(FOLLOW UP)Roof mount digital TV antenna ( attached to AC vent)

Thanks.  Not sure if I have to use the goop or not.. It doesn’t shown any leak...  I could cut away the excess and redo...I can’t think the caulking job was done by the factory.  Probably the dealer.  It can’t be seen from ground level.  

As as far as the cable,  I’ll get the L connector.  My wire is quite long and I will have to cut it and put on a new connector.  In the past I’ve used the crimp kind and the twist on.  I looked up connectors and found that the compression type are the best, so I’m going with that.  I’ll have to get the tool as well then..

I’m slow, or busy with other things, but here I am so far..

My crimps always seem to come off..

Funny, the caulk on ours at that point looks just like that!

Well, we are getting ready to take Tabby to storage.. sniff...  Snow is coming.. But, got my antenna on.  Thanks Dale.  Temperatures were 21 degrees and my fingers kept freezing up and the vinyl strip was stiff, but I got er done.  I left my plugin end a bit longer because it gave me room for errors.  I then covered the connector with some of that waterproof tape.  Lastly, I put a little clear caulk where the wire goes in and exits the vinyl strip..

@Dalehelman, I just received the antenna and was going to cut the AC to DC converter off that powers the 12 volt booster and tap into a 12 volt source somewhere. Can I assume that of the 2 wires going to the 12 volt booster, the one with the gray striping is ground? 

thanks @Dalehelman for that information.

That makes sense, but if that's the case, it reduces your signal at either tv by quite a bit. A switch would be better.

A splitter would also diminish the capability of the amplifier on this antenna that Dale has featured in this thread. (The case with splitting any amplified antenna)

Dalehelman, I bought one of these based upon your strong recommendation. Heading out for 7 nights this coming week and hope my experience is equal to yours. I have mine prepped to sit atop an 8-foot high pole. Think the setup will be easy enough. If not, I'll do a permanent mount on the roof. 

We bought one on @Dalehelman recommendation too and have it mounted on a 12 foot extendable painter pole and have the pole strapped to one of the T@B handles. It worked great for a trip as we were able to watch TV during the Olympics. Alexis thought she heard one of our camping neighbors say something about us having a flying saucer or a space ship mounted to the pole. The only bad thing I can say about the set up is that the white coaxial cable is too long. Most of it stays coiled up.

@ChrisandAlexis, you might be able to shorten the cable with a new end.

I have the antenna now and am going to attempt to install it myself. I live "on the Roam" (no permanent residence/garage) so I'm a bit limited on specialty tools. I have a 400 BD and really like atlasb's idea of running the coax down the vent and inside under the closet. I see you all have screwed the mounting base into the black (pvc?) Vent pipe. Is there a nut or some kind of backing on those screws? Please forgive my ignorance, I'm kind of learning as I go. You all are so knowledgeable and I appreciate you all taking the time to post up. Does anyone have a picture of this mounted on a 400?

Thank you Dalehelman. 

I finished my install on a 2020 400. With the OP's permission, I'm posting some photos. Please keep in mind that I'm not a professional and only minimally handy. Full credit for this idea goes to Dalehelman, and atlasb. I'm just hoping I can provide ideas for those of us that are more technically "challenged". 
I started with Dale's recommended Elecwave Antenna, and routed the cable through the A/C vent as mentioned by atlasb. I notched the vent so that the cable would fit when the vent cap was placed back on.




Removed the panels in the closet.



Drilled a hole in the 2 inch PVC vent, and pulled the antenna cable through. My thought was to have it off to the side to prevent interference with the panels, and have it in the vent pipe as little as possible. Sealed the hole with PVC safe caulk, then zip tied the loose cable to the PVC pipe.



Routed the cable through the space beneath the closet, through existing holes, under the bed, to the TV. I stayed toward the "front" of the bed cabinets, and away from anything hot (water, Alde radiators, etc) and did my best to keep the cable away from power wires as I've heard that can cause interference. No pics because you wouldn't be able to see much of that process.

Removed the corner panel underneath the shelf below the TV. Cut the existing RG6 cables (gulp!), and mounted my Cable/Antenna switch. This will allow me to hook up to a campground Cable when available, and switch to TV/Antenna without going outside or moving anything. If it's useful, the Antenna cable is RG59. I shortened mine as there was a LOT of excess length, and I've heard not to "coil" Coax unless the loops can be more than 1 foot diameter. I used some compression end fittings, and they were a tiny bit loose on the RG59 cable end. Used some "screw to tap" type electrical connectors (blue items in pic below) to tap the booster wires into the existing 12v TV wires (Red TV to White/Gray Booster, Black TV to White Booster). Photo below is before I wrapped my connections in electrical tape.



Drilled some side-holes (don't know the technical term for this) so that the cables would fit through and allow the side panel to lie flat.



Since I tapped the 12v Booster (white rectangular thing) in low enough to be hidden by the corner panel, the back of the TV looks like this:


View of finished install from outside:



Before the Antenna and Booster, I got Zero channels. Antenna alone = 4 channels. With Booster powered on = 41 channels. I am in the same spot, so no change there. I don't have to store or setup anything. Can you sense a (lazy) theme here?


Thank you all for taking the time to post and share your experiences. You inspired me!
Next will be rewiring the Jensen Speaker "Zones" (mine are all on "A"), and then replace the Fantastic Fan with a Maxxair.