Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > THE OWNER'S CORNER FORUMS > Newmar Owner's Forum
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 11-28-2021, 11:04 PM   #1
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 48
Anyone own a 2000-2005 era Newmar Moutain Aire? Need help with A/V setup!

Hey all - the previous owner of my 2000 Mountain Aire pretty much stripped the coach of all A/V electronics. He left two flat screen TVs but took the satellite receiver, surround sounds receiver, DVD player, video switch, and left me with a mess of wires! So now I bought all of the missing electronics and I am ready to hook them up but the existing wiring does not make any sense! For example, in the electronics cabinet (overhead behind the passenger seat), there are wires for the surround sound speakers, there are the sateliite 1 & 2 coax cables (coming from the Winegard satellite dish), and there is the external cable TV coax port. All of this wiring leads me to believe this is the central A/V cabinet where the coax cables should be for the front and rear TVs and also should be and where the Magnadyne video switch should be. Problem is, there is wiring for everything else except the TVs! And what is even more strange is that above the driver seat, there is a small A/V cabinet that has two coax cables, presumably for the front & rear TVs. So how does the satellite dish video get all the way over from the passenger side A/V cabinet to the two coax cables that supposedly feed the two flat screen TVs?

Pictures:

Sorry for the first two pictures being tilted 90deg to the left. The pictures are not formatted like that on my PC, not sure why they uploaded like that.

Pic 1 - A/V cabinet above driver seat. Shows two coax cable that I think go out to the front and rear TVs Also in the background you will notice the little silver box which is a Winegard TV antenna amplifier (not using this).

Pic 2 - this shows a strange wiring connector in the same driver side A/V cabinet as above. Looks like something that plugs into the back of a DIN type radio.

Pic 3 - this is what I presume is the main A/V cabinet since the Winegard satellite dish cables are here, surround sounds receiver wires, cable TV hookup, etc. As mentioned, all the wires are here to hook up all the electronics except no coax cables to the TVs!
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_9274.jpg
Views:	53
Size:	162.2 KB
ID:	350047   Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_9276.jpg
Views:	40
Size:	163.6 KB
ID:	350048  

Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_9271.jpg
Views:	44
Size:	289.4 KB
ID:	350049  
SoCalD is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 11-29-2021, 06:38 AM   #2
Moderator Emeritus
 
Spk64's Avatar


 
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Southern Indiana
Posts: 19,417
Anyone own a 2000-2005 era Newmar Moutain Aire? Need help with A/V setup!

This is a map of how the original AV wiring was in our 2002 MADP.
The Driver overhead also contained a CD player which may be the one bundle of wires you show. Also located in driver overhead was the Box of Many Buttons which allowed the inputs to be toggled for each of the outputs.
Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_2317.jpg
Views:	70
Size:	95.0 KB
ID:	350067
Click image for larger version

Name:	Lhv7rjT-0%21sizeoriginal.jpg
Views:	49
Size:	266.5 KB
ID:	350068
I have since ran HDMI cable to the Front TV and use a Roku for rear TV. So the coax is only for OTA presently.
__________________
Steve
2002 Newmar Mountain Aire 4095
Spk64 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-29-2021, 10:11 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 313
Yours looks a lot like my 04 Dutch Star. Mine has a winegard switch above the driver seat and that's where the cable connection from the rear outside compartment comes from. From there it distributes coax to the front, rear, and outside compartment tv's. It also has a DVD player that ties into the Winegard. The cabinet above the passenger seat holds the surround sound player and there should be color coded speaker wiring for it there in the cabinet. The overhead coax panels are for your factory satellite system on the roof. If you don't plan to put another system on the roof then you can just ignore them.

If you have a Winegard external antenna above the passenger seat then that wiring also goes back to the Winegard switch above the driver seat.

FWIW, I have pretty well abandoned the Winegard switch above the driver seat. I went with a portable Wally (Dish) system for about a year and then switched to Firetv and use it with my ATT Uverse subscription at home. I still use the surround sound for music when we just don't want to listen to TV.

You coach has old school wiring and setup and now would be the time to come into the 20's. That's what I did.

