Satellite Connection on Catalina

Angie27 · 09-03-2013, 09:27 PM

We have a 2013 coachmen catalina we are installing a tailgater satelite. Do you plug tailgater antenna in the side of camper

Batts-toy · 09-03-2013, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angie27

We have a 2013 coachmen catalina we are installing a tailgater satelite. Do you plug tailgater antenna in the side of camper

Angie27, yes plug your Tailgater to the sat connector on the outside of the trailer (TT) then go inside and find the sat connector which comes from the outside connector through the TT walls then connect a coax cable from it to your television (if not already connected), make sure you point the handle of your tailgater towards the South to get the signal from the satelite.

I see this is your first posting, welcome to the forum from mid California, a quick note about posting when posting a question you should start a new thread when your topic is different than the one being discussed. This is a thread about proper use of a portable generator, your topic being this much different is called hyjacking the thread, don't take this the wrong way not trying to beat you up just providing a bit of a pointer to a newby it wasn't that llong ago I was getting the same advice from the old timers.

Have a great life and happy camping.

Batts-toy · 09-04-2013, 06:36 PM

Not a problem (on the Lost comment) there are lots of helpful people with a great deal of experience in this forum. Any issues or ways we can help feel free to ask, someone will have the answer.

albob48 · 11-03-2014, 11:03 AM

Hi y'all

New (used 2011) Catalina owner and new to the forum.

Discussion boards seem to work. However, I am still not sure of the tailgater wiring for the inside of the TT. As in all things there are many opinions with many that conflict. My dealer offers an opinion which also conflicts. The dealer mentioned a wifi type setup from Best Buy.

My knowledge is limited and I sincerely welcome all knowledge.

As best as I can tell the inside wiring consist of a wall plate cover with a connector for TV on one side and 3 connectors on other side: 1 for b/r TV. 1 for outside TV. The other I am not sure of.

My first tailgater use was via running the cable thru the door directly to receiver then HDMI to TV. I know there must be an easier way. I guess my question is: Does the internal wiring need modification to receive the satellite signal and if so how much and how. I saw a thread on this earlier but unable to locate now.

My thanks for any and all input.

BooBoo23 · 11-03-2014, 11:16 AM

If you have two connection ports on the outside of your trailer, one marked "cable" and another marked "satellite" then you can plug into the satellite port. If you have only a "cable" port then it will not work. The signal from the satellite antenna will not pass through any devices like a splitter or amplifier (regardless if it is on or off). The satellite signal needs a direct coax from the outside to the inside wall connector to your receiver.

albob48 · 11-03-2014, 01:08 PM

BooBoo23

My thanks for answer.

It would appear that I need to 'run' the cable under the frame up to the receiver.

If this sounds right, then I would have to construct some type of box to hold the cable when not in use.

Your thoughts. Thanks

BooBoo23 · 11-03-2014, 04:35 PM

I don't know what model Coachmen Catalina you have but you may want to consider mounting your "outside" connection port in a plastic electrical box in one of your storage compartments if there is one near your living area and run your coax up under a sofa or table. Limit the number of connections on your coax. It all depends how "neat" you want it to look.

albob48 · 11-03-2014, 06:22 PM

Hello again.
W
My cat is a 29RKS.

I am trying to picture your suggestion.

Are you agreeing that the cable run would come from under the camper? And then store the excess inside the camper?

Thus the cable would start inside to outside.

Much thanks

BooBoo23 · 11-03-2014, 08:05 PM

I don't like the idea of punching holes in the sides of a trailer and don't know if the underside of your trailer has the mesh fabric covering. Running coax in the wall would be difficult if not impossible so if you don't want it laying on the floor inside while you watch TV working on the underside may be one option. The one I would pursue would be to put the coax port inside the front passthru compartment against the back wall of the compartment and run the coax up under the bed, I assume you have storage under the bed so you can roll up the coax in there when not in use and make it long enough to reach where you want to place the receiver. Notch the frame of the underbed storage so the coax doesn't get damaged with the bed being down on it. The downside is that you will need to leave the compartment door ajar when hooked up to the dish which in rainy weather wouldn't work very well, but in rainy weather you may not get good satellite reception anyway. Since you are using a dish it doesn't make any difference which side of the trailer you have your antenna hook up on.

Since this seems to be a problem with all but most of the new 2014> trailers I just did a search on Google to see what people have done to solve the situation. I found a neat product that is simple and cheap and easy to use. It is a "Flat Coaxial Cable Jumper". You can get them on Amazon.com and the price varies from about $2.50 to over $10.00 for the same thing so shop around. It lets you run your coax through a window jamb or door jamb. No strain, no pain.

I also learned that the problem with cable splitter is that they will not pass the 12vDC that powers the satellite dish, thus you need a direct connection.

I hope this will help. I like the simple "flat coaxial cable jumper" idea because I am cheap and don't want to damage a wall.

mwoods · 11-03-2014, 10:26 PM

I just added a satellite cable to my TT as it only has a cable access. I bought a 25 foot RG6 cable and a access plate from Lowes. I found the closest location to drill a hole in the side of the TT to the Sat Receiver. This was in the bunk room. I drilled the hole at the bed frame to the outside. I pushed the RG6 cable through the hole and screwed it into the access panel. This is the type you use in your house in a outlet box. I used screws and then sealed the edges with Dicor. I ran the RG6 cable along the edge of the bed frame to the spot on the wall to pass the cable through. Drilled my holes and ran the cable up to the Sat Receiver. Hooked it up and all works fine.

albob48 · 11-04-2014, 08:51 AM

My thanks to everyone!

