Cable and Satellite wiring

[CC38EL]

Anyone with a 38EL figured out the cable and satellite connections? I'm trying to hook up a satellite antenna (portable) and I'm getting nothing from these connections.

[formerFR]

do you mean the outside coax/cable connector?

generally Satellite antennas and receivers don't play well with these connections since the factories typically install coax splitters within the walls/cabinets of the coach. Normally you'll connect coax cable directly to your receiver from your sat antenna unit, sometimes coming in a window, or finding a way to snake it in under a slide out, etc...

[ScottBrownstein]

You need a "home run" from the park cable connection to the receiver. Normally RVs are built where the park cable goes straight to the cable/antenna/satellite switch without going through splitters. Splitters will block the DC voltage that the receiver sends to the dish that powers the circuitry in the dish. There are splitters that don't do this but for some reason manufacturers don't use them.

You need to go to the cable that connects to the switch and split that with a satellite capable splitter or take it off the switch and put it on the receiver directly and then put a cable from the satellite receiver "out to TV" to the connection on the switch.

There are lots of variations but this should work. Otherwise you need to bring the dish cable in through the window and connect it to the receiver.

[CC38EL]

I do mean the connections inside the service area. With the water connection, and dump valves.

The satellite connections for the living room and bedroom are separate and should be straight shots to the connector behind the respective tv. A cable tester i have shows the living room connection as dead.

The bedroom satellite connection goes to the cable port,not the satellite port.

Really frustrating how most of the electronic stuff from Cedar Creek is wrong, broke, antiquated, or just plain thrown together.

My rv remote for jacks and slides and awnings has never worked. The jack antenna came with a winegard amp and switch. And the bedroom tv, unlike the living room tv, does not connect to the Internet.

Sorry for the rant. Unless CC is listening.

[BandJCarm]

I simply unscrewed the faceplate and made note of the color of the coax cables, then went outside in the bay and did the same. I then connect to the same color cable, and turn off the little amplifier button. Works great. If you are showing 'dead', then there's a break somewhere or you are testing wrong cable. I'd make sure of BOTH ends of each cable before testing or using them. But you could have a break, a mismatch, or something. It happens. I still want to put a small, through-the-wall F connector plate next to the tv and ignore their wiring.

Not sure what electronic stuff you are referring to. All mine work fine.

And TV's connect to the internet??? I had no idea...........how?? And why would the installers know to connect bedroom tv to the satellite port and not the cable port????

[formerFR]

yes, I'm not sure how much the factory engineers think about us RVrs and how we use things in the 'real world', and the satellite connections within coaches is probably one of those things...

I believe they engineer units for Satellite tv as though the only thing that will ever happen is for the customer to have a system installed on the roof, and makes use of the sat pre-wire factory setup.
When you decide to use a portable Satellite dish, and you are not going to mount it on the roof, then you run into situations that require you to run cabling yourself into the coach DIRECTLY from the antenna unit.
Maybe the factories should not only provide a 'Cable in' on the outside of the coach, but also at least one 'Satellite in' connector that goes directly to the main tv area, in case you want to connect a satellite receiver. Optimally, they would provide a Sat In for each TV area, but that might be asking too much.

I have 5 tvs in my coach, three of which have their own receivers for Satellite. I ran my own cabling to the two interior main and bedroom tvs through the wet bay, where I can connect them to my outside cables going to the Satellite antenna. I also connect another cable to the outside tv receiver, thru a hole in the floor of the bay below, where the receiver is mounted.

I no longer use my 'box of many buttons' the factory supplies in the living room upper cabinet.

All this can be a little daunting for the first timer, but if you start with just a single tv/receiver setup to your portable Satellite dish, you'll soon start to see in your mind the options of how to wire up the other tv areas...

[keith52]

CC38EL, Do you have a plate near the television that has 2 coax connections marked "main" and "aux" ?

[CC38EL]

keith52.....I have 2 plates next to the LR tv, the Winegard style plate with 2 coax connections and the push button amp on/off. The other plate is marked "Satellite" and it is the one that doesn't register.

formerFR.....That's what my question was about. Got lost in the rant I guess. Was wondering if I was misinterpreting the usage of the service bay connections. I think the 38EL has satellite in the roof....just wondered if that is also something I need to look into to see if it was affecting the service bay connections.

BandJCarm......The tv in the bedroom is not a smart tv. No wireless capability or RJ45 connection, which the LR tv has. The techs didn't hook that tv to the correct connection. I did. I had already started to try and map out the cabling when I reached out. Thanks for your repair tips. Not what I was looking for, but always good to have this stuff written down somewhere.

