King Jack TV antenna test

[Jim Bennett]

Yes, the 7-pin connector should be disconnected.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

I thought it was not a good idea to pull the breakaway switch with the electrics to the tow vehicle connected, that it could damage the brake controller.
You could still have it hitched and try to pull as long as you don't have the 7-pin hooked up.

Glad you caught that Glenn Pat

[War Eagle]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

Glad you caught that Glenn Pat

Nothing to catch. That's what Jim said in his original post (#79) - "... umbilical cord disconnected ..." (unless it was subsequently edited to this).

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

(unless it was subsequently edited to this).

Which it was. Which is good.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

Nothing to catch. That's what Jim said in his original post (#79) - "... umbilical cord disconnected ..." (unless it was subsequently edited to this).

We need a clean up on aisle 6.

After baglo mentioned the cord, I did edit to add that step in, just in case it mislead someone, but it hindsight it could just add more confusion.

[Greg A]

Originally Posted by MyronL

Doggone, man, you guys are good!

Myron, that dog looks like it is about ready to chew something.

[War Eagle]

By the way, does anyone know what brand of breakaway switch ETI installs (Fastway, Bargman, Tekonsha, Hopkins, others)? I don't see a company name on ours, and they all look pretty much the same on the outside.

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

By the way, does anyone know what brand of breakaway switch ETI installs (Fastway, Bargman, Tekonsha, Hopkins, others)? I don't see a company name on ours, and they all look pretty much the same on the outside.

Hi: War Eagle... Ours is a Bargman. You must have a "No Name" one. We have a complete line of grocery products in Canada called "No Name"!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

We need a clean up on aisle 6.

Honestly, this thread needs a cleanup. For a person researching the King Antenna there's a bit of other stuff to wade through.

Anyway, back to the topic; antennas. Since my Surelock results with unit #2 indicated that the sensitivity was marginal, that is it lit up blue lights but when the antenna was rotated they stayed on longer than expected. That makes it difficult to find the optimum direction.

I tried a ( I think) similar unit to Myron's. Nada, not a flicker of the needle.

Sometime when I'm by someone with the roof mount antenna with built-in signal finder I'd like to compare results.

For the time being I'm still going to check TVfool for stations and compass headings and not rely too much on the signal finder.

Ron

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by jamman

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.

If I'd have read previous comments more closely, in among all those OT comments I would have seen Doug's comment.

Myron, do you have the King Jack power injector hooked up the satellite signal finder?

Ron

[jamman]

I think he has to for the antenna to work.

TV - coax - Injector - coax - meter - coax - antenna

I do VIP211z (injects power) - coax - meter- coax - satellite antenna

I replace the meter with a coax coupler once the antenna is aimed. As does Myron. The meter squeals rather annoyingly.

[Ron in BC]

Thanks Doug, when the torrential rain stops, if it ever stops I'll try it with the power injector.

I wonder why the meter squeals?

Ron

[PGDriver]

Ron with my meter the stronger the signal the higher the pitch to the squeal/tone.


Cheers
Doug

[jamman]

Yes - it is an audio signal strength indicator - if you turn the sensitivity knob down it stops.

[Ron in BC]

Well that's good to know. Since I borrowed this one from a friend and it didn't have any instructions etc. with it, if it squeals when I put in 12 volts from the power injector I won't think that I'm destroying it.

The audible feature certainly makes it easier to use in some situations.

Ron

[MyronL]

Returned yesterday from a no trailer week back East visiting family so my meter needles are squealing with delight. I do unplug the meter. We got out of there just in time but last week we did get 4 to 6 inches of snow both on Long Island and in western NJ. I was so happy to have dodged that nor'easter coming and be back in the land of enchantment and 70 degree F temps, that I spent time today giving the RM8551 a good cleaning.

[Ron in BC]

Glad you dodged that horrible weather.

So I take it that you are powering the meter with the King Jack power injector. Once the rain stops I'll take my stuff down to the same place where I tested other stuff and see what results I get.

That type of meter would have been handy to have in the early days when we first had satellite service. Wouldn't have provided as much entertainment to the neighbors though.

Me on roof trying to find optimum pointing for the dish; "how's that? Wife inside watching the tv and calling out the window, "pretty good, move it a bit the other way". Me; "how's that?" Her; "no, the other other way"

Come to think of it that reminds me of some of our backing into campsite experiences.

Ron

[MyronL]

It was a cold week there. When (if) that "blizzard" does hit them hard tomorrow it will be a real mess.

Road trip! Absolutely must get on the road again and find a place where I can give King Jack and the seven dollar needle squealer a proper test. I saw on the news today that after all the rain they had the California desert is going crazy with wildflowers bursting out all over.

[Tin]

Glad you made it out of there Ok Myron, I have never been in a Nor-eastern but it does not sound good. funny wife and I where just talking about a trip to joshua tree and finishing up in borrego springs should be beautiful this time.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/local/n...-officials-say

[KirkB]

Hi Ron and others

I have a Jack factory install and thought I would throw in some of my observations to the discussion. In general, it seems to work quite well, but it can take some work to set it up if not close to a major city.

I normally check TV Fool to determine transmitter locations, and cross reference with Zap2it Tv listings to cross reference TV fool channels to digital (or is it logical) channel numbers.

In some locations, there is more than one transmitter, so aiming at the strongest transmitter (if locating with the Jack signal meter) might miss some of the weaker stations. The strong stations will come in OK no matter how the antenna is turned, so aiming at weaker signals before doing a channel scan can work best.

Sometimes I can pick up stations when there are no blue dots visible on the signal strength meter. Other times I see 2 or 3 blue lights but no channels. I think the Jack can detect Wi-Fi or or signals sometimes and give a false reading.

My TV (19" insignia) has a signal strength function, so while watching a channel, I can fine tune the antenna direction to get the best signal for the channel I am watching. I might have to repeat this when I switch stations.

I find that quite often pointing the antenna 180 degrees away from the transmitter can work best. I mean the point of the V (and arrow on the knob) is pointing away from the transmitter.

Tonight, I barely got a blue flicker on the first dot (I had made sure I turned up the meter first) when aiming the point of the V at where TV fool indicated a transmitter. TV Fool said it was weak EDGE reception, but a number of repeater channels only 6 miles away. I got one channel (3 digital sub channels) on the scan. I turned the antenna around 180, got no blue flickers, reran the channel scan and got 5 or 6 different channels (about 20 sub channels).

In RV parks with larger RVs, I find TV reception can be affected by what is parked next to you. Also trees can cause interference, especially if is windy. You might not need line of sight all the way to the transmitter, but I think the first 100 feet are important.