King Jack TV antenna test

[jamman]

Up on Snob Hill at Q I got 22 channels (about half Spanish) with the factory King Jack antenna.

[MyronL]

Now you guys got me looking at replacing the Windgard omni on my pole with a King Jack 0A8000 with the Surelock signal locator.

[MyronL]

Well I see reviews of the King Surelock antenna signal meter ($31.19) are terrible. Best reviews on Amazon are for the Winegard RFL-342 Sensar Pro signal sense meter, but...yikes, $71.65. Ron, what should I do??

[PGDriver]

Myron I use a cheap one, think I only paid around $7.00 on Amazon and it works good. For the fine tuning I use the satellite set up screen.
Cheers
Doug


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[MyronL]

Works good and cheap. That's what I want, Doug, but haven't found one. Question is, unless, do them which claim to find satellite signals also find antenna transmitter signals?

[PGDriver]

Originally Posted by MyronL

Works good and cheap. That's what I want, Doug, but haven't found one. Question is, unless, do them which claim to find satellite signals also find antenna transmitter signals?

That I'm not sure of Myron, they do give you a pretty accurate lock on a satellite though.
Cheers
Doug


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jamman]

For myself, I would get the Wingard. The reviews are much better, and I love the extra controls/info, but it costs more.

But for you - I would get a cheap satellite signal meter. Cheaper and simpler. I *think* the satellite systems use 950-2000MHz from the antenna to the receiver. VHF TV uses 30-300MHz and UHF uses 300-3000MHz. So I *think* the satellite finders will work OK. I *think* (but don't know) the satellite finders will be work on the 12V sent to the Jack antenna.

I have this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Lava-Electron...+signal+finder

Doug

[War Eagle]

Not to be trite or flippant, but when our antenna can't bring in any stations, we have a really cheap solution - we go for a walk, read a book or just sit outside and listen to the sounds of nature. No problem....

[Greg A]

It's all "fake news" anyway.
My apologies, I just don't know what gets into me sometimes.

[MyronL]

Never assume anything. It'll be a cold day in Haiti when I spend seventy bucks on a signal finder I will only be using in between walks or reading with Josie.

[Loren & Cathy]

I park the trailer at the farm in the Spring and Fall and all I asked was to get the local channel for the weather. I get 24 channels on one setting. Very happy with the King Jack. Loren

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by MyronL

Well I see reviews of the King Surelock antenna signal meter ($31.19) are terrible. Best reviews on Amazon are for the Winegard RFL-342 Sensar Pro signal sense meter, but...yikes, $71.65. Ron, what should I do??

Hi Myron. I haven't had a chance to remove mine and take a look at it. Don't know about the reviews. But to me there's just two important aspects. One, does it do the job. Answer to that one, when it's working , is yes, it works very well at finding the best direction to point the antenna.

Two, does it have a design flaw that causes premature failure. That's what I'll find out today when I pull it apart. It might be as simple as a loose connection for the 9 volt battery. We did, umm, go over a few rough roads.

My opinion, bottom line, it's worth having if you have an antenna like the King Jack.

Ron

[Ron in BC]

OK, problem solved. Apparently when the internal 9V battery only has 1.9V it's not happy.

Put in a new battery and all's well. There's also a provision for using 12V and since I have 12V right beside it in the box I'll hard wire it if this battery goes dead any time soon.

It's worth having. For example, in Eugene, in torrential rain, I put up the antenna up and turned on the TV. I got a few stations and lived with what I was getting. I wasn't going to go out in the pouring rain and move the antenna to several locations. With the indicator I could have seen if there were other strong signals in other directions.

Ron

[MyronL]

Was at Camping World today. Their King Jack 0A8000 replacement head is $54.99 retail, $42.97 for club members. Amazons's is $45.43 with shipping. Good chance will go with Amazon and their $31 King SL1000 meter. Like at 3 pounds it's mast friendly and being so compact, easy to store. Your trouble shooting discovery was huge, -- sold me, Ron.

Worried about you towing through that hard rain and them mudslides.

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by Loren & Cathy

I park the trailer at the farm in the Spring and Fall and all I asked was to get the local channel for the weather. I get 24 channels on one setting. Very happy with the King Jack. Loren

Hi: Loren & Cathy... We too are very happy with the King Jack's performance!!! We are now about 35 mi. from Tampa Fl. and receive over 40 signals, some Spanish, some weak, some pixelated... but all "Fake news" with no "Fox" on the screen. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[MyronL]

I don't know why every listing I saw is claiming this antenna weighs 2.3, or 3.3 pounds. I just got one and the box states clearly, 1.5 pounds. Mind you, this is the one without the lower shoe containing the rotation stuff, etc.

Installed mine on my PVC mast. The PVC weighs more. On advice of counsel I did order the cheapest signal meter, at $7 but, it has not come yet. Setting up blind, in my back yard, got an immediate 40 channels.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by MyronL;

Installed mine on my PVC mast. The PVC weighs more. On advice of counsel I did order the cheapest signal meter, at $7 but, it has not come yet. Setting up blind, in my back yard, got an immediate 40 channels.

Whew, glad to hear that you went with the $7 option. Tested mine again on the weekend and a different problem cropped up. First it went to 2 blue lights regardless of the setting and direction and then no blue lights.

I contacted King Controls, they clarified one thing and then said the unit is defective. It has a one year warranty. Sent a copy of my receipt and they've notified me that they're shipping a new unit to me. I wish the product was as good as their customer service. As soon as I have the new one in hand I'll take the old one apart and see what's defective. I may have one of those $7 units in my future also.

Glad to hear the new antenna is working well. How many stations could the umbrella one pull in?

Interesting that although they're supposed to be very directional mine works almost as well pointed *180 from stations.

Ron

[MyronL]

"Interesting that although they're supposed to be very directional mine works almost as well pointed *180 from stations."

Bummer your absent or inconsistent blue lights. Instructions claim, to find signals you need just rotate it within 4ea 90 degree quadrants. That's liberal enough a span to make me wonder just how necessary a signal finder really is. True, sometimes in the boonies you don't know where the nearest city-transmitters are, but, another reason to like this antenna.

My old omni-directional telescoping antenna pulled in about the same number of channels, I think, but this is only the back-yard test, and ABQ transmitters are a mere 20 miles away on Sandia Mountain.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by MyronL

[I][COLOR="Blue"]
That's liberal enough a span to make me wonder just how necessary a signal finder really is. True, sometimes in the boonies you don't know where the nearest city-transmitters are, but, another reason to like this antenna.

I've gotten along for years without one. But, as was the case in Eugene, in torrential rain, you don't want to be outside repeatedly tweaking the antenna direction. For my 4 bay, which was very directional, I usually tried to look up the station locations on TV Fool which helped get it right first try. But that only works if you have internet access in the spot where you end up for the night.

At any rate, I'm sold on the idea of using a signal strength meter and I'm hoping the new one is more reliable.

Ron

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

At any rate, I'm sold on the idea of using a signal strength meter and I'm hoping the new one is more reliable.

Ron

If nothing else, you can always watch the meter.