[keith52]

CC38EL, I fought with my portable and CC hook up for a couple of days trying to get a signal. FINALLY figured out that the "sat" hook up is for a roof top install, "aux" is for a service bay portable hook up. Yes, I had my hooked up to the "sat" which was wrong. Switched the receiver cable to the "aux" hook up and worked perfect. Hope this might help.

[CC38EL]

Thanks. Will give this a shot. Appreciate the info.

[keith52]

Originally Posted by CC38EL

Thanks. Will give this a shot. Appreciate the info.

Let me run out to the camper and check the naming of those connections.

[keith52]

Ok CC, the single plate "satellite dish hook up" is for roof top. The double plate with booster "aux/sat and tv" hook ups are for a portable. Your receiver box needs to connected to the aux/sat and the tv goes to the television. Sorry for the confusion. Make sure the booster is off for satellite reception.

[CC38EL]

keith52, thanks.

That's exactly how it's wired. Those satellite input plates are really confusing. So ignoring them, I put the satellite input to the "Living Room Satellite" connection in the service bay and it comes out the "Aux/SAT" connector behind my tv.

Same with the bedroom tv. "Bedroom Satellite" to "Aux/SAT" behind the bedroom tv.

Cable connection in the service bay goes to "TV" on both plates.

Thanks for sharing all the benefits of your earlier frustration.


ScottBrownstein...I know now what you meant by "Park Cable". I don't have that type of plate, and that phrase threw me.

[ttanous]

Here what CC provided for future reference.




Tom
2016 Ford Power Stroke F350 Lariat Crew Cab Long Bed Dual Wheel
2015 Cedar Creek 38RD Hathaway Edition

[brusso]

I hooked up mine just like keith52 did and it works great. I have Directv on a premenent pole outside.

[TxJnJ]

We just bought a 2017 38FBD on Wednesday. It has the satellite prep package and I connected my portable satellite to the "Living Room Satellite" port in the service bay and the very prominently labeled "Satellite" port behind the TV, which resulted in the same lack of signal issue. After seeing this post, I moved the STB connection to the SAT/AUX port (which I didn't even see before) on the other wall plate, and it worked great! Thanks for this info keith52.

Originally Posted by keith52

CC38EL, I fought with my portable and CC hook up for a couple of days trying to get a signal. FINALLY figured out that the "sat" hook up is for a roof top install, "aux" is for a service bay portable hook up. Yes, I had my hooked up to the "sat" which was wrong. Switched the receiver cable to the "aux" hook up and worked perfect. Hope this might help.

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by formerFR

yes, I'm not sure how much the factory engineers think about us RVrs and how we use things in the 'real world', and the satellite connections within coaches is probably one of those things...

I believe they engineer units for Satellite tv as though the only thing that will ever happen is for the customer to have a system installed on the roof, and makes use of the sat pre-wire factory setup.
When you decide to use a portable Satellite dish, and you are not going to mount it on the roof, then you run into situations that require you to run cabling yourself into the coach DIRECTLY from the antenna unit.
Maybe the factories should not only provide a 'Cable in' on the outside of the coach, but also at least one 'Satellite in' connector that goes directly to the main tv area, in case you want to connect a satellite receiver. Optimally, they would provide a Sat In for each TV area, but that might be asking too much.

I have 5 tvs in my coach, three of which have their own receivers for Satellite. I ran my own cabling to the two interior main and bedroom tvs through the wet bay, where I can connect them to my outside cables going to the Satellite antenna. I also connect another cable to the outside tv receiver, thru a hole in the floor of the bay below, where the receiver is mounted.

I no longer use my 'box of many buttons' the factory supplies in the living room upper cabinet.

All this can be a little daunting for the first timer, but if you start with just a single tv/receiver setup to your portable Satellite dish, you'll soon start to see in your mind the options of how to wire up the other tv areas...

You sound knowledgeable about the subject of TVs in RVs so can I ask a question with a slightly different tack? The question is: can off-the shelf TVs for home use survive in an RV? Or, is a TV especially designed for mobile environments needed?

[TexasBob]

Here is another way

[spock123]

I don't see why not the tv that you have at home came from China. They put all different brands of tv's in campers.


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[BandJCarm]

Originally Posted by hikerjohn7

You sound knowledgeable about the subject of TVs in RVs so can I ask a question with a slightly different tack? The question is: can off-the shelf TVs for home use survive in an RV? Or, is a TV especially designed for mobile environments needed?

Any tv will work that will fit, so long as you don't need a 12v tv. Those are different.