2005 Sightseer 29R Roof Antenna hole?

Rick 99037 · 08-09-2020, 04:23 PM

I purchased this 2005 Sightseer 29R recently, and there is a hole where something got snapped off on the roof. I hope a fellow 29R owner will identify it. I know the 05 & 06 have the same floorplan.
This hole is about 3/4" across in the calking where it was, and and when I look down into the hole I see black plastic, with a hole in the center that's maybe 1/4". It is just to the rear the dome for the shower.
I'd thought it a small vent tube, but a repair place told me it was a radio antenna. Since it's 5" to the rear of the outside AM/FM radio, it sure could be. Do Class A Winnebagos of this period have a second antenna for the outside radio on the roof? Or is it a vent? Thanks.

Morich · 08-09-2020, 05:31 PM

Possible big help here if you can access it, this is the parts catalog for your RV:
http://www.winnebagoind.com/service/...05/5wfd29r.pdf
Scrolling down to page 7 gets the drawing and PDF of parts for the radios. Looks like one am-fm antenna in the center front, CB at left front corner and a /SIRIUS radio in between them, all in line along the front cap. I see none further back on the RV but that is not solid info! But RV are famous for DIY mods and installs so I might guess it is a connection for some mod like solar or any number of gizmos which folks may have liked.

Rick 99037 · 08-09-2020, 06:16 PM

Thanks for the angle. I was staring at the parts manual just before you wrote. But my eyes were crossed for all the pages of stuff. Your insight makes me want to see if I can find the side radio diagram. f it had an antenna it would surly show it I hope.

kb2ztx · 08-09-2020, 06:27 PM

Thats about where my AM/FM antenna for the outside radio is mounted. Mine is layed flat on the roof as i got sick of putting up after uncovering every year.

Morich · 08-09-2020, 07:18 PM

BINGO! This drawing, about the third set of drawings and sheet 4, if this looks like your coach, it does seem to show ant-r as I marked:
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/...0167474024.pdf
Click the picture to make it larger and better to see?
Detail DE is what we find in second picture?

Rick 99037 · 08-10-2020, 04:50 AM

Thanks. I'm sure you're right. I ran a wire down from the top, and it came out where I'd pulled back the wood panel. But just to make it interesting, there's no hanging wire from a broken antenna inside there. So yes, it could have had an antenna, and some did. But this one seems to have a line passing through. Maybe heading for a splitter to the front one.
I'm going to test that theory this morning, (2:45 AM right now,) by unplugging what looks like the antenna wire coupling, to see if the signal drops. If it does, then the hole was a blank, where the antenna could have been, complete with a hole, with some kind of stub that broke off sticking up.
Last thing last night, I called the former owner, who is in his 80s. He said it didn't have an antenna there. His mind seemed pretty good, so I think he likely confirmed the splitter theory. Thanks again. Good research!

Morich · 08-10-2020, 08:21 AM

When you say line, I assume you might mean a coax, a wire with a metal mesh outside and a single wire in the middle? If that is what you have and it is connected to a splitter, which I did see several on drawings, there is a pretty easy way yo test if it is connected to the tv. The mesh and inner wire work as a set to carry the signal so if you can get a picture on a TV and then touch the two wires together, it will kill the tv picture!
You are lucky in that your year is some of the last which they did a full job of posting much more complete info on the wiring, After 2010 it gets more difficult, but to do a full look for splitters, there are lots of options for different layouts with outsideor not dvd or not, etc. so we would need to look carefully at what you have. Do you have a big bag of info on the RV? It should have had a listing of the complete RV as built new and that would be a place to find what options it had---if folks kept the info!

Rick 99037 · 08-10-2020, 09:24 AM

The thing I'm calling the cable is a black, more flimsy cable than say a typical TV coax is. And what I think I'm looking at is a male/female shove-in socket connection, where I think I could actually unplug the 2 parts; mount an outside antenna, disconnect this male/female shove-in socket, and plug in the new antenna on the end heading to the radio. But I won't be doing that.

Campering · 08-26-2020, 05:29 PM

We have a 2006 29r Special Edition and that is where we have a radio antenna for the outside radio. It is identical to the one in the center of the front bow cap for the front radio.

NeilV · 08-26-2020, 09:40 PM

The 29R Sightseer has a splitter in the rear antenna lead according to the parts listing and multiple radios. It should be just rearward of the shower skylight and should take care of the entertainment center and bedroom radios when they are installed. The radio in the cab has its own antenna.

davismills · 08-27-2020, 04:15 AM

I recently had to replace the radio antenna in my 2011 33C Sightseer and Morich's post in #5 is spot on.

I unscrewed the antenna from the roof and the whole assembly fell down behind the shower. I had to remove the back wall of the shower (from the bedroom side) in order to gain access. The entire access wall is held up by very small wood screws and was relatively easy to remove.

This particular antenna serviced the radio in the outside TV/radio entertainment center

losone · 08-27-2020, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick 99037

I purchased this 2005 Sightseer 29R recently, and there is a hole where something got snapped off on the roof. I hope a fellow 29R owner will identify it. I know the 05 & 06 have the same floorplan.
This hole is about 3/4" across in the calking where it was, and and when I look down into the hole I see black plastic, with a hole in the center that's maybe 1/4". It is just to the rear the dome for the shower.
I'd thought it a small vent tube, but a repair place told me it was a radio antenna. Since it's 5" to the rear of the outside AM/FM radio, it sure could be. Do Class A Winnebagos of this period have a second antenna for the outside radio on the roof? Or is it a vent? Thanks.

My 07 rig has 2 radio antenna's one for the in side and one for the outside radios.

Blastvalve · 08-27-2020, 09:59 AM

My old Sunova (sibling to the sightseer) has 2 antennas, one in the front for the dash radio and one in the side near the fridge vent for the outside stereo.

My current vista has the same setup as well and I also learned the hard way that when working from the top of not careful the wire will drop down and disappear. In my instance it’s the area behind and under the pantry/fridge, took some looking with a flashlight to find the wire back there but it was there.

My vista had the antenna snapped off at the roof (common, they get brittle over time) and when I replaced there wasn’t a huge increase in radio reception, I think the large amount of antenna wire in the walls does a lot of the work.

DryCreek · 08-27-2020, 08:26 PM

Well, I'm late to the party, as usual.
But yep, on our '06 Sightseer Special Edition 29R - that is the radio antenna for the outside radio.