TV Antenna

[gator67]

At first I thought it was my imagination, but apparently it's not. When I pull the ring down to rotate the TV antenna, it barely catches to turn it. There seems to be about 1/4" to grab on to. I'm sure in the past ther was more. I can't figure out what can be adjusted so the ring has more to grip. Any suggestions?

[gator67]

At first I thought it was my imagination, but apparently it's not. When I pull the ring down to rotate the TV antenna, it barely catches to turn it. There seems to be about 1/4" to grab on to. I'm sure in the past ther was more. I can't figure out what can be adjusted so the ring has more to grip. Any suggestions?

[lundy]

Call Wingard service. The crankshaft is unisized for any thickness roof and must be cut. They sent it to me free of charge along with the special wrench to tighten or loosen. It looks a little like a spark plug wrench, made of aluminum and about 9 inches long. It is very important to measure twice and cut once the length you need. It could be that the shaft has loosened a bit which will shorten the shaft. You might go onto the roof and make sure than the plastic cover nut protecting the shaft has not loosened. Be careful, too, that you don't tighten too tight because the shaft could become difficult to rotate.

Sorry if this sounds complicated. It really isn't as long as you have that special wrench I spoke of.

[gator67]

I took off the handle inside the coach and ultimately a white tube came out. It appears that grooves in the white tube are supposed to grab onto something to make the antenna turn. The grooves are worn down and it looks like they aren't catching. It's at the point where I can't turn the antenna from the inside at all. I tightened the nut on top a bit but that didn't make a difference under the circumstances. I'll call Winegard and see what they suggest.

[Jim A]

gater67,

I had the same problem! A quick, easy, cheap fix!! What you need is a Winegard EK-1036 Directional Handle Extension. I think Winegard charged me about $2 for it. Complain enough and they might send you one. You will need an allen wrench to remove the handle and a hacksaw to cut the plastic handle in order to do it yourself.

http://www.winegard.com/mobile/pdf/2451047.pdf

It is a plastic piece to extend the plastic direction handle. The handle is too short, and the splines are barely long enough to make contact, and easily stripped. You will need to measure and cut the existing handle, and then glue this piece on to extend it.

Also, check the direction that the little alignment notch is pointing. Mine was pointing to the front. It needs to be pointing to the back!! I learned that when I put in my extension. The handle is indexed and only goes in one way, and not the way WRV mounted it. With the short handle, it could be jambed in there the wrong direction. (It doesn't work, of course, but it went in!) At least one other '04 I know of had the same problem as mine. It is easily turned around by removing the 4 screws.

On mine, the crank Lundy is talking about was not a problem. From what you describe, I doubt it is your problem either.

[Eusefull]

i just fixed the same problem last week and as gator67 mentioned...the grooves on the inside of the white tube neck were stripped so it would not allow the dial handle to do anything.

went to RV store and for 4.95 got a whole new assembly and done in 5 minutes. just make sure you align the arrow and preferrably have someone on the roof to confirm that when cranking down it falls into the V shaped holder.

also recommend person on the roof spray the gears with a little WD40 when it's in the open mode and crank it up and down a few times.