Winegard Cell Phone Amplifier Install

Let's talk through the components of the cell booster so that you know what's cooking here, as I start to use them on the camper. There's an outdoor antenna. That's omnidirectional, of course, it gets mounted outside of your camper someplace, and you've got options for that. It does come with a mount that, what'll I do, just simply clamp this to a ladder. That would be very, very simple.

Alternatively, my approach is gonna be, you can mount it onto the roof of the camper. I don't have a ladder, so I'm gonna go with the roof. That's our outside stuff. Inside stuff, there is a booster. The booster is gonna get its own little whip antenna on it.

The booster needs to be at least 15 feet away from the outdoor antenna. So, as you're planning through this process, keep that in mind. What that means for me is my outdoor antenna's gonna be at the back of the camper, my booster inside is gonna be at the front of the camper. The booster needs 120-volt or 12-volt power. So, as you're thinking about where you're gonna locate the booster, keep that in mind, you need those power sources.

I do think it's cool that it'll run off 12 volts. So, even if I'm not connected to conventional power, I can drive this just off the battery system on the camper itself. Between the outdoor antenna and the indoor booster, we are gonna route some coax cable. The directions that come with this unit are really good, simple to understand, easy to follow. They tell you everything you need to know, in addition to what you're gonna see here, which is gonna tell you what you need to know.

So, let's look at getting this baby onto the camper. I'm taking my job to new heights. I'm up here by the roof of the camper, and I've marked out the center of the roof. Read the instructions that come with the cell booster. Always a good idea to read the instructions.

And we wanna make sure that the antenna is in a spot where it's clear of other obstructions. There are some parameters there, in addition to that aspect we talked about earlier of distance from this to the booster. So, with the center marked out, I've got the antenna just temporarily on here. And then all we need to do is fasten this down. What I'm gonna do is get a couple of screws in place.

And by a couple, I mean opposite corners. Then get these two in. And what I'm looking for is, what I'm doing here, is I'm establishing the hole locations. Then disassemble. This is, after all, a roof.

So, now I know I've got those distinct hole locations, a little RV caulk, and a little RV caulk in each hole, and then I'm actually gonna lay a bead that creates kind of a gasket around the perimeter. Second verse, same as the first. Right back into that same spot. Lovely little caulk squeeze out there. Nice.

Then I'm gonna come back. I'll wipe that excess off before we're all done here. We can get the antenna on, and I'll show you something cool. In case you're not already familiar with this tool, I'm gonna tighten this up with what's called a gear wrench, and these are really cool. It's a box wrench basically.

But on this end, it's got a ratchet mechanism built in. So, when I get on the head of that ball with the right end. When you're in tight quarters, like I am underneath the antenna here, these gear wrenches are really, really handy. All right, got 'em all started. Gotta see which way is lefty-loose-y, righty-tight-y.

There we go. And for our cable, what I'm gonna do on this install, is I'm gonna route the cable underneath here, and hook that up. And then I'm gonna come off the back of the camper, go around the outside, up the side. You'll see that happen, as I get to it. But if I tighten this, then we're done with this work on the roof, and I can go after getting the cable mounted.

There we go. So, now I'll show you how I intend to go around the side. I'm running the coax on this side of the camper, under the gutter here, in order to get to the front of the camper. And I'm doing that by holding it in place with these little coax cable clips. Found these at a Home Center.

Now, when I got 'em, when they come out of their package, instead of a screw right there, there's a nail. And that doesn't do us any good on this aluminum camper. So, the first thing I did back at the workbench was, I pulled the nail out, substituted the screw in there. It's a sheet-metal screw, and that sheet-metal screw is gonna get a really good job of getting a good bite into this aluminum skin on the camper. Now, as you come along, and you're ready to put one in, it's gotta go like this, but life is gonna be easier, if that screw has a place to start.

So, a scratch awl is gonna do this for you. You really don't need to go so far as to pre-drill. So, once you know where you're going, scratch awl and just a little... And that's got just a little bit of a detemp, right there. Then your RV caulk goes there.

