jsm5394
Senior Member
Hello hive mind. I need advice. I have a 2004 T2499. I bought an Alfa CampPro 2 wifi extender. I’m looking for advice on the best way to get the antenna cable to the roof mounted remote antenna. Any advice would be appreciated.
Antenna installation
- Thread starter jsm5394
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- antenna sunlineclub
Is this the antenna you want to mount on the roof? https://www.alfa.com.tw/products/4g_camppro_2?variant=36473960726600
I can't seem to figure out how to see the mounting bracket or how to get an install manual off that site. I do not know this wifi extender, but I do know the 2004 T2499 roof system well.
Did you already mount the antenna just need to get the cable to it? Where is the antenna on the roof?
It would help if you can post some pics of the antenna mounted on the camper if you did that already. Or tell us where you want to mount it, and pics of the mounting bracket and the wire connection so we can help better.
Getting a cable up to the roof is one task, ( It helps to know where the antenna is or wants to go). How to mount the antenna to a solid surface on a Sunline non walk on roof is the other issue to work through.
Hope this helps
John
I can't seem to figure out how to see the mounting bracket or how to get an install manual off that site. I do not know this wifi extender, but I do know the 2004 T2499 roof system well.
Did you already mount the antenna just need to get the cable to it? Where is the antenna on the roof?
It would help if you can post some pics of the antenna mounted on the camper if you did that already. Or tell us where you want to mount it, and pics of the mounting bracket and the wire connection so we can help better.
Getting a cable up to the roof is one task, ( It helps to know where the antenna is or wants to go). How to mount the antenna to a solid surface on a Sunline non walk on roof is the other issue to work through.
Hope this helps
John
jsm5394
Senior Member
I attached two photos, hopefully. I have not installed anything yet, in fact I just placed the orders. I ordered a separate mounting bracket. My thought was to caulk the bracket for the roof. At this point it’s in the mountains anywhere you think best. I was thinking about mounting near the fridge vent and coming down through that. I could then drill in the rear tv cabinet wall to the fridge area. I’d mount the extender in the TV cabinet. My TT is still covered so I haven’t been able to investigate this route. What do you suggest?
Hi Jsm,
OK, so you have options at the moment since you have not mounted it yet. Here are some thoughts to consider, I'll go into more depth with pics even, if you want to pursue one of these options or others when the time comes.
1. The cable going up the fridge vent, mechanically that is possible. There are some things to check though, I'm not a WFI extender guy so I do not know, but I know the camper. The fridge roof vent sees a good deal of heat coming off the rear fridge coils. The boiler area can see 700 deg F at the point of heating the boiler tube. The top coils up high near the roof can see 150 deg F on a regular basis. This was all measured in an open bench test at 55F room temp. See here for the test. This is the same fridge you have, this is 2004 T1950 I was restoring. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/...ct-ugly-picture-heavy-17684-6.html#post154885
On a hot summer day, when it is 85 to 90 F outside, the heat going out the roof stack could be a lot hotter then the 150 F I saw in the barn bench test.
I'm not sure if heat affects the working of the cable to the antenna or the working of the system. Most wire has an insulation casing working temperature rating that should not be exceeded. Point being, make sure you check what the cable is rated for heat wise and does not affect the signal transmission before going the fridge vent route. A call to the manufacture may be able to rule this out as a problem or tell you it will be a problem.
2. Mounting the antenna to the roof, your 2004 Sunline has the Sunline rubber roof. Unless yours was one of the very few custom ordered Sunlines, the travel trailers have "non walk on" roofs. Meaning there is no full wood decking on the roof to hold a persons weight without special precautions being taken. Small plywood pieces over the rafters with a tarp or other methods on the rubber to prevent abrasion needs to be used while servicing the roof.
When Sunline mounted a roof item, like the crank up Wineguard antenna or the Jensen radio antenna, or anything else on the roof, they added local OSB board reinforcement under just for that item to hold the screws. Every where other then over a rafter is just a bud board nick named heavy corrugate fiber board product I believe might be product called Unicore. The bud board area cannot be screwed into or walk on without breaking it.
That said, if you want to go the roof mount route, you need to screw the antenna into a rafter or other existing OSB reinforcement. When you get the antenna bracket, post a pic and some dimensions and I can help better. You want to seal the bracket to the rubber using butyl sealing tape. Then screw through the butyl, then cover the screws and the outer perimeter of the bracket with Dicor Self leveling lap sealant. Clean the roof well before mounting.
