No TV = Shorted Coax

[2109er]

I wasn't getting any TV reception (sometimes). After checking some manuals for the Teton HD antenna and Winegard plate, found the green light on the Winegard plate wasn't on. It would come on faintly for just a second then go out. Fortunately there's a current limiting device in the Winegard plate that resets itself after a short is eliminated.

Found a short in the coax between the Winegard plate and the antenna. The microwave has to be removed to get at this coax. Wanted to just pull the coax out to check for problems but it was stuck in the wireway in the cabinet over the range hood. I guessed that during assembly a screw had been run through the coax. Upon removal of one of the range hood screws (lucky guess) I could feel the coax come loose. After pulling it out a bit, found the screw hole. Moved the screw over about an inch, so it would hit a support board then checked the green light. It stayed on and a new scan on the TV brought in stations.

I do wish they'd be a little more careful putting these trailers together. This was an intermittent problem that took some time to find.

The manual for the antenna seems to be wrong as it says "the Winegard wall plate...has a built-in amplifier". However, the manual for the wall plate/power supply says it is a switch to supply 12 VDC to an amplifier antenna. Further it says "NOTE: THIS UNIT IS NOT AN AMPLIFIER".


I wasn't sure the Teton HD antenna was connected correctly as I couldn't find any info on that. After emailing tech support they wrote back... "The black coax is for TV and is boosted with the Winegard wall plate. The white coax is a passive FM radio antenna that receives signals. However, it is not amplified." Seems to me that should be in the manual.