Jack Antenna

Bob Vaughn

Well-known member
I am thinking of switching out the crank up antenna on the roof of our BC with a King Controls JACK antenna. I would like some input on how well they work compared to the OEM antenna. With the OEM antenna my bedroom tv and living room tv pickup different stations.....
 

PeternLiane

Well-known member
Lets just say the Jack Antenna is AWESOME. We put one on our SOB trailer, it worked perfectly. We received TV signals that we never did before. I'll say it again Absolutely AWESOME. We loved the Jack Antenna so much that we have now put one on our new NT. They are easy to install and incredibly easy to use.
 

Bob Vaughn

Well-known member
So you installed it your self? Did you have to make the hole in the roof larger? Is it taller than the a/c unit?
 

Invizatu

Senior Road Warriors
Lets just say the Jack Antenna is AWESOME. We put one on our SOB trailer, it worked perfectly. We received TV signals that we never did before. I'll say it again Absolutely AWESOME. We loved the Jack Antenna so much that we have now put one on our new NT. They are easy to install and incredibly easy to use.

Did you just swap out the head? The Jack suppossedly has a built in amplifier, do you or do you not use the amplifier that came in the trailer.
Thanks
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Looking at the installation manual for the replacement head, it looks like it just replaces the Sensar (or AntennaTek) head on the mast using an adapter bracket. Is the amplifier currently in the rig used by just connecting the coax cable that's already there?
 

PeternLiane

Well-known member
So you installed it your self? Did you have to make the hole in the roof larger? Is it taller than the a/c unit?

Did you just swap out the head? The Jack suppossedly has a built in amplifier, do you or do you not use the amplifier that came in the trailer.
Thanks

Hi guys,

Lets try this post again. I clicked on post quick reply and the screen went blank. Yes, I did install the Jack antenna. I have installed both versions of the Jack antenna. I installed the replacement head on my SOB trailer. I just attached the new head to the poles with the pins and attached the coax, then I was off and running. It worked perfectly. I picked up so many more channels that I got spoiled by it. When I bought the NT i had the old crank up style antenna. I replaced that antenna with a new Jack antenna on the stand with the Surelock system on it. The Surelock system lets you lock on to the strongest signal in the area. The install of both versions were as easy as could be. In most instances you do not have to make the existing hole bigger. Every once in a while you may have to adjust the hole in the roof. I didn’t have to do that. The hardest part of the install was taking the old stand off and removing the caulking. The rest was easy. I attached the coax to the T, applied some caulk to the bottom of the stand, screwed the stand to the roof and caulked around the screws and the edges of the stand. The install on the inside was just as easy. Attach the coax to the T, screw it to the ceiling and snap on the knob. The whole install took about an hour and 30 minutes. It would have taken a lot less time if I was visiting with the neighbors and having a beer.
 

rick_debbie_gallant

Well-known member
Okay, now what. I replaced the original antenna on
My 3670rl with the "jack" antenna and thus far I am not impressed! My neighbor has his original antenna his roof top and is getting 20 channels. I am sitting right next to him and pointed the same direction and am getting squat, 9 channels. What gives? So far I have replaced all the connections and no better results. I want my money back!! Ony ideas?
 

Gizzy

Well-known member
Okay, now what. I replaced the original antenna on
My 3670rl with the "jack" antenna and thus far I am not impressed! My neighbor has his original antenna his roof top and is getting 20 channels. I am sitting right next to him and pointed the same direction and am getting squat, 9 channels. What gives? So far I have replaced all the connections and no better results. I want my money back!! Ony ideas?

I'm not so sure your antenna has as much to do with how many stations you get. I think it has to do with the individual TV's. MANY times I have put the antenna up and the put both TV's thru the channel scan. It seems that the 22" BR TV picks up more channels than the 32" LR TV does. I have no idea why, but I am convinced it is the TV since they are both working off the same antenna facing the same direction.
 

Bob Vaughn

Well-known member
Did you replace the head on your crank up antenna or did you completely replace the whole antenna. With the whole antenna it has the indicator lights on it that will tell you if your antenna is pointing in the right direction. I have two brands of tv's and with my crank up antenna I got different channels. I found out it was the tuner in the tv's not the antenna. Some tv tuners are less sensitive than other brands. Our friends have the same brand crank up antenna that we had but different brand tv's and sitting side by side antenna's pointed in same direction he did not get the same number of channels that I did plus his picture was a lot worse than mine. So the antenna is only part of the equation. I was not happy with my cable service at my stick and built house and had the cable come out for the 5th time . I laid it on the line, fix it or take it out, the guy called me out side and showed me where when it was installed a 90 degree bend was put in the cable, thus breaking some of the insulation, thus poor reception. He replaced the whole cable all the way to the street, no more problems. So maybe a coax cable got bent some where along the way.
 

rick_debbie_gallant

Well-known member
Channels I get are crystal clear. Problem is just not many channels. Don't know why I replaced the original antenna cept it sounded like the jack wuz the cats ***.
 

Bob Vaughn

Well-known member
I replaced my Antenna Tek completely. In my rv port with my old antenna I could get very few stations, with the Jack I get twice as many and that is inside a metal building.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
Rick, do you have another tv you could hook up and try scanning again, to see if it's just the tv?

Ours greatly improved in #of stations and clarity with the Jack.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

vangoes

Well-known member
I bought the Jack replacement head and am very dissappointed. Before I replaced the old batwing I did a tune to document channels tuned in while sitting in my driveway in a rural area. I replaced the batwing with the Jack and did another tune. Results were very dissappointing as I only got about half as many channels and with no major network channels. I tried three times with the Jack positioned in different directions. No improvement. I removed the coax at the head and tested with a voltmeter and I had low voltage going to the head and the red light was lit before I removed the coax. Needless to say, the Jack has been removed and the old batwing was reinstalled.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
These are the first reports of poor performance from the Jack that I have heard of.
I was parked down the row from a guy that just installed his Jack yesterday. He said he went from 3 stations off the bat wing to 12 with the Jack.

Peace
Dave
 
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