External to Internal Wiring

[jmichalo]

Hello. I've got a cell signal booster, which has an antenna that needs to be mounted outside and hard-wired to a control box that is inside the unit. My question is, what is the best way to pass that wire from outside to inside the unit? I've talked to people who have passed it through the slide-out, left a window cracked and passed a wire through that or drilled a hole through the floor of the unit and passed it through that, and then sealed the whole with spray foam. What, in your opinion, is the best and proper way?

Thank you,
-Joe

 

[danemayer]

It would help to know what trailer you have: year, model, floor plan.

 

[david-steph2018]

Hello. I've got a cell signal booster, which has an antenna that needs to be mounted outside and hard-wired to a control box that is inside the unit. My question is, what is the best way to pass that wire from outside to inside the unit? I've talked to people who have passed it through the slide-out, left a window cracked and passed a wire through that or drilled a hole through the floor of the unit and passed it through that, and then sealed the whole with spray foam. What, in your opinion, is the best and proper way?

Thank you,
-Joe

Questions:
How often are you going to move or are you going to stay in one location?
How are you going to mount the antenna? Where do you plan on to mount the antenna?
We run the cable thru the slide-out
We purchased the WEBOOST during the virtual rally and since we move we installed the antenna on the 5 foot PVC pole mounted using the suction cup mounts that was sold. It takes about 5 minutes to take down or set up.

 

[LBR]

I mounted ours on the ladder top grab-handle and brought the wire inside thru a hole on driver's side to keep the lead in on outside as short as possible....we have a 2017 CY

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Through the screen

Jump to ~45 seconds into this video to see how we did it...works great, no chance of water coming in.

https://youtu.be/UdzJvnTH2WA

 

[jmichalo]

Thank you all for the information. We have a 2018 Mallard M312. We are seasonal campers, so the trailer doesn't move. The floor plan is the same as the 2020 model (https://heartlandrvs.com/2020/travel-trailers/mallard/ma-312/). I need to mount the antenna closer to the tongue, as we back into a hillside, so signal is weaker toward the back. There is no ladder on this unit. We have a deck, with a post by the front bedroom window. My initial thought has been to mount a pole to that post for the antenna.

 

[uncledon]

I realize this is an older thread, but I am looking into a WeBoost model and I've seen some people have been able to utilize their cable tv connection port to connect the external antenna to the inside. If your cables are coxial with the standard connections, you should be able to do the same thing. I realize this would make the cable connection unavailable for cable tv then. Maybe someone else could chime in on this option.

 

[wdk450]

I thought I would chime in with my cell antenna/amplifier system setup, my antenna and mounting system, and cable routing from the antenna to the amplifier.

I built a 20 foot telescoping mast from 2 10 foot pieces of 2 diameters of metal conduit found at Home Depot. I wrapped the inside piece with some Gorilla tape at each end to tighten the fit between the 2 pipes. I drilled a hole through both pipes near the top end of the outside pipe and through the 9 foot inner extended pipe. I put a machine screw through this hole when the pipes are telescoped out to its full length. The vertical Yagi antenna is connected to the inner pipe. There are 2 holes (1/4" ?) at right angles drilled near the bottom of the outside pipe. Yes, these pipes flex some erecting them and in the wind, but it has held up so far. I can stow the collapsed mast on the floor in my bedroom between the pulled-in bedroom slide and the dresser. The antenna ends up sitting on my interior steps. When at sites where the antenna/amplifier is not needed, I simply place the mast/antenna outside leaning on the main slide nearest the door.

I mount this mast to either my closed awning arm or to the ends of slideouts with 3 inch (?) C clamps. 1 C clamp is specially modified to act as the mast base support with a right angle hole drilled in its base arm, and a #8 x 2" machine screw and nut assembled into it. Also when I mount on the awning arm, I use a large (6"?) hose clamp as an upper restraint. On the awning using a stepladder I can lift the 20 foot mast and antenna leaning against the roof vertically enough to get the bottom of the mast over the machine screw on the bottom C clamp mounted near the bottom of the awning arm. I then hold the section to the awning arm about 4 feet above the lower clamp and thread and tighten the hose clamp to secure the mast.

