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08-11-2020, 12:20 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 246
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Coax Routing Question
I have a 2019 37TS. No problems with the bedroom TV, but I cannot get any over-the-air channels on the living room or outside TV. When I do a channel scan on those TVs, it finds no channels. Yes. The Winegard antenna booster power is on.
Can anyone please tell me how the coax is routed in the coach so I can begin to look for a loose or disconnected cable?
Thanks.
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08-11-2020, 01:19 PM
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#2
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Commercial Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Bristol, IN
Posts: 18,878
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It is routed from the roof antenna to the Winegard plate, then there are small pigtails that run out to each TV. If you pull the winegard plate, you should be able to see all the connections off the back.
Normally each has its own connection, except for bedroom and outside TV that may be on a splitter after the plate hook up. The fact that you have bedroom TV, normally says it is not the splitter.
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08-11-2020, 02:08 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 246
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Thanks Brian. I actually replaced the Winegard plate because my local dealer said that might be the problem. It wasn’t.
I wired it back exactly as it was, but I am concerned that the tech that worked on it prior to me may have incorrectly moved a wire when he worked on it.
There are 5 wires with coax connections coming off the Winegard plate, and 3 coax cables in the wall for connection to those wires. Labeling on the plate and connection is as follows (although I can’t tell which coax cable goes where once it’s in the wall):
CABLE - connected to a coax wire
ANT - connected to a coax wire
TV3 - connected to a coax wire
TV4 - no coax connection
TV2 - no coax connection
Is this the way it is supposed to be? Do I need to move any of the 3 coax cables to a different position on the Winegard plate?
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08-11-2020, 02:43 PM
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#4
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Commercial Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Bristol, IN
Posts: 18,878
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The only way to know for sure is to pull them and tone them.
Cable is supposed to go to the outside connection in the wet bay (easy enough).
Ant is supposed to be antenna of course...lets assume that is correct since you get bedroom channels. (to be clear though, you can shove a wire in the coax port of a TV and get some channels, so it depends on how many you are getting)
I always thought we ran coax to the front TV, and then one to the rear TV that was split off to the exterior TV as well. So either one is missing and fell into the wall, or that one coax is split 1-2 (front/BR) and 1-2 (BR/Ext)...unless of course we had a 1 in 3 out.
Where is that wall plate located? Might be able to find the first splitt (if there is more than one)
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08-11-2020, 03:54 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 246
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The bedroom TV gets LOTS of channels, and I am sure it is wired and working correctly If I start unplugging cables at the Winegard plate, it no longer gets those channels.
The plate used to be located at the front of the coach in the cab over. We had it moved to a more reasonable location.
From what you are saying, it seems that the only output from the Winegard plate that is being used is the one labeled TV3, and this must go to the bedroom TV since that one works. When I disconnect that coax from the Winegard plate, I lose the signal. When I plug that cable into either TV4 or TV2 I get no signal.
That seems to indicate that it is not a matter of another coax cable that may have dropped into the wall. If that was the case, then I would get signal from TV4 and/or TV2 on the Winegard plate.
I believe that the obvious conclusion is that TV3 feeds all 3 TVs, and somewhere the signal is not getting split to the living room and outside TV.
Is that reasonable? If so, where are those splitters? Are they in a wall? In a box somewhere? Are they something I should be able to find? If it’s something I can fix, I’d hate to have to take it back to the dealer and spend another $125 in fuel to get there & back.
I’m glad I installed Direct TV, but it bothers me to have something not work when it should.
Thanks very much Brian. I really appreciate your assistance.
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08-11-2020, 04:59 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Canyon Lake, Texas
Posts: 1,821
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__________________
2021 Isata 5 30FW
2014 Honda CR-V
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08-11-2020, 05:47 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 246
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Thanks very much Milkman, and please pardon my ignorance, but how would I identify a lack of continuity if I don’t know where the wires are going? Do you have any suggestions on where I should look? Thx much.
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08-11-2020, 06:27 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Canyon Lake, Texas
Posts: 1,821
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You test each coax and find out where it goes, then put colored labels on both ends. So pick one of the coax and test to find out which TV or outside input source it goes to and then mark it.
__________________
2021 Isata 5 30FW
2014 Honda CR-V
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08-11-2020, 07:04 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 597
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Go to Walmart or Amazon and pick up a 25 foot coax cable (this will get you just about any where you need to extend the cable) and a barrel connector, this way you can run the cable from the panel to the different devices in the camper, you can purchase a coax cable tester if you want, otherwise you can use a multi-meter to test with, the center cable is the conductor (carries the signal) the out side is the (screw on connector) is the ground. I would use a multi-meter on the center conductor on each end of the cable.
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08-11-2020, 07:38 PM
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#10
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Commercial Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Bristol, IN
Posts: 18,878
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cactus Canyon
The bedroom TV gets LOTS of channels, and I am sure it is wired and working correctly If I start unplugging cables at the Winegard plate, it no longer gets those channels.
