This was one of the first problems I tackled with my Barth. This post is a couple years old, but I have seen some people asking questions about antennas, so I thought I would update this..

One other minor problem I had with my coach was the fact that the AM/FM radio was non operative.

After pulling some things apart, I found that both the radio and antenna were broken.

I replaced the radio with a cheapie AM/FM/CD player that only required a different size opening be cut into the ABS plastic dash. Wiring the radio was straight forward, which brings me to the problem and my solution.

The antenna was screwed into the Barth's drivers side, up by the roofline. It appeared to be a custom unit, or at least different than any I had seen. I bought an aftermarket "Universal" antenna that I found did not fit "depthwise" AFTER I cut a 1" hole in the side of my coach where the wire entered. These aftermarket antenna's secure very much like a wall anchor, with "ears" that must be pushed

The antenna would could not be pushed far enough into the coach to extend the ears, or even deep enough to conceal the whole body, due to a structural member. Drilling the hole deeper was NOT an option.

My solution was to take a page from many Big Rigs where I had seen CB radio antenna fixed through stand alone mounts on the exterior of the rig.

I purchased some 1/8"X 1.5" aluminum flat stock from the local hardware store. After some measuring, I cut and drilled the following bracket in my garage. It is not 'perfect' but bear in mind it was done freehand, and welded with those 'pot metal & aluminum" rods that you can buy at carshows.

You use a common propane torch for a heat source, and it is a boon if you dont have access to TIG or all-argon MIG.

I used my shop vise to act as a sheet metal brake, and just careful cutting and filing ended up with a total of two cuts, and one bend to create the basic shape. I did all the drilling prior to welding the brace, with the exception of those I drilled in the brace to allow screwdriver access. I painted it "pebble" color which is an almost exact match for the exterior of my coach.

On a final note, I would like to reiterate the necessity of stainless screws in aluminum. The corrosion from the original mount was significant, and would have been avoided if the orignal installer had used stainless.

If anyone would desire, I could write out the directions and draw a basic plan for anyone who desires to replicate it. I am quite happy with the result.

This isn't exactly rocket science, but it shows that you can fix a lot of problems in your own garage.



The old link was no good, I just redid the images. This should work...

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2104581349&idx=1

Ok