Sightseer 35J Questions

[Belgique]

Well, made a mistake. Went by a dealer to get some wax and while there, just "looked" at an 08 Sightseer 35J. Grandma: "Eli (2 yr old GSon), would LOVE those bunkbeads!!!"

After surfing here and RV.net see that everyone is happy with theirs. So.... , probably.

Questions: (and I know I can ask the dealer these, and will, but bet you guys have more hands-on lessons)

- It has a radio that seems to also be the DVD player for the TV. That radio also appears to not be XM ready. Correct? Gotta have XM and don't care much for the FM transmitter option. Can that radio be swapped out for one that is XM ready AND still have the DVD play through the TV?

- The TV is a small LCD: 19". I'm guessing it would be easy to put a larger one in but may have to mod the cabinets (son in law is an ace craftsman). Any unknowns in doing this?

- While on the TV, it does not have a roof dish. It has wiring for one. But, I think that is single LNB wiring and we use a DVR that records 2 at one time so want dual. Anyone encountered this and is it a hard fix?

- Says "CB Ready". But, I see no usual "Winnie Rusty Antenna". Anyone know what they mean by "ready". I happen to have a firestick with me that we were going to put on this coach.

- The only thing we really don't like is the chair. It is pedestal mounted, no foot rest. Is it hard to get the pedestal out and just put in a Lazy Boy, etc that will fit through the door?

Thanks in advance. Unless something pops up unknown, probably going to pull the trigger.

Steve

[Belgique]

Well, made a mistake. Went by a dealer to get some wax and while there, just "looked" at an 08 Sightseer 35J. Grandma: "Eli (2 yr old GSon), would LOVE those bunkbeads!!!"

After surfing here and RV.net see that everyone is happy with theirs. So.... , probably.

Questions: (and I know I can ask the dealer these, and will, but bet you guys have more hands-on lessons)

- It has a radio that seems to also be the DVD player for the TV. That radio also appears to not be XM ready. Correct? Gotta have XM and don't care much for the FM transmitter option. Can that radio be swapped out for one that is XM ready AND still have the DVD play through the TV?

- The TV is a small LCD: 19". I'm guessing it would be easy to put a larger one in but may have to mod the cabinets (son in law is an ace craftsman). Any unknowns in doing this?

- While on the TV, it does not have a roof dish. It has wiring for one. But, I think that is single LNB wiring and we use a DVR that records 2 at one time so want dual. Anyone encountered this and is it a hard fix?

- Says "CB Ready". But, I see no usual "Winnie Rusty Antenna". Anyone know what they mean by "ready". I happen to have a firestick with me that we were going to put on this coach.

- The only thing we really don't like is the chair. It is pedestal mounted, no foot rest. Is it hard to get the pedestal out and just put in a Lazy Boy, etc that will fit through the door?

Thanks in advance. Unless something pops up unknown, probably going to pull the trigger.

Steve

[John Hilley]

For XM you can add the inline FM modulator which goes into the radio antenna lead. This eliminates the problems that the FM transmitter has. If the radio has an AUX input jack on the fron for an Ipod etc., the XM radio could be plugged into that.

[ichn2go]

Steve, if you have to make all those mods, you might want to look at something else. Good Luck

[Duner]

We have dual tuner dvr (Dish)and the Winegard single lnb auto locate sat (not in-motion). Winnie routed the 2nd coax cable from the lnb into the roof but I had no idea where the 2nd came out. Nobody at the Winne service could tell me where it terminated so I ran my own 2nd coax thru a hole I made in the roof over the entertainment center. I bought the self leveling white sealer that Winne sells for roof sealing. It was easy and looks like a standard professional Winne option. Now my wife can watch Oprah & I can watch NASCAR & we are very happy campers.

Steve, I wouldn't let this issue get in the way of a deal for your Sightseer.

