Antenna suggestions for bedroom tv?

[Old Rocker]

I just added a led tv to the bedroom of my 96 Ultrasport. I am not getting any signal from my mounted antenna (Winegard) to the rear of the coach from the splitter/amplifier however the front tv works fine. After much trouble shooting I found that neither the cable in or antenna lead get signal to the rear of the coach, so I am assuming that the cable itself is bad.

Have any of you installed an indoor antenna, amplified or not, and do you have any suggestions as to type and brand?

Any suggestions welcome.

[riverruby]

Mine was a like problem, a previous owner had cut the line to install cable TV (I think) I didnot find the break until a year or so later and had installed a outside connection for Sat TV. My portable Sat dish has triple outlets so I now run two lines, one for the bedroom and the other line for the front TV. I use a splitter for OTA signal and a switch box for antenna/Sat, f/R or either/both. In your case remove the faceplates and make sure there is a connection, I would think it would be very hard to break the cable but posssible as I have a open circuit in my house cable in the ceiling and have been unable to pull it out.

[traveldawg]

I doubt your cable is bad (or that it went bad). Most likely you haven't found the right cable going to the rear of the coach or one of the ends on the cable going to the rear is bad. It seems maybe some more troubleshooting is in order.

As for and indoor antenna: the only suggestion I have is any amplified antenna that your find available and that fits your needs should be OK.

[texnet]

First thing to do is find the correct cable and verify it is bad/good.

Disconnect all cables in the front compartment, or wherever your splitter is. Short one of the cables with a jumper cable or a short piece of wire between the center lead and the outside of the connector. Take an ohm meter to the bedroom and check for continuity between the center lead and the connector. If you have zero ohms, i.e. a short, then you have found the cable to the bedroom and it is NOT bad. If you don't find a short then move the jumper cable to the next lead... do same thing in bedroom. If you go through all the cables and do not find a short then the cable has a problem. When you do find a cable with a short, take the jumper off and verify that the cable is now open, i.e. not shorted. If it is still shorted then the cable may have a screw of staple through it.

[Old Rocker]

Thanks All.
Tex I didnt have a ohm meter available at the time to follow you suggestion but what I did do was connect bunny ears to the connection on the back side of the splitter to both cables. No signal again. But I didnt check the back side of the faceplates at the rear of the coach (duh).

Do most manufacturers run the cables thru the roof?

[traveldawg]

Old Rocker,
Again, I doubt your cable is bad. I work on a lot of these types of problems and have never found a bad cable.

Maybe with a bit more information we can help you solve this on line.

You say that the cable to the rear comes from a splitter: you really need to check the cable, including the ends, to continue with any certainty that the rest of the suggestions will help. With that said, let's continue.

I'll assume you set up the new TV correctly: went to the menu selection, choose TV - antenna and then scanned for channels. And I assume you can get channels this way on your other TVs.

Do your other TVs have digital receivers built in? Or do you use a digital converter? If all are digital TVs then I assume there are no converters external to any of the TVs that may be causing some problems.

If you are using a digital converter, is that signal shared with the other TVs and are you using the output from that converter to the new LED TV? If you are using the converter output, don't; bypass the converter.

You say there is a splitter involved: does one side go to a TV that is working? If so, swap the output. And be sure the input to the splitter is actually coming from the TV antenna; some people have been known to put the input on one of the outputs on splitters; that will work sometimes but will cause a big drop in the signal.

How do you switch between cable (input on the outside of the RV) and antenna? Assuming you do have a switch, try putting it on cable, connecting a cable connection the outside of the RV and then see what your TV does. If still no signal then we might assume that the problem is in the switching system, splitter, or cable to the new TV.

Lastly, I assume you existing TV works with the antenna? It seems to me that might be a dumb question, but we all make wrong assumptions and mistakes. I just wanted to be sure you eliminate anything obvious.

Good luck. I hope you figure this out. If you are on the road maybe a neighbor can help out.

[mikf]

you say you added an led. did you ever have a tv back there that worked? if you are not the original owner I bet somebody has done something for a satellite or cable tv. it can probably be undone once you figure out what they did.

[wa8yxm]

One thing I have considered, and likely will implement later when I can afford it.

