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Old 06-30-2020, 08:35 PM   #1
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satellite cable end

Good Evening All,

Wondering if someone can point me in the right direction in ref to the satellite cable end. I have searched this forum and other places looking to see if anyone has had a similar experience but so far, no one has the answer for our coach. We have a 2020 GT5 34H that is "satellite ready". There is a switcher box above the TV in the "living room" with three selections. one is for antenna, one is for cable and one is for Satellite. There is an inbound cable to the switcher box to all three. The cable in works fine, the over the air antenna works fine but I can not find where the end of the sat cable is hiding so I can hook up my portable sat. I have read that some have found it in the frame of a vent on the roof and one found it hidden in a fake tank vent on the roof but neither of them had the same model as we do and it is not in either of those places on our roof. We only have one tank vent and the crank up room vents do not appear to have a cord in them. There is a small plastic dome about 6 inches in diameter toward the front of the coach but it is sealed up and I think it contains the sat radio antenna for XM radio. There is nothing else up there that looks promising. Any one with our year make and model happen to have located the loose end of the sat cable?
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Old 06-30-2020, 08:59 PM   #2
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I've wondered the same thing myself, whether that dome up front was the XM antenna or the satellite termination. Try emailing this fellow:

GT5 SERVICE
Nicholas Hoover
(574) 206-7635
nhoover@forestriverinc.com

I've heard good things about him.

Ray
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Old 06-30-2020, 10:10 PM   #3
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satellite cable

Thank you! I will give him a try and post what the response is when I get it.
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Old 07-01-2020, 10:47 AM   #4
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Here is a photo of a 2016 GT364.
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Old 07-01-2020, 03:26 PM   #5
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Yup under the dome.
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Old 07-01-2020, 04:04 PM   #6
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Thank you folks! I was so reluctant to pull that up just to take a look. Now I have a decision to make. By chance is the XM sat radio antenna up there as well?
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Old 07-01-2020, 07:11 PM   #7
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While your coach may be 'satellite ready', that's still a lot of 'work' to make that happen, and really is only needed IF your want your 'portable' satellite antenna to remain on the roof ALL the time - which most of have learned is NOT the optimal way to use a 'portable' satellite antenna - which by definition, is PORTABLE. You'll have many times where you park under trees for shade, or your assigned rv site at the campground is under tree cover, and your 'portable' antenna will then be rendered useless, if it's mounted on your roof.

You might would rather keep your 'portable' antenna portable, and then place where ever you wish, to get the satellites in view. These are not large, and actually ARE very storable and portable and easy to move and place where you wish. Just attach any amount of coax cable to the MAIN output of the antenna, and run it into your coach to the receiver, either thru a slide seal, an open window, an electrical or plumbing chase that you have access to, or even yes, the 'roof', thru a plumbing vent, or down the side thru the TOP of the slide seal, and into the coach, which is what we do.

also, against some 'popular' thought, these portables DON'T need any 'tripod' or need to be anywhere near 'level' for them to work. They find and acquire the satellites AUTOMATICALLY, so you don't have to worry about that - besides, almost NO motorhome roof is actually even level, itself. These are so easy to use, and we've had ours for over 5 years, dropped on several occasions, and still works just great - sometimes I'm still amazed!

There are so many variables about 'where' you need the portable antenna, depending on WHERE you park, WHERE you camp, etc., that you don't really 'need' any 'roof' access directly down into the coach, even though it 'seems' alluring ... that's really ONLY if you are attaching a permanently mounted antenna, or an expensive Traveler antenna, to the roof. Running your own cable, your own way, also gives you ENDLESS options of how to make it best work for you.
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Old 07-01-2020, 09:00 PM   #8
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satellite cable

Thanks for your response and advice. On our previous MH, I had for a time an in motion unit perm mounted to the roof but it did not last long before giving out. I then went to a portable and put a cable in port up front that led directly to the cabinet on an exterior wall where the tuner box was located and that worked out fine. I am going to keep using the portable but I was just hoping that the cable end was someplace easily accessible so I could attach the dish to it instead of running the cable through the slide or window across the floor and into the switcher box in the middle of the coach and away from all exterior walls. Alas, as you say, the cable end in this case appears to be best for a perm mount unit and will stay sealed in place for the time being. Thanks again for the help and advice!
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Old 07-02-2020, 08:10 AM   #9
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Does your unit have one of these:
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Old 07-02-2020, 12:04 PM   #10
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satellite cable

Yes, above the tv in the center of the MH in a rather shallow cabinet. The cabinet is nice but far too shallow for a DTV or other tuner box. It does however have an AC plug in addition to the switcher box. In the end, based on the feedback and now knowing where the cable end is located, I will be figuring out a way to wire an extension cable for the sat tv cable to that box that will allow me to connect the portable dish cable from outside without having the cable draped across the floor or hanging on the side of the cabinet. My thoughts are leaning to drilling an access hole behind the cabinet and into the cabinet behind it for the extension cable where the dish cable from outside can attach which should be a clean install with easy access. This should eliminate loose cables laying or hanging around.
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Old 07-02-2020, 12:18 PM   #11
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As a caution, there are a lot of wires running somewhere in that area. I never would just run a drill behind the TV even if it was a small size. I'd be trying to figure out how to use the existing hole.

If you remove the Precision Plex touchscreen you'll see a real rat's nest but that might give you a better idea on how to run the cabling. There also is a TV splitter behind the touchscreen in case you ever need to find it. And the Precision Plex Bluetooth module is also back there.

