Installing new satellite dish

dang65 · 07-20-2012, 04:01 PM

I want to replace my dome dish with a Winegard SK-1000 open dish on a 5005 Winnebago Journey. I am not sure how to get new wires run to the front cabinets. There are two access plates inside on ceiling. I cannot see the current wires in either of those. Will I be able to pull new wires with the old ones? Has anyone tried this?

Snowwing · 07-20-2012, 04:38 PM

On my 2005 Journey I had to remove the TV to access the wiring. I had the Winegard AS2003. Replaced with a Winegard SK3005. Best upgrade ever.
Ron

dang65 · 07-20-2012, 05:09 PM

So, after you removed the TV to get at the wiring could you pull new wires with the old?

Snowwing · 07-20-2012, 05:15 PM

Yes. I had to have someone inside while I was on the roof. It was a relatively tight fit but do-able.
Ron

FIRE UP · 07-20-2012, 06:10 PM

dang65,
Well Sir, I'm in the same boat. My king Dome recently decided to go on strike and has never returned to work. I've tried and tried and it's a "no go" as NASA used to say. So, in the interim, I purchased a stand alone small, 3' high tripod with a dish on it just for temp. It works flawless. But, I'm just about ready to bite the bullet on the new Winegard SK3005 for ours. It's a 2004 Itasca Horizon and I'll be watching this thread to see what the end result is in terms of difficulty in running the wires/cables.

I'm also having trouble with my bat wing not receiving anything. But, that's another story.
Scott

smlranger · 07-20-2012, 06:43 PM

Yes, you can use the existing wires to pull the new coax. As noted, you will likely have to remove your front TV or otherwise gain access to the back of it where all the cables reside.

I did the Kingdome-to-Traveler swap last year. I pulled two cables at once from the new dish down to the TV area. One cable feeds the Direct HD receiver up front and the second attaches to the existing coax than runs to the back of the coach. I used two diplexers, one up front and a second at the rear. With diplexers you can send both digital and analog signals on the same coax. This eliminated the need to fish a second new coax to the rear of the coach. I have a second Direct TV receiver in the bedroom. I can use either the Direct receiver or the signal from the old Winegard crank-up antenna for over the air signals in the bedroom.

Golf Nut · 07-22-2012, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

dang65,
Well Sir, I'm in the same boat. My king Dome recently decided to go on strike and has never returned to work. I've tried and tried and it's a "no go" as NASA used to say. So, in the interim, I purchased a stand alone small, 3' high tripod with a dish on it just for temp. It works flawless. But, I'm just about ready to bite the bullet on the new Winegard SK3005 for ours. It's a 2004 Itasca Horizon and I'll be watching this thread to see what the end result is in terms of difficulty in running the wires/cables.

I'm also having trouble with my bat wing not receiving anything. But, that's another story.
Scott

Scott,

Thinking of getting a portable dish for those times when trees are in the way. Didn't see a "satellite in" connection for the outside. Do you have one for the outside? If not, how are you connecting your portable dish. Looks like we have the same coach.

dang65 · 07-23-2012, 03:50 PM

Thanks for the help. I will be trying the install later this summer.

Lil Papi · 07-23-2012, 04:58 PM

You could plug in the regular cable on the outside. You should be able to watch satellite find the way ( Thas the way I had mind until I install the crack up satellite).

bobmac · 07-23-2012, 05:39 PM

I installed a Traveller on my Journey. I used the Winnebago wiring (2 coaxs) and installed a third coax. I was able to fish from the pre-wire location to a speaker fixture on the front ceiling. From there, I pulled the extra coax plus the Winegard control cable to the front side cabinets and got through to the front DS cabinet were I installed the Winegard control box. It might be worth a call to Winnebago to see if there is a cable raceway in the ceiling foam near the wiring for your current dish. If there is, it should be easy to pull the new wiring through that path into the side cabinets. I found out subsequently that there was one inches ahead of the prewiring in my coach.
Good luck - once you get the traveller upon the roof, it's a simple job.