Community Forums

mikestiffler · 07-31-2023, 06:03 PM

Hello,

Has anyone figured a good way to get an OTA coax cable pulled to the entertainment center in a 2023 Dutch Star 4369?

Thank you,

Mike Stiffler

Dutch Star Don · 07-31-2023, 07:14 PM

The 2023 doesn't come with an antenna and cable?

GUS2000 · 08-01-2023, 04:53 AM

You should already have a rooftop antenna and the winegard antenna booster in the front cabinet over the drivers seat... (should look like the below)

make sure it is powered on. then press the search button at the top right so it will search for the direction of local channels that are in range.

RVStitchy · 08-01-2023, 05:37 AM

And if you are connecting to the park cable you need to turn the OTA off. Also, each TV needs to be programmed individually for OTA or Cable every time you move. PITA at first but you get use to it as part of your arrival set-up.

MRUSA14 · 08-01-2023, 05:41 AM

Yeah, you get used to it but it is still and always a PITA.

mikestiffler · 08-01-2023, 08:39 AM

I have all the OTA equipment in the motorhome but a physical OTA cable is not run to or located in the A/V cabinet.

I'm planning to but a DISH receiver in the A/V cabinet and wanted to connect a DISH external OTA tuner directly to the DISH receiver. This allows me to view and record local channels using just the DISH receiver. My previous motorhome had this setup and it worked out very well for me.

I was wondering and checking if someone has physically split into an existing OTA cable on that slide out and run a new cable to the A/V cabinet? It can save me so much time.

There's an outside TV and an inside TV on the slide out that has the A/V cabinet but I don't know where the OTA cables are physically run, other than to the back of each TV.

It's always a challenge to make wiring modifications on a motorhome.

hogdriver · 08-19-2023, 11:17 AM

Mike

I was planning on doing the same thing. I looked at fishing cable thru the wall, but that looked impossible.

I considered running RG-6 from the cable/antenna junction box in the back of the kitchen sink, then behind the cabinet drawers, then 99% behind the couch window valances, then behind the upper cabinet into the A/V cabinet. The cable would be visible for about 3 inches near the corner of the kitchen counter. I might do that.

I talked with my dealer about paying him to run the cable, but it was sounding waaaayyyy expensive.

He did suggest if you don’t use an exterior tripod setup you could disconnect the A/B box and reuse that cable run into the electrical hookup bay.

Bucky573 · 08-20-2023, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikestiffler

I have all the OTA equipment in the motorhome but a physical OTA cable is not run to or located in the A/V cabinet.

I'm planning to but a DISH receiver in the A/V cabinet and wanted to connect a DISH external OTA tuner directly to the DISH receiver. This allows me to view and record local channels using just the DISH receiver. My previous motorhome had this setup and it worked out very well for me.

I was wondering and checking if someone has physically split into an existing OTA cable on that slide out and run a new cable to the A/V cabinet? It can save me so much time.

There's an outside TV and an inside TV on the slide out that has the A/V cabinet but I don't know where the OTA cables are physically run, other than to the back of each TV.

It's always a challenge to make wiring modifications on a motorhome.

If you have the winegard plate in your av cabinet, you have an OTA cable to the backside of that plate. There are three cables attached to the back of that controller. One cable IN coming from the compartment where you connect the cable tv supplied by park. One cable IN from your OTA antenna and then another cable OUT going to TVs. Normally the out goes to a distribution box that connects to all tvs.

I put a splitter on the OTA cable before the winegard plate. Took one to Winegard plate and the other to the Dish OTA devise to my Hopper.

mikestiffler · 02-16-2025, 09:52 PM

Hello,

As a follow-up to my OTA cable wiring question here’s what I did.

I installed a two-position manual selector switch behind the main TV and ran the second OTA coax cable up to the entertainment center. I looped the OTA cable in the area behind the couch to follow the other cables that move up and down with the TV. I drilled a hole thru the shelf to run the cable into the back corner area of the window valance. There is just enough room to avoid the shades. Once the OTA cable was behind the window valance it was easy to run it to the entertainment cabinet. To hide the hole and the OTA cable I remounted the window valances down to a one-eighth inch gap above the shelf. Unless your eyes are directly in line with the gap you can’t see the hole and OTA cable in the back corner. The tops of the window valances are still covered by the top trim. I connected the new OTA cable to the back of my Dish receiver. Now I can surf OTA channels on the TV or switch the OTA signal to the Dish receiver. When the signal is switched to the Dish receiver I can watch, pause, rewind, and record local OTA channels using the Dish receiver’s remote control.