To remove the touchscreen, you need to pop off each corner. There is a barely visible slot on each side of each corner that you can put a small screwdriver into and work the corner off. Then each corner has one of those square-headed screws holding it to the wall. The touchscreen has a single data cable connected to it, which comes out easily.

CAUTION: There are two identical data jacks on the back of the touchscreen so take a picture so you know which one to plug the cable back into.

Ray
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Old 07-02-2020, 12:45 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by centurion493 View Post
Yes, above the tv in the center of the MH in a rather shallow cabinet. The cabinet is nice but far too shallow for a DTV or other tuner box. It does however have an AC plug in addition to the switcher box. In the end, based on the feedback and now knowing where the cable end is located, I will be figuring out a way to wire an extension cable for the sat tv cable to that box that will allow me to connect the portable dish cable from outside without having the cable draped across the floor or hanging on the side of the cabinet. My thoughts are leaning to drilling an access hole behind the cabinet and into the cabinet behind it for the extension cable where the dish cable from outside can attach which should be a clean install with easy access. This should eliminate loose cables laying or hanging around.
The reason I asked is because that box is where the park cable/over the air antenna and a dedicated satellite coax would run to. The box has one output and the selection that is made on the front is the only output that is distributed via splitters to all TV's in the coach. What this means is that if you pull the box out and look at the back you will see where the park cable is connected and if you will remove that cable and connect it to your satellite receiver it will be a straight shot to the external park cable port where you can connect the satellite antenna. That way you can use the internal coax cabling and not have to route a separate coax for your carryout satellite antenna. Here is a drawing showing using a simple A/B switch ($4.00) that will allow either park cable input or satellite input to its receiver. It does not interfere with satellite input to the receiver and there is no issue with splitters after the receiver. Just don't use the A/B switch if not ever wanting to have park cable connected.
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Old 07-02-2020, 12:50 PM   #13
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That drawing is for a Dish system install where the receiver has a coax output for SD viewing. The Dish system Wally does not have a coax output just HDMI and RF outputs so HDMI for HD and a simple RF to coax modulator to the RF for SD which can be connected to the switch box for SD viewing on other TV's. Don't know what satellite system you will be using.
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Old 07-02-2020, 02:38 PM   #14
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satellite cable

This is a great solution to the problem. I just need to find where to place the DirecTV receiver near the switcher box. I was thinking of fashioning a "L" bracket of sorts and mounting it to the bottom of that cabinet and securing the receiver with a velco strap of some sort. Quick follow up question. I have read that a splitter will interrupt the sat signal to the receiver so like you said, it has to be a straight shot and it will be. Where then is the a/b splitter placed? has to be separate and isolated from the sat cable so at the switcher with one line going to the park in and the other between the DirecTV receiver out and sat in connection to the switcher? BTW, it is an all sat King Pro One carryout. I got the one that will take DISH, DTV and one other in case I change providers. It was a little more but I wont have to pay for another sat dish should that happen. Thanks for your idea!
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Old 07-02-2020, 03:21 PM   #15
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An A/B switch is not a splitter it is basically just a feed through coax selector and will not interfere with the straight through feed from sat antenna to sat receiver. As said, remove the park cable feed from your selector and connect it to the IN port of the A/B switch and install a short coax cable from either A or B port on the A/B switch to your sat receiver and then install another short coax cable from the open A or B port back to the selector cable port. Connect your sat antenna to the external park cable port select A or B as applicable for the sat receiver and you are good to go. Of course, the sat receiver has to be connected to a TV.
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Old 07-02-2020, 03:33 PM   #16
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Just a note: If your sat receiver is a coax cable output just connect that to the AUX/SAT selector panel port and select AUX/SAT for satellite distribution to all tv's. If using HDMI sat receiver output you will have to connect that to your tv and if your unit is not prewired with HDMI cabling you will have to accomplish that either by installing cables or remote routing to provide sat viewing on more than one tv.
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Old 07-02-2020, 05:17 PM   #17
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satellite cable

Thanks again for the idea, help and clarification!
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Old 07-05-2020, 05:26 PM   #18
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satellite cable

Good Afternoon All! I hope everyone was able to have a safe and fun July 4th!

New addition to question about the sat cable set up in our new GT5. Does anyone know what this coax connection is and what it is for? It is a powered coax connection as evidenced by the green light and an on and off switch. Nothing is or has been connected to it and the TV's work fine with park cable and the King over the air antenna which are connected to the rear of the switcher. No paperwork anywhere about this connection. In addition to this new question, I have a follow up on the portable sat connection. I am taking the advice of Bubbles and will be using the park cable connection for both the cable and the sat in and use an A/B switch to route the appropriate signal coax connection on the back of the switcher. As I was charting this out, it occurred to me that I will have to allow for the insertion of the DTV receiver before or after the switcher. No big deal but I then noticed that there is no coax out on the receiver, only composite and a single HDMI out. How is anyone connecting the out signal of a DTV receiver before or after the switcher? If before or after the switcher, it still needs to be coax out of the receiver. ???????
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Old 07-05-2020, 05:32 PM   #19
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That is the panel that provides 12Vdc to the over the air antenna. Light on antenna powered/light off antenna not powered. It's referred to as a booster panel. The actual booster (amplifier) is in the antenna. See post #13 about the RF out from the Wally.

Added: this is if you have Dish satellite system.
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Old 07-05-2020, 05:40 PM   #20
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I'm not familiar with how your unit routes the coax cable from the over the air antenna to the switch box. My unit is a 2012 GT and changes have been made.
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