7 in 1 MIMO antenna install

[DevOoops]

Originally Posted by billjmen

I was just gonna order the parsec antenna with the ultimate package. Was their an issue with size or surface ?

I just bought the exact setup. Stupidly I bought the magnetic mount for the antenna.

I have a 2022 Flying Cloud 27FB. Thinking about installing the antenna in the back left or right side away from the AC units etc. Does anyone see any issues with this approach?

[dog_and_cat]

Finally had some decent weather to finish installing the Pepwave Max Transit Cat-18 and Poynting 7-1 MIMO antenna.

With the help of my wife, we were able to feed the pre-wire bundle back and forth enough to pull a string out through the antenna opening on the roof of our ’21 GT. I clipped the SMA connectors off the two WIFI cables from the antenna and, one-by-one, connected them to the string and “fished” them down into the front-left speaker compartment. The second of the two was difficult to pull through and I worried that I might damage the remaining cables if I use the same method. So I decided to just connect these to the 5-wire pre-wire bundle and pull the whole bunch through as far as possible. It got most of the way through.

This left me with two connector-less WIFI cables and five very long cell/GPS cables inside the trailer. I decided to cut down much of the excess length of the cell/GPS cables to reduce unnecessary signal loss. Here are links to what I used for connector replacement on all seven cables:

SMA Connectors

Coax Stripper

Crimper

The crimper was particularly helpful since the above-bed storage compartment is a bad place to try to solder wires together. The smallest crimper opening (0.043”) is the perfect size for SMA connector pins.

As others have suggested, I also installed an on/off toggle switch. The whole set-up works like a charm!

[Hohensee]

This has been an excellent thread for learning and catalyzing questions. Thank you all.

I checked with MIRC on a couple of the comments/questions. My question, and Cherie from MIRC's responses indented below.

Is the distance from electrical roof devices (AC or Fan) make sense?

12″ is the absolute minimum that Andy recommends.. .more is always better. And many manufacturers recommend 24″ as their minimum

Is mounting the antenna higher than the air conditioners going to improve performance as we move from site to site.

If you can install at least that afar away, then getting above the clutter is an option too. And height can help with getting a better signal, just avoid needing cable extensions to maximize the gain.

And, because we are trying to gain signal over miles, is there anything else we should be researching or considering in our mounting plan?

For further from a tower, that’s when panel and directional antennas have the advantage. We personally love the Akita because it’s a panel antenna but omni-directional so no aiming needed.

I have checked on the Akita. Many people use it as a back up if their roof mounted omni-directional is not gaining enough signal due to distance from cellular towers.

Two additional thoughts

1. Aegean-Blue, I love the the 10" boat radar mount for your Parsec install. It looks rock solid, and is aesthetically great.

2. If you are researching which 7 in 1 4x4 MIMO antenna to get, here is a recent MIRC MIA report with test results on the Parsec Husky, Pepwave Mobility 42G, and the MobileMark. https://youtu.be/K-I-IdZJg-c Short version of the summary, The Parsec Husky was excellent on single modem routers, but did not perform as well as the other two on dual modem routers.

Thanks again for all the excellent comments and posts.

[BT2513]

Originally Posted by Aegean-Blue

Yes, I should think so if you are just talking about the husky antenna piece and not the heavy metal mounts I used.
The husky antenna disc has a 2 inch threaded metal shaft sticking out its bottom surface. This comes with a threaded nut so it can be tightened onto an intervening surface (eg roof, special mounti). Of course, with the double skin of the airstream, this is effectively redundant. HOWEVER, the rest of the bottom surface of the husky antenna is covered in vhb sticky tape, which would adhere strongly to properly cleaned Airstream roof around the wifi predrilled hole. I believe but can't guarantee that there's enough room between the skins to accept the roughly 2inch threaded shaft plus the curvature of the wires once it's pushed into the hole.

I just received our new Speed Demon bundle with the Cat-20 modem and Parsec Husky 7/1. I have a 27FBT so the antenna port on the roof is right above the left bed, it seems sorta on the downward slope/curvature of the roof.

