Winegard wall plate and Over the air tv

[Ldhansenjr]

Hi all, (2017 Isata 3)

I can't seem to get the light to stay on on my winegard wall switch.

I even changed the wall plate. When you push the button the green light quickly flashes, so i know there is power there, but won't stay on and therefore does not get power to the king jack antenna.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
dave

[Ida Ratherbe Camping]

How's you battery charge? Everything else 12 volt working?
If yes, could just be a bad switch.

[Ldhansenjr]

batteries are all fully charged, everything else works great.

i did try switching the switch (sorry for the pun) and same thing.

[jd50i]

RV WALL PLATEI
POWER SUPPLY
This unit is equipped with a polyswitch,
(current limiting device), which will shut down
+12 VDC if there is a direct short between
antenna and power supply. Green indicator
light will not light. Once short is eliminated,
device will reset itself in approximately 2
minutes.
DESCRIPTION
Wall plate/power supply to operate Winegard
RV antenna with outdoor receptacle for TV set
and cable or satellite input. Wall plate/power
supply provides +12 VDC to antenna as well as
antenna signals to two TV sets. Cable input
from outdoor receptacle connects to wall plate
and may be switched so either antenna or
cable or satellite signals may be watched. See
applications.
NOTE: THIS UNIT IS NOT AN AMPLIFIER.
USE ONLY WITH A WINEGARD AMPLIFIED
RV ANTENNA.

[Ldhansenjr]

great info thanks!

has anyone found where a short could be?

i have been looking everywhere.

I have pulled the wall plate and have not been able to find anything yet.

[Bama Rambler]

I'd start by checking the coax "F" connectors for a stray piece of shield touching the center conductor.

[Ldhansenjr]

i reached out to winegard and got a predictable response, we should only use winegard switch with winder antenna.

i then asked for ideas on where it could be shorting "if" it was their antenna.

there answer was the short is most common in the antenna. Has anyone been able to access the guts of the king jack? I am not sure if you can get into with removing it from the roof.

i did reach out to King Jack but have not heard back yet.

any ideas are welcome!

[houstonstroker]

Disconnect all coax wires to the switch but leave the 12 volts positive and negative. does the light stay on now? If so connect one coax at a time to find the culprit.

[Ldhansenjr]

more data!!

when i disconnect the coax from the back of the wall plate (antenna port) green light comes on.

then i connected it back up and slowly turn the king jack, and low and behold, it will light up at certain points while i rotate it.

so that implies to me that there is some kind of loose connection in the king jack.

[ben31]

Originally Posted by Ldhansenjr

more data!!

when i disconnect the coax from the back of the wall plate (antenna port) green light comes on.

then i connected it back up and slowly turn the king jack, and low and behold, it will light up at certain points while i rotate it.

so that implies to me that there is some kind of loose connection in the king jack.

Do you have the crank up antenna? If so, there should be a short length of coax from the base of the antenna up to the King Jack. I'd try replacing that and going from there. However, if it works a certain times while turning the antenna, it sounds to me like there is a short in the cable going up through the crank up mechanism.

If it doesn't crank up, I haven't seen those and would say it is likely in the antenna itself.

[houstonstroker]

My unit came with a Jack antenna the non crank up variety. The previous owner over rotated the head and snapped the cable. I installed a Winegard auto antenna and have been quite impressed.

[bclemens]

Originally Posted by Ldhansenjr

more data!!

when i disconnect the coax from the back of the wall plate (antenna port) green light comes on.

then i connected it back up and slowly turn the king jack, and low and behold, it will light up at certain points while i rotate it.

so that implies to me that there is some kind of loose connection in the king jack.

oooh, that is good data.

[Ldhansenjr]

ok folks!

found the problem! i took the top off the king jack and lo and behold the coax cable that connected the antenna to the ceiling adjustment knob was sheared off!!

so i separated the wires and then the green light stays on. King support says i need a replacement cable. I just need to verify it can be installed without taking the complete antenna off the roof, that would in a PIA!

[jd50i]

Look on the cable and see what type it is IE RG6, RG59, etc. You can crimp another connector onto it just make sure there is enough slack in the cable.

[Bama Rambler]

Did it shear off where a connector was or was it where it was soldered to the board?

It's most likely RG-174 cable. Which is about 1/8th in diameter.

As for replacing it without removing the antenna from the roof, I'm not sure. It may be possible if you can see the routing of the cable from the antenna down through the roof to the power supply then you could take the power supply off and possibly tape the new cable to the old one and pull it down.

[Ldhansenjr]

sheared off right at the connector. My best guess is that there was no slack in the cable in the king jack antenna.

King support says you have to take the antenna off the roof to replace the cable. That kinda sucks as it is sealed on there pretty good.

luckily it is still under warranty so i will talk to the dealer next week.

thanks all!

[Phreak480]

I know this is quite an old thread but I recently had a similar issue and wanted to let folks know that you can indeed just change the connector on the coax and make it work. I used a connector for rg174 and crimped it on. All works fine again. Found the connector on ebay.