Satellite Prep - the good news and the bad

[boowho]

Well, I FINALLY got around to mounting my CarryOut antenna permanently on the roof.

Good news, is that the wire location in the roof is exactly where FR told me it'd be located. I didn't punch a hole in my roof for nothing!!!

The bad news is that they did not supply a source of 12 Volts which is required for almost every roof mounted antenna available today.

I'm thinking there may be a 12 V source of power inside the Penguin AC unit. Anyone able to verify this?? Or another option??

I can always run a power wire across the roof and down the ladder or something equally "tacky", but I hate to do something like that. Apologies to anyone that's done it the tacky way!!!

Boowho??

[ernest917]

Question: Why did you decide to mount your carryout to the roof.... Seems it totally defeats the purpose...

There have been times when I've carried my dish up on my roof for better reception but at other times, I've carried it out from under the trees that are shading my rig for better reception..... If it was attached to the roof, I lose the opportunity of getting it out from under the trees...

We love to camp at a local SP and most all sites are heavily shaded.... In order to use my sat, I have 75' of coaxial and 12V cord which allows me to get it clear if trees.... Works great...

[drc343]

Run your 12 volt wire down you Frig. Vent. There is 12 volts at the back of the frig you can tap into.

[boowho]

Originally Posted by ernest917

Question: Why did you decide to mount your carryout to the roof.... Seems it totally defeats the purpose...

There have been times when I've carried my dish up on my roof for better reception but at other times, I've carried it out from under the trees that are shading my rig for better reception..... If it was attached to the roof, I lose the opportunity of getting it out from under the trees...

We love to camp at a local SP and most all sites are heavily shaded.... In order to use my sat, I have 75' of coaxial and 12V cord which allows me to get it clear if trees.... Works great...

I am rarely under trees.....

For the few occasions where I may stay under trees (for more than a day or so), I've made my roof mounting installation "convertable"; I can climb up the ladder, give a quick twist on the carryout and bring it down on the ground and then use the extension cords like you..... All in less than 2-3 minutes.

On the other hand, I have many nights where I pull into a rest area, WalMart or truck stop and would like to be able to watch satellite without going outside. My "convertable" system gives me the best of both worlds.

And being on the roof when in TS's, rest areas, WM, etc also prevents the problem of having it growing legs and walking away if I fall asleep and forget to bring it in.

I shouldn't have use the word "permanently" in the OP. My bad.

Boowho??

[B and B]

Originally Posted by ernest917

Question: Why did you decide to mount your carryout to the roof.... Seems it totally defeats the purpose...

There have been times when I've carried my dish up on my roof for better reception but at other times, I've carried it out from under the trees that are shading my rig for better reception..... If it was attached to the roof, I lose the opportunity of getting it out from under the trees...

We love to camp at a local SP and most all sites are heavily shaded.... In order to use my sat, I have 75' of coaxial and 12V cord which allows me to get it clear if trees.... Works great...

X2 Same for me, I camp in Provincial parks with lots of trees ..

B

[boowho]

Originally Posted by drc343

Run your 12 volt wire down you Frig. Vent. There is 12 volts at the back of the frig you can tap into.

Thanks for that thought..... It may be a better alternative than drawing 110 off the AC unit and stepping it down to 12 VDC with a small power supply (which is what I've been considering, so far).

However, my fridge is in a slideout, so not sure where the vent is located.

Boowho??.

[ernest917]

How abt some pics of your roof mount.... Might be something I'd be interested in doing after all.... Especially, now that I know you can remove it when needed...

[boowho]

Originally Posted by ernest917

How abt some pics of your roof mount.... Might be something I'd be interested in doing after all.... Especially, now that I know you can remove it when needed...

I'll see what I can do.... It may be a day or two before I get back up there.

Basically, I took the flat plate that comes with Winegard's the optional "three legged stool", and fastened it to the roof (without the provided legs; they are too long).

I made three short support legs out of six L-shaped strap metal pieces that I got at Home Depot. Basically used two of the L-shaped pieces for each of the three legs. Think of the letter L and then an upside down L and then bolting the two together.

Once I had the three legs fabricated and attached to the base plate (from the 3 legged stool), it was just a matter of attaching it to the roof with lag screws. The base plate now sits about 1.5 inches above the roof.

Now set the CarryOut on the flat plate, twist it counter clockwise a few degrees and that locks it into place. Then I put a bungee on it to guarantee that it doesn't twist the other way and come off mid-trip (ouch).

Hope this makes sense. Actually, I'm right in the middle of setting up this whole "convertable" thingy right now. I guy I met in a campground a few months ago had done it and I'm pretty much stealing his idea.

Boowho??

[mjracsj]

I would love to see your pictures when you get a chance. Depending on where on the roof you had to locate it, maybe you could pull 12v power from one of the 12v vent fans? Or if it was up toward the front maybe from the running lights or even the dash as wires can be fished pretty easily from the top of the front cap to inside under the windshield corner trim to the dash. That is how I was able to get my satellite radio antenna wire to the dash.

[boowho]

Originally Posted by mjracsj

I would love to see your pictures when you get a chance. Depending on where on the roof you had to locate it, maybe you could pull 12v power from one of the 12v vent fans? Or if it was up toward the front maybe from the running lights or even the dash as wires can be fished pretty easily from the top of the front cap to inside under the windshield corner trim to the dash. That is how I was able to get my satellite radio antenna wire to the dash.

OK, it's been raining here all day, but as soon as it quits I'll go up and take some pics.

It's really pretty simple if you have one of those optional support stools for setting it on the ground.

As far as power, I drilled a hole directly over the A/V equipment compartment and dropped the 12 V cable down thru it. Then using a 110V AC to 12V DC "brick" power supply, connect to the only outlet in the coach that works off the inverter.

So, now when the inverter if running (or I'm connected to shore power), the TV, the dish receiver PLUS the CarryOut all receive power.

If I had run the ant power wire directly to 12V supply (without a switch somewhere in the line), then the thing would have been constantly trying to "find" a satellite as I drove down the road.

Boowho??

[boowho]

OK, here they are......

Pics should be somewhat self-explanatory.

The round plate with the yellow sticker is the the base plate from the optional three legged stand that Winegard sells for the Carryout.

Included legs not used; instead I made 3 shorter "legs" to support the base plate about 1.5 inches off the roof.

Fourth picture shows how the support legs were fabricated from two L-shaped galvanized pieces of sheet metal. Got six of them at Home Depot and hack sawed about an inch off one side of each. This was to shorten the height of the finished bracket down the 1.5 inches; otherwise the the whole thing would have been 2.5 inches above the roof.

Notice the four black rubber feet on the bottom of the CarryOut. I had to add a couple of washers as shims to each one of them. The screws I used to mount the legs to the base plate were just high enough that the four rubber feet would not drop into the slots in the base plate of the stand.

After shimming, just set the CarryOut on the base plate so the 4 feet line up with the "key holes" in the base plate and twist the CO counterclockwise a few degrees. This locks it into the base.

A properly applied bungee cord would probably keep it from coming "untwisted" during travel. However, I opted to be a little more careful. If you look closely at the second pic, you will notice a tiny brass threaded insert in the bottom of the CO. It's at the extreme right edge of the picture and can barely be seen.

I ran a bolt into that threaded insert (from the top, under the dome) and into an existing hole in the baseplate that just happened to align perfectly. This bolt acts as a stud to keep the CO from untwisting itself. The guy I mimicked used the bungee and has never had any trouble, but I feel better with the stud.

Maybe I'll add the bungee too, just for insurance.

Questions welcome.

Boowho??

[billygo3251]

Looks great