swap Skyliner antenna for Weingard HD ?

[jimrich60]

I have been thinking about removing the original Skyliner antenna and putting in a New Wiengard fold down type HD antenna.
and was hoping to find out if anyone else has done this conversion on a mid 70s Airstream trailer.
Is it a fairly easy job or is it going to require "Major Surgery" ?

[idroba]

Assuming your old Skyliner antenna is in good condition, realize that you will not improve your reception at all with a new one. In fact, the old Skyliner will actually have more gain than the new Wiengard. Antennas are not different for the type of signal they receive, digital or analog, so there is no such thing as a "digital" antenna.

But the old Skyliner antenna can get tired after a number of years, and has a lot of pieces and parts. Most of the really old ones used 300 ohm flat wire lead in too, which has become pretty obsolete vs. 75 ohm coax cable. Pulling a new 75 ohm coax in is virtually impossible in most Airstreams, if you think you can simply pull the old out and a new one in. Usually you will need to cut off and seal the entrance for the old cable and find a way to run a new one into the rig, say through the back of a closet. Often new cable is run down through the refrigerator vent.

Mechanically I don't think there is a lot of difference in the hole size from one to the other, but my limited experience is that removing the through the roof parts from the old Skyliner can be a bit frustrating. Often they are rusted/corroded in place and covered with layers of old hard sealant applied over the years.

So, that is my limited experience with your project.

[Flynavy]

Welcome to the forum. I have looked into replacing the Skyliner on our 74, however if I do so it will be with one of the low profile Jack antennas that do not need to be raised or lowered. The issue I have with the Skyliner is I cannot get it to rotate so reception is hit and miss depending on where we are parked. Be advised that you may have issues with the length of a new Wineguard hitting the vents on the roof when retracted. Some have delt with this by cutting the mast down or offsetting the the antenna to clear.

Most seem to run new coax across the roof and down thru the fridge vent as idroba said.

My fix for now is to convert the flat wire to coax behind the tv using adapters from Radio Shack and renewing the connections at the antenna. Should you decide to remove the Skyliner have a hack saw handy just in case, and take a look at the Jack antennas.