I'm not sure how the cable attaches to the antenna, so I can't help on that not seeing how to fits.
This link will take you to a post with pics of the rafters that yours will be like once the rubber membrane/bud board combo if taken off and the insulation is off. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/...ct-ugly-picture-heavy-17684-4.html#post151483
3. Here is a new option for you. This option may help if the fridge heat affects the operation of the cable and or you do not want to mount the antenna on the roof after reviewing.
I'm not totally sure how the WIFI extender will be affected or not as the tip of the antenna is not the highest point on the camper, but it is an option for mounting the antenna and how to get the wire into the camper. Our first Sunline was a 2004 T2499, we really liked it, then we found the T310SR which is very close to the same floor plan but bigger and with a slide. I know the T2499 well, I even have a 2007 T2499 half apart now in the barn as a project camper I will restore, well some day in the future.
Go to the left side of the camper and open the cargo door to the peg board storage area. That large cargo door could hold the antenna with some reinforcement added to the inside of the door. The cable can go through the door, be sealed to the door, and attach to the antenna. The cable would be flexed in a loop with the door hinge so the door opens and closes without issue. There is room up high or where ever you want in that peg board area to put the other end of the control system the antenna cable plugs into. Or you can run the cable up into the over the sink cabinet, or under the sink cabinet, there is a lot of excess room under the sink behind the draws. There is live 12 Volts DC going to the furnace or the water heater that you can tap into providing the amperage needs are small. That wire feed can get back into the under the sink cabinet or up into the peg board area, or up above the sink area.
If this option has any interest, I can sketch out at least one method on how to mount this to the cargo door and deal with the cable. Seeing the parts would also help. By going the cargo door route, assuming the antenna would still work, you are not dealing with the roof.
4. Another option which is a spin off of option 3 above, it to mount the antenna to the left side of the camper just under the gutter rail. The top of the antenna could/would be above the roof line. You have to find the wall stud to mount the antenna too, then you have to drill a hole through the siding and into the top of the peg board cargo area. We would want to install a plastic sleeve in the hole to not cut the cable with the siding edges and get the connector through it. We then have to seal the sleeve to the siding and the cable to the sleeve or use a grommet clamp waterproof cable fitting. The risk is the size of the hole in the siding for the sleeve to get the cable though the sleeve. The siding is very thin, if can be drilled hole/ sawed, but it will take care and need to be slow to not create an issue with the hole in the siding ripping.
Once the cable is into the peg board storage area, then do the same as option 3 above with the control board/power routing etc.
You will need to use the butyl tape again to seal the antenna mounting bracket top the siding, then use Proflex RV sealant to seal the bracket, the sleeve and the cable. If this option has interest, I can show this in pics of the wall assembly and how to create the sealing of the bracket.
5. There are ways go up through the roof with the cable, ideally with no connector on the end cable so the penetration is smaller. The issue is, you have to drill up through a rafter or be by the Wineguard antenna area as there is OSB in the Wineguard area to screw too to mount the water tight fitting you need to make to seal the cable. This whole option can fall apart if the hole for the cable has to be much over say, 1/2". Is the cable a standard coax cable connecter that can be cut off, poke the cable up through a 3/8" hole, then through a water proof sealing electrical fitting on a roof flange above the roof line, then crimp on a new connector?
Think this over, and ask away for more on any of the info I commented on. Or other ideas you may come up after reading.
Option 3 would be the possible front runner idea if the cable cannot handle the heat of the fridge assuming the system works on the side of the camper below the roof line.
Hope this helps,
John
OK, so you have options at the moment since you have not mounted it yet. Here are some thoughts to consider, I'll go into more depth with pics even, if you want to pursue one of these options or others when the time comes.
1. The cable going up the fridge vent, mechanically that is possible. There are some things to check though, I'm not a WFI extender guy so I do not know, but I know the camper. The fridge roof vent sees a good deal of heat coming off the rear fridge coils. The boiler area can see 700 deg F at the point of heating the boiler tube. The top coils up high near the roof can see 150 deg F on a regular basis. This was all measured in an open bench test at 55F room temp. See here for the test. This is the same fridge you have, this is 2004 T1950 I was restoring. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/...ct-ugly-picture-heavy-17684-6.html#post154885
On a hot summer day, when it is 85 to 90 F outside, the heat going out the roof stack could be a lot hotter then the 150 F I saw in the barn bench test.
