Antenna – Roof top crank up antenna upgrade – Sept. ’21
The OEM antenna for OTA (Off The Air) TV signal for my ’02 Journey appeared to be the same one that is used on millions of RVs of this and subsequent years, a Winegard batwing style. They are pretty good antennas but after 19 years of advancements in digital TV, as you can imagine there are now plenty of antennas that are even better.
Winegard did offer an ‘improved’ version. I eventually bought and proved that newer style batwings were unimproved as I tested it many places while crossing the US from Florida back to Yuma, Arizona. The supposed ‘improved’ antenna that Winegard offered as their ‘Sensar’ model I’d found was just as bad as their batwing without the fancy UHF nose attached. One test showed 33 stations just barely, then I replaced the batwing with their improved Sensar, and I got the same 33 stations with the same pixelation going on with some stations as before. The area station map showed something like 55 available stations. I’d gotten it on sale and it only cost me like $40 or so so I wasn’t out much but it was a disappointment as at the time I needed OTA TV since I wasn’t using my satellite. That bad performance is the main reason I switched to satellite later that year. But then I sold that RV and bought this Journey and it has/had the same old batwing. They are showing that Sensar at an outrageous price of $134 now so I think they may have improved the electronics package but you’d have to do your own research about that. They might just be greedy a-holes too.
Since I had working DTV shortly after buying this rig, wasn’t much reason to improve the batwing. But here in the modern age, I sometimes find myself interested in watching local programming and I’d just happened to have bought a fancy new amplified antenna for my son. It was just before a Seahawks game was to be transmitted locally so I had a good reason to test it at my RV since DTV wasn’t carrying the game. The old model batwing on the roof would catch maybe 22 local OTA stations none of which carried the game, but this newer amplified antenna caught 33 stations, including the station carrying the Seahawks game from inside the RV! And I’m 54 miles from the originating transmitters in Kennewick, Washington! And also over 40 miles from the Pendleton, Oregon transmitters that carries Fox (many games on Fox) which I could receive inside the RV if I turned the new antenna 90 degrees positioned on the top of the couch. Most of the other stations I was getting are repeaters of the Portland stations but I don’t know where the towers are as they’re not shown on the tower maps.
Okay than. A great test and definitive example showing that the batwing antenna’s useful life was over. So I bought another of these HDTV antennas from Amazon for myself and using bungee cords, lashed it on top of the old batwing. And it works great up there with that additional height. Picture is 4K most of the time, but when it’s not, it’s almost always good. And up there on the roof, it receives 78 stations. So with the newer antenna up on the roof, I’m receiving 45 more stations than before with the batwing. Not all of them worth watching as they are religious channels or the signal is weak but I only have to turn the crank to improve the picture. Only cost $29.99 back when I bought it in summer of ’20 (likely its low price at the time was due to the Covid drop in sales).
When I left this area and headed south last winter, I bundled it all up and stored it as where I was going I didn’t need an improved signal. After returning here in the spring I needed it again. And today I’ve been trying to make it a permanent installation. Here’s some pictures of the modifications I’ve been doing to both the new and old antenna which I sacrificed for the cause.
First I opened the case of the new antenna and trimmed the locking tabs off the lower reflector. In order for it to retract when the antenna is lowered for travel. It meets the roof at an angle as the antenna is cranked down and is pushed flat by the roof. It sorta flops around with those tabs missing and I discovered I could have just filed down the locking ramps instead. That would have worked better as the stops would still be in place if I’d done it that way. Wind events rarely affect the signal of this antenna so I don’t care if it flops around during strong winds.
Then added this plastic jobber to replace the now missing stops to hold the reflector at the proper angle when the antenna is deployed.
So here I’m lining up the sacrificial piece I harvested from the old batwing antenna. Drilled a couple holes for the original pins to stick into the new antenna case for stability, and a couple holes for zip ties to hold it solidly to the bracket.
Here I’m lining up everything making sure it will lie flat on the roof as much as possible when it’s retracted for travel.
And here is the newer antenna mounted on the older deployment assembly. I’m sure the readers know, but just in case they don’t, there’s a crank on the ceiling of the living room where this device is cranked up so the antenna is off the roof and above most of the equipment up there that might interfere with any TV signals. It has this natural tilt to the left because of the slope of the roof and then the weight of the new antenna isn’t necessarily balanced yet so that pulls it over that direction too. Something I need to work on. I did connect that original coax to the output of the antenna after I’d pulled some of the extra cable out a ways, necessary for the new connection. There was plenty of slack inside the roof.
