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fishseeker · 01-01-2013, 11:33 AM

WE have been RVing for 40 years. Had a couple of Rigs that had TVs but took them out because never cared about sitting in front of one while Camping. Well times have changed. We will be doing semi forced fultime for a while. We have a 90 HR class A. I took out the LITTLE CRT and will be putting in a 32"(only because the DW thinks the 46" is to big). Will be taking out the VHS for Blue RAY player. Have a Sat. dish on top(manual)and a bat wing. Don't know how to use none of this stuff in and RV. Hows all this stuff work

I do have manuals for everything so that should help. Can someone SPLAIN in ENGLISH a dumby can understand.

Clayobx · 01-01-2013, 01:04 PM

I understand your issue. We too are tech challenged, however there are many technically advanced folks here. I know cause I read their input all the time. About ten percent sinks in at least when commissioning an rv tech I can speak the language and no I'm no getting handled!

LindaH · 01-01-2013, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishseeker

Have a Sat. dish on top(manual)and a bat wing.

If you're interested in using that satellite dish, the first step is to decide which service you want, DirecTV or DISH. Once that decision is made, you should be able to get a receiver for free (because you're a new customer) from either one.

Since you have a manual satellite dish on your RV, I would recommend DirecTV...you will only get SD (Standard Definition) programming (no HD, or High Definition), but all of DirecTV's SD programming comes on only one satellite (101). While you can get DISH's HD programming with your current manual dish, their SD & HD programming is spread over three satellites...which means each time you select a channel that's on a new satellite, you must get up and re-aim the dish. That will quickly become a real PITA.

You might want to consider changing out that single-LNB manual dish for a Winegard Trav'ler which is an automatic dish that can *see* all three satellites at the same time. As in step 1, you'll first have to decide which service you want to use because the Winegard Trav'ler for DISH and DirecTV are different so the one for DISH can't be used for DirecTV and vice versa.

wa8yxm · 01-01-2013, 06:48 PM

Where are you.. I'm in Upstate SC (Oconee county) and that is kind of a speciality of mine.

But the problem is there are two answers.. Some RV's have a "Box of many buttons" These buttons are grouped according to traget (TV1-VCR-TV2-TV3) and in each group are the sources (Ant/Cable/Sat/VCR/AUX/DVD) Alas this system does not work well with your Blue Ray.

If you have an HDTV. then you hook the Blue Ray up to it using an HDMI cable.. same with the SAT receiver (You may need to buy a switch) For the sat antenna, Though a few rigs are properly wired,,, Darn few.. I recommend running a brand new RG-6 cable to a good connection point.

For park cable and over the air, Most all rigs ARE properly wired.

If you do not have the box of many buttons then odds are you have a wall plate with a 12 volt outlet (useless or nearly so) a switch, LED and antenna connector.

LIGHT on = Over the air antenna (you may wish to upgrade both the antenna and the wall palte if you like local OTA TV)] Switch off Park cable.

Assuming the original owner is not you and did not mess it up .

fishseeker · 01-01-2013, 07:55 PM

I'm 30 miles North of Seattle, I can see I-5 from the back yard. Yup I got web feet. Think I got one of those boxes, To cold to go look tonight. Nice thing is all the cables are labeled. Guess I need to decide which company to deal with. I think I'm just far enough from Seattle the OTA is out of the question. DW would drive me bonkers if she can't watch her reruns of NCIS and those type shows all day and night.

Rludtke · 01-08-2013, 07:16 PM

If you have WIFI acces, spend $40 on a ROKU box, and then subscribe to Netflix for $8/month, and watch tv episodes over the internet. Subscribe to HULU for &8/month to see current run TV. For current run movies, you can stream from Amazon for a $3-4 depending on the movie.

Digital tv is availible over the air at no cost, and in High Def. You just need an antenea and digital tv. Your coach's anteana should work fine. My house is on southern Whidbey Island, and I receive Seattle channels (and beyond) no sweat.

Roku Streaming Player | Roku Streaming Player

We use our antenea, Roku and our Playstation 3 at home to accomplish our TV and movie watching for $16 per month in subscription fees via HULU and Netflix. We cut the cord on cable- too expensive.

For TV's, I recomend a 12 volt LCD's, some even come equipped with integral DVD players. The allows watching while driving, or dry camping without the need for an inverter or generator running. Search 12 volt tv on Ebay.

gajd33 · 01-08-2013, 08:06 PM

I usually just find a neighbor kid. If he can fog a mirror then he can probaly set that up for you in 5 minutes. Kids now a days are incredible with technology. My neighbor's son runs his own website and he is only 12.

wa8yxm · 01-09-2013, 09:51 AM

How they work in an RV is much the same as in a house but there is one major problem... Different cables..

In days of old when folks were bold everything hooked up with simple 72ohm Coax usually RG-59.

And it worked,, but your blue ray player does not have a coax out on it, neither do most DVD players,, This means you can't go that way.. now DVD players have A/V out (3 RCA or Phono (2 names same jack) red, yellow and white, that can be sent to a small "Balck box" called a modulater and IT has coax out.
Blue-ray has HDMI, and a slightly different black box can again be used.

Sat;TV receivers used to all have coax out, Not all do any more, again some have A/V some HDMI.

Your coach is wired with coax.

So, you need to design and build your own switch network.

Now, we come to the next problem... Different switch networks in the RV.

In short, Eyes on it's a simple job to design and set up a system for you.. Long distance.. well, the game is called "20 questions".

but it really is simple.

I just got done helping an Rver with Sat-Tv problems. The problem was: He forgot to hook it up (The antenna lead). However in trying to fix it himself he turned it into what we electronics types call a "Basket case" that is he completly disconnected the receiver,, And what is more lost one cable behind a wall..... When I left he was watching Bones on Sat TV.