I'm not sure if heat affects the working of the cable to the antenna or the working of the system. Most wire has an insulation casing working temperature rating that should not be exceeded. Point being, make sure you check what the cable is rated for heat wise and does not affect the signal transmission before going the fridge vent route. A call to the manufacture may be able to rule this out as a problem or tell you it will be a problem.
2. Mounting the antenna to the roof, your 2004 Sunline has the Sunline rubber roof. Unless yours was one of the very few custom ordered Sunlines, the travel trailers have "non walk on" roofs. Meaning there is no full wood decking on the roof to hold a persons weight without special precautions being taken. Small plywood pieces over the rafters with a tarp or other methods on the rubber to prevent abrasion needs to be used while servicing the roof.
When Sunline mounted a roof item, like the crank up Wineguard antenna or the Jensen radio antenna, or anything else on the roof, they added local OSB board reinforcement under just for that item to hold the screws. Every where other then over a rafter is just a bud board nick named heavy corrugate fiber board product I believe might be product called Unicore. The bud board area cannot be screwed into or walk on without breaking it.
That said, if you want to go the roof mount route, you need to screw the antenna into a rafter or other existing OSB reinforcement. When you get the antenna bracket, post a pic and some dimensions and I can help better. You want to seal the bracket to the rubber using butyl sealing tape. Then screw through the butyl, then cover the screws and the outer perimeter of the bracket with Dicor Self leveling lap sealant. Clean the roof well before mounting.
I'm not sure how the cable attaches to the antenna, so I can't help on that not seeing how to fits.
This link will take you to a post with pics of the rafters that yours will be like once the rubber membrane/bud board combo if taken off and the insulation is off. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/...ct-ugly-picture-heavy-17684-4.html#post151483
3. Here is a new option for you. This option may help if the fridge heat affects the operation of the cable and or you do not want to mount the antenna on the roof after reviewing.
I'm not totally sure how the WIFI extender will be affected or not as the tip of the antenna is not the highest point on the camper, but it is an option for mounting the antenna and how to get the wire into the camper. Our first Sunline was a 2004 T2499, we really liked it, then we found the T310SR which is very close to the same floor plan but bigger and with a slide. I know the T2499 well, I even have a 2007 T2499 half apart now in the barn as a project camper I will restore, well some day in the future.
Go to the left side of the camper and open the cargo door to the peg board storage area. That large cargo door could hold the antenna with some reinforcement added to the inside of the door. The cable can go through the door, be sealed to the door, and attach to the antenna. The cable would be flexed in a loop with the door hinge so the door opens and closes without issue. There is room up high or where ever you want in that peg board area to put the other end of the control system the antenna cable plugs into. Or you can run the cable up into the over the sink cabinet, or under the sink cabinet, there is a lot of excess room under the sink behind the draws. There is live 12 Volts DC going to the furnace or the water heater that you can tap into providing the amperage needs are small. That wire feed can get back into the under the sink cabinet or up into the peg board area, or up above the sink area.
If this option has any interest, I can sketch out at least one method on how to mount this to the cargo door and deal with the cable. Seeing the parts would also help. By going the cargo door route, assuming the antenna would still work, you are not dealing with the roof.
4. Another option which is a spin off of option 3 above, it to mount the antenna to the left side of the camper just under the gutter rail. The top of the antenna could/would be above the roof line. You have to find the wall stud to mount the antenna too, then you have to drill a hole through the siding and into the top of the peg board cargo area. We would want to install a plastic sleeve in the hole to not cut the cable with the siding edges and get the connector through it. We then have to seal the sleeve to the siding and the cable to the sleeve or use a grommet clamp waterproof cable fitting. The risk is the size of the hole in the siding for the sleeve to get the cable though the sleeve. The siding is very thin, if can be drilled hole/ sawed, but it will take care and need to be slow to not create an issue with the hole in the siding ripping.
Once the cable is into the peg board storage area, then do the same as option 3 above with the control board/power routing etc.
You will need to use the butyl tape again to seal the antenna mounting bracket top the siding, then use Proflex RV sealant to seal the bracket, the sleeve and the cable. If this option has interest, I can show this in pics of the wall assembly and how to create the sealing of the bracket.