I was able to use the old RG6 TV coax cable so that was nice, saved a bunch of work. I will hang onto the newer cable that came with the new antenna and change out the old coax some day maybe. Only if necessary as the inside lengths of coax that I can see up near the TV are fine. Might just need to splice to the old cable to add a few feet of new on the outside where it’s exposed to weather. I’m also planning on adding rubber bumpers at appropriate places along the underside of the new antenna so it won’t damage the roof as it vibrates against it when traveling. I can’t yet think of a way to utilize the electric motor device that attaches to the bottom of the new antenna in such a way as to still be able to lower the antenna to the roof and not present too much of a profile for trees to grab. It would be cool to use the remote to be able to rotate that antenna up there but for now, I’ll just struggle along having to do it by getting out of my easy chair and reaching up to the ceiling. Gah!
What happens is the new antenna gathers up the OTA TV signals it senses, the powered circuitry inside the antenna amplifies them, and sends them down the coax to the power box and signal splitter inside the house. That powered box is basically the same as the device in most RVs that has the small LED that needs to be on when wanting to receive local OTA stations from the rooftop antenna. Serves the same purpose and has a light too. I suppose I could have used the old amp with the light but I thought it would be better using the equipment that came with the antenna. The output of that box in my case goes to the B.O.M.B. (Box Of Many Buttons) so the bedroom’s TV also gets the OTA signal, and the ‘Front TV’ output of the B.O.M.B. goes to the next device.
This 2nd device I’m currently using is the eXuby Digital Converter which acts as a TV tuner. It comes with a remote where I can auto search for stations just like the TV, but I can also jump to a station based on program start time, so it has a scheduler (something that the TV won’t do), I can record onto a USB stick or onto a USB HDD (another thing the TV won’t do), and it outputs both HDMI and via coax. I’m using the HDMI and that output goes to an additional HDMI switcher with 4 inputs that has it’s own tiny remote and PIP. Those inputs come from the eXuby, the DTV satellite receiver, the living room main computer on the RV’s driver’s side, and the backup computer on the passenger’s side. They are all routed to the HDMI switcher via HDMI cables I installed and the HDMI output of the switcher than goes to the TV. There is one other item. I’ve recently purchased a Roku streaming TV device so that also plugs directly into one of the TVs 4 HDMI inputs. It only works that way due to copyright restrictions…won’t work if plugged into the switcher. Then I have the sound output from the TV setup to go via an audio cable to the AUX audio input on the dash radio for playing through the surround sound system this RV came with.
And today, climbed up on the roof to do that minor ‘finish’ work that was needed. Headed off first to True Value Hardware for a handful of thick plastic washers and used them to balance the new antenna a bit better to the old batwing mounting setup. Added some waterproof tape to seal a slight gap in the new antenna case, and dressed the coax a bit better. Might add some flashing bent at a 60 degree angle to stick to the roof just in front of the new antenna to prevent trees from grabbing it or the wind while driving at 65 MPH.
Here’s how it looks now. Straighter and somewhat level, note that it’ll never be level because the roof is sloped.
So that’s basically it for the installation of that new rooftop antenna. When the original Winegard Batwing picked up 50 odd stations, and most of them not very well at all, this new antenna picks up 78 stations and nearly all of them have an excellent picture. I have competed the finish work on the setup and right now it’s working and looking great. I am thinking about coming up with a way to use the ‘Rotation’ remote that came with it but I’ll have to figure out how to raise and lower the antenna with that box attached somehow. Won’t be easy. I might just come up with an extendable pipe lashed to the ladder in the back where I can lift and lower the antenna so trees and wind won’t get it when driving. That might work.
Update: May of ’22
I had traveled south for winter after making this antenna adaption and it was fine. I was able to use it on my snowbirding route with success. But then my brother needed my help getting ready to move so I went over and stayed at an RV park in Mojove. And sadly, the brutal winds there all day everyday nearly 24/7 eventually blew that antenna right off it’s attachment and then proceeded to break it into pieces. I never did find most of it but for the pieces I did find damage was extensive. Toss in the trash extensive. Sigh.
