Mystery antennea

[vacationer04]

Is there any other device needed to use with our cells, is it an automatic signal syncing that takes place or is it Bluetooth? Is there a brand name that I need to google to get instructions?
Thanks!

[vacationer04]

.Thanks Dutch Star Don. I will look tomorrow to see what is there. I can see a tied up loop of wire that looks similar to coax hanging low beneath the left end but it does not have the usual CB end connector. I don't know about any other wires at this point but will investigate. I sure would like to use my CB but wasn't in a hurry to drill new holes for another antenna yet.

[Fred Cooper]

Originally Posted by vacationer04

Is there any other device needed to use with our cells, is it an automatic signal syncing that takes place or is it Bluetooth? Is there a brand name that I need to google to get instructions?
Thanks!

That Wilson Truckers antenna can be used with several different Wilson amplifiers. I use it with a Wilson MobilePro 3g unit. To see a Wilson MobilPro 3g, click below:

https://www.wilsonamplifiers.com/wil...FVdahgodl_oL7A

The indoor portion requires the antenna connection and a 12 volt connection. Hopefully, you'll find something like this in your upper cabinet. It functions as an amplifier/repeater so there is nothing special to do with your cell phone. There are different versions for 3g and 4g.

Fred

[lonfu]

Originally Posted by vacationer04

I have two mystery antennas on the front cap of my '04 Holiday Rambler Vacationer that I don't think are for the in-dash radio. I have one of the rubber whips like the ones that were on the front and rear of my old Pace Arrow. Can anyone identify what these are for? I do know that there was a working satellite radio at one point as it is still installed but not activated at present.

yeah, I have one with the big coil and 4 spike short rangers. It is a on old analog cell phone antenna. I used it for my bag phone. I could get almost twice the distance, it is just junk now. The other looks like a data (wifi) antenna. Inlaws had one installed on their moho, said it really helped when they got a weak wifi on their laptop.

That said, it could be one of those government uplinks for one of their satellites but then again ET may have used it to phone home!

[YC1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMA_connector

Does the end of the cable from the tall antenna look like the one posted? If you do not find "a box" connected to the end of the tall antenna the previous owner probably took it with them and left the antenna. That tall antenna looks like an up to date multi band unit.

I will trust Don's opinion on the shorter antenna being a CB antenna. Probably not a very good one but they are a compromise at best on tall vehicles with fiberglass roofs.
http://www.iboats.com/PL259-CONNECTO...New%20Shopping

If you find a connector on the end of a cable that looks like the PL259 it will be for the smaller antenna.

[vacationer04]

I checked today only to find there is nothing in the upper compartment. There is the cable and red/black wires at the bottom of the dash and they do go up toward the antenna so I guess it means the P.O. removed the device. I got documents with coach with his information so I will try to make contact to find out what was there. I cannot find the cable for the shorter antenna in the TV cabinet below it so that may continue to remain a mystery. There is a removable rear panel that gives me clear access but only TV / DVD / device switch wiring is visible except one wire that has a 3.5mm plug which might have been an older cell antenna. The research goes on!

[lonfu]

Ok, guess I better get serious here. Both of these antennas are Analog cell phone antennas. The larger one, a Wilson, I mounted on my moho in 1998 to get past that 2 mile range limitation while driving. The old bag phones didn't do well inside my cab and the engine ignition interfered with the reception.


Ok, the 2nd smaller one, I forget the brand name, I mounted on my 93 Toyota because of the steel in the cab would again shorten the range and make it sound like I was in talking through a string can phone. I used both for my Magnavox higher 2 watt analog cell phone. I don't know if they make an adapter for our modern 1/2 watt digital phones for these old antenna's. I purchased and installed both of these antennas myself. I still have the larger one and have not uninstalled it. The small one that was on my Toyota, I have in a box somewhere in my garage, I think? I recognize both units. Not sure if you are interested, but the open coil was the original antenna, and the Wilson was the later one. The Wilson offered a better gain that the open coil but sometimes when in a city would get cross chatter, I forget why.

But... it has been said that if you hook both antennas together and zip tie them to your phone you should be able to get god!

[lonfu]

Originally Posted by lonfu

Ok, guess I better get serious here. Both of these antennas are Analog cell phone antennas. The larger one, a Wilson, I mounted on my moho in 1998 to get past that 2 mile range limitation while driving. The old bag phones didn't do well inside my cab and the engine ignition interfered with the reception.


Ok, the 2nd smaller one, I forget the brand name, I mounted on my 93 Toyota because of the steel in the cab would again shorten the range and make it sound like I was in talking through a string can phone. I used both for my Magnavox higher 2 watt analog cell phone. I don't know if they make an adapter for our modern 1/2 watt digital phones for these old antenna's. I purchased and installed both of these antennas myself. I still have the larger one and have not uninstalled it. The small one that was on my Toyota, I have in a box somewhere in my garage, I think? I recognize both units. Not sure if you are interested, but the open coil was the original antenna, and the Wilson was the later one. The Wilson offered a better gain that the open coil but sometimes when in a city would get cross chatter, I forget why.

But... it has been said that if you hook both antennas together and zip tie them to your phone you should be able to get god!

