Improve Your Over The Air HD Reception

If you are RVing for just a weekend or full timing it, the chances are good that you will be within the range of one or more HD TV channels.  The problem is that most of us just can't seem to get enough signal to watch TV.  Heaven forbid that it rains and you would need something to entertain the kids besides a good book.






Most RVs come with a crank-up antenna like the following.

While this antenna is a good one, it was designed for mostly VHF analog TV reception.  (The old style TVs.)  Most of the TV reception today is UHF digital and calls for a bit more antenna.
Winegard has solved the problem with the addition of the Wingman below.

Wingman HD TV Add-On



This unit attaches to your current Winegard crank-up antenna and really does boost HD TV reception.  No special tools are required to attach it to your current antenna.  Just follow the instructions that are included with the antenna.
I have added one of these Wingman Antennas to my crank-up RV antenna and have really seen a major improvement in the number of channels that I can receive as well as the strength of the signal on the channels that I could always get.

Let's talk about the maintenance of your crank-up antenna.  At least once an RV season you should get up on the roof of the RV and lubricate all the swivel points on the crank-up mechanism.  I have used  White Grease in the past but this year I am going with T9 Lube which is a bit less messy than the white grease.

Now that you have a great HD TV Antenna you might need some help pointing your TV antenna for better reception of local stations, try this link: Maximize your television reception.  Follow the instructions,  just enter the zip code where you are, or use the map to place a pin where you are and the site will tell you the best direction to get the strongest local TV signals. Be sure to tell the program that the antenna will be mounted more than 30ft in the air to get all the TV channels.  Along with a list of the TV stations with-in range.

Have you read stories about RVers forgetting to crank-down their TV antennas and losing them to a tree?  Here is an idea to stop that.

RVminder Tags

This kind of idea has worked for me.  You could use some brightly colored ribbon and just write Antenna on it and attach it to the crank handle of the antenna and put a second reminder in the towing vehicle.  Anything to remind you to crank the antenna down.



Also, do not forget to check the antenna amplifier switch is you are having problems with off the antenna reception.  When you switch from park satellite/cable you will need to turn the antenna amplifier back on.  Most RV parks request that you turn the antenna amplifier off when hooking up to the parks system.

Until Next Time.

Water Out Of The Campground Faucet, YUCK!!

Well,  I suppose that most of you enjoy Artesian spring water with just a touch of Evian for good taste at your campground.  I know I do. NOT!!  While most city water is ok (well some is less than ok but just barely drinkable). Most campground water is not even ok but is drinkable.  With just a little bit of  DIY skills, you can improve your drinking, cooking, and shower water to be something to be proud of.  Enter the RV water filtration system.






Let's look at the simplest of these non-RV filtration systems and see what makes it filter.  The carbon/charcoal filter is the simplest of the non-RV water filters.  The filter holder can look like this

Culligan HF-150A Filter Holder

So how do you hook this blue thingy up to your RV?  You will need a few more simple parts.  The input and out put of the holder is 3/4" so any big box DIY store will have the needed plumbing parts.

You will need 3/4" Garden Hose to 3/4" Brass Coupler/Adapter  it looks like this

3/4" Garden Hose to 3/4" Brass Coupler/Adapter

This screws into the filter holder and allows the drinking water hose to hookup to it. (this attaches to the output of the filter holder)

For the input of the filter you will need a Female hose to Male pipe  It will look like the following.

Female hose to Male pipe 

You can mount the filter holder to the rig or you can just set it on the ground.  If you want to mount it you will need a Filter Mounting Bracket The filter mounting bracket will look like this.

Filter Mounting Bracket

You can use the bracket if you wish or just sit the filter canister on the ground.  Next, comes the Drinking Water Filter with Carbon  The filter comes in a two pack and looks like below.

 Drinking Water Filter with Carbon

So you are saying to yourself  why do I want to DIY this type of project when I can just go and buy one of these,

RV Water Filter

The answer is, that once the big blue filter is put together, you can get two of the filter replacement cartridges for big blue for less than one of the above filters.  Also, there is the chance of bacterial build up because, unless you are a full timer you are not using the filter enough.  With the replacement cartridges, you can just take it out and throw it away and use a new one next time you go out and you will still be saving money.

But wait there is more.

What if we add a second big blue filter?  Would we gain anything?  You bet.  So let's do it.

The two stage filter

For a two stage filter, you will need everything we listed for the one stage filter plus a 3/4" Brass Nipple that looks like this,

3/4" Brass Nipple - Length you must determine

You will need to measure the length that the nipple must be and buy one from one of the Big Box DIY stores. This nipple will be used between the blue filter cans and the other fittings will be the input and the output of the filters just as before.  You now have a chance to increase the filtering of your drinking water.  Now you will start to use Sediment Replacement Filter which looks like this,

Sediment Replacement Filter

A sediment filter gets rid of: sand, silt, dirt, rust particles and scale particles The park water should come into this filter first, then go through the Drinking Water Filter with Carbon and finally into your rig.  So now we are done, right?  Not so fast RVer slow down and keep reading.

The Triple RV Filter

With this type of filter system, you have the best possible filter system for still not a lot of money.  So what do you need?  Everything listed above plus an additional 3/4" Brass Nipple of the correct length to go between two more blue filter canisters.  Plus one more special type sediment filter the Special RV Filter which looks like this,

Special RV Filter

This special filter goes just before the Drinking Water Filter.  I know this looks like a lot of work but it really is not.  It is just a lot of hooking up of pipes to plastic.  You will need some Plumbers White Tape which looks like this,

Plumbers White Tape 

I would suggest getting several rolls as the tape tends to tangle and get wasted.  You will want to check for leaks after assembly by hooking up your filter system and be sure to let the water from the filter system to run on the ground for five minutes or until the water is running clear.  Some black pieces of carbon may come out onto the ground and this is normal.

Mounting the filters

You can use a 2"X 4" (2x4) of the length you need and mount the filter holders to that as a way of keeping them corralled together or you could mount them in one of the service bays on the rig. It is up to you.
The water you will get from the triple filter has to be drunk to be believed.  This system will not take pond water or salt water and make it drinkable.  This will, however, make city treated or treated well water taste just great.  And the wife's ice tea will be out of this world.






Until next time


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