Jack digital antenna ???

mhollis2 · 04-02-2010, 07:48 PM

Has anyone had any experience with the oa-8000 model jack digital tv antenna that is new, and where I can get one?
Need one for my West coast tour next week.

Thanks, Mike

Bill Adams · 04-02-2010, 07:59 PM

What antenna do you have now for your over-the-air TV reception. The Jack TV antenna is not really much different than a Winegard Bat-wing antenna and I would not expect enough of a change (maybe none) to justify the swap. Don't let advertisers confuse you by talking about a digital antenna. There is no such thing. Antennas pick up the VHF and UHF frequencies that broadcasters use. The new digital channels moved from mostly VHF to mostly UHF and that's all you need to concentrate on, good UHF reception. If you already have a Winegard and want to improve the performance on the UHF band you can add the Wingman for about $30 and you are good to go.
If you need information about the Jack antenna you can find it here. It is being sold by King Controls (King Dome) but I don't know if they designed it or just bought the rights to it.
Jack™ | TV For Free
It is my understanding that while it is being advertised, it is not currently available for sale. I believe the post I read said 6-8 weeks yet.

TXiceman · 04-02-2010, 08:07 PM

Like bill said....no such thing as a "digital" antenna. Any antenna that is size to receive the old UHF bad will work well.

You have to remember that is its a bit more trouble to get the digital stations as the signal is either strong enough or it is not. No such thing as a weak signal snowy picture.

Ken

Superslif · 04-02-2010, 08:09 PM

Added the Wingman last year to my bat-wing antenna. It seems to be able to get a few more channels.

mhollis2 · 04-04-2010, 09:37 AM

thanks for the answers, I guess I will go with the Wingman after the comments.
Mike

TXiceman · 04-04-2010, 10:01 AM

The Wingman makes the antenna more sensitive and picks up the weaker signals...but it will also tend to make the antenna a bit more sensitive to direction.

Ken

Bill Adams · 04-04-2010, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXiceman

The Wingman makes the antenna more sensitive and picks up the weaker signals...but it will also tend to make the antenna a bit more sensitive to direction.

Ken

Based completely on the pictures I have seen of the Jack, I suspect that it's design will also make it quite a bit more directional than a standard VHF/UHF antenna would be.

wa8yxm · 04-04-2010, 02:44 PM

Well.. I went to the King Controls web site and read what they have to say about it.. I'll say their web page looks good

I'm not sure I believe them.. They say that it works better than a Batwing/wingman and that it is less direcitonal

Uh.. dircitionality = range don't you know.. So I'm kind of wondering how they accomplished both "Better" (Which to me means longer range) and less directionality (Which to me means "less range") seem to be conflicting.

Bottom line.. I'm not in the market just now.. But will consider it if my batwing flys out by itself.

CSB · 04-04-2010, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Adams

What antenna do you have now for your over-the-air TV reception. The Jack TV antenna is not really much different than a Winegard Bat-wing antenna and I would not expect enough of a change (maybe none) to justify the swap. Don't let advertisers confuse you by talking about a digital antenna. There is no such thing. Antennas pick up the VHF and UHF frequencies that broadcasters use. The new digital channels moved from mostly VHF to mostly UHF and that's all you need to concentrate on, good UHF reception. If you already have a Winegard and want to improve the performance on the UHF band you can add the Wingman for about $30 and you are good to go.
If you need information about the Jack antenna you can find it here. It is being sold by King Controls (King Dome) but I don't know if they designed it or just bought the rights to it.
Jack™ | TV For Free
It is my understanding that while it is being advertised, it is not currently available for sale. I believe the post I read said 6-8 weeks yet.

It appears that you've not had the opportunity to use the new JACK antenna, so I'm curious to know what your opinion is based on?

Bill Adams · 04-04-2010, 07:57 PM

Craig,
Good to hear from you. We have had many conversations as a dealer for King Dome.
My opinion is based upon the fact that Winegard has been in the over-the-air TV business since 1954 and King Dome has been in the OTA business for about a minute and a half.
It's important to note that I have never claimed that the Jack is not a good working UHF antenna, only that there is no reason (as of today) to believe that it works any better or worse than a Winegard Sensar. It certainly would work better than a Braun Concorde or the other few non-amplified antennas, but since this product has no field test results and appears to not be currently available for purchase it would take some leap of faith to jump to the conclusion that just because it says you "can" replace your Winegard with a Jack that it will, by default, perform any better.
If I am proven to be incorrect I will be the first to stand up and admit it. If, on the other hand it appears to work just about the same as a Winegard I will not be at all surprised.
Once the antenna is released I would expect some of the users here that tested the Wingman to test the Jack as well and I will be quite interested to see what their, completely independent, results show.
Bring it on Craig! If you have built the better mousetrap I congratulate you. If not, being just as good as a Winegard is not a really bad thing.

wa8yxm · 04-05-2010, 04:41 AM

Bill.. Normally I'd not post a reply like this, epically to you (Since you more or less know that I think highly of you) but.

Good reply.. I epically liked the "Been in the business about a minute and a half"

As I said up-tread.. They make claims that to my somewhat trained mind do not make sense.. Better performance, yet NOT as directional.. That just does not fit my knowledge of antennas.

Though I will admit if they have designed a better low noise amplifier.. IT might.

CSB · 04-05-2010, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Adams

...but since this product has no field test results and appears to not be currently available for purchase it would take some leap of faith to jump to the conclusion that just because it says you "can" replace your Winegard with a Jack that it will, by default, perform any better.

The product is available today from authorized King Controls dealers, so I suspect it won't be long before someone who has used the product gets around to posting a review here. Until then, the only independent review that we've received has been posted on the RV product section of the JACK website you mentioned in your original post in this thread.

Our goal with this product was to provide a better solution for finding and receiving digital OTA signals in an RV. It's also been designed in a way that allows installation on an existing antenna lift (in either direction) so as to not interfere with other roof mounted components like an A/C unit or vent cover, or hang off the roof if the lift was mounted close to the roof edge. I believe the JACK does all of this, and like you I look forward to seeing comments posted by others that have used the product and have experienced this themselves.