5. There are ways go up through the roof with the cable, ideally with no connector on the end cable so the penetration is smaller. The issue is, you have to drill up through a rafter or be by the Wineguard antenna area as there is OSB in the Wineguard area to screw too to mount the water tight fitting you need to make to seal the cable. This whole option can fall apart if the hole for the cable has to be much over say, 1/2". Is the cable a standard coax cable connecter that can be cut off, poke the cable up through a 3/8" hole, then through a water proof sealing electrical fitting on a roof flange above the roof line, then crimp on a new connector?
Think this over, and ask away for more on any of the info I commented on. Or other ideas you may come up after reading.
Option 3 would be the possible front runner idea if the cable cannot handle the heat of the fridge assuming the system works on the side of the camper below the roof line.
Hope this helps,
John
Your pics did not post. Not sure how you tried to show the pics.
There are 3 ways to add pics.
1. Upload pics to a specific post attaching them at the end of the post.
2. Linking them in from a public viewable web photo hosting service you have.
See here for 1 and 2 https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f105/forums-101-posting-accounts-basics-11235.html#post86041
3. You can upload pics to the forum in your own personal photo album. Then link them to anywhere in the text of a post. See here on how to create an album. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f105/forums-101-posting-accounts-basics-11235-2.html#post87945
If you still get stuck, let us know. Pic's go a long way in helping show things you are working on, and we really like seeing Sunline pics!
Hope this helps
John
There are 3 ways to add pics.
1. Upload pics to a specific post attaching them at the end of the post.
2. Linking them in from a public viewable web photo hosting service you have.
See here for 1 and 2 https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f105/forums-101-posting-accounts-basics-11235.html#post86041
3. You can upload pics to the forum in your own personal photo album. Then link them to anywhere in the text of a post. See here on how to create an album. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f105/forums-101-posting-accounts-basics-11235-2.html#post87945
If you still get stuck, let us know. Pic's go a long way in helping show things you are working on, and we really like seeing Sunline pics!
Hope this helps
John
jsm5394
Senior Member
John,
I’m still waiting for the system. I like the sidewall idea but the siding isn’t very strong. As much as I hate roof penetrations that may be the best. Here is what I’m thinking.
-Mount booster inside TV cabinet as it already has 12v and120v outlets.
-Mount antenna straight above that on roof.
1. Mastic layer on roof at mounting location. 2, 3”w x 3/4” thick PVC block spanning two rafters.
3. Screw block to rafters with ss screws.
4. Drill down through block to cabinet below for cable.
5. Install roof boot with Dicor sealant.
6. Screw ss antenna base to block with 5/8” ss screws.
7. Seal all with mastic and Dicor 501LS.
There should be a pic of the marine antenna mount.
Thoughts,
Thanks,
Jim
I’m still waiting for the system. I like the sidewall idea but the siding isn’t very strong. As much as I hate roof penetrations that may be the best. Here is what I’m thinking.
-Mount booster inside TV cabinet as it already has 12v and120v outlets.
-Mount antenna straight above that on roof.
1. Mastic layer on roof at mounting location. 2, 3”w x 3/4” thick PVC block spanning two rafters.
3. Screw block to rafters with ss screws.
4. Drill down through block to cabinet below for cable.
5. Install roof boot with Dicor sealant.
6. Screw ss antenna base to block with 5/8” ss screws.
7. Seal all with mastic and Dicor 501LS.
There should be a pic of the marine antenna mount.
Thoughts,
Thanks,
Jim
Attachments
Hi Jim,
I'm thinking on this, a few comments.
The siding mount, the siding itself will not hold much of anything, you have to find a wood stud behind the siding so you are into the wood. I can see your bracket now, the wall stud's are only 1" wide, if you did a wall mount, you would have to drill 2 new holes in the bracket on the center of the bracket to hit the 1" wide stud. It looks like the 4 existing holes would be too wide.
The PVC roof block, make sure the PVC has some kind of UV stabilizer in in the plastic or can crack in a few years from sun damage. A piece of coated aluminum might be more sun friendly then the PVC. Just a thought. You would have to tap threads in the plate if you went the metal route for the antenna mount.
