silvercorvette
Anderson SC
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My Winegard SK-3005 TRAV'LER that I purchased from Amazon is due to arrive by the end of the day Wednesday 4/18/12.
My plan is to mount it on a 1/2 or 3/4 in plywood board and clamp it to a Black and Decker workmate bench for the following reasons
I don't want to put more holes in the roof and risk another place where a leak can occur.
I can't park the camper in my driveway and have to park it in a storage yard and am worried it may get stolen.
Having a movable dish will allow me to place the dish in a better location if the roof is blocked by trees or other objects.
I am not as agile as I was when I was younger and climbing on the roof may be difficult.
I just got this 2006 Jayco 5th wheel a few weeks ago but may upgrade in a couple years so I may want to take it off and install it on my next camper
I am handy at running wires but am clueless as to how to snake them between the wall of a camper.
I will soon be driving up to NY and will trying out a portable setup. If I decide to mount it on the roof is it something a fairly handy person can do (with the help of a neighbor. Or will I have to hire someone
Has anyone installed this model dish them self? Also is anyone familiar with the construction of the 2006 Jayco Jayflight and if the is room between the walls to run wires easily?
(No you can't purchase something off of Amazon)
I once read that studies have shown that most accidents occurr within 10 miles of home, so I moved
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ploiselle
South Shore, MA
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I just had one installed. IMHO you should rethink this. I would think that it would be less likely to be stolen from your roof in storage then from a campsite lying on the ground..
Also, the SK-3005 weighs a lot. It will be very awkward, if not impossible to move. It was designed for you to pull into a campsite, push a button and watch tv..
Paul
41' MountainAire (MADP) -Spartan- Cummins 350 ISC
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland
2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited
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donn0128
Pronounced Ore-gun
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Just finished the installation of 4 coax cables. Two each for the two TV locations for my outside antenna. What I did was find a location on the front wall of the front storage compartment. There I mounted tow of the double connectors as found on the outside of your house. From there I ran two coax to each location across the ceiling of the storage bays to holes I had previously drilled for the 120VAC inverter cables. Through the wall/floor and into a dead space that I could fish the wires through to the TV location. At this point I simply bought two duplex receptacles in the appropriate color and screwed everything together. I bought everything I needed at Lowes and it took me about 4 hours to figure out where to run and how to run the wires, make the connectors and also make 4 50 foot coax cables to connect the ground antenna to the trailer. I was lucky as there was a round hole for the manual jack right where I needed one for the cables to run through the outside wall. The biggest problem I see is getting enough power wires from the control box to the antenna. That is going to be one really long and unwieldy cable to handle every time you want to watch a little TV.
Donn,Lorri,Max (The Rescued Lab)
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silvercorvette
Anderson SC
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I have no idea what to expect when I get it and open the box. If it turns out to be too heavy and large I guess I will have to move on to plan "B".
I do not plan on leaving it out when I am not nearby. On the way up I don't plan on staying at a campground on my next trip to NY. I love to drive but health issues require me to make frequent rest stops. I plan on stopping off at one of the many rest stops along the interstate and relax and watch some TV then move on. I may or may not secure it with a chain but if I am watching TV and the picture dies I will know something is going on.
I do have some wireless security cameras in the house and I guess I can take one with me to see outside while I watch TV.
In the past I have listened to the good advice I got on this forum and bought a B&W Companion hitch, and was persuaded to not get a diesel generator and wound up with a Yamaha 4,500 KW generator instead.
I may change my mind about this also but before I do anything I want to open the bx to get an idea what I will have to deal with. Maybe just looking at the components and their weight will be enough but I want to give it a good shot.
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dgo1369
Georgetown, TX, US
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Joined: 11/22/2003
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I had mine professionally installed but there are several YouTube videos for DIYers. If you are having health issues because of age (I'm almost 71 so I can ask that , I strongly recommend you either have someone with a strong back and mechanical/electrical skills to help you. The antenna weighs 43 lbs and is very awkward to handle. The roof is no place to be if you aren't 100% stable. Don't ask how I know!
Dennis Osha
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silvercorvette
Anderson SC
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dgo1369 wrote:I had mine professionally installed but there are several YouTube videos for DIYers. If you are having health issues because of age (I'm almost 71 so I can ask that , I strongly recommend you either have someone with a strong back and mechanical/electrical skills to help you. The antenna weighs 43 lbs and is very awkward to handle. The roof is no place to be if you aren't 100% stable. Don't ask how I know!
I am 65 but have had back and other problems since 1990 when i got injured.. On a bad day I can't pick up a fork that fell on the floor, on a good day I have removed my B&W hitch from the back of my truck. I am afraid, no make that terrified of high places. But I have never allowed my fear to stop me from doing something I needed to do.
If I decide to install the dish on the roof I will decide as to whether to do it myself or pay based on cost and how difficult it will be for me to do it. When I installed my truck camper tie downs I tried doing it myself first and gave up and paid to have it done. My biggest problem was bending down and crawling under the truck.
When I got injured afterward I always made it a point to do as much as possible myself. Each time I let someone or paid someone to do something I lost a bit of my independence.
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silvercorvette
Anderson SC
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dgo1369 wrote:I had mine professionally installed but there are several YouTube videos for DIYers. If you are having health issues because of age (I'm almost 71 so I can ask that , I strongly recommend you either have someone with a strong back and mechanical/electrical skills to help you. The antenna weighs 43 lbs and is very awkward to handle. The roof is no place to be if you aren't 100% stable. Don't ask how I know!
I understand that prices vary in different parts of the country and hard it is to run the wires in your rig, but I would like to know what you paid to have yours installed
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fpresto
Maryland
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I am sixty five years old and have installed two units with no problems but I don't have back issues. I did the first by myself and had help on the second. The installation is straight forward but you will definitely need help getting the base unit onto the roof as it is by far the heaviest part.
I agree that on the roof is the best idea. It would be very hard to steal it also solves the storage issue. Where would you put it while traveling? It is large and would have to be taken apart to fit in most storage compartments. How would you get it out with a bad back? How are you going anchor it so that it doesn't move when the motor is swinging the dish around.
You would be much better off with a manual system rather than an automatic if you are going to put it at ground level anyway.
USN Retired
2007 Cedar Creek 30 RLSTS
2008 F350, DRW, V-10, B&W hitch,
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silvercorvette
Anderson SC
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fpresto wrote:I am sixty five years old and have installed two units with no problems but I don't have back issues. I did the first by myself and had help on the second. The installation is straight forward but you will definitely need help getting the base unit onto the roof as it is by far the heaviest part.
I agree that on the roof is the best idea. It would be very hard to steal it also solves the storage issue. Where would you put it while traveling? It is large and would have to be taken apart to fit in most storage compartments. How would you get it out with a bad back? How are you going anchor it so that it doesn't move when the motor is swinging the dish around.
You would be much better off with a manual system rather than an automatic if you are going to put it at ground level anyway.
I didn't think it would be that heavy, I think the shipping weight is 60 pounds (I just checked the FEDEx tracking info and it is listed as 68 pounds, I assumed a good portion of that weight are other components that are not part of the dish itself. If I have to carry around 65 pounds every time I park I will have to admit I underestimated the eight..
As far as storage area, I am moving from a slide in truck camper to a 28 foot 5th wheel and I feel like I have so much room I can get lost in the camper even if the slide isn't out, There is a a lot of storage room under the bunk house bed with an easy access door from he outside.
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fpresto
Maryland
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The dish itself is only a few pounds. The base is almost all of the weight. I would not want to try and get it out of a storage compartment and my back is good.
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