Winegard Digital Battery Life?

[E Z Livin]

I have the digital meter on my hand crank dish. The nine volt battery only seems to last a very short time. Like maybe a month.
How long does yours last? The digital read out goes out but it must be still drawing some juice.

[E Z Livin]

I have the digital meter on my hand crank dish. The nine volt battery only seems to last a very short time. Like maybe a month.
How long does yours last? The digital read out goes out but it must be still drawing some juice.

[Tenn.Vol.]

As I remember, ( only one of the things that are not as good as they used to be)
In the 2 or 3 yrs. I had the Digital finder???? I only replaced the 9V battery
once, as I remember. But for sure not monthly!!!!!Make sure the battery is relative
fresh, is about the only advice I can offer......TENN.

[Clay L]

Mine only lasts couple of months. Apparently it requires some keep-alive current even in the off state.
It can be connected to 12 volts dc. On mine there are two wires that can be connected to 12 volts.
Winegard said the voltage needs to free of transients. The 12 v system is not all that clean and there is not enough headroom to use a LM7812 12 volt regulator IC to clean it up. (The IC needs about 2 volts more in than out to regulate.)

So I used an LM7809 9 volt regulator IC and a couple of capacitors to build a small regulated 9 vdc supply.
I put it in an empty nine volt battery case with two leads coming out of the back of the case. That way it can be plugged into the 9 volt receptacle on the pc board instead of the regular battery.
I have to run the wires through the ceiling for about four inches to get into the area above the TV. From there I can run them over behind the Winegard Wall plate where 12 vdc is available.
Now I just have to get ambitious enough to do the wiring.

[E Z Livin]

Thank you Clay.
I will have to take a look at how I can remove the battery easlier as I do not think I could do what you are working on. Does seem strange that it needs current other than when you press the button to activate but stranger designs have been made.

[JCM]

My first one on my older motorhome lasted for 2 years.
On my new motorhome (3 years old) it only lasted about 1-2 months. I even replaced the circuit board and it "ate" the 9 volt batery.
I finally connected to the 12 volt system and it has worked ok since.

[Bill Davis]

You could put an on-off switch in line with the battery. Keep it turned off when not in use.

[E Z Livin]

Bill, thanks for that idea. I will have to investigate that for now I am taking the battery out after each set up and that is a pain. Switch would be good!