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  1. #1
    Setting Up Camp
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    External antenna for cell booster wiring question

    I'm at the point of installing the wiring for a cell signal booster into my 5th wheel. I've tested it and am satisfied that's it's worth the money and aggravation of setup, but I'm stumped at how to arrange the inside wiring. The external antenna is at the top of the roof ladder, and it should be pretty easy to bring the wiring inside so that it enters the cabinets over the couch at the back of the trailer. The next step is to take that wire to the signal booster and then another wire from the booster to the inside antenna. Therein lies the problem. The inside antenna can't be too close to the outside antenna, which means I need to run a wire from the rear cabinets into the cabinets on the driver's side slide. If the wire fits nicely when the slide is out, it won't be long enough to reach when the slide is in. If it's long enough to reach the slide cabinets when the slide is in, it'll hang down when the slide is out.

    I'm sure I'm missing something obvious here, but obvious or not, I'm missing it. Is there a trick to this?

    Thanks for any suggestions.
    2019 Solitude 310GK
    Ford F350 CC, SB, SRW 4X4 with the 6.7 L diesel
    Pull Rite 18K superglide

    James and his more or less faithful sidekick, Indy the Rescue Dog

  2. #2
    King Pin
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    I guess the first question I have is how close is too close for the inside antenna? I believe the ladder is located on the curb side at the back of your 310. So the penetration would be in the upper cabinet on the curb side. Couldn't you mount the interior antenna and booster in the upper back cabinet on the driver's side. Or how about the cabinet that is located near the sofa on the driver's side?

    Jim

  3. #3
    Setting Up Camp
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    I like your approach. The first thing you did was ask if I was asking the right question, which I wasn't. The directions are a little vague on the issue, merely suggesting that the two antennas not be close to each other. Comments on Amazon from several folks indicated that the farther the better, so when I found a spot that worked, I went with that.

    Your comment led me to try another approach, which is how close can I mount them and have it work. The answer is that in my rig at least, from the top of the roof ladder on the curb side for the outside antenna to the far cabinet over the couch on the drivers side for the inside antenna is far enough. Problem solved. The wiring is a piece of cake, since nothing has to move.

    Thanks for the reminder of how to approach these things, Jim

    James.
    2019 Solitude 310GK
    Ford F350 CC, SB, SRW 4X4 with the 6.7 L diesel
    Pull Rite 18K superglide

    James and his more or less faithful sidekick, Indy the Rescue Dog

  4. #4
    Fireside Member
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    Feb 2019
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    Denver, CO
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    I'm going to need to do this as well. My plan was to run the external antenna up a flag pole/pvc pipe to get it as high as possible for better reception, and also to get it further away from the other antenna. T-Mobile sells their setup for like $25 on the website, but the antenna itself isn't actually designed to be outside, it's designed to mount to a window. I had contemplated making a box out of plexi to keep it weather proof and running the power cord inside the pipe I used for elevation.
    2019 Reflection 150 260RD - 2018 Ford F350
    Rest of the fleet: 95 Grand Cherokee with a lot of stuff, 15 JKU Rubicon with less stuff, 98 5.9 Grand Cherokee with a little stuff

  5. #5
    Seasoned Camper
    Join Date
    Oct 2018
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    You'll need to check with the manufacturer of your external antenna for specs. Most of the omnidirectional antennas have a donut shaped radiation pattern, with higher gain ones being a flatter donut. For those your best spot is directly below them some ways down.

    For running the cable inside I would recommend some good coax, like LMR-195. With the standard RG58 stuff you'll probably see a few db loss over the length of your run, and 3db is roughly half the signal strength! It really makes a difference when you're in an edge case and barely have reception.

  6. #6
    Site Sponsor 315RLTSinPA's Avatar
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    I know some cell phone boosters recommend about 20ft between antennas.
    2018 Reflection 315RLTS
    2023 F350 Lariat 6.7L/CC/LB/FX4

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