Motorized Wineguad TV Antenna

[LakeBob]

My Wineguard antenna, goes up and down fine, however it has lost the ability to rotate.  It’s 12 years old and I thought I’ll just get a replacement, however the motorized antenna is no longer available.  Wineguard also stated they no longer provide technical support or parts for that antenna.  They advised their only good option is the manually operated unit.  
 

Their tech support advised that the fixed antennas were low performance, with limited range.  

Im not real excited to put a hole in the roof for a manual unit, and I’m not sure the current location (where the cables and other wires terminate) would provide good inside access to the handles/controls. 

Has anyone repaired a motorized antenna?

Any common repairs or tricks to get these working again?  

I haven’t taken it apart to see if its a mechanical or electrical issue. 
 

Any good experiences with other brands?

Any insight is greatly appreciated!!

 

 

[LakeBob]

Scott, thanks for the info, I should have made it clear, my post is referring to the Wineguard over the air motorized antenna.   Used last winter to pick up local channels.  
The coach does have a satellite dish, this also needs to be upgraded. 
thanks! 

[Pduggs]

Thanks for posting this. I could use some help.

I also have the motorized Winegard Sensor TV antenna and love it. I’ve taken it apart many times and always got it to function properly, until recently. Mine refuses to raise and lower, but rotates just fine. 
 

You should remove the top (remove two screws on the center cover then remove the Allen screw).  This will allow you to remove the top and expose the gears. Then ask someone in the coach to press raise/stow button to see if gears are working. Do the same with the rotate button. If gears are not turning, try cleaning them then adding a little grease. If gears are worn or broken, you might not be able to repair it. 
 

You must be cognizant of the gear on the inside the top, when reinstalling it.  That gear in there is designed to connect the electric circuit so that you don’t get the warning light on the dash “antenna up.”  

We’ve traveled all over the US the past five years and found this antenna to work very well.  Everything I’ve read still indicates it is one of the best antennas you can buy. I added the Wingman, which did improve reception. 

 

[Scotty Hutto]

40 minutes ago, LakeBob said:

Scott, thanks for the info, I should have made it clear, my post is referring to the Wineguard over the air motorized antenna. 

Oops.  Had satellite on the brain. I’ve hidden my totally irrelevant post so as not to confuse the thread. 🤦🏻‍♂️ …and I thought it was such good info 🤣

[LakeBob]

7 hours ago, Pduggs said:

Thanks for posting this. I could use some help.

I also have the motorized Winegard Sensor TV antenna and love it. I’ve taken it apart many times and always got it to function properly, until recently. Mine refuses to raise and lower, but rotates just fine. 
 

You should remove the top (remove two screws on the center cover then remove the Allen screw).  This will allow you to remove the top and expose the gears. Then ask someone in the coach to press raise/stow button to see if gears are working. Do the same with the rotate button. If gears are not turning, try cleaning them then adding a little grease. If gears are worn or broken, you might not be able to repair it. 
 

You must be cognizant of the gear on the inside the top, when reinstalling it.  That gear in there is designed to connect the electric circuit so that you don’t get the warning light on the dash “antenna up.”  

We’ve traveled all over the US the past five years and found this antenna to work very well.  Everything I’ve read still indicates it is one of the best antennas you can buy. I added the Wingman, which did improve reception. 

 

Thanks Paul, I figured that was the next step.  Thanks for the guidance, hard to find any real information on the operation/controls of this antenna. 

The antenna still works well, as you stated, however I have to rotate manually from outside, which is a minor hassle.    The antenna was a joy when  it rotated properly! 

[Pduggs]

1 hour ago, LakeBob said:

Thanks Paul, I figured that was the next step.  Thanks for the guidance, hard to find any real information on the operation/controls of this antenna. 

The antenna still works well, as you stated, however I have to rotate manually from outside, which is a minor hassle.    The antenna was a joy when  it rotated properly! 

Agreed it is a great antenna, when it works properly. I’ve read that Winegard stop making it because of so many failures. So I guess we were lucky to have it work on our coaches as long as it did. 
I hope there is someone on this forum who has been able fix it and can give us more insight. Let me know if you are able to fix yours. 

[lwkhou]

I replaced both my satellite and tv antennas this year.  King dish tailgater pro and King omnipro.  Both are excellent.  The ominpro pulls in more over the air channels than I ever thought possible.  I mounted the tailgater on the roof using King quick release roof mount.  This way if trees are in my way I can in about 5 minutes have it set up on the ground, and I don't have to carry my King quest with me any longer.  Both antennas were very easy to install as I used the cables on the roof that were on the old antennas.

[Pduggs]

8 minutes ago, lwkhou said:

I replaced both my satellite and tv antennas this year.  King dish tailgater pro and King omnipro.  Both are excellent.  The ominpro pulls in more over the air channels than I ever thought possible.  I mounted the tailgater on the roof using King quick release roof mount.  This way if trees are in my way I can in about 5 minutes have it set up on the ground, and I don't have to carry my King quest with me any longer.  Both antennas were very easy to install as I used the cables on the roof that were on the old antennas.

Thanks for your reply. Did you have the Winegard batwing before installing the King omnipro?  

I’ve always read an Omni directional antenna isn’t as good as a directional antenna. Maybe this isn’t correct. 

Did you install the Omnipro in the same spot as the Batwing?

[lwkhou]

Had the crank up batwing, then I replaced the batwing with a King Jack directional antenna.  Neither worked very well.

The Omni pro picks up from all directions so all you do is have the tv scan for channels.  No aiming, works great so far.

I moved the Ominpro as the batwing mounting place was too close to the sat ant.  I covered the hole with piece of thin metal, screwed it down, calked it and painted it white.  I was able to pull out more cabel so it reached the new location just fine.

[WCourand]

We had a similar problem with our motorized bat wing antenna.  Unit would not go up and rotate.  Took the unit apart and lubed all the rusty internals, reassembled and the unit works fine.  You might try taking it apart cleaning the rusty parts and giving it some lube.

[Pduggs]

12 hours ago, WCourand said:

We had a similar problem with our motorized bat wing antenna.  Unit would not go up and rotate.  Took the unit apart and lubed all the rusty internals, reassembled and the unit works fine.  You might try taking it apart cleaning the rusty parts and giving it some lube.

That’s my plan, when I try to fix it next week. I’ve had success doing that in the past, when it failed to rise or rotate. However, this time it might be different. When I press the the buttons to rise/lower or rotate the motor is making some very unusual loud noises.  When it operated properly, it made a consistent soft humming noise. It could be the gears are frozen and need of cleaning and lubrication. I hope that is all it is. Or it could be the motor has seized.