My plan was to use mount the antenna directly onto the roof. Do you think the 3M tape is strong enough on its own without any other adhesive or Dicor? Obviously, I can't get through the inner skin to tighten the 2" nut so the shaft will just be sitting in the opening unfastened. I'm thinking that the shaft should provide plenty of stability laterally and the 3M tape will hopefully keep the antenna from lifting upward.

It seems to be far enough from the AC to hopefully not interfere with signal. I didn't plan on using the full 7/1 wiring and to use the existing 5/1 wiring - we are not planning on paying for 2 data plans at this time. However, it seems that if we ever want to take advantage of the 5G capabilities, I may need to bite the bullet and go ahead and wire it properly. I have a feeling that removing it later would be a major pain.

[JimMussulman]

I had the same concerns about the angled installation and the wiring in my 27FBQ. I opted to use the two Wi-Fi wires in the pre-wire bundle for the second cellular modem and rely on the long antenna's provided with the router inside the upper cabinet. I used the provided adhesive on the Poynting 7-in-1 and sealed it with silicone. The Poynting comes with 2 meters of installed cables, so I ended up just stuffing them in the roof cavity.

[Hohensee]

Originally Posted by BT2513

My plan was to use mount the antenna directly onto the roof. Do you think the 3M tape is strong enough on its own without any other adhesive or Dicor? Obviously, I can't get through the inner skin to tighten the 2" nut so the shaft will just be sitting in the opening unfastened. I'm thinking that the shaft should provide plenty of stability laterally and the 3M tape will hopefully keep the antenna from lifting upward.

I attached solar panel mounts to the roof with 3M VHB tape six years ago. There's about an inch between the roof and the bottom of the panels on one side, less on the other (the roof isn't flat). Wind can definitely sheer under it. Summer sun and heat, winter snow and cold, freeway speeds, off-road mtn roads... the mounts have remained firmly attached to the roof. I check it a couple of times a year. I am impressed with its staying power. I suspect antenna flush mounts with 3M VHB tape would be reliable.

[hawkspur]

Great thread!


On my 30FB, the factory didn't route the prewire correctly and it wasn't in the space above the front roadside wardrobe. I had to use an endoscope to find it - it was stuck behind the front roadside overhead cabinet and the only way to get it out was to drill a hole in the back of the cabinet and fish the bundle out.

[Mitchone]

Can you tell me where you got the roof mount?



Thanks,


Mitch

[Aegean-Blue]

Originally Posted by Mitchone

Can you tell me where you got the roof mount?
Thanks,
Mitch

From Ebay, vendor determined by balance of cost and ratings.
- Seaview Modular Mount, 10", Fore raked PMF-107-M1: $175 from "trautoauto" on ebay.
- Seaview ADA-S2 Modular Plate: $99 from "maxmarineelectronicsinc" on ebay

From Amazon
- BUD Industries CN-5713 Die Cast Aluminum Enclosure, 9-27/32" Length x 9-27/32" Width x 4" Height, Natural Finish: $58

Hope this helps...

[goldenchase]

Just a word of caution for those buying these expensive 5G 4X4 MIMO antennas then mounting them flat on the roof of an Airstream. The "lower" range of 5G frequency spectrum is up to 6 GHz. These cellular radio waves are high frequency and line of site. Anything (like air conditioners) between the antenna and a cell site off on the horizon is going to significantly degrade the signal strength. This is even more important for the newer modem chip sets with carrier aggregation. With carrier aggregation data throughput is enhanced by sometimes receiving signals from more than one cell site off on the horizon. All of this is most important in rural settings with sparse cellular coverage. In dense urban areas there is rarely a need for an external antenna for a cellular modem even inside the Airstream aluminum tube owing to the high concentration of cellular towers.

Bottom line your new 5G 4X4 MIMO antenna should be the highest structure on your roof with a full 360 degree unobstructed view of the horizon around the coach.