Category Archives: Dave and Amy G

Installation of External Cellular Antenna on the RV

This afternoon, my friend David G and I installed a Low Profile External Cellular Antenna on the RV. This antenna will be used with the Novatel 4620LE Cellular Modem to improve cellular data performance.

The antenna is an LPMM-7-27. It has two 3G/4G cellular antennas in a single package. The antenna was obtained from wpsantennas.com, a retail supplier of items to enhance the signal on wireless devices.

I chose the rooftop as the mounting location in order to obtain maximum height. The specific location was chosen based on where I could run the antenna leads into the RV and to the modem.

This particular antenna requires no ground-plane and is designed to be mounted through a bracket or a panel. I had neither and elected to mount it directly to the roof. The bottom of the antenna base had a peel-and-stick sort of adhesive on it. I used that and a bead of clear adhesive around the antenna base.

Panorama Antennas – LPMM-7-27

LPMM-7-27 Specs

Here’s the full specs for the antenna.

Here’s what the completed roof-top installation looks like. The antenna is located between the two vent pipes and to the left of the WiFi Ranger Sky WiFi Repeater.

Installation Complete on roof of 2014 Heartland Landmark Savannah RV

Here’s the equipment that, mounted indoors that this new antenna supports. The signal from the LPMM-7-27 Cellular Antenna connects to the external antenna port of the Novatel 4620LE Cellular Modem from Verizon. The Cellular Data signal is fed via USB to the WiFi Ranger Go Router. The WiFi Ranger Go Router supplies Internet service to devices used in and around the RV via WiFi and Ethernet. One of the Ethernet ports on the Router feeds the Smartthings Home Automation Hub. See more about the “Smartthings in an RV” project in this blog post.

WFR-ST-MIFI_1
Indoor Equipment: WiFi Ranger Go Router, Smarththings Home Automation Hub, Novatel 4620LE Cellular Modem
    Performance

Right now, the RV is inside the RV garage, so no decent testing can be performed. I’ll be hitting the road soon and will do some performance testing. I’ll supply power levels as measured at the Novatel 4620LE, with and without the antenna connected. I’ll do this a couple of times over the next 30 days in a couple locations around the U.S.

Below are a few more antenna installation pictures.

Roof of RV before Installation
Antenna Coax from RV
Antenna placement determined, roof prepared, hole drilled for coax and coax fished into RV
Antenna Coax connected to Antenna and connected to Coax Extensions
Antenna Base Before Installation

Snow and Visiting with Heartland Friends

My first blog post of 2014 – so, Happy New Year all 15 subscribers!

We’re still home for a little while. Today, we saw the arrival of Heartland friends, Dave and Amy G. They’re starting their trek west and decided to make a week-long stop in Crossville. Their Heartland Cyclone Toyhauler 5th Wheel RV is all setup on Homeless Hill, here at the Gardens RV Village.

David and I ran some errands this afternoon. They needed propane and I knew where to get that locally. Nancy cooked a beef pot roast and veggies for dinner. Yum! After dinner, we all watched the movie “Waking Ned Divine”. None of us had ever seen it. Cute movie.

During dinner, we had dessert and coffee.

While the a good part of the country is gripped by a winter storm, up here on the Cumberland plateau, we experienced a little bit of that weather. Around 1:30 pm, it began to lightly snow. later, the wind picked up and that light snow continued. I’d say we’ve got maybe 3/4″ so far with a bit more possible.

Because if the snow, I asked Dave to pull their car into the garage during dinner and the movie. Check it out – no problem!

Dave and Amy's white Smart Car tucked into our garage.
Dave and Amy’s white Smart Car tucked into our garage.

Here’s a couple of snow pictures…

Snow in Front Yard
Snow in Front Yard
Snow on Deck
Snow on Deck
Even more snow in Front Yard :)
Even more snow in Front Yard 🙂