TV Antenna disappears

[Semievolved]

I just noticed that the TV antenna is gone. Haven't been under any trees and it was there where we camped last so it must have come off on the road between there and home. I hope it didn't hurt anybody. At any rate, what do I do now? We never used or wanted it but should I find some way of capping it? Can water get inside the camper through the now exposed connection point? If anybody has had to deal with this, I'd appreciate their insights on possible fixes or patches.

[Kingfish]

I lost one like that on a previous trailer. Jack antennas are very fragile and shaped so that they can easily hook a limb, and it doesn't take much of a limb break it off. Hardest part of replacement is dealing with all of the sealant.

[HABBERDABBER]

It appears you would have multiple roof holes to cover if you removed the mount. A slather of a good urethane caulk/sealant where the antenna attached would weather seal things. You could leave it in place. With a larger project, you could remove the mount, fill the holes with Marine-Tex epoxy and be pretty sure you'd be weather tight.

I'd leave it in place and seal any possible ingress areas. You could get another antenna or a future owner may want it.



Did the antenna snap off or just come loose?


A vinyl cap sized for the diameter of the antenna mount post would work too, be removable, seal well and allow future use.


Many options. The plastic or vinyl cap can likely be sourced from McMaster-Carr, an industrial supply outfit.

[Semievolved]

Originally Posted by HABBERDABBER

It appears you would have multiple roof holes to cover if you removed the mount. A slather of a good urethane caulk/sealant where the antenna attached would weather seal things. You could leave it in place. With a larger project, you could remove the mount, fill the holes with Marine-Tex epoxy and be pretty sure you'd be weather tight.

I'd leave it in place and seal any possible ingress areas. You could get another antenna or a future owner may want it.



Did the antenna snap off or just come loose?


A vinyl cap sized for the diameter of the antenna mount post would work too, be removable, seal well and allow future use.


Many options. The plastic or vinyl cap can likely be sourced from McMaster-Carr, an industrial supply outfit.

hi, yeah, i don't see any broken bits up there, just a threaded black shaft with nothing on it. i can't believe it could just unscrew itself off of there but since i didn't check beforehand i don't really know how it was attached. much as i'd like to remove the housing and everything, that would require fiberglass repair, etc. i don't know if it will leak as is but i guess some sort of PVC cap would be the prudent thing to do. just have to figure out how to attach it so that is can be removed if a future owner wants to reattach an antenna.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by Semievolved

hi, yeah, i don't see any broken bits up there, just a threaded black shaft with nothing on it. i can't believe it could just unscrew itself off of there but since i didn't check beforehand i don't really know how it was attached. much as i'd like to remove the housing and everything, that would require fiberglass repair, etc. i don't know if it will leak as is but i guess some sort of PVC cap would be the prudent thing to do. just have to figure out how to attach it so that is can be removed if a future owner wants to reattach an antenna.

If the antenna isn't locked, it can free wheel as you travel down the road. The notches you see on the lower part are supposed to be index points as you use the inner know to adjust the direction.

It's theoretically possible that the antenna could have unscrewed itself from the base, but I haven't heard of that happening.

In my case, I gave mine a good whack when I failed to open the door to my RV garage all the way up. Broke it. We made a trip or two with a thick piece of plastic covering the stump, secured with duct tape. Later, I replaced the antenna with a new one.

The new one wasn't the exact same design as the old. The design and unfortunately, the mount, changed. That meant covering up the mount holes with an adapter plate, and securing the new one with different holes. But at least the inside control remained the same.

We also found in the process of replacing it the reason why the factory installed antenna never worked properly: horribly bad crimps on the coax. I made proper connections and the antenna now works wonderfully, so I guess all's well that ends well.
Attachment 57826

[Oldtimer]

Just a thought but one of those rubber boots you put over the ball on your hitch to keep grease from getting all over your pants would work nicely. Just put a screw clamp at the base and it will hold it secure. Cheap and easy.


David