Big Horn prewire set up

[SeattleLion]

We just purchased a 3160. I want to do the satellite install. The electronics are no problem for me. I have many years of DirecTV experience. However, I have some questions about the roof install:

1. Where are the cables under the roof covering? I know it was mentioned in another thread, but no searches will let me find it.
2. After cutting the roof to get the Coax and controller cables out, what do you do to reseal the roof? Is there some kind of fixture to use?
3. Winegard sells a protective aluminum plate (they have a rectangular one and one shaped like the antenna with a "runway" for the roller on the LNB); how is that installed? Do you pre-drill it so that the antenna screws go through it? Do you need to put silicone under/around it to seal it?
4. What is the best practice for screwing into the roof? Should you use silicone in the screw hole?

As you might guess, I am concerned about both a good mechanical bond to the roof as well as avoiding any potential water incursion. It was very helpful to get the schematic for the coax routing. It accounts for two of the three pairs of connectors that are in the multi-purpose pod (can't remember the Heartland name for that). What is the third pair for? I assume one connector goes to the garage, where does the other go?

 

[danemayer]

Hi SeattleLion,

Congratulations on your new rig and welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. There was a detailed post a few weeks ago with pictures and quite a bit of detail that may answer most of your questions. I think this might be the thread.

 

[SeattleLion]

Hi SeattleLion,

Congratulations on your new rig and welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. There was a detailed post a few weeks ago with pictures and quite a bit of detail that may answer most of your questions. I think this might be the thread.

That seems to be the thread. However it doesn't answer most of my questions.

 

[wdk450]

SeattleLion:
Have you talked to the advisors at Heartland Service? The number is at the top left of the Portal page. Always have your VIN number ready when talking to Heartland service.

You seem to be very knowlegeable about satellite installs, but have you done much RVing? Tree interference in assigned RV spots can be a big problem with fixed roof mounts. You might want to think about an auxillary portable dish and long connecting coax for situations like that you may encounter, especially in the heavily forested pacific nothwest.

 

[SeattleLion]

SeattleLion:
Have you talked to the advisors at Heartland Service? The number is at the top left of the Portal page. Always have your VIN number ready when talking to Heartland service.

You seem to be very knowlegeable about satellite installs, but have you done much RVing? Tree interference in assigned RV spots can be a big problem with fixed roof mounts. You might want to think about an auxillary portable dish and long connecting coax for situations like that you may encounter, especially in the heavily forested pacific nothwest.

Right now I am just working out what I want to do. We have been RV'ing for a year now and we are trading up from a travel trailer. We have a Tailgater and used it all last season. There are a couple of issues with using it on the new FW:

1. It can only feed one receiver. In our TT that wasn't a problem since the bedroom was directly behind the LR entertainment center. I just used an IR repeater and a HDMI splitter (powered). We don't need to watch 2 different programs at the same time. In the new FW, the LR and BR are not close.
2. We are DirecTV customers now. We would save a lot of money if we could avoid Dish.

I realize I could get a tripod and a DirecTV dish, but that means aiming...getting all the HD birds can be frustrating.

 

[brianharrison]

We just purchased a 3160. I want to do the satellite install. The electronics are no problem for me. I have many years of DirecTV experience. However, I have some questions about the roof install:

1. Where are the cables under the roof covering? I know it was mentioned in another thread, but no searches will let me find it.
2. After cutting the roof to get the Coax and controller cables out, what do you do to reseal the roof? Is there some kind of fixture to use?
3. Winegard sells a protective aluminum plate (they have a rectangular one and one shaped like the antenna with a "runway" for the roller on the LNB); how is that installed? Do you pre-drill it so that the antenna screws go through it? Do you need to put silicone under/around it to seal it?
4. What is the best practice for screwing into the roof? Should you use silicone in the screw hole?