Bathroom Vent Fan: [July ’18]
The fan in the bathroom vent had been making wobbly noises for quite some time, and I finally got around to checking it out. And it’s badly UV damaged. Mostly falling apart at the blade tips from years in the sun and heat. The blade has ‘Thorgren 6″ CW Flush Mount’ molded into the plastic. But that didn’t help finding one via Google. So I navigated to Amazon online and searched. Initially I ordered the wrong one. Wasn’t watching carefully enough. After that happened, I spend a bit more time making sure and got the right one.
The below picture is what the old blade looked like after I pulled it off the motor. It’s in the new replacement fan’s bubble pack so the brand and p/n is visible. Got it from one of Amazon’s suppliers. Free shipping so cost was $6.25. Note for my RV it’s a 1/8″ D center hole type.
Fairly easy to replace, remove four long screws from the plastic fan shroud inside the RV and pull it off. Then there’s another plastic surround with the screen that has a molded in plastic cap that covers the motor lid ‘opener’ and associated gears. Once that’s off, than the fan blade can be pulled off and the new one pressed on. Braced the motor from behind so the metal isn’t bent as it’s a tight fit. Once the fan is in place on the motor shaft, adjust it’s up/down position by gently pulling or pushing on the metal bar it’s mounted to in order to slightly bend the bar. Getting it in the right spot prevents the plastic blade tips from scraping on the bug screen just below the fan.
Black & Decker SpaceMaker Coffee Maker:
Model ODC 150 Type 1 – This model came with the RV.
I really like this coffee maker. It’s mounted right over my work/dining table, hanging on the bottom of an open shelf so it’s not taking any kitchen counter space, has a 12 cup glass pot, and a removable tank that fits nicely under my filtered water spout over at the sink. The removable tank means I don’t need to try to fill the tank over my computer with the glass pot like most coffee makers. It’s easy in the morning to pull out the tank and coffee basket, step over to the sink to fill the tank, and reach up to the cabinet over the stove for the filter and coffee.
I know they’ve been put into thousands of RVs as an added option, have seen them in many used RVs I’ve toured, so I was surprised that I couldn’t find a new glass carafe for it in the aftermarket easily at a reasonable price. I discovered a vertical crack in the glass from the top to around 1/2″ from the bottom of the pot. The carafe had fallen out of the brewing cubby, bounced off the table, and hit the floor. I park it empty on the edge of the coffee maker frame while the hot plate is cooling off…so I don’t get that dark oily covering on the inside bottom. That’s important because I only wash the carafe a couple times a month. I was lucky it was still in one piece. But it did force me to get into the habit of checking that the carafe was in the right place before driving the RV. The design prevents it from bouncing out too easily on the road…if I remember to push it all the way in after drinking the coffee and letting the hot plate cool.
Anyway, the best price I could find online for a used carafe on eBay that would fit this model…$13 plus $10 shipping. Yikes. Mine wasn’t leaking at the crack yet, so what I did to continue using it was run a strip of clear packing tape over the crack to hold it while I scoured the thrift shops as I traveled. Nearly a year of checking online and 10’s of thrift stops later…still hadn’t found the glass carafe at a decent price. But the tape was still doing the job so not really an emergency. I did try a ‘universal’ pot once but it was not satisfactory. Sure, it sort of worked, but it just didn’t fit well.
So when I stumbled upon a nice looking and complete coffee making unit in the same style in a San Felipe, Mexico thrift shop, for only $250 pesos ($13 USD), I grabbed it. Even if it didn’t work and I only used the carafe that came with it, I was still saving money. The entire unit for less than the price of just the carafe! I love thrift shops.
Wondering what was wrong with it, took it home and wiped off the dust, plugged it in, dumped in some water, and…no problem at all. Worked great. Except for a bit of dust, very clean too. Like it hadn’t been used much. Two days later, still don’t see any problem with it. It came with the added bonus of having the ‘Auto’ brew function. Turns out it’s a newer, better model, ODC 325 Type 1. Unlike my model 150, this one has the ‘Auto’ brew function, a digital clock, and an auto shut off of the hot plate after two hours of operation. I have inadvertently left the carafe empty or nearly empty on the hot plate numerous times with my model 150. When I do that, sometimes the coffee boils off and starts smelling like an electrical fire. Worried myself several times when that happened. So that last feature is going to be very useful.