The plate used to be located at the front of the coach in the cab over. We had it moved to a more reasonable location.
From what you are saying, it seems that the only output from the Winegard plate that is being used is the one labeled TV3, and this must go to the bedroom TV since that one works. When I disconnect that coax from the Winegard plate, I lose the signal. When I plug that cable into either TV4 or TV2 I get no signal.
That seems to indicate that it is not a matter of another coax cable that may have dropped into the wall. If that was the case, then I would get signal from TV4 and/or TV2 on the Winegard plate.
I believe that the obvious conclusion is that TV3 feeds all 3 TVs, and somewhere the signal is not getting split to the living room and outside TV.
Is that reasonable? If so, where are those splitters? Are they in a wall? In a box somewhere? Are they something I should be able to find? If it’s something I can fix, I’d hate to have to take it back to the dealer and spend another $125 in fuel to get there & back.
I’m glad I installed Direct TV, but it bothers me to have something not work when it should.
Thanks very much Brian. I really appreciate your assistance.
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1. First off, its helpful to know all the details when troubleshooting. That helps eliminate certain things. So knowing that the plate was moved...means we do not know how they changed the wiring to do that. Are there cables still sitting behind the old location? Did they just put a blank plate there so we can check?
2. Since we know the bedroom is working, then the ANT cable must be correct. And yes, if you leave everything else where it is (make sure nothing else got moved while unplugging things) and verify you still get channels on the bedroom, then you SHOULD get channels whether you are on TV 2 or TV 4...those all come from the same place. TV1 is the coax sticking out the front.
3. I'm not sure I agree with the obvious conclusion. If the plate was moved, I can't be sure that they moved all of the cables. As I said before, normally we run one cable to one TV and then the other cable is split over the other two TV's. Normally it is front TV on its own and then Bedroom/ext. But sometimes that depends on floor plan.
We assume ANT is correct.
So I would TONE the coax plugged into CABLE and the outside coax to make sure THAT one is correct. Next step would be to check the old location and see if there are any stragglers.
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08-11-2020, 08:06 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 246
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Ok. Great. Running out of daylight now, but tomorrow I will...
-Remove the blank plate over the old connection point and check for missing/bad connections and loose wires
-Remove the Winegard plate and run coax from both TV2 and TV4 to the living room tv to see if I get signal while still getting channels on the bedroom TV. I already know that TV1 works since I get channels on the living room TV when connected directly to TV1.
-Check to see if the line is continuous from CABLE of the Winegard plate to the cable jack in the wet bay. I’ll have to get a meter to do that.
Sound about right? Thanks again.
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08-11-2020, 08:19 PM
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#12
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Commercial Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Bristol, IN
Posts: 18,878
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blank plate is the easy place to start and requires no purchase. Start there and we'll see what we see. I'll double check the splitter routing.
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08-11-2020, 09:06 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 246
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Thanks so much!
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08-12-2020, 11:48 AM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 246
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As far as I can tell, everything looks like it was done properly.
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08-12-2020, 01:09 PM
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#15
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Commercial Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Bristol, IN
Posts: 18,878
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Hard to tell in that I don't know what Coax was there to begin with. I have engineering checking to see if we used one coax back then or three.
What is the last (6) of your VIN?
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08-12-2020, 01:24 PM
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#16
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 246
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bclemens
Hard to tell in that I don't know what Coax was there to begin with. I have engineering checking to see if we used one coax back then or three.
What is the last (6) of your VIN?
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JW6723
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08-12-2020, 02:17 PM
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#17
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Commercial Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Bristol, IN
Posts: 18,878
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OK, I did confirm that those lines were in the harness...so I am not sure what was changed. it looks like there was a home run to each TV.
can you take a picture of the Coax on the back of the Winegard plate? (not of the pigtails off the plate, but the actual coax cable ends that are plugged into those pigtails?)
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08-12-2020, 02:31 PM
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#18
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 7,640
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Maybe you have already done this but you know TV2/TV1 is good why not disconnect one of those and connect one (one at a time) of the unknown coax cables to that port and see if other TV is getting the signal.
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08-12-2020, 02:32 PM
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#19
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Commercial Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Bristol, IN
Posts: 18,878
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bubbles
Maybe you have already done this but you know TV2/TV1 is good why not disconnect one of those and connect one (one at a time) of the unknown coax cables to that port and see if other TV is getting the signal.
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The problem is there does not appear to "BE" unknown cables.
It seems that we are missing (2) cables.
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08-12-2020, 02:51 PM
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#20
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 246
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Here you go. I tagged the coax with colored tape so I wouldn’t mix anything up when I changed the Weingard plate.
Black goes to CABLE, blue goes to ANT, green goes to TV3.
There were only 3 coax cables. TV4 and TV2 had nothing attached. I thought I read in a previous post that there were only supposed to be 3.
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