbit ears with the better performing Batwing using the existing hole in the roof. Info supplied by Bill Hemme and others made the upgrade painless, quick and easy.

The existing hole for the Delta antenna can easily be enlarged by chucking up a hole saw that fits into the existing hole on a hole saw mandrel in addition to the required diameter hole saw. Together the smaller saw will act as a guide for the larger hole saw and allow an efficient enlargement of the hole to the required size. This technique will generally work if there is sufficient clearance between the two hole saws, usually around a quarter inch for thicknesses generally found in RV/boat construction.

The Batwing does indeed far outperform the Delta in pulling in local TV signals; makes for a very nice upgrade if you simply want beautiful reception (including HD) to television programming in the local area where you may happen to be.

Jake

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