Satellite Dish Installation

[gsadmin]

My Ultra Supreme came equipped with the optional manual satellite dish on the roof as part of the "Koala" package. Part of this package was the Winegard elevation sensor and display. This display was mounted in the small AV compartment above the drivers seat.

When I got the RV it had two issues:

#1 -- Pushing the button would not light the display
#2 -- The device was mounted such that the display was 90 degrees to the opening of the compartment and not visible from the satellite dish hand crank mid-coach. Duh...how could this have worked!

So, since I am an engineer, I decided to find out what was up for myself. So, I looked up the docs on the winegard device online. So, after reading the docs I saw two important things...how to identify the signal cable (3 wires) and that the unit could be powered by the 12V system or via 9V battery.

I then opened up the case figuring that I would find the battery missing, dead, or disconnected...instead, I found no battery and the signal cable (3 wires) had one of its wires cut off (later to be found in the back of the compartment) and it two pins of the connector were connected to the 2-pin power connector...duh, no wonder it didn't work.

So, I fixed the 3-wire signal cable, installed it on the connector, and then installed a 9V battery...voila!...it lit right up.

The last thing I did was drill two new holes in the side of the case and remount the display box on the side of the compartment such that it could be viewed from the cranking location.

Now, If I could just get that AV compartment door to stay up so I wouldn't need to prop it up with a screwdriver!

[treecounter]

I realize this is late coming. We installed our own crank up with the digital finder. We also put it in the cabinet and had a devil of a time reading it. It also ate batteries. So drilled a hole near the wall into the bottom of the cabinet ran the wires through the hole and mounted the device on the wall tight against the bottom of the cabinet to cover hole. Tapped into the 12v supply for the antenna boaster and powered it with out the battery. Works great.

[gsadmin]

Thanks for the tip.

BTW, for those that are interested, the best answer for the front AV doors without supports in some GS rigs is to buy one spring loaded hinge for each from home depot and mount it in the middle, still leaving the original hinges in place. These spring loaded hinges are not the cheap (more simplistic) type but rather the ones with an internal piston type spring and scissor action...if that makes sense.