I replaced the Winegard antenna with a King Jack setup and it works better. I tied a DVD player directly into the front flatscreen tv and load the dvd's in the cabinet above the driver seat. We do have some issues with the Fire tv downloading when we have a weak signal or when ATT decides we are using too much data but that's not the systems fault.
Fefanatic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-29-2021, 11:39 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Metamora, MI
Posts: 5,518
I have a 2002 MA and if I were you, I would bite the bullet and rewire for modern HDMI and ethernet devices.
__________________
2002 Newmar Mountain Aire Limited 4370 w/ Spartan K2 and Cummins 500hp
ASE Master Certified (a long.....time ago...)
Dav L is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-29-2021, 12:13 PM   #5
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 48
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spk64 View Post
This is a map of how the original AV wiring was in our 2002 MADP.
The Driver overhead also contained a CD player which may be the one bundle of wires you show. Also located in driver overhead was the Box of Many Buttons which allowed the inputs to be toggled for each of the outputs.
Attachment 350067
Attachment 350068
I have since ran HDMI cable to the Front TV and use a Roku for rear TV. So the coax is only for OTA presently.
Thanks Steve! Makes sense now. And I am sure the random DIN type wiring was for a CD changer. That really confused me! Question, on the passenger side cabinet. there is the coax port labeled "cable" that is on the ceiling. Is that where I should connect the output from the satellite receiver to it will feed the satellite TV signal to the switch over the driver seat and then on to the two TVs?
SoCalD is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-29-2021, 12:21 PM   #6
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 48
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fefanatic View Post
Yours looks a lot like my 04 Dutch Star. Mine has a winegard switch above the driver seat and that's where the cable connection from the rear outside compartment comes from. From there it distributes coax to the front, rear, and outside compartment tv's. It also has a DVD player that ties into the Winegard. The cabinet above the passenger seat holds the surround sound player and there should be color coded speaker wiring for it there in the cabinet. The overhead coax panels are for your factory satellite system on the roof. If you don't plan to put another system on the roof then you can just ignore them.

If you have a Winegard external antenna above the passenger seat then that wiring also goes back to the Winegard switch above the driver seat.

FWIW, I have pretty well abandoned the Winegard switch above the driver seat. I went with a portable Wally (Dish) system for about a year and then switched to Firetv and use it with my ATT Uverse subscription at home. I still use the surround sound for music when we just don't want to listen to TV.

You coach has old school wiring and setup and now would be the time to come into the 20's. That's what I did.

I replaced the Winegard antenna with a King Jack setup and it works better. I tied a DVD player directly into the front flatscreen tv and load the dvd's in the cabinet above the driver seat. We do have some issues with the Fire tv downloading when we have a weak signal or when ATT decides we are using too much data but that's not the systems fault.
Thanks Fenatic! Similar to what I asked Steve, would my satellite receiver output connect to the "cable" coax port on the ceiling in the passenger side A/V cabinet? I have the two coax input cables coming from my Winegard sat dish in that cabinet but not sure where to connect the output signal?
SoCalD is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-29-2021, 12:22 PM   #7
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 48
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dav L View Post
I have a 2002 MA and if I were you, I would bite the bullet and rewire for modern HDMI and ethernet devices.
Yeah, could love to do that but the cables seem buried in the chassis with no easy way to access them to replace. Seems like I would have to tear apart the ceiling. Am I missing some sort of easy access conduit?
SoCalD is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-29-2021, 12:44 PM   #8
Moderator Emeritus
 
Spk64's Avatar


 
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Southern Indiana
Posts: 19,417
Anyone own a 2000-2005 era Newmar Moutain Aire? Need help with A/V setup!

Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCalD View Post
Thanks Steve! Makes sense now. And I am sure the random DIN type wiring was for a CD changer. That really confused me! Question, on the passenger side cabinet. there is the coax port labeled "cable" that is on the ceiling. Is that where I should connect the output from the satellite receiver to it will feed the satellite TV signal to the switch over the driver seat and then on to the two TVs?
Edit: No, if you have one labeled Sat. Use that one and should have a jumper on the cable so that signal can be split over the driver seat also.
__________________
Steve
2002 Newmar Mountain Aire 4095
Spk64 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-29-2021, 12:49 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 313
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCalD View Post
Thanks Fenatic! Similar to what I asked Steve, would my satellite receiver output connect to the "cable" coax port on the ceiling in the passenger side A/V cabinet? I have the two coax input cables coming from my Winegard sat dish in that cabinet but not sure where to connect the output signal?
Yes, it could either be jumped to the cable going over to the driver side cabinet or it could be connected to the receiver if placed in that cabinet. If put in that cabinet then the other cable connection would need to go from receiver to switch at the driver cabinet. Either way, it depends on where you put the satellite receiver.