As you might guess, I am concerned about both a good mechanical bond to the roof as well as avoiding any potential water incursion. It was very helpful to get the schematic for the coax routing. It accounts for two of the three pairs of connectors that are in the multi-purpose pod (can't remember the Heartland name for that). What is the third pair for? I assume one connector goes to the garage, where does the other go?

Here is the link to a previous thread ---> Clicky.

Another one a bit longer thread --> Clicky.

Here is a you tube video if you want to watch an installation.

Dicor makes a self leveling caulking that is meant for sealing protrusion, devices on the EPDM, or TPO roof (flat surface) .

I screwed the dish mount right to the roof. I just used Dicor sealant to anchor the protective aluminum plate (no screws, even though there are screw holes).

Brian

 

[GlenStMary]

Perhaps I can help with some of your questions.

1. I talked with several people who found their cables in the roof where others said they would be. I also found in the HUG some diagrams that said the cables would be coiled in the roof in the center of my bedroom. However, I decided before I started to drill and dig in my roof that I would tone them out to be sure. I used a tone generator and tried to find a good signal at the end of the cables. I found the best tone in neither of the suggested locations. So I decided to drill straight down into my closet, where the cable would not be seen.
2. I used Dicor sealant around all the cable entrances, the cable cover from Winegard, and the dish mount itself. In all I think I used 4 tubes of sealer. I felt that $30 worth of sealer was better than fixing a leaky roof.
3. I installed bead of sealant on the edge of the plate and a bead of sealant around the edge of the mount. Then I laid on a good layer of sealant around the edge of the mount.
4. I used the screws that came with the dish. I found on the first screw that when using an electric screwdriver it powered the screw down and then wallowed the hole out so on the rest of the screws I screwed them down by hand to make sure I wasn't stripping them out. I covered all the screw heads liberally with sealant as well.

Good luck! I found this to be just like any other sat install I've done in the past. Somewhat easier in fact since this only entailed 2 cables.

 

[SeattleLion]

Thanks for your help. I agree that you can't use too much sealant. The wiring seems very easy. Did you mount the multiswitch on the roof?

 

[GlenStMary]

I mounted the multiswitch down in the basement on the ceiling, right behind the UDC wall. That way I only had to make up a foot long cable from the incoming cable adapter in the UDC to the switch. From there I ran new quad coax to the tv in the bedroom but used existing coax to the living room tv. This switch location also allowed me to get the power required for the SWM setup from an existing power receptacle in the basement wall.

 

[SeattleLion]

I mounted the multiswitch down in the basement on the ceiling, right behind the UDC wall. That way I only had to make up a foot long cable from the incoming cable adapter in the UDC to the switch. From there I ran new quad coax to the tv in the bedroom but used existing coax to the living room tv. This switch location also allowed me to get the power required for the SWM setup from an existing power receptacle in the basement wall.

Why did you replace the bedroom coax? Why didn't you put the SWM between a receiver and the sat feed? Isn't that easier?

 

[SeattleLion]

I now have authoritative information on the 3160 prewire. It turns out that Heartland did an amazing job. The living room is just as expected with adding a satellite receiver a very simple task. The bedroom appeared more problematic. There is no good location near the TV to put the receiver. It turns out that Heartland realized this! There are two RG6 jacks connected by a jumper in the bedroom closet. Remove the jumper and connect the receiver to the LNB2 feed from the roof right in the closet. In addition, there appears to also be a prewired HDMI cable going from the closet to the bedroom TV. Heartland has done all the wiring.

To control the satellite receiver in the closet, purchase an inexpensive IR (infrared) repeater. Amazon has them. Using that, the receiver is neatly tucked out of sight and no holes need to be drilled to wire the TV. Great work, Heartland!

By the way, the extra pair of wires that are buried under the roof are 12V DC. They are there in case they are needed by a non-Winegard Trav'ler antenna. The coax wiring was updated in January. I don't know if the closet configuration is available on any other Landmark or Bighorn models.