Duner

[Belgique]

It did not get in the way We signed the papers Fri! In everything, there is a trade off, well, maybe not in a Prevost! Right now is a perfect example: Daughter and G'Son stayed with us last night. I go to bed early and they sleep late. I'm bothering them now since they are right next to me. If they come next weekend, they'll be in the bunks, DW in the King, and me in the cabin doing whatever. I gotta get a barrel chair solution sometime. I like a footrest recliner

I was going to let the dealer run the second RG6 (above and below) and put a manual dish on top but their cost was outrageous! Since I ran Above and Below dual RG6 in the Itasca, I knew it wasn't a big deal. Winnie told the Dealer that they did not run 2 RG6's in this mod.

Some questions (we don't get the unit until Wed):

1. (I can't re-read your reply and write this at the same time so if you aaddressed this already, sorry). Did you say that there is not RG6 at all pre-run to where the roof dish would go? How did you know where to drill for the antenna installation. (I haven't found the RG6 on the Winnie schematics but may have missed it.)

2. Any lessons learned on fishing the 2nd RG6 to the receiver compartment (presumably the one on the passenger side- mine is an 08 but the TV in this unit is still up front vs over the barrel chair...gotta put a bigger one in sometime).

3. Did you run a 2nd RG6 to the ground for a portable dish? They, smartly, did this and terminated it in the utility compartment in the basement...but only 1. I'm thinking that I will ignore that one and do what I did on the Itasca: run dual from the receiver compartment down under the right windshield race and into the engine compartment.

3. I'll find out Wed but am curious: is the aft TV able to get sat TV or just regular? The Itasca has a video dist system so the 2 TV's could do separate things. Are the bunk videos just DVD or do they get TV also?

4. Where did you find the sealant that Winnie recommends or is it the normal stuff whose name I can't recall right now?

MANY thanks!!! I may bug you again! Steve

[Duner]

Way to go Steve! Did you get a Ford or Workhorse? ...now you get to work out all the new kinks.

1. I think all the new Winnies are pre-wired for one coax to the spot where the dish would be mounted on the roof. When you pick up the coach, have the service guys mark an X on the spot on the roof where the hole should be for the cable and relative to that, mark where the dish mounts.

2. I didn't do any fishing to hide the 2nd coax. On my rig the entertainment system is on the wall back behind the passenger seat. So I ran white coax across the top of the roof about 3 feet, put a 2" blob of self leveling sealer about every foot, and then the wire drops straight down inside the cabinet.

3. I ran a coax down the entertainment center thru a return vent in the floor that and out a side compartment whn I need it. (I have motor-aid heating and that's why there's a return vent.) Right now I just swap the two pairs of coax on the back of the Sat DVR to use the roof or to use the Dish 500 on the ground. With the Dish 500 you only need one coax coming in from the remote dish and then use a splitter right next to the receiver to break out to each tuner input. The splitter has to be a sat type that has a dc conductivity so that tuner 1 can provide the power out to the Dish 500.

4. I wanted to buy the sealant from the selling dealer, but they just gave me an open patrially used cartrige for no cost. Ask for it when you pick up the coach. What they gave me is NuFlex 311 Self Leveling Joint Sealant (Bright White). Get the roof real clean with alcohol and this stuff sticks real good. On my roof, you can't tell what the factory did and my addition.

5. To get Sat Tuner 2 output to the rear tv, just connect Sat TV2 out the AUX IN connection on the back of the Selector Distribution box and then use Aux when rear tv wants sat picture.

Hope you get many happy miles,
Duner

[Belgique]

Thanks Bill! We got the Ford because that was what was there. Our 35U is Ford and we love it so no problem there. It handled our trip out west to Vegas and mountains in Mexico so we're content.

I think you have a great idea on just staying on top vs fishing. I did that with an XM antenna and it is still there after 20K+ miles.

Ours doesn't have a video dist center so I have to figure that out. We really only use the front TV so no big deal. We do want to get a bigger TV so have to figure out how to do that and still be able to open the front cabinets.

Thanks again!!! Steve

[rick_od]

There is a big sticker on the roof telling you where to drill the hole when you want to add the dish. The coax will be there after the hole is drilled. My coax goes from that area on the roof to the front right cabinet where the vcr/dvd is (as per Winnebago drawings as I have no dish). If the existing coax is not tied down in any way, use it as a pull string to pull in 2 new RG6's.