Factory Sat Prep Cable Location

[FLynes]

Hi everyone and Happy Independence Day!

I've been working on cleaning up the wiring on our LaPalma, removing P.O. installed cables and tracing original wiring, putting it back to wiring diagram specs. In the cabinet above the driver's side is a panel labeled "Satellite Receiver Connection", with three coax connections for "Ext Input" (exterior tripod satellite), "Roof Input" (factory roof wire) & "To Video Switch" (for the switch box in the cabinet on the pass. side). I removed the panel and visually traced the "Roof Input" wire over to the passenger side, but that's as far as I can go. The owner's manual says that the roof wire is located on the roof, marked under a sat backer.....I can not find this location. Does anyone know where it's at? Whoever installed the MotoSat system for the original owner apparently never bothered to locate the original wire and just drilled into the roof and ran new wires. I like things nice and clean....OCD is a real pain sometimes...

[Tom Wallis]

When I first got my rig it had the roof bubble with the obsolete sat dish inside and all that wiring that you're referring to. I removed the dish and all of the wiring which went through a hole in the roof right on the seam underneath the dish. I then sealed the hole and because it's on the seam you can't even tell where it was. If your dish was already removed, you may have a similar situation.

[FLynes]

16 minutes ago, Tom Wallis said:

When I first got my rig it had the roof bubble with the obsolete sat dish inside and all that wiring that you're referring to. I removed the dish and all of the wiring which went through a hole in the roof right on the seam underneath the dish. I then sealed the hole and because it's on the seam you can't even tell where it was. If your dish was already removed, you may have a similar situation.

Tom, was this hole on the latitudinal seam at the cap or the longitudinal seam running down the middle from the cap? There is a strip of Eternabond over the original aluminum tar tape Monaco used to seal the two-piece aluminum roof, and I wonder if it's hiding there. If that's the case, then I need to remove the Dish King TailGater I just installed, which is no big deal.

Edited July 4, 2023 by FLynes

[96 EVO]

That's a good possibility!

My fiberglass roof has a square of Eternabond on the centerline, just ahead of the mid heat pump.

I've always assumed that's hiding the factory sat wiring.

[FLynes]

Then my butt needs to climb the ladder, yet again, and find out. If I don't, it's going to drive me nuts. Thanks for the help, guys.

[Tom Cherry]

1 hour ago, FLynes said:

Then my butt needs to climb the ladder, yet again, and find out. If I don't, it's going to drive me nuts. Thanks for the help, guys.

When my Winegard dish was installed, the tech put it on the centerline near the front.  He ran the wiring (external coax & power lead) from a small hole he drilled in the front cap where it almost started to turn down.  It is near the XM/Sirius (if you have that option) ground plane plate.  He put a few Zip ties, the ones with the “eyes” for a screw, around the bundle maybe every 6”.  There is a screw in there and then a large glob of something like Proflex adhesive/sealer.  You can order flat plastic plates, maybe 1 1/2 X 1 1/2, with double stick tape on the back and 4 sets of little loops on the top.  You lay your wire bundle on or in the channel between them and then run a zip tie through the loops.  Cover with a glob of Proflex and it will be there until you cut off the sealant and peel up the plastic plate.

He said it was easier then trying to find Monaco’s coax….  He used a fish wire after cutting the hole.  NOW, my HEC plates are in the upper cabinet above the windshield on the passenger side.

Yours may not be there….but I’ve never had any issues with mine.  Winegard supplied a rubber or plastic “cover” so he put it over the hole and then laid down the sealant.

[FLynes]

2 hours ago, Tom Cherry said:

When my Winegard dish was installed, the tech put it on the centerline near the front.  He ran the wiring (external coax & power lead) from a small hole he drilled in the front cap where it almost started to turn down.  It is near the XM/Sirius (if you have that option) ground plane plate.  He put a few Zip ties, the ones with the “eyes” for a screw, around the bundle maybe every 6”.  There is a screw in there and then a large glob of something like Proflex adhesive/sealer.  You can order flat plastic plates, maybe 1 1/2 X 1 1/2, with double stick tape on the back and 4 sets of little loops on the top.  You lay your wire bundle on or in the channel between them and then run a zip tie through the loops.  Cover with a glob of Proflex and it will be there until you cut off the sealant and peel up the plastic plate.

He said it was easier then trying to find Monaco’s coax….  He used a fish wire after cutting the hole.  NOW, my HEC plates are in the upper cabinet above the windshield on the passenger side.

Yours may not be there….but I’ve never had any issues with mine.  Winegard supplied a rubber or plastic “cover” so he put it over the hole and then laid down the sealant.

