Need to pull new Coax to Powered TV Antenna (From TapaTalk Forum)

Need to pull new Coax to Powered TV Antenna

https://carriage-lifestyle-owners.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=3348

Posted: 4:03 PM – Dec 22, 2016

Stax

Has anyone ever replaced the original power TV Antenna Coax cable that runs from the left rear living room wall plate (that also has 12V plug in) up to the retractable antenna on the roof? I would appreciate any information that could be offered with regard to replacing this coax, the original one has deteriorated where it is exposed to sunlight on the roof and needs to be replaced. I actually use this for my WeBoost Cell Phone booster, but have been utilizing the original TV antenna coax. I presume this was placed inside the wall while the unit was being built, and am not sure how to go about pulling a new one into place, if it is even possible to do so without tearing anything up. Are the ceiling panels removable? Removing the ceiling panel might enable me to fishwire up the wall.

Thanks for any thoughts/experience on accomplishing this task.

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Posted: 6:09 PM – Dec 22, 2016

JohnD222

Stax,

I will digress do you know how I know what I know.

I mounted a WiFi Ranger Sky atop my crank up antenna in the 5er that I had before my 2010 Cameo. Sky utilizes POE (power over ethernet) cabling. That prior crank up I could reach. The Cameo has a taller roof and there is no way to crank without a ladder. So…

First I bought a Weingard powered antenna. That needs no crank. The controller cabling needs to get to the roof antennae along with the POD cable.

I had already removed the crank assembly so I knew I could get cabling from the 5er wall to the hole where the crank was.

Take off crank. Take off cover plate inside 5er, including the spring. You now have a 2″ hole in the ceiling. You will see the TV cable with a flashlight and a little looking. If I pulled on it, it would move in the rooftop sleeve, but not as it headed back into the ceiling and then the wall of the 5er. My guess is that there is much too sharp of a bend in the ceiling to wall area. I had the cigarette lighter power port off the wall so I could see those cables did not budge.

What I did is drill a 1/2 inch hole into the ceiling panel as close to the outer wall as possible. This needs to be perpendicular between the wall and the 2″ crank hole so you stay in the same ceiling rafter area. This panel is about 1/8 inch thick. A hole saw is best because of the clean cut on the ceiling board. I fished a wire from the 2″ hole by the crank to that 1/2 inch hole. Snagged a strong but not thick string on that fished wire at the wall and pulled the string back to the crank area. There is plenty of room in the ceiling cavity for extra cable so reinstalling the crank assembly and spring will not be an issue. Nothing done so far affects the waterproof nature of the antennae rotator above.

Weingarten sells great rooftop penetration pieces for one, two or four cables. They are much better than the rubber dust cover on their standard roof antenna. I silicone closed the oem dust cover hole and used that Weingard “accessory.” that means that I drilled a 1 inch hole in the roof and membrane a few inches from the antenna mount on the roof. I used the 4-cable entry accessory so I could run redundant cables for ten years from now. All dicor sealed up afterwards. So, either you buy a new rubber boot and run one cable, or the Winegard accessory. Either way, this allows you to have a factory waterproof cable end at the antennae. You fish a blunt cut end of the cable (or a factory end) downward to the inside where the crank was. Fish/drop all the cabling to the floor of the 5er. Before closing everything up on the roof, be sure to give yourself enough slack on the roof end to allow full rotation of the antennae.

When you have the crank off, it is a good time to grease the crank worm gear and “lubricate” the seal. That is done from the roof.

Once again you are water tight.

Inside, tape the blunt end of the cable to the string. (if you know the length you need, or don’t mind a splice if too short, you can tape a cable union to the string, and screw the factory end into that union.). Gently pull the string to draw the cable from the 2″ crank opening to the 1/2 inch hole you drilled in the ceiling board. It is a bit tougher, but doable to get the cable union through – use a short union.

Now all the cable is against the inside of the outer wall and on the floor.

With slide fully out, route the cable 1/2 inch above the slide molding back to a point directly above the 12 volt TV/cable booster box. Use metal cable hangers, plastic ones die in less than 2 years in the heat.

Drill a 1/2 inc hole directly above the cable/tv booster in line with the cable you have run back from the crank above the slide trim. Take the 12 volt booster box out of the wall. Fish a wire up or down between that pint and the 1/2 inch hole. Do the strong string pull back. Attach cable and draw it down to the 12 volt tv/cable box opening.

You have about two 6 inch lengths of cable you can “see” if you look. You can wrap them in white, brown, or better yet clear wire collectors and they are almost invisible.

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Posted: 8:44 PM – Dec 22, 2016

sglad

Just because the exterior of the coax has suffered sun damage does not necessarily mean the coax is not usable. However if you wish to replace the coax I would remove the roof antenna. You will then have access to the coax. If the antenna is connected to the coax running inside the RV with a short extension you can unscrew it and replace. If the antenna is connected with a continuous run of coax cut it inside the roof and install a 75 ohm connector. Then install a short run of coax to the antenna with high quality 75 ohm coax and connectors. This way you will not have to fish coax through the interior of RV.

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Posted: 8:49 PM – Dec 22, 2016

JohnD222

If you remove the crank, spring and cover plate from inside the 5er, you can pull the cable from below to make the junction. No need to take the rooftop assembly off the roof.

sglad wrote:Just because the exterior of the coax has suffered sun damage does not necessarily mean the coax is not usable. However if you wish to replace the coax I would remove the roof antenna. You will then have access to the coax. If the antenna is connected to the coax running inside the RV with a short extension you can unscrew it and replace. If the antenna is connected with a continuous run of coax cut it inside the roof and install a 75 ohm connector. Then install a short run of coax to the antenna with high quality 75 ohm coax and connectors. This way you will not have to fish coax through the interior of RV.

Also please note that most cell phone amplifiers are 50 ohm and not 75 ohm. Having said that, I have used existing 75 ohm coax for ham and scannier radios with 50 ohm antenna connections with success.

B.W.Gentry
Owner/Admin
2007 Carri-Lite XTRM5
Breckenridge, TX

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