After testing and finding it to be in excellent condition, I decided to use the newer 325 to replace my 150. It has the same form factor as my old one so I wouldn’t need to modify the mounting setup. And the first thing I had to do was find out how to remove the 150. It’s not that obvious at first glance. First I felt around this shelf it’s mounted too, and discover 4 screws up on the shelf arranged down though the shelf holding the plastic brackets from above. But there isn’t much room between the screw heads and the ceiling, so can’t use my battery screw driver. Gah, I hate using a stubby Phillips screwdriver in tight spaces on long screws.
So I went online and asked how people get them out. And someone answered that you just push up at the bottom rear, and slide it out. I tried that, but mine didn’t budge. (BTW, I have the users guide, and it tells how to install it, but not how to uninstall it). Then I used a flashlight to try to see what might be holding it and found two metal brackets screwed up into the bottom of the shelf from underneath. Removed the two screws holding the brackets, one on either side of the coffee maker, pushed up on the coffee maker, and slid it forward. Success!
And here’s a look at the top of the unit after removal. The two metal brackets are double sided taped to the top of the coffee maker. The foam also has 2-sided tape holding it in place. Pried those items off to use on the new coffee maker. Replaced the tape with my own stock. At first I thought I’d need to mark the brackets as to get them in the same place on the new unit, but eventually realized I could just screw them in place under the shelf, then work the unit into place and once in place push down on the brackets or up on the coffee maker to stick the tape. Another method would be to loosen the upper screws so the unit was 1/4″ lower. Slide it into place with the tape protectors removed, tighten the screws, and viola’, tape is stuck in the right place. That way didn’t have to find just the right place to stick the brackets first so that the screw holes would line up between the brackets and holes in the shelf or have to make new holes. Clever. That foam piece just gets stuck on the new unit in approximately the same place.
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Here’s a shot (below) of the under shelf area where the coffee maker hangs from those two white plastic brackets. There are long slots on the outsides of the unit that slip onto them. Then to prevent the unit from sliding forward out of the brackets, there’s just a tab and notch arrangement holding the maker in the brackets. This is to prevent it from sliding forward when you pull out the coffee basket or the water tub.
In an RV, there is the added excitement of the coffee maker bouncing around while driving. So the metal braces and foam tape are added insurances it won’t bounce out while driving. I tested it and without those braces taped to the top of the coffee maker, it doesn’t take much to simulate a road bounce that gets the unit to come loose and slide forward. Even with the metal braces (not stuck down with the tape yet) and foam in place. Likely only the carafe would fall out, but having the entire unit drop onto the table than floor wouldn’t be good, and that’s possible…though unlikely.
So here’s the old 150 model after removal. Note the metal braces and the foam tape on the back edge. Those 3 pieces don’t really come with the coffee maker and were installed by Winnebago at the factory. Nice touch. Quality.
And the new unit. I already like it better. Model ODC 325 Type 1.
After installation, all snug and working fine. Looks good too.
Update: Aug. ’21
Well, it turned out that I was remiss in letting the sinks water filter age out without replacing it and the places I stay, mostly in the desert valleys of the west, have hard water. Water with lots of minerals. So I had noticed the white residue accumulating on the faucet screens and what not, but hey, sometimes I’m just dumb. I get the water to brew coffee via that filter. Anyway, a coffee maker like these B&D’s just do not like all that mineral accumulation inside the workings. It started to leak on me early this year and just got worse and worse until it just finally stopped working all together.
Opened it up and found that the heater tube was plugged with solids. Even though I’d regularly used vinegar to clean it. Just too much lime deposits in the water for the cleanings to have done much to help.
So I immediately started searching for a better water filter. I do have the Culligan undersink device but it has been a trial finding the right filter for it when I needed one. Culligan doesn’t have a cross over guide plus there’s a bewildering array of filter cartridges that may or may not fit the model I had and once I bought the filters that I thought would fit because they had the right number D-3, but they were too big for my filter housing. The seller just refunded my money, told me to keep them. So they knew there was a size problem most likely.
Screw it, I’ll dump the Culligan style and buy a different one. Checked online and found that Walmart has the best one for the best price, $49.99, no tax since I’m in Oregon. It’s ad copy says it fights and stops the solid minerals that cause the deposits. So bought it, a Waterdrop 10UA and now have a housing head and filter cartridge I can buy at any Walmart, will last me 2 – 3 years (based on using it only for coffee and cooking), is a push and turn style so no spilling water all over, and then when I do need to replace the cartridge, the replacement filter cartridge only costs $20. So now with a new filter at the sink where I fill the coffee maker, I went on a search for the same B&D coffee maker model I’d had before. Eventually found one that looked pretty good at eBay for $80. Has the same model number so it’ll fit where I like it (under the cabinet above my desk) and when I opened it to inspect the insides, didn’t see any mineral deposits.
