For increased cell phone signal upon advice filtered through several searches; we're going to try the Wilson sleek. From what I gather, mounting the magnetic antenna on a piece of metal will enhance the reception. So I attached a piece of sheetmetal 24"x 36" on a sheet of OSB, and will lay this on the roof.My question is, what would be the best path to bring the cable through from the antenna to the inside unit?Camper is a '05 Wildcat 31QBH Fifth wheel.Thanks!Jim

Not knowing your layout... But I've used the roof refer vent to bring wires from the roof into the rig

As said, the reefer vent is a common access point for add-on wires. For temporary use though, a window may be a better option with the small gap covered with masking or duct tape. Also note that the ground plane metal sheet need not be that large. A 12"x12" panel is more than enough. I made my permanent metal roof panel 12"x18" since I was mounting multiple antennas on it, but even that is overkill.

A quarter wave ground plane for the center of the 900 mhz band would be just over a quarter of an inch and the 1900 mhz less than one eight of an inch. Not much material to hold a magnetic antenna.

Where to bring antenna wire through? | Good Sam Community

gmctoyman
Explorer
May 15, 2014
I drilled a 1.5" hole in the roof into a cabinet, then put a RV sewer vent on the hole with a 1.25" pipe down into the cabinet, finished on the inside with a chrome wall flange. I now have 4 antenna wires thru it, I keep it packed with closed cell foam so I can easily change what ever if want. Wish I had thought of this before I fought my solar panel wiring down behind the refer !
cpaulsen
Explorer
May 15, 2014
Used a metal piece of angle that I mounted to the top of my ladder.....ran the antenna wire thru the slide out. Used some small command hooks inside to hold the cable over to an outlet I installed for powering the Wilson Sleek which holds my JetPack. I can run the slide in and out without even moving the cable and the mag mount antenna(12") stay right on the ladder even moving down the road.
MeandMyLabs
Explorer
May 15, 2014
YC 1 wrote:
You can get a suction cup holder for the magnetic antenna and just stick it to a window. Doing this will allow you to move it to your truck easily. The mount came with my purchase.

This is exactly what I do. I have found that the emergency exit windows which pivot out can easily allow the wire to be routed through and then gently closed. Works very well and I am writing this from the campground using my computer with the wify from my phone which is attached to the Sleek. A very simple arrangement.
Sturgeon-Phish
Explorer
May 15, 2014
Thanks everybody, I have several option to try out this weekend if we can break away.
As a follow-up: To determine the signal strength I went to arstechnica.com and there I learned if on your cell phone dial *3001#12345#* your cell phone will go to a field test mode and your Bars will be replaced with a negative number (- 80) and the closer to "0" the stronger the signal. - 80 db is stronger than -120 bd. You can leave it in db or go back to bars.
Jim

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