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  1. #1
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    Exclamation GD 344GK Over The Air Antenna Upgrade Help

    We are just getting started as new full timers and want to upgrade the batwing King over the air antenna to an amplified ant. I'm not sure how to get a 12v power source to the ant. I don't want to just start pulling panels apart, but sure there is a way to get a power source to the ant without it looking like it's jury rigged. The ant. installed is a king but I can't get any reception even directly connecting a TV to the ant.
    Any help is greatly appreciated.
    Pic are always great.

    Luetdan....

  2. #2
    Site Team traveldawg's Avatar
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    Pretty sure if you measure the center conductor on the coax that the King Antenna is connected to you will find 12v on it (between the center conductor of the coax and the braided shield wire). That 12v is switched on and off with the small button on the antenna/cable switch plate.

    The switch plate is what switches the input between antenna and cable input (from the basement) and when on antenna should feed 12v up to the roof antenna.

    So - you already have an amplified antenna. Or at least you should.

    Now.... on to an "upgrade". A few of us have removed the antenna GD provides and put on the Winegard Sensor IV antenna. The one that raised and lowers with a crank on the inside and can be aimed.

    Having an antenna that actually rises up and over the air conditioning and vents on the roof is important. Most RV manufacturers, however, don't want to spend the extra money putting a good antenna on the roof.

    As a point of reference: we just camped with 3 other folks at The Resort At Canopy Oaks in the middle of Florida and the closet cities were Tampa and Orland. The Tampa and the Orlando towers were about 60 miles. With my Sensor IV I could get channels from either location by aiming between Tampa and Orlando. At night the signal would drop a bit but I could re-aim the antenna directly at either Tampa or Orlando and get stations from either tower. The others who only had the low profile OEM installed antennas (like the King batwing) would loose channels at night.
    Larry KE4DMG
    2022 F-350 KRU SRW LB - Airlift 5000+, ForScan, 37 RDS Aux Tank,
    2019 310GK-R - Sailuns; MorRyde IS; Disc Brakes; 20K Reese Goosebox
    Search kalakamods for my mods


  3. #3
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    TravelDawg,
    After some troubleshooting today figured out your absolutely correct. It's amplified and spent too much time researching instead of reading cables. Figured out how the cable/sat routing was done.
    Thanks for the point of reference. Seems a signal meter is probable a good investment. I spent quite a bit of time ringing wires. Now know we have an amplified ant. Just not enough for the TVs to detect.
    I think the TVs are quite up to snuff. I appreciate the info and insight. We're still learning so insight is a big help.
    Any idea of who can provide as built drawings?
    Appreciate the post!

  4. #4
    Site Team traveldawg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Luetdan View Post
    TravelDawg,
    After some troubleshooting today figured out your absolutely correct. It's amplified and spent too much time researching instead of reading cables. Figured out how the cable/sat routing was done.
    Thanks for the point of reference. Seems a signal meter is probable a good investment. I spent quite a bit of time ringing wires. Now know we have an amplified ant. Just not enough for the TVs to detect.
    I think the TVs are quite up to snuff. I appreciate the info and insight. We're still learning so insight is a big help.
    Any idea of who can provide as built drawings?
    Appreciate the post!
    As far as I know GD doesn't provide drawings. Some folks have posted some diagrams. The best one I know of were posted by "klenger" a long time ago.

    Here is one link to one of his threads on this site... NOTE _ DON'T TRY TO GO TO KLENGER.NET.... He closed it down and now it just sends you to phisher sites and spammer junk.
    Larry KE4DMG
    2022 F-350 KRU SRW LB - Airlift 5000+, ForScan, 37 RDS Aux Tank,
    2019 310GK-R - Sailuns; MorRyde IS; Disc Brakes; 20K Reese Goosebox
    Search kalakamods for my mods


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