Just looking for some info on the Wingman

are they worth the money they ask for

Who has one and do they make an difference to your TV setup

Thanks look forward to hear from some members

Cheers John

Hi John my answer to your question is YES and NO. I fitted the Wingman to the Coromal due to poor digital reception even out the front of the house were the van is parked, I was flat out getting any channels. Anyway after buying the Wingman and fitting it (it's really easy to fit) I could not believe the difference in the channels ended up with 34 digital channels. Now in saying that we have just returned from being up through the centre and there as you probably know some places are still on an analogue which is fine as we could still watch some TV. When we could get digital it was still very pixilated and I even purchased a signal strength meter so that I could rotate the antenna to get the best result. I do believe though that as the digital service improves I would imagine so will the quality to caravan setups. After returning from our last trip I ended up trading in my Coromal and I took the Wingman off and kept it thinking that I could put it on the new van, but have been informed that the new setup will have the new Winegard antenna so will have to wait and see what they are like. Sorry to ramble on a bit but hope you find the info handy anyway.

Hi all;

       I have been installing television antennas for the last 30 odd years , both domestic and commercial and have seen it all. As for the mobil caravan i have looked at and found that, yes this type or that type of antenna will work the best, when it comes to your own set up all the salesman wants is a sale and at any cost and will tell a pack of lies and mixed in with a bit of truth just to confuse the poor fool that has asked for a bit of advise. So you end up with some thing that resembles some thing that looks like it belonged to nasa or even came off the space shuttle, and the thing still does not work. But it worked in the shop, or were told it was the correct antenna for the area / or is desighned for the caravan.

So you go to a nother so called antenna teck and they sell you a nother piece of electronic gear, the amplifier, that is suposed to solve your particular problem and maybe it does work , and then maybe it doesn't work. But you pay your money, wife unhappy as you have just spent a nother couple of $100.00 and it still does't work , baa, hum bug and all of that rot. So were to go now may you ask. ?????

Well you could go down the parth of satillite television, but this has also it's own set of rules that have to be obeyed or you still do not have any telly.

So what does one do, well that depends on how deep are you pockets are and whether you are technicaly competant or not. Are you willing to spend a bit of time and do a bit of reserch, have a good understanding of electronics and know how to read a compass and finally know one end of a piece of coax cable from the other. Oh and a couple of other things do you know how to read a satillite meter ( and not the little $60.00 special that some companys have ) and finally learning how to set up a satillite can be good ground's for divorce. So haveing had all those years at the coal face and sold and installed antenna systems , what have i have ???

Well over 2 years ago i purchased a Vast system and at the time there was only one on the market and that was a 240 Volt only decoder ( i use a small 12 Volt to 240 Volt inverter, just for the satillite receiver ). I also use a second hand dish and lmb that lives on the draw bar of the caravan when we travel . At home the caravan is pluged in to the power, one to keep the house battery charged and also to keep the Vast receiver powered so as to get it's updates . I also have a second dish and lmb on the roof of my house and all that does is feed the receiver in the caravan. so i never have a problem and the caravan is al set to go at a moments notice.

Well how does it go, you may ask !!

Well i've never had any real problems over the last 2 odd years. In May 2013 we traveled from home ( Mildura ) to Dawin and back . 8300Klms over 6 weeks. Both free camping and in caravan parks and even had a few people come up to me and ask if i had television and could i have a look at there set up , cause i can't get mine to work. Also a good  happy hour subject.

Cruising Cruze;

                     Hi $600.00 for a satillite set up, that 's way to much money. I payed just under $200.00 trade for my Vast receiver ( retails for about $250.00 ) and i use a old Austar dish and lmb, this i purchesed from the local recycling yard at the tip and cost me the grand sum of $5.00. Now all i needed was a trypod stand to be able to set the dish up on the ground, and that stand costs trade about $65.00 ( retails for about $80.00 ). RG6 Quad coax cable, the good stuff and needed for digital and satillite television. Coax cable, well RG6 anyway i used to sell for $2.00 per meter and i would also throw in the 'F' type connectors as well, and even make up the leads, so about $20.00 ~ $25.00.

The only other thing that i would need is a good satillite meter and start from about $100.00. and the meter comes with a little compass.

So about $440.00 all up, yes i here you and still you might say dear. Well mabe, but when you weight up what it has cost you for a so called digital antenna, amplifier, teloscopic mast and the bracket to hold the bracket on the draw bar of your caravan, coax cable and this type of setup would cost about the same amount of money, AND no guarantee that it would work in all areas. This is why i when over to the Vast set up and i used to have a good digital antenna and amplifier and mast on my earlyer caravan, and i had problems when we went away at xmas time. I realy cracked it one year, here's me i have worked in the electronics industry nearly all my life and i was haveing problems due to the area and the polarity of the signals that i was trying to receive.

Yes the vast service can be frustrating when you are learning the procedure for the setting up of the dish and even trying to get the coordinance right.BUT once set up correctly, you have all of the digital channels.

Now i hope this helps