Ordered it - Montana Owners Club

stiles watson · 02-08-2008, 01:45 PM

Made my decision. Ordered MD105 Verizon Aircard, Cradlepoint MDR1000 Router, and Wilson wireless Repeater, Wilson Omni Antenna to mount on the ladder, and an internal booster Antenna. Sure hope all you guys are correct about the quality of this type system.

Now to get it all here and installed. The 20' separation from external to internal antennas will take some work. As well as internet, we are hoping to get improvement on our phone signal with the repeater. Wish I had some of you electrical wiring guys around to steer me right.

H. John Kohl · 02-09-2008, 02:58 AM

Stiles,
When you say repeater is that what you mean or Amplifier? To me they are different. Do you have a model number. Send me your email address and I will send you a Power Point drawing I did to discuss the external antenna with additional options like power amp (3 watt) or we can add a repeater discussion.
Thanks,

Alex Sian · 02-09-2008, 03:14 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by H. John Kohl

Stiles, When you say repeater is that what you mean or Amplifier? To me they are different.

you are correct, they are different. the setup stiles decided on was a wilson 801245 SOHO repeater that would provide wireless signal amplification to multiple devices.

stiles watson · 02-09-2008, 03:52 AM

John,

You are right. Amplifier is different from repeater. The repeater captures signals and rebroadcasts and boosts them wirelessly where an amp is directly connected and amplifies the signal to only one device at a time. With a repeater, I can strengthen the signal to the two cell phones as well as the aircard all at the same time.

My problem is not what goes to what, but actually feeding the cable from the rear of the coach through the belly of Monty to a position at least 20' away from the exterior antenna to punch up through the bottom and mount the interior booster antenna.

Wilson's Repeater is simple enough -- exterior antenna in, interior antenna out, and a 110v power connection. The USB aircard is plugged into the wireless router which is AC powered. The aircard picks up the signal from the internal antenna as do the cell phones.

My real problem is placement of the repeater and actual laying of the antenna cable in a way that the cable will be protected, won't interfere with the slides, won't have cable lying around on the floor, and will be neat and unobtrusive.

H. John Kohl · 02-09-2008, 06:32 AM

Stiles,
I looked at your floor plan and see your desk is in the rear passenger corner. I found a predrilled hole in the floor behind the desk drawers on my unit. I also found light sheet metal below the floor and a perfect place for my HAM antenna tuner. I put a connector box through the light tin. Here is a link to my installs. I suggest that space with easy access for you repeater. Then you can run the inside coax up through the floor into the desk area where it is out of the way. And up through a computer cable hole in the rear corner of the desk. The cover I installed will let you attach the external coax for the outside antenna. The opening does not have a back to it I added plexaglass like material which you sould not need to do. Just ensure the repeater is solidly mounted so it does not walk.

I am betting the repeater is a 12VDC device with a 110 power plug/transformer. I suggest looking at running it off your trailer 12VDC system or you can add a second sealed battery (for saftey ensure it is a sealed unit like the emergency light batteries) and converter/power supply as I did. EDIT I see it is 110VAC but the location I suggested should support 110 down there just run it through the same coax hole.

The first picture shows the standard 110vac power outlet in the trailer.
The second picture shows the 110vac outlet I added under the desk for things like our extra power requirements. I put the power strip behind the desk drawers this time. The last time it was on the back wall under the desk top in the knee well.

I hope this helps. Please ask any questions if I am not clear.
Cheers,

Alex Sian · 02-09-2008, 06:53 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by H. John Kohl
I am betting the repeater is a 12VDC device with a 110 power plug/transformer.

it does have transformer, but its a 6VDC repeater. just fyi.

Alex Sian · 02-09-2008, 06:57 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by H. John Kohl
I looked at your floor plan and see your desk is in the rear passenger corner.
...I suggest that space with easy access for you repeater.
Then you can run the inside coax up through the floor into the desk area ...

he will be locating the omni antenna on ladder frame at rear of RV, and this desk you are talking about is also at rear of RV... is there going to be 20ft of separation he needs between antennas with your suggested layout?

stiles watson · 02-09-2008, 09:29 AM

I will position the router with aircard in the cabinet above the television. No wiring needed except the power cord. I plan to mount the Wilson Omni external antenna on the ladder which is opposite side of the rig from the desk area. The cable attached to the antenna is only 12' long.

Supplier suggests that it is best to have that cable connected to the repeater, so that leaves me with 12' of cable from the bottom of the antenna to the repeater. The ladder is approx. 7' from bottom of the RV, so that leaves me a 5' radius to position the repeater. I don't want to position the repeater in a slide because the cable isn't long enough for flexing. That leaves me to position the repeater somewhere along the back wall. Power isn't a problem because there is a plug on each side of the back wall.

