rear TV antenna connection broke

[Snuggery]

We have never had good reception on our rear bedroom 20" RCA combo VCR/TV and recently would intermittently get NO reception regardless of whether we set the front ABC switch for satellite, cable or antenna. I noticed that if I wiggled the TV, the stations would sometimes come in, although somewhat "fuzzy".

So I pulled out the TV and found the problem. The RCA TV is apparently a little too deep for the compartment Alpine has it stuffed into. The coax cable antenna F-type connection comes straight out the back of the unit and was bent over and broken off from hitting the back of the compartment.

This connection appears to be the only way to get cable or antenna signals into the TV, although the DVR still works fine and there are a set of 3 RCA plugs on both the front and back of the unit.

Alpine does not warranty the audio/video equipment and I don't think anybody actually "repairs" TV sets anymore or at least it is quite expensive. Any suggestions other that buying a new TV that is not as deep??

[Snuggery]

We have never had good reception on our rear bedroom 20" RCA combo VCR/TV and recently would intermittently get NO reception regardless of whether we set the front ABC switch for satellite, cable or antenna. I noticed that if I wiggled the TV, the stations would sometimes come in, although somewhat "fuzzy".

So I pulled out the TV and found the problem. The RCA TV is apparently a little too deep for the compartment Alpine has it stuffed into. The coax cable antenna F-type connection comes straight out the back of the unit and was bent over and broken off from hitting the back of the compartment.

This connection appears to be the only way to get cable or antenna signals into the TV, although the DVR still works fine and there are a set of 3 RCA plugs on both the front and back of the unit.

Alpine does not warranty the audio/video equipment and I don't think anybody actually "repairs" TV sets anymore or at least it is quite expensive. Any suggestions other that buying a new TV that is not as deep??

[dgerstel]

Snuggery,

It shouldn't be too difficult to open the back of the TV, take the wire off of the back of the broken connector and replace the connector or just splice on a pigtail. It might not look the best, but it will be behind the TV and not show. Just have the TV unplugged and stay away from the high voltage connector on the back of the CRT while doing this.

Dale

[OldForester]

Snuggery,

I had the same connection break on another TV, and found a TV repair shop in our home town that replaced the connector for me for about $40. You might look around to see if you do have a TV repair shop in your area and then have them put on a 90 degree connector, if you're not comfortable doing it yourself.

I don't know the size of your coach, but on our '06 36 MDDS, I replaced the rear TV with a Magnavox flat screen that fit the hole well, above a DVD recorder that I also installed so I could record programs. I had to put some wedge-type wood blocks under this TV to tilt it so I could see it best from the bed. I used velcro to fasten the TV to the base.

Now that I have all this new-found room behind the flat screen TV I am in the process of putting another cabinet door in the bathroom behind the TV so I can move my satellite internet hardware to that space. One could use that space for other things; it's actually fairly large.

So, if you have a similar environment you might want to think about this option to gain some more space if you need it.

[bigfish]

For what it's worth, I replaced the flat screen analog Magnavox tv in the bedroom with a flat panel Sharp 19" LCD HD tv with a built-in DVD player (model LC-19AD22U). In the resultant cavity, I installed a wall mount articulated arm to mount the tv (pan, tilt, swivel, extend, etc), when tv not in use or when in transit, tv it is folded out of the way against the cavity wall & lock it down in place with knobs provided on the arm. As a plus, the change out shed some significant weight on that side of coach. Also, can now pick up the additional HD over the air channels being broadcast by local stations. As I understand it, over the air analog tv signals will disappear in 2009 (unless the FCC decides to extend it again)which will require another gizmo to convert the digital signal to analog for a analog tv to function. I don't think any major appliance/electronic chain sell analog tv's anymore. Yea, your right, alot cheaper to just repair the cable connection.
BTF

[rmmpe]

If you can't find a 90 degree connector, us a "T" type splitter. It'll be a lot less intrusive in the rear than making the cable bend in a proper arc. Also, fixing/replacing the cable end is not difficult. Just strip the cable back a bit and install a new end (unless the cable is already very short, in which case get an extension).
Radio Shack should have all you need.

[DrDaveCA]

We had the same issue on our TV. WRV sent a Magnavox replacement that was too big and the cabinet had to be modified, so instead I went out and purchased a LCD flat screen TV, added a filler panel in the front of the opening so I could put a wall bracket on it. There now is plenty of room for the cables and we have a great looking picture!