I have another preconceived notion, I agree spanning the rafters and then screwing the block to the rafters is solid. You can use butyl sealing tape at those screw locations. But, I have a preconceived notion the bud board roof will sag under the roof block in the center of the block and not make a good seal long term. It is not stiff enough without wood under it. And Dicor caulking the block to the roof, it still may flex enough to affect the caulk to crack easier with the flexing.
BUT, let me look for some roof pics. Does your T2499 have the Wineguard crank up antenna over by the stove/sofa area? See the roof shot of my 2004 T2499, the antenna is over on that side.
I'll hunt for some pics and you can see if yours has the large OSB support board under the roof membrane by that antenna. That support board spanned 2 rafters and was like 18" square or so. It is a lot wider then the actual antenna. You can feel on the roof by pressing down a little on the membrane maybe to find the outer edges of the board under the rubber. Point is, that board you could screw the WIFI antenna directly to it. Assuming the WIFI antenna does not hit the Wineguard in operation. I'll be back with some pics of what might be under the roof. Maybe it will spark an idea for you. It will take a day or do to hunt them up.
Hope this helps
John
I'm thinking on this, a few comments.
The siding mount, the siding itself will not hold much of anything, you have to find a wood stud behind the siding so you are into the wood. I can see your bracket now, the wall stud's are only 1" wide, if you did a wall mount, you would have to drill 2 new holes in the bracket on the center of the bracket to hit the 1" wide stud. It looks like the 4 existing holes would be too wide.
The PVC roof block, make sure the PVC has some kind of UV stabilizer in in the plastic or can crack in a few years from sun damage. A piece of coated aluminum might be more sun friendly then the PVC. Just a thought. You would have to tap threads in the plate if you went the metal route for the antenna mount.
I have another preconceived notion, I agree spanning the rafters and then screwing the block to the rafters is solid. You can use butyl sealing tape at those screw locations. But, I have a preconceived notion the bud board roof will sag under the roof block in the center of the block and not make a good seal long term. It is not stiff enough without wood under it. And Dicor caulking the block to the roof, it still may flex enough to affect the caulk to crack easier with the flexing.
BUT, let me look for some roof pics. Does your T2499 have the Wineguard crank up antenna over by the stove/sofa area? See the roof shot of my 2004 T2499, the antenna is over on that side.
I'll hunt for some pics and you can see if yours has the large OSB support board under the roof membrane by that antenna. That support board spanned 2 rafters and was like 18" square or so. It is a lot wider then the actual antenna. You can feel on the roof by pressing down a little on the membrane maybe to find the outer edges of the board under the rubber. Point is, that board you could screw the WIFI antenna directly to it. Assuming the WIFI antenna does not hit the Wineguard in operation. I'll be back with some pics of what might be under the roof. Maybe it will spark an idea for you. It will take a day or do to hunt them up.
Hope this helps
John
mainah-SUN
Senior Member
Is this WiFi antenna omni directional?
Hi Jim,
Here is this large OSB plywood piece that Sunline used to mount the Wineguard roof antennae.
See the antennae on the roof, notice the location 14 x 14 roof vent with the Maxx Air cover over it in relation to the antennae.
Here is the roof off, see the large size of the OSB under the roof bud board for the roof antennae next to the 14 x 14 opening for the vent. The board is large enough to span 2 rafters
Feel your roof for that antenna mounting board edges. The roof will be solid were the OSB board is, and then go softer at the edges. If you can make that location work for your WIFI antenna within the area of that board, then that is a good mounting spot as there is 1/2" OSB in that area to screw to and make a good tight seal.
Not sure you can use that spot, just throwing the idea out to see if you can make use of it.
Hope this helps
John
Here is this large OSB plywood piece that Sunline used to mount the Wineguard roof antennae.
See the antennae on the roof, notice the location 14 x 14 roof vent with the Maxx Air cover over it in relation to the antennae.
Here is the roof off, see the large size of the OSB under the roof bud board for the roof antennae next to the 14 x 14 opening for the vent. The board is large enough to span 2 rafters
Feel your roof for that antenna mounting board edges. The roof will be solid were the OSB board is, and then go softer at the edges. If you can make that location work for your WIFI antenna within the area of that board, then that is a good mounting spot as there is 1/2" OSB in that area to screw to and make a good tight seal.
Not sure you can use that spot, just throwing the idea out to see if you can make use of it.
Hope this helps
John
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