In some regards I am 'Scottish' but do want what is least harmful to TT. Great ideas that got me thinking.

Thanks again for all. I am sure there are many others out there. Perhaps the next issue is the minimum/maximum cable length for any satellite system.

Paradise115 · 11-06-2014, 09:20 PM

For what it's worth...I have 2014 Catalina that only has a "cable" port on the outside. I contacted Coachmen and talked to one of the techs. He said they are wired for ota and cable and have a very low power splitter inside the wall where the booster switch is. He said all I need to do is go in, remove the splitter, and replace it with one that is rated up to 2500mHz. That is what the satellite systems require. I got a 3 way splitter at home depot for 6 bucks, put it where the old splitter used to be, plugged the cable into the outside of the tt and voila! Perfect satellite reception. For 6 bucks it might be worth a try before drilling into the body.

albob48 · 11-06-2014, 10:14 PM

Hello Paradise

Glad to meet you via the forum. My dad was WWII navy person and during my young life was stationed in PA. In 2001 my wife and I visited Lancaster and vicinity for about a week. Enjoyed it very much.

I sincerely appreciate your response! I am of the opinion that there is always a better mouse trap. I had no idea that Home Depot carried parts like that. If possible do you still have model number? I am excited about the hopeful outcome. As a side note I emailed King Satellite about the 'proper' length of the feeder cable from the tailgater to receiver. So far no response.

Again thank you for your response. I will let you know ASAP.

Paradise115 · 11-06-2014, 11:13 PM

Albob, I'll get the model number of the part tomorrow. It's in the department where they sell the phone and cable supplies. As for length of the cable I'm good with the 25' cable that came with the system so I don't know how long you could use before losing signal strength. I did see someone posted they used 250' with no problems.

Paradise115 · 11-07-2014, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paradise115

Albob, I'll get the model number of the part tomorrow. It's in the department where they sell the phone and cable supplies. As for length of the cable I'm good with the 25' cable that came with the system so I don't know how long you could use before losing signal strength. I did see someone posted they used 250' with no problems.

The splitter I got is an Ideal brand 3 way satellite, digital cable splitter. It says 5mhz-2.3ghz and model number 85-333.

This may or may not be the fix for you but I think I'd try it before drilling holes.

albob48 · 11-08-2014, 04:59 PM

Afternoon Paradise

Finally had a chance to go to camper. Tried to pull out the TV plate with no luck. From what I can tell the connecting wires are not long enough for slack. I am a little nervous about a hard tug. Plan to try again soon after I visit a dealer and ask some questions. Thank you for all your input.

Paradise115 · 11-08-2014, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by albob48

Afternoon Paradise

Finally had a chance to go to camper. Tried to pull out the TV plate with no luck. From what I can tell the connecting wires are not long enough for slack. I am a little nervous about a hard tug. Plan to try again soon after I visit a dealer and ask some questions. Thank you for all your input.

Sorry to hear that. Maybe it doesn't have any slack or the splitter might make it seem hard to get out. Anyway I'll be interested to hear what your dealer says. Then again maybe they are like car companies and make their product very difficult for regular folks to work on it. Good luck!

Kenz · 12-26-2014, 06:18 AM

Older post, but I'll add anyway. Sometimes the wall plate can be a pain to remove, as the hole usually isn't quite big enough to pull straight out. Try removing the bottom first then the top. On mine the 3 coax cables plug in vertically from the top. Should be enough slack as it had to be out to connect it at the factory.

Adding a sat plug to the outside of the RV is a good way of doing it, especially if the tv is fairly close to an outside wall. With a little patience a professional looking job isn't hard to do.

What I did with mine (I use a Answer sat dish) was to remove the antenna/sat connection from the wall, locate the cable that comes from the outside cable connection. Drilled a small hole next to it and stuck this cable thru the whole labeling it "outside plug". Took a short piece of coax (12" in my case) connected it where the outside cable was hooked and stuck the other end thru the hole, labeled it "cable". Now I just hook the outside cable to my sat box and plug my portable antenna into the cable connection on the outside of the trailer. With a small male to male coax connector I can then connect these to cables back together when I'm at a park that has available cable tv. No holes in the outside walls, no cable on the floor. So far works pretty well.

Malabarbob · 12-27-2014, 05:12 PM

BooBoo23 - I have used those flat connectors and recently tried to locate them by asking my local Directv guy. He said most pulled them from the market as a fire hazard.

Stg1 · 01-02-2015, 05:25 PM

My first TT was a Coachmen with the same floor plan as the Catalina. (2004) I purchased an outside wall connector, drilled a hole close to the tv location (being very careful not hit any hidden wires). I used RG6 cable and fed it through the wall. On the inside, I ran the cable to the receiver. worked fine. If you want to conceal the hole, you can put another wall plate made for cable inside.

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