Well I tore the seam tape latitudinally across the cap and longitudinally to the A/C and found no hole, nada, zip. So I reinstalled new seam tape and reapplied Dicor to everything and resigned myself to living with a wire I can partially see from the inside, knowing I’ll never be able to use it. The Dish antenna works, and I have to keep telling myself that sometimes you just have to leave well enough alone.

Unless I snip the original wire and crimp a new RG-6/U fitting to it and attach that to the wire that’s attached to the Dish antenna…..

Yeah, I know, I have issues.

[Tom Wallis]

The hole in mine is about 2 or 3 feet back from the front cap seam in the seam between the 2 halve the the roof. It's about 11/4" in diameter so it would have been hard to miss if you removed all the seam tape. Originally I put a patch over it but I have since redone the seam tape and now there's no trace of it.

[FLynes]

20 minutes ago, Tom Wallis said:

The hole in mine is about 2 or 3 feet back from the front cap seam in the seam between the 2 halve the the roof. It's about 11/4" in diameter so it would have been hard to miss if you removed all the seam tape. Originally I put a patch over it but I have since redone the seam tape and now there's no trace of it.

Yeah, there was just nothing there. I made sure to go all the way to the A/C. My guess is that someone forgot to drill the hole and it was close to quitting time.

[Martinvz]

Frederic, I will take a photo of the location on my coach roof, as we have similar coaches. On my coach it is in the middle behind the seam for the front cap. 

[FLynes]

12 hours ago, Martinvz said:

Frederic, I will take a photo of the location on my coach roof, as we have similar coaches. On my coach it is in the middle behind the seam for the front cap. 

Thanks, Martin. I wish my phone hadn’t been charging, so you could see how much seam tape I tore up.

[Martinvz]

I had cleaned and applied 303 anout a month ago- looks like I wiil have to do it again 😎

The photos show the location of what remains of the label. It is right in front of the front a/c. 
I hope this helps you. 

[96 EVO]

Mine is about the same distance ahead of the mid unit, but, has a larger square of Eternabond covering it.

[FLynes]

You know what? I stopped short of that location, literally by about two or three inches 😂😂😂

Martin, unless I’m blind, you don’t have a two-piece aluminum roof?

Edited July 5, 2023 by FLynes

[Martinvz]

Nope, it is a single piece fiberglass roof.

The seam in the second photo is the seam to the front cap. 

[FLynes]

50 minutes ago, Martinvz said:

Nope, it is a single piece fiberglass roof.

The seam in the second photo is the seam to the front cap. 

Interesting, ours is two-piece aluminum. I wonder why Monaco changed to fiberglass?

[Tom Wallis]

23 hours ago, FLynes said:

Interesting, ours is two-piece aluminum. I wonder why Monaco changed to fiberglass?

Mine is the two-piece aluminum roof also. I was just up there today and the hole is right on the seam about 20" to 24" back from the front cap seam. But I assumed it was drilled by who ever installed the satellite. I don't know if that was done at the factory or by a dealer.

[FLynes]

1 hour ago, Tom Wallis said:

Mine is the two-piece aluminum roof also. I was just up there today and the hole is right on the seam about 20" to 24" back from the front cap seam. But I assumed it was drilled by who ever installed the satellite. I don't know if that was done at the factory or by a dealer.

Well I definitely went 24" back, when I removed the seam tape. Curiosity is killing me, I really want to go back up there and take the last few inches from the front of the A/C, but I've already reassembled everything, and I really don't want the demoralizing result of not finding a thing, the first time around sucked enough. I suppose I could poke around with a metal pick, or maybe look up in the A/C from inside and see if I can see anything....

[FLynes]

Well I decided to leave sleeping dogs lie and abandoned my efforts to locate the roof access point for the DSS coax cable. I was able to fit my hand through a hole in the pass. side cabinet, where I can see the wire, and trace it to just above an unseen piece of wood inside the cabinetry. I can get enough of it to cut it and splice on a new connector and then attach it to the wire that is on the roof and attached to the Dish antenna. That way I'll have an install that looks clean and factory.

Also, I installed our Winegard WF2-435 WiFi booster and it works like a charm.

So all's well that ends well, and best of all Momma is happy, which means I'm happy.

[FLynes]

Forgot to add a pic of the final install. BTW, does anyone know what the spiral antenna, just in front of the Dish antenna, goes to? It reminds me of my Dad's Crown Vic car phone antenna from the 80's.

And, yeah I know, the front cap needs clear coat....it's on my list.

Edited July 8, 2023 by FLynes

[Martinvz]

I also have such an antenna on the coach and I think it is a CB radio antenna. I also have a coax connector under the dash (but no radio). I have no reason to trace the cable at this time. 

[96 EVO]

If those are the only two antennas on the roof, I'd also 'guess' it's a CB.

Mine came with a CB, but, the original antenna was broken off, and the mount is further back on the roof, so I don't know if the original looked like that, or not.