Antenna replacement

Originally posted by TheBum I have a King Jack antenna ready to go in our 2016 179 to replace the batwing. I've been kicking around ideas for bringing the rotation mechanism and signal strength meter down through the top of the wardrobe and forward, but haven't come up with a good solution yet. I may use timing belts and toothed pulleys.

I thought of replacing the batwing with a King Jack antenna. Like you, I was wondering how to get to the mechanism to operate it. I thought of cutting an opening in the area behind where the television docks for travel in the area right of the outlet and antenna booster through which I could have reached in and gotten to the rotation mechanism. The other alternative is to put the opening where the outlet and booster are currently located and move them to the right. That would actually make it easier to reach the mechanism. Instead, I opted for the omnidirectional antenna so I would not have to do that modification.

Originally posted by TheBum Another approach I've considered is adding a stepper motor with an Arduino or Raspberry Pi controller. I could just turn a 360-degree potentiometer to aim it or even make it auto aim by using the signal strength LED voltages as inputs.

That would be interesting to see. Mom and dad had an antenna turner many years ago which had a dial that one turned and the motor on the antenna shaft would aim the antenna. This sounds like an updated version of that idea. I have no idea how much force it would take to turn a King Jack antenna or if a stepper motor would be able to exert that force. If you try it, I would like to at least read about it if not see it in action.