Question Montana HC 377FL

[214skier]

Is anyone aware of a possible raceway from the roof to the passthrough or underbelly of my rig?

[Carl n Susan]

Any of the vent stacks will work.

[214skier]

Originally Posted by Carl n Susan

Any of the vent stacks will work.

which are the vent stacks and where do they terminate?

[Derby6]

In to the tanks I think.

What are you trying to do? Run a cable from roof to belly?

[Daryles]

As Carl said, a vent would be easiest.
You could go in-between the vents and aim for the wall cavity that goes behind the control panel.

[214skier]

Pardon my ignorance here.

I am wanting to mount a WeBoost RV X antenna on the roof and connect to the satellite plug in the pass through.

I intend to mount the amplifier in the "tele-vator" cabinet behind the TV.

Using a roof vent (likely the kitchen sink vent) might get me to a good spot in the basement to run the coaxial to the pass through...

Do I drill into the PVC in the basement to catch the cable as it comes down the pipe? I assume I would fill that hole with caulk or some sealant.

Guidance here is appreciated.

[DutchmenSport]

Before going through all that work, make sure the WeBoost will still work well if you go through the coax cable in your camper. And then, you'll need adapters to switch from the very thin coax cable supplied with your WeBoost to the fatter normal coax running through your camper, and then connect again at red power box.

Hopefully, you have already tested it all out. The coax wire supplied with the WeBoost is only "so long". Will it reach the entire length you need? To reach the Satellite connection in the pass-through?

Try connecting there first (before running any wires) and set the thing up. Make sure it's actually going to work.

I have a WeBoost and built a very solid outside antenna stand that simply sits on the roof of my camper. I run the wire down the side of the camper and in through a window closest to where the red WeBoost power supply is located. The other (inside) antenna has a very long, very thin, Coax cable, so the inside antenna can be located anywhere.

Anyway, I hope you did some trial testing first and are just not assuming the system will work using your camper's existing Coax cable before you start surgery on your camper.

And just for an FYI... our WeBoost works great! It might have had a hefty up-front cost to purchase the thing, but it sure does the job when phone signals are weak.

[Carl n Susan]

Originally Posted by 214skier

.....Do I drill into the PVC in the basement to catch the cable as it comes down the pipe? I assume I would fill that hole with caulk or some sealant..........

That is exactly what I did. I first tried going down along side the vent but ran into something solid that prevented the cable from going all the way down.

[214skier]

Dutchmen,

Thank you for the excellent comments. I haven't received the WeBoost yet (coming from Amazon shortly). I am just in planning stages.

Very interesting comment about the Coaxial being different Weboost vs. standard television. If the two are not compatible --this will be very frustrating.

Assuming the two coaxial ARE compatible. I had another idea I had is to mount the WeBoost antenna on the side of the Winegard Air gateway (we don't use it) and tap into that coaxial connection for the tV antenna... mount the booster near the TV, antenna etc.

[214skier]

It looks like the Winegard 360 on my roof uses RG 6 coax. The cable that connects the antenna to amplifier on the Drive X RV is also RG 6 coax. That would indicate the two are compatible? thoughts?

[DutchmenSport]

Originally Posted by 214skier

Dutchmen,

... I haven't received the WeBoost yet (coming from Amazon shortly). I am just in planning stages.

....

When we first got our WeBoost, I actually took it to some of the different state parks in Indiana where we had very poor or no phone signals for our cell phones. And also some parks that had very spotty service. So, we loaded up everything, and because we have the annual Indiana DNR pass, there's no charge for entering the state parks. We picked a Sunday afternoon when campgrounds were thinning out after the week-enders left.

Here's how we did it. The first photo shows the base I made for the antenna. The pipe is just a section of PVC I had laying around. I can move the actual antenna clamp higher or lower if need be. I made that block stand out of treated 2x's. I put the 2 uprights close together so the PVC pipe has to be forced into the joint, but stays firm and can be removed.

The block actually goes on the roof of the camper and it actually catches under my air conditioner shroud. I did spray paint the block, so it's now black and then I used a spray on rubber on the bottom to make the bottom a little less slick, and won't slide around. It's heavy for sure, but it works great. When traveling, everything comes off the roof of the camper.