And with the clip, I put that screw in just with my fingers, it's gonna be easier the next step, if the screw is sticking out just a little bit, because then it can find, right there, the detemp that I just created. Snug that up. There we go. About every six to eight inches along there, is gonna hold that in place. Gonna keep working my way toward the front of the camper.

And I am gonna go back and put a drop of caulk, and a drop of caulk, on each of my screw heads, in order to make sure the system is completely watertight. I've got the cable strung outside, and it's not finished, because to finish putting it in place, I need to know what place is gonna be. It's gonna terminate inside this cabinet. So, rather than like take a guess from the outside where this cabinet is, I'm gonna drill from the inside out, and I'm gonna do the final drilling, one-inch hole, with a hole saw, but it's gonna be easier if I start with just a twist bit, and this is gonna run all the way through, from inside to outside. And then I can follow this work with a hole saw.

Okay. Next step, one-inch hole saw, per the manufacturer's instructions. I'm really, really close to being able to bring the cable in from the outside. Here's how I got to this point. From the inside of the building I drilled out, and the outside of the building I drilled in, and I did that using a hole saw.

And the reason I went with a hole saw, couple of things, the bit here in the center of the hole saw is a quarter-inch diameter bit. That's the same as the diameter of the drill bit that I drove all the way through with. So, this center is gonna follow the work that I already did when I did that preliminary hole. Additionally, hole saws are really good for coming through that aluminum skin on the outside. It'd be a really bad choice to use something like a paddle bit for that.

It's really gonna tear up the aluminum. So, a hole saw is a great choice. And again, it wasn't a case of just starting on one face, and going all the way through. I drove from the inside out, to get through the inside skin, and then the outside in, to get through the outer skin. Next thing I did is I put a grommet in the hole, and this is especially important on the outside.

It's aluminum, and we're gonna run cable through that hole. So, if all I did was leave the aluminum, there's a chance that the aluminum could have braid the sheathing, the installation on that cable, and wear it away, it's gonna be really bad. So, put a grommet in there to protect the cable. On the inside here, this is a wooden surface, so, the grommet isn't as imperative on the inside, but it does neaten up your look. So, it just looks classier on the inside of your camper.

With the grommets, I used the RV caulk in order to put those in and make sure the grommet itself, especially on the outside, is sealed against the aluminum. And that's gonna come into play, the caulk is gonna come into play again, once we have the wiring. So, next step, I can go outside and start threading that cable through. Look at this. The cable's in, and I've left enough out here, this is important, that we wanna create what's called a drip loop.

So, it's just what it sounds like. If water gets on this, we want this portion to be below the entry point, rather than somewhere up here, where it would encourage the water to follow the cable, and go into the camper. So, that's gonna end up like that. Before I do this, I wanna take advantage of this being loose, so that I can come under here, and we need to get a sealant in there, around there. And it's just a little easier before the retainers go in, make sure I get good coverage here, 'cause I can wiggle a cable in.

And I'm gonna leave that little bit of squack on top. I'll wipe that once I have this sealed. And then from there, it's stuff you've already seen. We'll end up with a retainer down there-ish. That takes care of this outside work.

Next thing we can head for the inside, and just wrap up things in there. The unit is set up inside the camper. Here's the deal. We've got the booster here. The booster has it's own antenna on it.

It's currently plugged into the wall outlet, and lights will tell us, go, or no-go, you just read the owner's manual. You get a indicator of what those lights tell you. If we need to run on 12 volt power, that's not a problem. 'Cause we also have this adaptor, and, in this cabinet, the cigarette-style adapter, the cigarette-style plug, is gonna get installed over here, so, that's gonna let me run that, when we don't have regular 120 volt power. Now, from a housekeeping perspective, I took the excess cable, and I coiled that up.

I put a zip tie on. The two of those zip ties that has a screw hole in it. So, that allows me to fasten that up to the wall, and just clean that up a little bit. As far as where this thing is living, this whole cabinet is still waiting for its face frame, and its doors, and its other components. So, once we have this set, that's where the booster is gonna be, is inside this finished cabinet.

Installation, honestly, it was really, really, really easy. The instructions are great. And this does give us the peace of mind that when we're out doing our thing, it's gonna provide that boost on the cell signal, so that when we need to stay in touch, we can still stay in touch.