Connecting to external cell antenna

[ebike1]

Originally Posted by drjp

Hi. It’s interesting that you ask this as I finally picked up our 5.0TA last Friday, been busy kitting it out for a trip next Saturday to Vermont, and ordered a new Wilson cell amplifier from Randy today for $650. The newest and most powerful model is called the Destination RV. It comes with two 15 foot RG-6 and one, I believe, 6 foot RG-6 cable, a 30 foot aluminum telescoping mast, and a YAGI directional antenna, similar to its predecessor, the RV65 unit. Be advised that these powerful units are for stationary use only. Can’t fire them up underway.
Yes, you should purchase Escape’s TV option; I got that but without a roof-mount TV antenna, as in the States, what’s the use if you’re out in the boonies? Best I can do is to stream through cell.
I also ordered a heavy-duty, folding tripod base for the mast. I had originally thought to get an antenna mast mount with suction cups for the side of the trailer or even to have a bumper mount welded up. But there’s a problem with this. 1. You must always avoid pointing the YAGI external antenna across the trailer or it will create a big feedback loop with the internal antenna. Not good. Ideally the YAGI should be pointed 180 degrees (opposite) away from the output direction of the booster’s output antenna inside the trailer, and the two antennae should be about 30 feet apart from each other. So you’ll need the positional flexibility of an independent mast and stand, I believe.
How to aim the YAGI? Android users are in luck. Network Cell Info lite is apparently one of the best android apps for finding your carrier’s nearest cell tower to get the best signal direction. The YAGI receives over a 90 degree span, but the better the aim …
iOS (Apple) users like me have less luck. There’s an app called OpenSignal for us, but Apple’s system apparently doesn’t provide as much info that the apps need to carry out their function in comparison to Android.
After placing the mast and directing the antenna toward the best tower (but not ‘looking’ at the tower across the trailer), you attach the cable to the external jack.
Inside I’m drilling a 2 inch hole through the bottom of the cabinet nearest to the internal jack point, inserting a cable wire cover (rubber desk grommet) in the hole so that the internal cable and power cables can pass up into the cabinet. I’ll keep the amplifier, an apple tv and a small dvd player in there as well. They attach by hdmi cable to a 19 inch Supersonic AC/DC LED TV on an arm mount. I only need 2 feet of cable to attach the booster to the internal jack; Randy advised getting a short cable cheapest at Walmart.
What about the cell booster’s internal antenna? It has a 70 degree transmission field to be pointed opposite to the YAGI outside. Randy said that this antenna is a rectangle around 7”x5”x1/2”. Don’t attach it inside the cabinet as you want to be able to vary its direction, too. It can be positioned right by the amplifier. I must use a hotspot as most of our work devices connect with wifi to the internet. If you use a hotspot too, place it as near as possible to the internal antenna within its transmission cone. And you’re good to go!
Wilson has a good customer service department which helped me although I bought through Randy. He’s very helpful as well.
good luck!

Vermont sounds like an amazing 1st trip! I would love to get up there in the fall.
Thanks for taking the time to provide a full update and configuration.
This is a huge help. I am in configuration decision fatigue!
I am very interested in your large tripod idea.
On my last trailer the antenna installers were not supposed to attach it permanently but they did...
I like your idea of putting a hole in that cabinet above the TV connector to store everything.
At least with my weboost ( I think it was the trucker rv model) , the range on the internal antenna was short. I will be getting a Hotspot next year for my travels.
I am like you I used to have android and now am on apple. There are limitations.
I have a pretty large tripod. Are you going to put something on the bottom of the antenna that will screw into the tripod?

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by drjp

...
the two antennae should be about 30 feet apart from each other.
...

30' separation can be the vertical spacing between the two antennae.

[SteveSgt]

Do any of you have experience with having ETI install the wiring for a WiFi gateway? Is this something they will do?

The unit I'm interested in would replace the ETI offering for a TV antenna, while adding cellular boosting, WiFi repeater/gateway, and LTE hotspot capability in a 2-piece package.

I have seen the Wingard AIR 360+ system on a few newer mass-market trailers, and on a lot of Class B RVs.
[ https://winegard.com/air-360-plus-v2s/ ]

The Wingard AIR 360+ requires 3 cables, and a 3" hole in the roof. The outside part is a 17.5" diameter dome.


I would also want to have ETI run a couple of Cat.6 cables: From the gateway location to the cabinet above the stereo (in a 21C), and another to the dinette overhead cabinet from the cabinet nearest the stereo system unit.

Am I likely to get their help with this? Is there a better option I should consider to provide the same capabilities?

[Rockhead]

Be nice if they are willing to do this but if late it’s been if we don’t offer it then no dice.Best to call n talk to them for your answer