Often I'm parked in an area where I get channels a,b,c,d and e looking one way and e,f,g,h and i, looking in another.. I may well put a 2nd antenna (possibly a JACK) over the bedroom so I an look in one direction with Replay-Bedroom and another with Reply-Livengroom and then we can record shows to watch later with greater variety.

[KC1BUD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wa8yxm One thing I have considered, and likely will implement later when I can afford it. Often I'm parked in an area where I get channels a,b,c,d and e looking one way and e,f,g,h and i, looking in another.. I may well put a 2nd antenna (possibly a JACK) over the bedroom so I an look in one direction with Replay-Bedroom and another with Reply-Livengroom and then we can record shows to watch later with greater variety.

In my DayBreak there is a switch box up front. If I switched out the old CRT for a LED, and lost the signal the first thing I would suspect is that the switch box buttons for the rear TV is no longer set on Antenna. It could have been pushed for DVD or VCR tape, or even satellite.

[riverruby]

My second reply post: In early Oct we had a massive haikstorm in Glendale AZ which took out my townhome rooftop antenna. I went to Radio Shack and they had a 80 dollar antenna for 9$ and a round disc type amplified one for 5$. I bought the big one for 9$, installed it and went back the next day for the disc one for 5$. The clerk told be the price was wrong as it had been discounted another 50%. It had a retail for 89$, so it cost me under 3$. I removed two pins that held the old batwing antenna on, drilled one new hole in the mount, put the pins back in and it works fine. I am about 40 miles from the So Mountain TV towers and recieved no reception with the batwings. I now get seven, nine with the disc raised and the amp on. Can't beat luck.

[Old Rocker]

Ok to try to answer all the questions, no I am not the original owner, I purchased this coach about a year ago and have been fighting small electrical problems ever since. In repairing the dash radio (no power) I found numerous scotch lock and butt splices in the harness, so the previous owner doing something wierd is not out of the question.

The new tv work well with a borrowed set of rabbitt ears.
The front tv is an old analog run thru a converter box.
The splitter is a Winegard amplified switch plate looking thing with a powerport.
The rear plate is Winegard also and they appear to be wired correctly according to the winegard schematic.

I eliminated the wiring to the front tv, hooked the antenna in lead to the new tv and it works.

Took the antenna in lead thru a connector to both of the rear cables, (one to the bedroom switch plate the other to the cable in plate on the outside of the camper.

Still no signal.

Did the same with the borrowed rabbit ears. ditto.

I still havent found my dvom to check the cable electrically. Will try again this evening.

Thanks to all of you!
The ideas are keeping me sane.

Kent

[KC1BUD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by riverruby My second reply post: In early Oct we had a massive haikstorm in Glendale AZ which took out my townhome rooftop antenna. I went to Radio Shack and they had a 80 dollar antenna for 9$ and a round disc type amplified one for 5$. I bought the big one for 9$, installed it and went back the next day for the disc one for 5$. The clerk told be the price was wrong as it had been discounted another 50%. It had a retail for 89$, so it cost me under 3$. I removed two pins that held the old batwing antenna on, drilled one new hole in the mount, put the pins back in and it works fine. I am about 40 miles from the So Mountain TV towers and recieved no reception with the batwings. I now get seven, nine with the disc raised and the amp on. Can't beat luck.

The round ones are usually omni-directional, so you no longer need the rotater ring on the original mount.

[donandmax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Rocker Ok to try to answer all the questions, no I am not the original owner, I purchased this coach about a year ago and have been fighting small electrical problems ever since. In repairing the dash radio (no power) I found numerous scotch lock and butt splices in the harness, so the previous owner doing something wierd is not out of the question. The new tv work well with a borrowed set of rabbitt ears. The front tv is an old analog run thru a converter box. The splitter is a Winegard amplified switch plate looking thing with a powerport. The rear plate is Winegard also and they appear to be wired correctly according to the winegard schematic. I eliminated the wiring to the front tv, hooked the antenna in lead to the new tv and it works. Took the antenna in lead thru a connector to both of the rear cables, (one to the bedroom switch plate the other to the cable in plate on the outside of the camper. Still no signal. Did the same with the borrowed rabbit ears. ditto. I still havent found my dvom to check the cable electrically. Will try again this evening. Thanks to all of you! The ideas are keeping me sane. Kent

Remember if the bedroom tv is analog you will also need a digital converter for that tv also..