And now it’s all installed, protected better from hard water deposits, and works great.
Living Room overhead fluorescent lamps:
I have three 22″ long, 6″ wide dual tube ceiling light fixtures that work fine, it’s just that the 3-way light switches at either end of the LR are in the wrong sequence and it bothers me to have the main switch I use to be bassackwards from what I want. So today, time to reverse the switch.
Here’s the lights…
The first fixture in the above pic lights up when the ‘Galley’ switch is operated, it’s the fixture opposite and nearest the stove, then the other two are turned on by the ‘Lounge’ switch next to that one. The other 3-way switch is down next to the stairs so you can turn them on when you enter the house. I like them to all to have their paddle handles in the same orientation
What I had to do was carefully pry off the plastic surround from the assembly. Under that were four wood screws holding the assembly to the wall. Removed them and pulled that out along with the wires attached to the switches.
Then it was just a matter of swapping the outer two wires of the three on the terminals of the ‘Lounge’ switch, leaving the center terminal wire in place. This is equivalent to just rotating the switch 180 degrees.
And here’s a shot of the plate down at the stairs. It would been just as easy to swap wires down here, but I wanted to open up the control panel and have a look inside for future reference so I worked there instead. (The top right switch is the ‘Ceiling’ switch in the following picture).
Control Panel removal…
I’m not having any trouble with the control panel, I just wanted to see what was behind it in case I ever need to work in there. There are two visible wood screws holding it, one at the top, one at the bottom. Remove those, and the wood surround and the metal panel easily pulls out as an assembly.
And here’s all the wiring behind the panel. There’s a good look at the wiring for the 3-way switch for the Lounge lights too.
Lots of wires in here, and also the vent pipe for one of the tanks. Probably the black water tank.
A look up to the ceiling…
And down to the floor…
Those shots may be helpful someday, but naturally I hope I’ll never really need them. If I ever do any remodeling in this area, there’s plenty of room in there for new wiring, plumbing, etc..
Door lock issue…
One of the things that happened on my shake out trip with my brother back in May of ’16, was that several times when he got in the RV, and slammed the door, then the next time we tried to leave, it wouldn’t open. I’d have to open the conveniently placed window beside the door, reach around and operate the door handle from the outside. That must have happened at least 6 times while he was with me. After he left, I had no issues with that. It just didn’t happen to me. Until late November. It happened once while in Rosamond, and then again after I got to the Salton Sea. I was never quite sure if it had done it on it’s own, or if my knuckles had bumped the handle and that causes it. It’s that red bumper lever shown below that’s so easy to hit with a knuckle while operating the door handle.
So I’m now down in Mexico and it happens again. None of the three times it’s happened to me did I have to do more than operate the lower ‘Lock’ lever to get out of the RV. It’s never happened while I was outside. But to be on the safe side, I have added a zip tie to the lower lock actuator so hopefully, I will never be locked out…
I still have the deadbolt I can use, and pry bar entry attempts by burglars are quite rare so missing one of the locks isn’t too stressful for a fulltimer. More often than not, the little spring holding that lower lock breaks and it locks the owner out…and they have to pry bar in. I don’t want that to happen, so zip tied it in place from now on. I’ve left the zip tie loose enough that if I do feel the need to lock both top and bottom locks, it’ll slip right off.
Propane Tank…
Here’s a view of the innards of the typical, horizontally mounted RV propane tank. Looks very much like mine.
Typical propane tank components—-left to right
*Tank liquid level magnetic gauge assembly
*Relief Valve/Stand Pipe set above liquid level in vapor zone
*Fill Valve with OPD Float Assembly
*Bleed/Overfill Valve –Stand Pipe set at 80% liquid level
*Vapor/Service Valve-Stand Pipe set above liquid level in vapor zone
https://rvlifestyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/tank1.jpg
This cutaway view is from this website: RV Lifestyle
Typical RV propane tank shown. Virtually all horizontal tanks will be built this way.
Typical 30 amp ‘dumb’ Automatic Transfer Switch device. ATS. Parked here for reference.