The second photo is how we tested it at one of the Indiana State Parks. We commandeered an open campsite for about an hour and set everything up, including lap top computers, my wife's works computer, cell phones, everything. It worked very well.

[214skier]

Dutchmen, very cool set up.

I have been contemplating both a permanent installation (via Winegard).. and something like you did that can be taken down when we move.

Out of curiosity, why did you choose Drive X vs. Destination (with the telescoping pole)?

[DutchmenSport]

Originally Posted by 214skier

...

Out of curiosity, why did you choose Drive X vs. Destination (with the telescoping pole)?

I got the "Drive Reach". It was the one that had RV all over the advertising. Plus, it's designed to be mounted used while actually traveling. It just seemed like the right choice.

This one, click here.

The telescoping pole, is not really "telescoping". I used a section of PVC pipe and used the clamp that came with the WeBoost. I debated about using a metal pipe, but figured the PVC would probably do just as good and be a little more light weight. The actual antenna mount can be affixed to a pole, a ladder on the back of your camper, or it can be flush mounted on the roof or side of the camper permanently. If I needed to, I could mount the antenna on my 10 foot "telescoping" painter's pole I keep in the camper. It's used with the soft RV brush for washing the camper. I could attach the clamp to it and get that thing ..... way, way "up there" if I wanted to. Being right above the window where the cable goes into the camper, I have lots of length of cable to reach. I "could" go about 10 feet higher than the camper roof if I wanted to.

[Daryles]

I installed Flag Ploe Buddy's and two Furrion coax ports on the back of the rig.
One for the Dish TV one for the WeBoost antenna.
As mentioned above the internal Montana coax wiring may not work for WeBoost (it doesn't work for Dish). Try it first.

[daboom11]

Originally Posted by Daryles

I installed Flag Ploe Buddy's and two Furrion coax ports on the back of the rig.
One for the Dish TV one for the WeBoost antenna.
As mentioned above the internal Montana coax wiring may not work for WeBoost (it doesn't work for Dish). Try it first.

I need that mount for my Dish!! Some times I cant get above the trees. Where can I find it please Sir?

[Daryles]

Believe it or not, the 3" 25' Telescoping pole is the one that came with the skinny white WeBoost Destination RV.
I used a 2" PVC pipe coupler over the end of the pole screwed to 1/4" plywood. The plywood is cut to fit the bottom of the Dish. There are holes in the Dish to put the screws through into the plywood. It is secured to the pole with a square trailer pin. At the bottom, a 3" PVC pipe 90⁰ elbow fastened to the ladder and another pin.
For the WeBoost antenna, I clamped it to a 25' Telescoping pole. Again a 90⁰ PVC pipe elbow mounted to the ladder at the bottom.

[N1282X]

Originally Posted by 214skier

Is anyone aware of a possible raceway from the roof to the passthrough or underbelly of my rig?

It's easy, follow along.
In the cabinet between the kitchen area and the recliners in the front room, look over to the driver's side of the RV, there's a wooden box that goes from the top of the cabinet all the way up to the roof. First take off the light assembly from the roof, you will need a square drive bit on your driver. Then remove any screws holding either your generator control panel or thermostat or whatever onto that vertical box. This will allow you to peek inside with your fingers and see the size of the raceway. Now get a 1-in hole saw or paddle bit and drill a hole up where near the light fixture was on the roof but into the side of the raceway. Do it in such a way that when you replace the light fixture, your 1-in hole will be covered with the end grain of the light fixture. After you have a hole drill then take another long bit at an angle and drill a 45° angle up through that hole into the roof, this will allow you to accurately locate the raceway. Now move on to the roof where that bit came through and drill the appropriately sized hole vertical downwards into that raceway. now you can fish all of your wires from the roof down the raceway into the cabinet and then downward into the belly and up front wherever you want to go. Replace the light on the roof and it will cover the hole that you drilled sideways and you will be done.

[ShaneGreen]

WeBoost does not recommend adding any cable to what comes with the antenna. You lose signal with each foot of wire and they have maximized it with what ships. If you absolutely have to have more length, it has to be the exact same wire. They do sell an extension, but warn against using it.

Coax isn't a generic answer, it is supposed to be specified depending on the application and any time you mix wires there can be huge amounts of signal loss. It can also cause feedback if you leave excess coiled up and your signal can drop off....learned the hard way.