Hi Tom,
You could fabricate a short "wall" out of aluminum or fiberglass that would surround the dish and hide it while in the lowered position.
Then you could amuse yourself by fabricating stories about it being a "fuel saving device" or an "additional storage bin"in answer to the inevitable inquiries you would get at the campground!!
Tell them it's a root beer device!
Tom, my dome was located a few feet behind the old regular crank up antenna, on an aluminum base. We removed the dome, turned the aluminum base about 5 degrees to allow alignment of the HD antenna, resealed the old aluminum base and HD antenna base, drilled a new hole in the roof above the dash to run the wiring, and finally covered and sealed the wiring harness. If I was starting from scratch, I would locate the HD antenna nearer to the front since a new control wiring is required and it has to enter the coach somewhere, so I chose a hole over the passenger side of the upper dash.
hi guys,
let me ask my question again differently.
my current dome satellite dish is on the roof right over the front TV where the roof is dipped down from the raised area. the raised roof on my starts about at the back of the drivers seat and is flat all the way back to the rear. the lowered area is just enough for the satellite dome.
my coach is 13'4" to the top of the genny/aquahot exhaust stack.
i assume that the reason the sat dome is currently on the lower roof above the front TV is for height reasons.
i am just wondering if the coach would be too high with the winegard 3005 on the raised roof area or how funky it would look exposed right at the front of the coach...(look at my picture).
tom
Tom,
Yes, I understand what you are asking.
I have the flat roof, so do not have your situation, but that has never stopped me from commenting :-)
I tried my best to measure from the normal ride height to my highest point. I got 13' 6" and I know Newell says it should be 13' 3". Maybe it is as there is room for some error as I was working alone. I just consider myself 13' 6" for now and hope there may be a little safety factor in there.
I think at that time I determined my AQ/generator stack was the tallest item ( not counting the antennas ). I cannot image your stack would extend as far as mine did above your roof line. I have actually lowered mine a few inches when I replaced the entire AH exhaust system. All that to say, I think if you do not want to increase the clearance height of your coach you would need to mount the antenna on the forward lowered roof. How it would look there would be a matter of personal taste.
ok, scott and i just went out at lunch and measured the coach. we did it at ride height (i cranked her up and let her get up to ride height).
i was off a little. the ground to the top of the raised flat roof was 12'3" and the exhaust stack was 9" for a total of 13' even.
the lowered roof at the front was 7" lower at 11'8". my current sat dish is 14" high counting a 2" mounting bracket on the roof.
the sk3005 is ~10" high so if i did it more towards the rear, it would make the coach 13' 1" or so.
the current dish has two coax going through the roof on the passenger side and a single power line on the drivers side going through the roof.
if i did put it further back, then i would just run the wires on the top of the coach and silicone them down and use the current wiring i have.
i didnt yet look at the dish to see how many wires but i assume two coax and a power is sufficient?
tom
from looking at the front area and the way that dish works, i think i will have to move it back on the raised roof part of the coach.
it looks pretty easy to install. did you guys who did your own just install it as it was on the roof or use one of the metal plates you can get.
just screwing it into the thin sheet metal on the top doesnt seem very secure. do you line it up so at least a few of the screws are in cross braces?
tom
Finding one cross brace is to get one screw on each side into is optimal Tom. I have had great success using dicor self leveling caulk under the bases to hold dishes down then using the screws as icing on the cake, so to speak.
Tom, I had mine installed by LazyDays in Tucson. The dish, collapsed, is 9.6" plus whatever bracing you use. They installed mine using the existing aluminum plate screwed to two support runners about 1/2" thick and 2' long. If you install it on the lower front section, you will need a front to back footprint of 44" to allow the arm with a roller to extend back when collapsed. A better measurement is 33" from the end of the collapsed arm to the center point of the base. If you do not have room and have to move it to the raised roof, anything under 13'6" should be good to go. My best guess on my coach is 13'3".
Tom, why not just go back with KVH R6 in the same place....DONE!