# Help to plan Fitting a Satellite Dish on Roof



## NormanB (Sep 8, 2005)

I've bought a OmniSat MaxView 66 Manual satellite dish to fit to the roof of the MH. The fitting instructions appear clear enough.

However, the MH has 3 TV cupboards, each with its own unit containing aerial input socket, 12v socket and mains socket. The OmniSat instructions say "connect the coaxial cable to the satellite set top box" but this means choosing which cupboard the set top box/TV are going in, at the outset.


Now, the MH has an aerial input socket on the outside wall of the HM and I've asumed thais is for connecting an external aerial on a pole or/dish 
on a tripod. I've also assumed that this external aerial socket distributes to the 3 internal aerial sockets in the internal TV cupboards. Is this a fair assumption and is it a typical arrangement? 


If so, I have in mind to connect the new roof-dish coaxial output to one of the internal cupbouard aerail sockets in the hope that it distributes the signal to the others. Then I can locate the set top box/TV in either of the other 2 internal cupbards with an aerial/mains/12v socket.
Does this sound feasible? 


Hope this all makes sense. The MH is a 2005 Laika Low Profile Fiat-based Coachbuilt.


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

Hi NormanB

We have one of these units fitted (85cm dish) and I can tell you that it's an excellent piece of kit, unobtrusive, easy to use and a doddle to install (don't bother screwing it to the roof, just use the glue).
It wouldn't be a good idea to use your existing wiring however for a couple of reasons:
1) The feed wire used for satellite receivers is of a much higher standard than that used for normal aeriel sockets so that the weak signal will be better preserved. Also the satellite aeriel wire has to carry a voltage back up to the dish from the receiver in order to chage polarity on the LNB, satellite cable is specially designed for this purpose.
2) If you split the satellite dish wire to more than one outlet as you suggest the signal will be attenuated (weakened) as the satellite signal is much weaker than that you get from a terrestrial transmitter it may badly affect your signal.

My suggestion is that you use the wire entry unit that comes with the dish to take the dish wire into the van at the site where you intend to site the receiver. Use a proper satellite dish wire for the job with no joints. Feed this wire direct into your receiver dish input, then run another aeriel wire from the RF (aeriel) output on the satellite receiver back into the aeriel socket which is in the cupboard where the receiver is housed. This should then result in a feed from your satellite receiver to your other aeriel outlets allowing you to feed other TVs direct into the TV aeriel socket. If you have problems doing this, it may be because you already have an aeriel amplifier/distributer fitted. If this is the case you will need to rearrange the input/output wiring to the amplifier.


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## NormanB (Sep 8, 2005)

Well, that's one mistake I've avoided! 

Gaspode, many thanks for your advice - I've changed my siting plans so as to feed the coaxial cable that comes with the dish directly into the satellite receiver and then re-distribute the signal throughout the van from the receiver's RF output socket. 

Also, it's reassuring to know that the Silkaflex "glue" works well enough to fix the dish's base to the roof without drilling (ugh!) more fixing holes in it.

Isn't this a marvellous forum?


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## fdhadi (May 9, 2005)

NormanB

Fitted the same dish to our m/h last week.
Great bit of kit, no problem finding the satellite.


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## NormanB (Sep 8, 2005)

Hi Frank,

Thanks for that feedback. Did you glue it with Sikaflex No??? and screw it to the roof - or just use glue?

Norman


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## takeaflight (May 9, 2005)

One further thought, may be a good idea to wait 24hrs for the glue to dry before driving.


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## fdhadi (May 9, 2005)

Norman

I called into Barrons and asked their maintance chap, he advised me on options of where best to fit & how.

I was told to drill and use Soudal Fix All rubber sealant.


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## NormanB (Sep 8, 2005)

Thanks to all of you fellow MH-ers for that help.

The fitting went fine; glued it with Sikaflex 512 - couldn't budge it after 24 hours - solid as a rock, so not going to put all those holding screws into the beautiful roof (arrrggghhhh!). Used about half the tube and put on spacers to ensure the optimum 2mm gap.

Finding a good place to site the thing where it did not comprise the interior layout was tough. Kept my signal lead in one piece. It works mechancially well and don't anticipate much trouble aligning it when on tour.


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

Well done Norman - another triumph for MHF. :lol: 

It's a bit scary when you start the drill up and point it at the roof eh? But a doddle of a job really once you overcome your nerves. 8)


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## rowley (May 14, 2005)

Can this dish be fitted to a sloping roof? How do you obtain the correct angle of inclination? Still debating whether to go for a fixed dish or continue with my Kathrein on a tripod.


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## NormanB (Sep 8, 2005)

My view is that it would probably be mechanically feasible to fit the MaxView to a sloping roof (using both glue and screws for good measure) but the approximate angle of elevation setting offered by the MaxView would not read true and you would need to add or subtract degrees (dependent on which way the roof slopes) to the MaxView elevation angle interior read out.

However, the roof would need to be absolutely flat right across the roof/MaxView base contact area - probably an area of about 16"x16". I had to abandon a very convenient possible mounting area because the roof moulding there was bowed and maybe 3-4mm off flat in places and adhesion could have been a problem (didn't want to use screws.)

More importantly, the skew angle of the LNB would be unlikely to be correct unless the plane of the roof slope was in line with the signal direction. I understand skew angle becomes critical as the signal gets weaker.

I'm no expert in this area but, on balance, I wouldn't consider mounting it on a sloping roof.


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

Hi Rowley

I don't think it would be practical to fit one on a sloping roof, the inclination angle would get impossible and when the dish was pointing over the side of the M/H the skew angle would be way off. On the other hand, why not fabricate an alloy wedge shaped mounting plinth to compensate for the roof angle, should be fairly simple to do if the slope isn't excessive. You would also need to make a similar plinth to mount inside the van so the control dial was aligned with the dish. Now the really scary part - you'd need to drill the roof hole at an angle.  

Come to think about it - keep the tripod. :lol:


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## TonyHunt (Oct 10, 2005)

Or save up and get a fully motorised system, not cheap but save an awful lot of hassle


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