How to access underside of roof for radio antenna?

[Algonquin-WO]

Yes, I have the same felt-cover panels in the top of the cabinets. I will look for the screws. Thanks very much.

 

[BradleyC]

Fishing the antenna wire will take time but is possible.
Find a very stiff piece of wire shape it as a loop, slip it into the hole attempt to lasso the cable end. If you succeed don't try to just pull it, instead twist your wire lasso a couple times then slowly pull toward the hole. Once you see the wire have a sharp object to help guide the end of the cable thru the hole.

It will work unless the cable has fallen out of reach.

 

[Algonquin-WO]

Fishing the antenna wire will take time but is possible.
Find a very stiff piece of wire shape it as a loop, slip it into the hole attempt to lasso the cable end. If you succeed don't try to just pull it, instead twist your wire lasso a couple times then slowly pull toward the hole. Once you see the wire have a sharp object to help guide the end of the cable thru the hole.

It will work unless the cable has fallen out of reach.

As I said earlier in my posts, the hole in the roof is just large enough for the cable to fit through (appox. 1/4"). It would be impossible to get both a fishing tool and the cable through the hole at the same time. Trying to locate the errant wire would also be extremely difficult when looking through a 1/4" hole.
As a caution to anyone else removing the base of a Winnebago radio antenna, you must somehow secure the threaded end of the wire lead before you lift the base off the roof. It appears to me that this style of antenna requires two people for the install -- one on the roof and one inside to hold the threaded wire end up sticking through the roof while the person on the roof tightens the threads. Think of trying to tighten down a loose bolt that is sticking up through the roof.
This is not like common radio antennas that have a clamping device that allows the antenna to be tightened down from the outside by one person.

 

[tderonne]

On my Vista the antenna is mounted on top of the fiberglass front cap, and the underside of the fiberglass front cap can be accessed by removing the trim panels inside the cabinets in front of your coach.

This is how my Adventurer is. The antenna is on the front cap, not the main part of the roof. I suspect your Journey is the same.

(My outside radio antenna is on the main part of the roof. It's located above the One Place panel, there's a hole in the ceiling inside the panel to access it.)

I can't find a generic picture online. Maybe you could take a quick picture of where yours is on your roof?

 

[Algonquin-WO]

Yes, my dashboard radio antenna is mounted on the front cap. My MH is in storage some distance from where I live, so I have not been up there to check out everyone's suggestions. However, I am going on a trip next week and hope to be able to look at access through the cabinets.

 

[atom ant]

You may have already seen this, but this is the antenna wire routing on your Meridian

 

[Algonquin-WO]

Atom Ant, yes, I have looked at the Winnebago schematics. Thanks

 

[Algonquin-WO]

UPDATE: Ok, I finally got around to trying to access the underside of the roof to replace the radio antenna. I managed to remove the inside top of a cabinet and found the loose cable, but the roof hole was too far towards the rear to access.


As can be seen in an attached photo, there was no way that the antenna cable would be able to be fished out from the top of the roof. The cable end is actually attached to a disk with a stud that protrudes through the roof. There is also a ground wire attached to the stud. In my case, the stud was actually pulled loose from the disk because when I tried to twist off the antenna base on the roof, the stud was frozen in the base and I ended up twisting the stud out of the inside disk. More bad news -- the stud is soldered to the antenna cable at the disk, so the solder joint was broken.

In order to access the hole in the roof, I had to remove the wood strip (as seen in the photo in my original post). I could then pry up the ceiling enough to get my hand inside. The hole is cleverly positioned too far back to access from a cabinet, and far enough forward of the ceiling gap to make it very difficult to reach. I found that there is a metal ground plane with a hole that the stud goes through before going through the roof. In the attached photo of the ground plane you can see rust so there was obviously some minor water leakage.


I epoxied the stud back into the disk, trying to get as much contact between the stud and the broken cable as possible. I would have tried to re-solder the joint, but access in the ceiling is very difficult. Reinstalling the antenna is a two person job. One person has to hold the stud in position under the roof while the other is on the roof screwing on the base of the new antenna. Cost of the new antenna -- $10. Labor -- many hours. Not a design with maintenance in mind!


I can't see how to attach my photos so I will post this and come back with another post with the photos (hopefully).

 

[Algonquin-WO]

OK, I just learned that you can't attach photos in the "quick reply", so here are the photos of the antenna cable disk and the antenna ground plane.

 

[Algonquin-WO]

Another thought about the rust on the metal ground plane. The rust may be due to indoor condensation on the uninsulated metal in contact with the cold roof. Water leakage from the outside seems unlikely because the roof sealant was in good condition.

 

[atom ant]

Did you have to cut out that spray insulation to get to that, or was it already that way?

 

[Algonquin-WO]

The foam insulation was already cut away at the factory. They obviously removed more than required.

 

[atom ant]

Well I learned a lesson from your troubles. I just replaced both my antennas with new ones from Winnebago and I replaced from the ball joint up rather than the base. Mine are easier to get to through the cabinet, but nothing I want to tackle if that screw would slip down through the hole trying to replace the base.

I noticed a couple of extra screws on the roof, and my dang Travler satellite antenna was falling apart and the LNB screws had fallen out right there on the roof. Good thing I was up there or it might have self destructed on the highway.

 

[Algonquin-WO]

A piece of advice for anyone needing to remove a Winnebago radio antenna mount from the roof. If the antenna mount cannot be unscrewed from the through-roof stud with hand force, use only very light force with pliers otherwise you will likely strip the stud out of cable mount inside the roof. Even if you don't want to reuse the cable mount, you will be left with the problem of the loose stud preventing removal of the mount on the roof. The stud has a bolt-like head that won't fit through the roof hole.
If the roof mount does not unscrew easily, the only alternative (which I used) is to cut away the base from the stud with a hack saw, dremel tool, etc.