By the way, there were no amplifiers for these antenna's when I installed them. The Wilson had a plug adapter the changed up the size of the plug to fit the phone.

Last but not least, if you make a tin foil hat and attach one antenna on each side, I am to under stand that you can get radio signals from the planet Uranus!

[YC1]

Originally Posted by lonfu

By the way, there were no amplifiers for these antenna's when I installed them. The Wilson had a plug adapter the changed up the size of the plug to fit the phone.

Last but not least, if you make a tin foil hat and attach one antenna on each side, I am to under stand that you can get radio signals from the planet Uranus!

Are you the previous owner of the OP's rv?

[YC1]

See if there is a part number on the tall antenna. As frequencies were added to the cell phone spectrum the antenna industry kept up by making multi band antennas.

Please post a picture of the antenna connector you mentioned. If things add up you can use this antenna for a new booster/cradle. Most phones do not have any direct connections for the antenna as in the past.

The smaller one could indeed be from the very early days of cellular and was used for a bag phone. Although Don who is very experienced indicates it is otherwise.

Just for clarity because I see television antennas being sold as "digital antennas", there is no such thing as an analog or digital antenna. There are just antennas. The sellers do this for a couple of reasons to sucker customers or just to help them visualize the changes. Much of the digital signals for tv are in a higher frequency so new antennas often do improve things a bit.

I am a retired owner and senior certified technician in the two way radio field. I have personally installed probably 8000 antennas in forty years. My company has installed multiple times that. That does not me an expert with just a picture but should help a bit.

[vacationer04]

I will check to see if there are any visible numbers on the antenna and I will post a picture of the connector. I had hoped it was for a CB. I am seriously considering that if I can access the inside of the wall behind it I might remove and replace it with a Firestik fiberglass body CB compatible antenna. That would be more entertaining and useful to us. We don't have smart phones or intend to acquire them unless our current Verizon plan is eliminated in the future. I wouldn't put another hole in the wall just for that, though.

[lonfu]

Originally Posted by YC1

Are you the previous owner of the OP's rv?

No, but I still have both antennas. The larger one is still installed on my moho, the smaller one is I my garage somewhere. I bought my moho at the factory. Believe me, both are just junk, but a new Wilson antenna and a matching amplifier. you will still only get less than 3db gain, but in a rural area with the right carrier you might get lucky.

I can say that I haven't installed 8000 antennas, but I can say that the old uhf/vhf that I have mounted on my garage gets free over the air digital tv broadcasts. I didn't have to replace it when the government took over the VHF because Digital signals are in the UHF range. So, unless you have an antenna that only receives VHF (pre historic world war 2) you will be able to get free to air digital.

Concerning the cell phone antenna, the amount of gain that you get from the old Wilson is so low that you would do better to just step outside to use it. The only reason I installed it was that I lived in a rural area just outside of cell range and it was just enough that I could get calls. That said, that was with a 2 watt bag phone, these days, hand helds are all 1/2 watt and they are in the upper frequency range so that more phones can be use in the cell system. Lower frequency phones, which have a longer range are rare unless you order them from china and have an ancient provider. Here in Prehistoric Kingman even our local company has gone digital. Most folks rural folks have gone with sat phones or data over sat then computer phones.

You basicly have 2 carrier frequencies, 800 and 1900. Question is which one does your provider use? Most modern cell phones are in the 1900 range because of data and traffic. The wilson cradles advertise a negative gain for the lower frequencies using a cradle. All bag phones were the lower frequency, hence the old antenna is junk with out a matching amplifier and transformer to make your digital phone be able to read the lower signal.


Mount the old one by your front tire, you can use it for a curb feeler!


I've left mine up there because it warns me when I'm getting to close to tree branches and may damage my AC cover.


I know what you are thinking, better to use the old one and not have to disturb the antenna seal and have to mess with the wiring. Believe me, your hard earned SS is better spent in getting a matched set and installing an new one.

Here is a scary thought, think about what frequency your wireless house phone operates at, then your microwave (2.4mhz). And you hold the thing up by your head all the time?

[vacationer04]

I'm finally getting the pictures posted of my connector. I haven't seen anything like it before. Guess I won't be replacing my antenna with a CB version as there doesn't appear to be any access behind it on the inside. No removable panels or covered access holes. It may have been a factory option from 2004 since the compartments seem to be built after it's installation.

By design it is definitely a Wilson antenna but I'm not finding exactly what would attach to the connector to make it functional.

[Captjake1]

Originally Posted by vacationer04

I'm finally getting the pictures posted of my connector. I haven't seen anything like it before. Guess I won't be replacing my antenna with a CB version as there doesn't appear to be any access behind it on the inside. No removable panels or covered access holes. It may have been a factory option from 2004 since the compartments seem to be built after it's installation.Attachment 129539

Attachment 129540 By design it is definitely a Wilson antenna but I'm not finding exactly what would attach to the connector to make it functional.

It would have attached to a Wilson Cell booster. Looks just like the one I recently installed. I am very happy with my booster. Wilson tech support is amazing. They are now Weboost...don't confuse them with Wilson Amplifiers (not the same people and not very knowledgeable).