Rooftop Satellite Dish

[Judy]

I would like to have a Winegard satellite dish installed on the roof of a 390 RK with the cable connected to the sat receiver in the entertainment center. First, is this possible? Second, is there a cable in the entertainment center that can be connected to the sat receiver to the bedroom TV? The dealer I'm working with is unable to answer this question.

[howson]

I would like to have a Winegard satellite dish installed on the roof of a 390 RK with the cable connected to the sat receiver in the entertainment center. First, is this possible? Second, is there a cable in the entertainment center that can be connected to the sat receiver to the bedroom TV? The dealer I'm working with is unable to answer this question.

Hi Judy--welcome to GD's Technical Forum.

Unfortunately the information I have available to me does not include a cable layout for the 390RK.

There should be a "sat" coax connector in the storage area (see pic below). The trick will be to get the wire from the roof to this connection.

What I suggest doing is contacting GD Customer Service @ 574-825-9679. Have your VIN handy--they'll need it. What you want to ask for is a "Sidewall" and "Roof Frame" plan. These two documents should be what your installer needs to get the wire from the roof down to the basement.

If what I have matches what GD provides for your rig (they can be different so, again, *please* contact GD) there is a wire channel that runs behind the wall where the coax connectors are in the basement that extends up to the roof. That channel is just forward of the main entryway.

For the question about living room to bedroom...I'm not sure. I don't have a satellite system so not 100% up-to-speed on all the options, but I *think* there are wireless extenders.

One thing I do know is that not all antennas are created equal. Just because it says "dual channel" does not mean you can watch anything on both TVs. It not until you get up to a Traveler or something similar that you have the ability to watch any channel on both TVs. (Lots of asterisks in the documentation for satellite antennas--do your homework!)

Howard

[bertschb]

Hi Judy

I've installed the Winegard Trav'Ler DirecTV satellite dish on the last two Grand Design RV's I've owned. It's actually very easy. The Solitude 390RK will have an access plate on the roof that is used for solar and satellite dish wiring. There is an access channel that runs from this access plate on the roof to the ceiling of the pass through storage area. From there you will need to run the wire to the satellite input in your water panel. This will allow you to connect your receiver at your main TV to the satellite dish. I don't think there is a satellite connection for the bedroom TV. There wasn't one in my 2019 Solitude 373FB-R. You'll need to look for this.

A better way to connect the bedroom TV (assuming you have a DirecTV Genie receiver) is to use a wireless Genie Mini in the bedroom. This device requires no satellite wires. It just needs power and an HDMI cable to connect to the TV.

Hope that helps!
Brian

[Second Chance]

I don't have a dog in this fight, but just want to bring up one point. Brian and others have been very happy with their roof-mounted Winegard Trav'lers. In 4-1/2 years of full-timing, we've been in a number of spots (mostly back east and the PNW) where we could not have gotten a signal with a roof-mounted antenna due to trees. At times, I've had to add extra cable and carry our antenna out more than 50' to get a shot at the birds. At the park in Port Ludlow, WA, even that didn't work! Of course, with a roof-mounted antenna, you could always carry a portable antenna for those occasions. I would love to have the convenience of just pushing a button and getting all three (Dish) satellites at one time, but it's just not worth the expense for us.

Rob

[Judy]

Thanks for the answers, greatly appreciated. I have Dish network and want to keep my VIP 760 receiver. I have it hooked up via HDMI to the front TV and coax to the bedroom TV in my motorhome. Would like to have a similar setup. I could go with a Hopper which would solve the bedroom situation. So as I understand the, coax from the satellite needs to be plugged into the input at the water compartment. Just wondering what cable they used, hope it is RG6.

[Uncle Scary]

Hi Judy--welcome to GD's Technical Forum.

Unfortunately the information I have available to me does not include a cable layout for the 390RK.

There should be a "sat" coax connector in the storage area (see pic below). The trick will be to get the wire from the roof to this connection.

What I suggest doing is contacting GD Customer Service @ 574-825-9679. Have your VIN handy--they'll need it. What you want to ask for is a "Sidewall" and "Roof Frame" plan. These two documents should be what your installer needs to get the wire from the roof down to the basement.

If what I have matches what GD provides for your rig (they can be different so, again, *please* contact GD) there is a wire channel that runs behind the wall where the coax connectors are in the basement that extends up to the roof. That channel is just forward of the main entryway.

For the question about living room to bedroom...I'm not sure. I don't have a satellite system so not 100% up-to-speed on all the options, but I *think* there are wireless extenders.

One thing I do know is that not all antennas are created equal. Just because it says "dual channel" does not mean you can watch anything on both TVs. It not until you get up to a Traveler or something similar that you have the ability to watch any channel on both TVs. (Lots of asterisks in the documentation for satellite antennas--do your homework!)

Howard

Hi all, I just did the Trav'ler in my 397TH and it will be a little different but this might help you. There is a chase way that runs from the roof access panel to the basement storage. Then I ran the coax to the docking area where I put the splitter. From there I had dedicated coax runs to all the TVs that I just had to connect to. All the wall plates had two ports on them, the unused one is for the satellite feeds. I put the Trav'ler control box in my hutch base above the inverter. Since I'm using the Genie and client arrangement I put the genie under the sofa and used it to feed the outside TV. That way all of my other TVs used the much smaller client boxes. I hope this helps...