Another Poor TV Reception Issue

[dcogs15]

I'm trying to diagnose poor TV reception on our 3051 MH (14 months old). Winegard Sensar antenna with Magnadyne Video Control Switch (VCS-10). MH does not have a separate antenna amp, but the switch box has a 12v feed. Does anyone know if the switch box acts as a antenna amp? I verified that the 12v feed is OK up to the connector, but can't tell if the switch box is working since it does not have a LED or on/off switch. We have nearly 30 available channels (including sub-channels) in Detroit metro area. I get only 2-4 ch thru the switch box. Get 10-12 when ant is connected directly to the TV (ant would not be amplified in this case). But I get 22 ch with a set of amp. rabbit ears sitting inside the coach!
This is really starting to "bug" me. TV reception was very good in our driveway before our last trip, but I couldn't get a single TV channel during our trip (friends next door could get 3-4). Any one out there with info on the Magnadyne switch box?

[Iwannacamp]

I am ordering a jack conversion for mine. Amazon is the cheapest I see at less than $40 delivered. I will see.


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[Herk7769]

The switch plate is a power supply for the amp which is located in the antenna's white plastic box. Turning on the power light switches the input lead from the outside cable connection to the roof antenna and turns on the 12 volt power feed.

Turning the button off; depowers the power supply and connects the TV signal splitters to the park cable input.

A warning to "Jack" users. The jack amplifier receives ALL UHF digital channels 13-69 even though channels 53 - 69 are reserved for cell towers not TV transmissions.

If you use the cool blue lights to align your antenna, you can get full bars and no TV because the Jack has locked up on a cell tower.

[Lloydg]

I replaced the factory omni directional antenna with the Jack, and WOW, what an improvement. Herk; Thanks for the heads up. Haven't seen that as an issue but will keep it in mind.

[dcogs15]

Our Forseter 3051S MH came with a fancy video switch box to switch any of 5 inputs(ANT, cable, DVD, etc) to 3 outputs (TVs). I spoke with tech support at Magnadyne. To my surprise, even though this box has a 12v input, it DOES NOT provide any amplification of the TV antenna signal. This switch box essentially is a set of mechanical switches. The 12v is only used to convert the S-video / audio signal from the DVD player into a RF signal that is put onto the coax output ports. In other words, if your coach does not have a separate antenna amp box (eg, Winegard RV7012 wall plate, SensarPro signal meeter, or similar) it likely does not have an amplified antenna signal! The Magnadyne box will pass thru an amplified antenna signal (12vdc max) so it should be OK to add an amplifier to the antenna.