Welcome Cari!
Congrats on your Sunny!
On the awning, I am not totally sure which vintage awning you have, but I'll assume it is a Dometic Sunchaser 8300 or 8500 series awning. If what I am going to say does not match what you have, post some pics of what yours looks like.
To release the awning arms (the vertical arms attached to the camper/awning roller) so the awning can pivot out,
1. Unscrew the black star shaped knob on the lower part of the awning arm. You only need about 2 turns of the knob to allow the T nut inside to slide.
2. Unclick the black tabs more towards the center of the awning. There will be a "pop" and the inner part of the arm will release from the outer part of the arm.
If needed, then you can lift the arm up by the side handle and the arms will release. I have not had to do this step very much, but sometimes it is needed.
I found this U tube on a motor home that has the Dometic Sunchaser 8300 series awning. It is a home made one by some one, and not that bad. I put the awing up a little different, but what he is showing does work.
Hope this helps. If this does not help, post some pics and we can help some more. If you need help posting pics, ask, we can help with that too.
John
