Winegard Rayzar z1 VS ?? Any good or what do you suggest?

[ng2951]

I have gotten tired of satellite and its expense for what we get out of it. The new Imagine 2800BH has the Winegard batwing. I have not been that happy with the batwing as we are more than 60 miles from some of the local stations.

Before buying another add-on to improve the bat wing, I want to see if there was anything better. I see Winegard is selling the Rayzar and considering adding a Yagi to my batwing is $25, it might make sense to install Rayzar for $50.

What has stopped me is the lack of any real information showing me the Rayzar is any better than a batwing with the yagi, or how the Rayzar might be better.

I had the Jack on my old trailer but I cannot tell if it was any better than the batwing.

Everything I seeing is too vague to tell what might be a waste of time or money.

[ng2951]

You could be right, but the antenna the rig came with was an AntennaTek.

I was pretty sure I could modify the wingman to work with the AntennaTek (after all it is only a clipon Yagi) but if it didn't work any better I would be out $25.

But again the real thing I discovered were the loose connectors. It also seems from other posts elsewhere, this seems to be a common find.

I haven't replaced the AntennaTek power head with one from Winegard. I think the way it powers the antenna is not different from the Winegard, but who knows if there is an impedance mismatch?

[wyocowboy00]

For convenience, the Razar is better. For performance, the Wingman (batwing) is better for longer distances if it is installed properly and aimed in the right direction.

Jerry - W7GBG

[ng2951]

I installed the Rayzar. Turns out the antenna on trailer was a Antennatek, a Winegard clone.

It performs marginally better the Antennatek. I did find the cable was loose on the Antennatek which makes careful analysis pretty difficult. I am also going to check the connector between the mast and the trailer.

[Chuck_thehammer]

height is everything. size of antenna is second.
amplifier is better at antenna then behind television.

I replaced my batwing with a new batwing with included UHF add on.. as other was 11 years old.. no point for a add-on.

[Bill_Satellite]

ng2951 wrote:
I have gotten tired of satellite and its expense for what we get out of it. The new Imagine 2800BH has the Winegard batwing. I have not been that happy with the batwing as we are more than 60 miles from some of the local stations.

Before buying another add-on to improve the bat wing, I want to see if there was anything better. I see Winegard is selling the Rayzar and considering adding a Yagi to my batwing is $25, it might make sense to install Rayzar for $50.

What has stopped me is the lack of any real information showing me the Rayzar is any better than a batwing with the yagi, or how the Rayzar might be better.

I had the Jack on my old trailer but I cannot tell if it was any better than the batwing.

Everything I seeing is too vague to tell what might be a waste of time or money.

There is not an RV antenna available that works better than the Batwing with the Wingman add-on including other antennas made by Winegard. If you are that far out your may need to get an antenna designed for a home and mount it on a pole beside, or attached to, the RV. There are some larger UHF style antennas that are not too big and will give you most of the TV channels. At that distance, the higher you can get the antenna the better chance you have at reception as well.

[jorbill2or]

In my experience and viewing several tests posted on the forums . The batwing with the add wingman on for older models is the best mobile you can get for distance. With good connections and working booster , it's higher up and does a better job , but must be pointed properly. It's much more directional. A good thing in your case but because of that it won't see other stations "off "the pointed direction. A disadvantage some don't like , for the turn it on and forget it crowd.
60 miles is a stretch for anything other than a house size uhf/vhf antenna .. Another choice but more hassle