After mounting the repeater, I need a minimum of 20' of separation between external antenna and the internal booster antenna. I ordered 30' of cable to get this separation. That gives me 10' of play to get the cable routed down the frame of the RV and come back inside probably around the laundry chute to connect up with the 3' of wire on the end of the internal antenna.

Another option may be to mount the exterior antenna somewhere toward the front of the RV, position the repeater in the basement and get 20' of separation by positioning the internal antenna near the desk/entertainment area. I have 110v power in the basement. That would leave the internal antenna in close proximity to the living area where the phones are most often used and the aircard/router are located.

What to do ....what to do....

H. John Kohl · 02-09-2008, 10:02 AM

Ok I forgot about 20 feet of antenna seperation and since this is a repeater that is critical. If you mount the repeater above the TV then you might be able to run the internal antenna along or in the ceiling and mount it up towards the bed room. One easy way would be to hide the coax in cable runs. I use them for fiber lights over the living room slide. Ann's fiber butterflies hang there. If Ozz was doing it I am sure he would fish the wire along the ceiling between it and the insulation. That might be worth a look.
Good luck and let us know how it goes with the install as well as the performance.
Thanks to EVDOalex for keeping me straight and not giving bad suggestions.
Cheers,

Alex Sian · 02-09-2008, 10:47 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by H. John Kohl
Thanks to EVDOalex for keeping me straight and not giving bad suggestions.

i wasn't trying to keep you straight so much.

not (yet) having one of these big toys you guys have, i can't picture exactly what we're dealing with, and have to defer to the experience of owners.

one of these days... i'll be a real RVer, and not just an RVer in my dreams.

stiles watson · 02-09-2008, 11:22 AM

Alex,

I invite you to hand deliver that system to me in central Texas. That way you could get some hands-on experience of installing one in a real RV. This would greatly enhance your knowledge base. You wouldn't have to really work -- just supervise. I would feed you while you are here. You could see what the lifestyle is like. That would also enhance your RVing dream. What a deal, huh.

H. John Kohl · 02-09-2008, 12:03 PM

Stiles,
Are you sure your name was not Tom as in Tom Sawyer?

Alex Sian · 02-09-2008, 01:07 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by stiles watson

Alex,

I invite you to hand deliver that system to me in central Texas. That way you could get some hands-on experience of installing one in a real RV. This would greatly enhance your knowledge base. You wouldn't have to really work -- just supervise. I would feed you while you are here. You could see what the lifestyle is like. That would also enhance your RVing dream. What a deal, huh.

i have a counter-offer for you.
since YOU have the RV and are more experienced at driving...
i invite YOU to come up to dallas, and we'll get you set up right.
i'll document/photograph the whole thing, and we'll share it on the forum.

stiles watson · 02-09-2008, 02:18 PM

Ok, you got a deal. Let's do it.

Alex Sian · 02-09-2008, 04:10 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by stiles watson

Ok, you got a deal. Let's do it.

you serious? shall i redirect your shipment to me instead?
http://www.weather.com/weather/print/75381
weather near me looks for for weekend of 16/17th.
want to shoot for then? i have plenty of tools. :-)

stiles watson · 02-09-2008, 05:12 PM

I have guests leaving early Sunday morning. I can travel in the afternoon and get with you on the 19th, President's Day. Redirecting the shipment depends on our being able to coordinate schedules.

Alex Sian · 02-09-2008, 05:31 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by stiles watson

I have guests leaving early Sunday morning. I can travel in the afternoon and get with you on the 19th, President's Day. Redirecting the shipment depends on our being able to coordinate schedules.

isn't presidents day, monday the 18th?
what i do on weekends is up to me, what i do on monday, i have to schedule with work (i'm not off that day)

would probably be better (for me) to push to 23/24 weekend. how's that for you?

stiles watson · 02-09-2008, 06:43 PM

You are correct. President's Day is the 18th. I will explore the possibilities about the next weekend.

Alex Sian · 02-10-2008, 09:47 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by stiles watson

You are correct. President's Day is the 18th. I will explore the possibilities about the next weekend.

this is getting harder. my wife reminds me i have much family over the weekend of 23/24 for mothers 83rd birthday. so that weekend is out now. bummer.

stiles watson · 02-10-2008, 10:30 AM

Glad you are keeping your priorities straight. Some good ideas just won't fly. Thanks for the offer. Please go ahead and ship as originally planned.

You may also like: