Cable/TV Coax Schematic

[Lordlindsey]

Rig: Coachmen Catalina Trailblazer 26THS.


Anyone have a schematic of how the Coax cables are routed on this rig?

[5picker]

Probably not.
Wiring/plumbing schematics are few and far between from the factory.

What year?
Did you contact the factory by chance?

[Lordlindsey]

Sorry, it's a 2018.
No, I haven't contacted the company. Not even sure how to.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Lordlindsey

Sorry, it's a 2018.
No, I haven't contacted the company. Not even sure how to.

On Forest River's web site is a contact page.

Navigate (click the link I provided below) to the brand you have and wala!

Forest River Contact Page

[coachal]

Can never get cable TV to work

[Lordlindsey]

Originally Posted by coachal

Can never get cable TV to work

Same here. Dealership I purchased from is completely inept.

[CincyGus]

Are you turning the amp off on the main coax panel if you have one?

If your rig uses the same wire to feed the TV for both OTA Antenna AND Cable, there is usually a wall plate with the cable that hooks to the main living area TV. On that plate, there is usually a very small button and a small light.

Hook your cable up to the camper, and then press that button to turn the light off and see if that gets your cable working. Light on is OTA Antenna, Light off is cable. Generally. Campers now a days with some of the new antenna systems are doing things a little different sometimes but that used to be a semi-standard way it worked.

[Lordlindsey]

When hooked up to cable, I'll get a very fuzzy, unwatchable, picture with the amplifier turned off.


I suspect the cable is shorted to ground or something.


I say this because I had a 110v outlet shorted on day one.

[formerFR]

...are you sure it's not the park's cable itself?


test this by using a coax cable and going directly from the park cable connection to a TV itself....

[Lordlindsey]

Originally Posted by formerFR

...are you sure it's not the park's cable itself?


test this by using a coax cable and going directly from the park cable connection to a TV itself....

Yes, I've done that and everything works fine when you bypass the camper itself.

[KyDan]

Originally Posted by formerFR

...are you sure it's not the park's cable itself?

test this by using a coax cable and going directly from the park cable connection to a TV itself....

After you've done this ^^^^^ and confirmed you actually have a good cable signal at the post AND that your TV is able to receive cable - your next thing to check is to check for correctly installed cable end fittings at every place you CAN access. The first place to check is the back side of the little antenna amp/outlet wall plate.

[formerFR]

I found early on that a splitter below our kitchen cabinets, leading to the bunk tvs, was actually 'broken'... it can happen, especially where coax connections happen in a slide where things 'move'...

you have a wiring issue somewhere...it's not uncommon.

[Lordlindsey]

Update: had to tear into the cabinet area where the TV amplifier is. Found splitters with loose connections.

Not happy to have to tear into it like I did.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Lordlindsey

Update: had to tear into the cabinet area where the TV amplifier is. Found splitters with loose connections.

Not happy to have to tear into it like I did.

You are going to find that is part of R/V ownership.

Have you ever visited a R/V factory or watched any of the YouTube videos of the assembly line process? If so, you'd wonder how anything works.

A 'good' dealer can be advantageous too.
Good ones would have checked all that (and more) BEFORE you purchased it.
Sorry yours was inept.
Often times (depending on your skill set) picking a dealer is as important as picking a R/V.