For outside slide lip mounting, I use the same bottom C clamp with the vertical machine screw, and use other C clamps with small wood block interfaces for clamping a round tubing to a flat surface with a smaller C clamp.

For aiming this antenna /mast setup, I use a #1 Phillips screwdriver through the holes in the base of the outer tubing to act as a lever in rotating the mast/antenna.

I bring the coax through the bottom of a window/screen with a small rolled-up rag as a gasket. Lots of rain isn't a big problem here in Southern California. I do the same with my full-time satellite dish on tripod outside antenna coax.

I have a Wilson 4G 4 band mobile cellular amplifier inside. This setup has taken me from 0-1 bars on my ATT IPhone XR to 4-5 bars.

 

[david-steph2018]

I realize this is an older thread, but I am looking into a WeBoost model and I've seen some people have been able to utilize their cable tv connection port to connect the external antenna to the inside. If your cables are coxial with the standard connections, you should be able to do the same thing. I realize this would make the cable connection unavailable for cable tv then. Maybe someone else could chime in on this option.

We have the WEBOOST system and we run the cable thru the side of the slide. I bought an extending paint roller pole from home Depot for $40.00. I then used the clamps that was sold thru the virtual rally last May to secure it to the side.
I think the coax cable for the WEBOOST is smaller than the TV coax cable.

 

[wdk450]

We have the WEBOOST system and we run the cable thru the side of the slide. I bought an extending paint roller pole from home Depot for $40.00. I then used the clamps that was sold thru the virtual rally last May to secure it to the side.
I think the coax cable for the WEBOOST is smaller than the TV coax cable.

As a retired electronics tech and licensed radio amateur, I can tell you that the common RF coax for 50 ohm antennas is 50 ohm RG-6. Premium RG-6 has a wide bandwidth needed for satellite and cellular frequencies. TV antennas are 300 ohm matched down to 75 ohm with a balun transformer and require 75 ohm RG-58 coax cable. TV coax cable inputs are 75 ohm also.
The supplied coax from the weboost output connector to its inside (to/from cellphone) antenna is a smaller diameter coax.

 

[uncledon]

As a retired electronics tech and licensed radio amateur, I can tell you that the common RF coax for 50 ohm antennas is 50 ohm RG-6. Premium RG-6 has a wide bandwidth needed for satellite and cellular frequencies. TV antennas are 300 ohm matched down to 75 ohm with a balun transformer and require 75 ohm RG-58 coax cable. TV coax cable inputs are 75 ohm also.
The supplied coax from the weboost output connector to its inside (to/from cellphone) antenna is a smaller diameter coax.

I was wondering about the resistance ratings on the coax cables. Makes me wonder how/what those that claim they used the existing factory cables actually did?? Anyway, good info. Thx.

 

[uncledon]

I was wondering about the resistance ratings on the coax cables. Makes me wonder how/what those that claim they used the existing factory cables actually did?? Anyway, good info. Thx.

Just as an update to this thread, I emailed Wilson Amplifiers (WeBoost) and got this reply:

"Thank you for your inquiry. I was able to verify that the cables that are included in the weBoost Destination RV Signal Booster Kit are Low Loss RG6 (75ohm) Cable wih F- Male terminating ends. This is typically the same as the standard coax cable used for cable tv (CATV).

You may use the preinstalled cable in your RV on this signal booster kit, however, the cable length will have an effect on the coverage if the cable is too long and you have a weak signal. If you do not get the performance desired with this signal booster using your preinstalled RG6 Coax Cable, use the cable in the kit, as the kit is specifically prepared with the proper cable length for best performance."

So it appears that depending on the size of your coach, and the length of the factory installed cables, you may or may not get good results. Good to know, I guess.