Hey-My radio antenna's GONE

I never really paid any attention to my radio antenna on my '07 24RL.

From what I remember, it looked like a stiff single wire sticking up, but I went on my roof today and all that's there is a piece of black plastic about an inch in diameter sticking up through the sealant about 1/4" high, with a screw head on top screwed into the plastic part.

Evidently, a low leafy tree on my own road wiped it out this week when I drove under it.

Anyone have a close-up photo of what the antenna looked like (especially the base), or what the manufacturer is so I can replace it?

Failing exact replacement, any good replacement suggestions?

I'd call the factory, but I cannot seem to find a phone number for FR. The dealer told me FR refuses to talk directly to their owners, but the dealer also said getting parts can be tough, because their parts lists are not very complete.

Thanks-
Bob

Try Kyle Hilliard at FR parts at this Email. khilliard@forestriverinc.com Send him your Vin number and a description of what you need and maybe he can help you out. He usually responds back pretty quick ...He has helped me on several items. Usually less expensive than anywhere else.

Thanks!

Trying to reach someone inside FR has been impossible. I appreciate the contact.

Bob

Kyle's number is (574) 206-7615.

Welcome to the forum. Alaska?

scottz wrote:Kyle's number is (574) 206-7615.

Welcome to the forum. Alaska?

Thanks-
I am a retired Alaska Airlines pilot.
I was based in Anchorage for most of my career w/ them, and lived in Wasilla.
That's Red Dog Mine, a 3800ft ice strip above the Arctic Circle we flew into.
I am now living in (way too hot) Waxahachie, TX

Thank-you VERY MUCH for the Phone number!

Bob

Bob,

As a replacement, you'll be looking for an Audiovox HS-519L AM/FM antenna with base and spring. It's available from RV Stuff USA. www.rvsuffusa.com The price was $54.95.

I too lost my antenna about two years ago and finally found this replacement online.

Best of luck.

Thanks-This says it's amplified.
Do you have to supply power to it for the amplifier, or do certain applications supply power through the antenna wire itself?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Audiovox-Amplified-AM-FM-Antenna-HS-519L-RV-Marine-/250881085247#ht_500wt_1182

Bob

[quote="bobinyelm
I am now living in (way too hot) Waxahachie, TX
Bob[/quote]

Why Wax? That was quite a fire at that chemical factory..... made a lot of smoke. It was even on the national news.

Scruffy and Tater wrote:[quote="bobinyelm
I am now living in (way too hot) Waxahachie, TX
Bob

Why Wax?
The wife wanted to be close to her relatives in Dallas, but Wax is cheap to buy, and even cheaper to live.
Our house would have cost 3X the price (and taxes) in Dallas County vs. Ellis County.
Restaurants in Dallas are priced like NYC compared to here, too.
I am a cheapskate.
Being retired on a fixed income, CHEAP is GOOD, and we have enough room to park the toys on the property.

That was quite a fire at that chemical factory..... made a lot of smoke. It was even on the national news.
Indeed it was!
It looked like a black nuclear mushroom cloud down here.
It's still smoldering, and the smell doesn't shout "harmless" like the EPA claims, but hey, who am I to question.
Fortunately, we don't live anywhere close yo it, and haven't sniffed it at home.

[/quote]
*[b]

OK, here's what I've done.

The $55 for the "right" antenna seemed awfully expensive, so being a cheapskate, I bought a 12" rubber-ducky antenna made for AM/FM for boats. It was under $10, including shipping online:

http://www.techronics.com/caraudio_11479_Boss-Audio-MRANT12-Marine-Rubber-Antenna.html


I cut the butyl rubber caulk away from my old antenna base, and pulled the base off the roof.

I found the steel parts BELOW the caulk badly rusted (despite the caulk, and no leakage found, and the relative newness of my '07 coach here in dry Texas).

The rubber ducky has no base to speak of, so I cut a 4" disk from 1/8" aluminum and mounted the antenna to it. I used the collar of the original antenna to hold the antenna to the disk (it had the same thread and diameter screw). I ground the end of the screw to the profile of the original (which served as the center conductor to the antenna cable in the coach).

I then mounted the disk (antenna attached to it) to the 7/16" OSB roof using 4 sheet-metal screws (I wish they'd used a quality product for the roof sheathing, but...), and applied new sealant to the disk to preclude leakage.

I filled the electrical connector cavity with anti-seize paste grease to preclude moisture and corrosion. Anti-seize is mildly conductive (contains aluminum dust), and since they did not use the ground of the coax, there's no worries that the signal will be degraded by the paste.

The radio worked fine WITHOUT an antenna on FM, but not on AM. With the rubber ducky, FM is MUCH better, and AM operates very well. I don't have a quantitative comparison with the old antenna, since I never used the radio at home, but it now works plenty well compared to my cars, so should be fine "on the road."

Reviews are all over the board, but for the price I am happy:
http://www.amazon.com/MRANT12-Marine-Dipole-Hideaway-Antenna/product-reviews/B0009A4LU6/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

The 12" length and the extreme flexibility are nice, since, while a tree on a paved road broke the old one off, given where I like to camp (USFS CGs and such) I will likely be brushing tree branches from time-to-time. The antenna is LOWER than the top of the A/C shroud, but if it strikes anything, it can bend 90 degrees without hurting itself or the roof into which it is secured.

Bottom of Disk (Existing connector screws into threaded portion, Center contact mates with coax)


Top of Disk (Raised portion nestles into Rubber Ducky base)


Finished View


Bob

We would like to see pics. We got in a situation once where the maxair vent cover in the bathroom got dented. I guess the antenna, which stood up higher and is very close to the vent, was able to bend enough.

I posted a few pictures in the above post that illustrate how I used a 4" aluminum disk to mount the antenna to that allows use of the existing fitting and coaxial cable.

I once hit telephone wiring with my radio ant, after that I loosen the pivot screw and laid the ant over a few inches above the roof. Now its not the highest thing on the roof and its protected. Doesn't efect reception.


Earl

Yeah, that's how I always had the one on my Lance truck camper as well (angled back almost completely). It was an extendable mast like cars used to have that could be adjusted angle-wise (like the Rubber Ducky), PLUS it had a coil spring at the base so it would "give" and spring back if struck.

Truth is I never looked carefully at the one on the Wildcat, though from the ground it didn't look like it could be adjusted for angle. It appeared (again from the ground) to be a whippy kind of wire affair sticking straight up from a rubber or plastic cone.

The base left on the roof of my trailer was a 3" disk made of plastic that broke off almost flush w/ the roof (leaving jagged plastic with really badly rusted screw head sticking up) leaving me to think it was not a very substantial affair to begin with.

The $5 antenna I installed appears to be better quality than the OEM one.

bobinyelm,
Thanks for the photos. It looks real good up there. Nice job!

Thanks for the pics and good work.

bobinyelm wrote:Thanks-This says it's amplified.
Do you have to supply power to it for the amplifier, or do certain applications supply power through the antenna wire itself?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Audiovox-Amplified-AM-FM-Antenna-HS-519L-RV-Marine-/250881085247#ht_500wt_1182

Bob

The Audiovox antenna is not amplified. It is the same as the one that came with the trailer. At least mine was.

I don't think mine had that one (unfortunately).

The spring might have saved it, plus if it broke off, it wouldn't have left the center screw in place like it did.

The Audiovox one would have given better reception I'm sure, being longer as well.

On the amplified part, it wouldn't be the first wrong write-up on ebay. In the photo at the link I gave, I don't see anything pictured looking like an amplifier in the line, or at the base of the antenna.