Wilson Antenna Parts arrived

[rbryan4]

Woo hoo! The parts for my 4G antenna setup just arrived.Sending to ETI tomorrow. Total was $200, all bought from various suppliers in the Amazon Marketplace. Not bad.

[tractors1]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Woo hoo! The parts for my 4G antenna setup just arrived.Sending to ETI tomorrow. Total was $200, all bought from various suppliers in the Amazon Marketplace. Not bad.

My setup uses the same parts. Had a 12V drop put into the driver side cabinet aft of the fridge in my 21, where the antenna was installed, then added a side mount cig outlet to power the cradle, which connected through an adapter to the antenna. Cradle works great sitting in the cabinet, so no need to mess up the outside of the cabinet with a holder for the cradle. Male plug-in has a USB output to charge the phone while it's online. Makes it simple to replace the antenna should that be needed.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by tractors1

My setup uses the same parts.

Yep. I borrowed the idea from you, from Jon, Skiiman and others. ETI is installing it all. Thanks!

[dfandrews]

Your thread reminds me of an installation question: Covering the trailer with the antenna poking up appears to be problematic. Since the trailer is predominately fiberglass, what would keep you from mounting it on the back or front, with the antenna top at roof level. The signal reception shouldn't be attenuated much by trailer interference, should it?

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by dfandrews

Your thread reminds me of an installation question: Covering the trailer with the antenna poking up appears to be problematic. Since the trailer is predominately fiberglass, what would keep you from mounting it on the back or front, with the antenna top at roof level. The signal reception shouldn't be attenuated much by trailer interference, should it?

No, the reception would not be altered that much, but for optimum reception the antenna should be mounted to receive a signal from any direction -- up as high as possible. To cover the trailer you'd just loosen the antenna and lay it flat, as some in other threads have described.

[dfandrews]

Ah, you're able to loosen it; Problem solved, and you get the extra altitude.
Thanks for the answer. The only one I had looked at was fixed.

Don

[tractors1]

If lying the antenna flat to cover it, I suggest getting a "pool noodle" or some other bulk to slip around the shaft above and below the ground plane (if you have one) in order to protect the ground plane projections. Maybe blue tape the whole thing to the roof for storage.....

[J Mac]

I doubt blue tape would last longer than one rain, the pool noodle seems like a good idea.

[t-twnbob]

This is a mod that we really need and I have a few questions. 1) Is the cradle also the amplifier/booster? 2) Does the cell phone have to actually be in the cradle when making calls or do you need to just be in the trailer or within a few feet of the cradle? Thanks, Bob

[tractors1]

The cradle IS the amp/booster, and you do need to either have a cell phone in it or a MIFI device to relay calls from the cell phone (when not in the cradle) to the external antenna.

Another option is to use a BlueTooth headset to talk when the phone is in the cradle.

Not a good idea to hold the cradle up to your head and talk on the phone, I think there were warnings about that with the cradle literature.

[Vermilye]

Charlie - I notice that you have the Sleek located directly under the outside antenna. Have you ever had the Sleek go into feedback (indicated by the LED turning red or shutting down)? In a normal installation, the vehicle steel roof helps isolate the outside antenna from the Sleek. Even with a steel roof, Wilson recommends keeping the outside antenna at least 12" from the Sleek. I suspect is needs to be further away with a RF transparent fiberglass roof.

My installation has the full length of the RF cable between the antenna & the Sleek (because it was originally installed for a different system that required more separation) and I've never had a feedback problem. I'm sure that distance is overkill, but I'd be interested in how close the Sleek can get to the outside antenna before it create problems.

As to Bob's questions, yes, the cradle is an amplifier that can provide as much as 30db boost, and yes, the cell phone or hotspot must be in the Sleek cradle. Even an inch away won't work. There are systems from Wilson that use two antennas (one on the roof & the other inside the trailer) that provide a boosted signal within a couple of feet of the inside antenna, however that are more expensive, and require more separation between antennas, in some models, more than would be possible in a trailer.

[tractors1]

Jon,

I've not had any feedback issues with the cradle directly under the antenna; it has the built-in ground plane some distance above the trailer roof. I half expected it to be a problem, so I expected to need the antenna cable routed around the upper cabinets to the other side to get more separation. Never needed to do that, so I bundled up the excess cable and secured it to the sidewall of the cabinet where it's out of the way, then installed the 12V power right next to it.

[skiman]

Originally Posted by tractors1

Jon,

I've not had any feedback issues with the cradle directly under the antenna; it has the built-in ground plane some distance above the trailer roof. I half expected it to be a problem, so I expected to need the antenna cable routed around the upper cabinets to the other side to get more separation. Never needed to do that, so I bundled up the excess cable and secured it to the sidewall of the cabinet where it's out of the way, then installed the 12V power right next to it.

I have the same setup. I was suprised that I had no issues either.

[batcat]

Rbryan4, in your first post on this thread I see a photo of the items you ordered, but you say you got them from different vendors on Amazon. Doesn't Wilson supply everything you need in a kit? I know the exterior RV antenna is a separate item, but what is the small "fitting" in you photo? Was that part of a kit or did you order it separately?

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by batcat

Rbryan4, in your first post on this thread I see a photo of the items you ordered, but you say you got them from different vendors on Amazon. Doesn't Wilson supply everything you need in a kit? I know the exterior RV antenna is a separate item, but what is the small "fitting" in you photo? Was that part of a kit or did you order it separately?

Its an Antenna Connection Adapter for the Sleek cradle. The Wilson Sleek comes with an FME connector. The adapter changes it to an SMA connector so it can be attached to the 3g/4g antenna assembly. Unfortunately, Wilson doesn't sell a "kit" because their amplifiers and antennas are often combined in different ways -- thus the need for the adapter. Here's a link to the part:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And yes, I used two different Amazon sellers, mainly due to price.

[batcat]

Thanks, Robert my build sheet is due 1/1/15, so I'm hustling to
Get stuff ordered.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by batcat

Thanks, Robert my build sheet is due 1/1/15, so I'm hustling to
Get stuff ordered.

I hear ya. It got to the point with us that we could calculate the shipping cost to ETI based on size and weight to within a buck. By the way, shipping to Seattle was dirt cheap, but to Chilliwack? Highway robbery!

[tractors1]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

I hear ya. It got to the point with us that we could calculate the shipping cost to ETI based on size and weight to within a buck. By the way, shipping to Seattle was dirt cheap, but to Chilliwack? Highway robbery!

I still have to fill out all the rebate forms for the Canadian duties and customs (ETI will provide copies of those costs.)

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by tractors1

I still have to fill out all the rebate forms for the Canadian duties and customs (ETI will provide copies of those costs.)

Good to know Charlie. We'll definitely have some coming.

[rbryan4]

FYI all, got a call from Crystal today at ETI. They needed to relocate the roof mount point for the antenna because of the solar panel location. It's now toward the front with the cradle mounted in the driver's side overhead cabinet. I didn't really care where it was mounted, so no biggie.