Edit to add: There are adapters out there to adapt hdmi and other interfaces to coax cable. I would save a total rewire. I had to do that in a Hurricane motorhome we owned years ago. It solved a lot of problems going that way.
Fefanatic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-29-2021, 12:50 PM   #10
Moderator Emeritus
 
Spk64's Avatar


 
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Southern Indiana
Posts: 19,417
You could use the cable also but then when you may want to use cable the jumper needs put back in place.
__________________
Steve
2002 Newmar Mountain Aire 4095
Spk64 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2021, 05:51 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 1,932
I stripped out all of the original AV equipment in my 2005 MADP 4032. Stripped out all of the wiring that I could reach. Also removed the old in motion dish from the roof. It was a good 50 lbs of outdated equipment.

We also removed the TV from the bedroom, got Newmar to make us doors, and gained storage.

I have a 40" TCL in the front. I connect it to a Pathway X2 or stream to it.

As far as the original coax is concerned, there are probably hidden splitters in it that you will never find.
bentjm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2021, 08:12 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Metamora, MI
Posts: 5,518
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCalD View Post
Yeah, could love to do that but the cables seem buried in the chassis with no easy way to access them to replace. Seems like I would have to tear apart the ceiling. Am I missing some sort of easy access conduit?
There are always ways to route cable. For example, I used the HVAC duct to put plenum rated cables front to back of the coach.

It's also possible so snake across the ceiling...not easy, but possible with the right tools, experience and patience.

It's a given that at some point you will have to upgrade to HDMI. The old equipment isn't worth spending any time on.
Go to a good auto radio store. They can figure it out.
__________________
2002 Newmar Mountain Aire Limited 4370 w/ Spartan K2 and Cummins 500hp
ASE Master Certified (a long.....time ago...)
Dav L is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2021, 09:18 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: tn
Posts: 143
Quote:
Originally Posted by bentjm View Post
I stripped out all of the original AV equipment in my 2005 MADP 4032. Stripped out all of the wiring that I could reach. Also removed the old in motion dish from the roof. It was a good 50 lbs of outdated equipment.

We also removed the TV from the bedroom, got Newmar to make us doors, and gained storage.

I have a 40" TCL in the front. I connect it to a Pathway X2 or stream to it.

As far as the original coax is concerned, there are probably hidden splitters in it that you will never find.
Wow I want to do what you did... Mine is a 2001 4095 and the previous owner LOVED electronics... I think he purchased them all... 2 sat systems front rear and outside tv and sound... splitters, unknown boxes with lights everywhere 6" stack of manuals... it's crazy and I will never figure out what he has done... if you had 50lbs I have 100lbs I'm not a tech guy I want something simple to be able to turn on the TV and watch whatever... do you have a simple list & pointers?
ponytl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2021, 05:04 AM   #14
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 1,932
Quote:
Originally Posted by ponytl View Post
Wow I want to do what you did... Mine is a 2001 4095 and the previous owner LOVED electronics... I think he purchased them all... 2 sat systems front rear and outside tv and sound... splitters, unknown boxes with lights everywhere 6" stack of manuals... it's crazy and I will never figure out what he has done... if you had 50lbs I have 100lbs I'm not a tech guy I want something simple to be able to turn on the TV and watch whatever... do you have a simple list & pointers?
Did not really plan it all out. I was taught at an early age that if a man did it then another man can fix/change it.

I just started one morning stripping all the old stuff out. Got it all out and started measuring and figuring out what I wanted to do vs what I could do with the space I had.

Then I bought all the stuff I needed and put it all in.
bentjm is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
air, need help, newmar



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
2002 Newmar Moutain Aire Blower Fan Question RV_Guy_Mark Newmar Owner's Forum 3 06-10-2020 10:20 AM
04 Moutain Aire 3778 gas engine, workhorse chassis Megame Newmar Owner's Forum 6 07-07-2017 01:11 PM
Spartan chassis for Dutch Star, Moutain Aire, LA and Essex tom chelbana Newmar Owner's Forum 28 05-26-2016 08:10 AM
1998 Newmar Moutain Aire - Shocks & Tire Pressure Questions Mike Pellet Newmar Owner's Forum 2 08-01-2014 11:24 AM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:07 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.