Weird AV settings

[nebster]

I finally got to sit down tonight and figure out what in the world was going on with the AV setup in 2015 DSDP. I'm fairly AV savvy and was mostly stymied by not having (a) time, (b) extra cables from my big pile back home, and (c) the ability to take apart that insane amount of velcro holding all the boxes in the cabinet above the driver. (To be fair, I am happy for all that velcro, because I don't want to hear those things bouncing around.)

Anyway, the way Newmar sets up the AV, at least on my rig, is really weird:

1. They don't use the HDMI switching built into the Sony receiver they set up.
2. They do supply an extra HDMI splitter for an extra video device, to be provided by customer. (Most commonly satellite, I suspect.) This is redundant if they'd fix #1.
3. They backfeed the audio from the main TV (the one on the elevator) to the AV receiver via optical cable.
4. They plug a random RCA cable into the coax input, but leave it hiding back behind the stack of boxes. (?)
5. They have the speaker settings configured wrong in the receiver, preventing incoming 2-channel audio from being sent to the subwoofer. The speakers in the ceiling are tiny and tinny, so we really want that sub to make things a little more balanced.

It was number three that was getting me, because the first thing I did when we "moved in" is try to plug my laptop into the HDMI input on the splitter and get some audio going. But the audio only works, in their setup, if the big TV is turned on. Who wants a TV on just to listen to music?

Number one is kind of sad, because it would simplify the cabling back there considerably. I think the one advantage of the way they have it set up is that you could watch two difference sources on the two different coach TVs simultaneously. Maybe that's something lots of people want.

I ripped it all out tonight and hooked it all back together in a more straightforward, typical way. Now the receiver switches all inputs into one video output which then gets split to all the TVs. This lets any input drive the coach 5.1 system independent of any display device. It also means you can get the on screen display for the AV receiver on any display device, should you wish to reconfigure the receiver -- which I had to do because of #5.

I disconnected the optical backfeed (it's wired through the coach, so it'll just sit there), removed the spurious coax input cable, took out one HDMI splitter and power cord, and wrapped all of its outgoing HDMI cables up and clipped them to the back of the cabinet. Now my Mac Mini can sit up there and be the media server, and I have another long HDMI input cable available if someone else wants to show some video or play some music off their laptop down the road.

Yay!

[PDR John]

That is why I removed everything and hooked it all up my way.

The link to it is under the mods and my user name.

["007"]

Here------ in QT'S # 3 is what John is talking about one of many in his MOD Section.
All the links are below in my signature.

[newmarpusher]

You'll need the optical "backfeed " in place if you want to watch the built in Netflix etc of the TV and hear it through the surround system.

On my 2015 Ventana with the HDMI option, the main tv backfeed is only a cheesy red/white analog cable back to the reciever. With a nice ground loop. :(

[PDR John]

We have a Western Digital Live TV Hub that is connected to a 6TB hard drive, we can stream through it. So it's connected to the receiver via HDMI.

The hard drive stores all our DVDs, around 700 videos, all in one small package.

[wa8yxm]

I have come to believe that when it comes to A/V wiring.

They would have problems answering that old question sort of asked in the Jerry Lewis movie (The sequence goes like this.. NOT sure of the rank howevr): Doctor: Sgt, do you know the difference between your.........Cut to military type answering: Of course I know the difference Y"ou need a shovel to dig a hole in the ground".

ON my older pre ATSC rv they plugged into AUDIO-L IN, AUDIO-R IN, and VIDEO OUT.. For some reason it did not work properly.

For some reason I had problems fixing it cause.... hard to hit the right jack when you are busy LAMO.

[newmarpusher]

Originally Posted by PDR John

We have a Western Digital Live TV Hub that is connected to a 6TB hard drive, we can stream through it. So it's connected to the receiver via HDMI.

The hard drive stores all our DVDs, around 700 videos, all in one small package.

I only mentioned the Smart TV functions since we actually used them on our overnight PDI stay. We didn't have our DISH receiver with us so we dialed up the Netflix app on the main tv and watched a few of our shows we follow there using my iPhone data plan. (With the ATT rollover data, I had 48GB to use this month! )

The picture quality was amazingly good but the audio through the cheesy analog connection with the ground loop hum was annoying. I wish I had that optical feed back that the DS apparently has.

[Algoma]

When we ordered our coach I decided not to pay for the HDMI upgrade (whatever that was) and take the basic setup. Newmar did not offer the 40" TV upgrade on the Ventana so I knew I would throw all this out and do my own thing. The DVD was connected to the TV via an FM modulator using the coax so that got thrown out and replaced with an HDMI direct connection. I have added an HD Radio tuner to the A/V and a proper FM antenna, and so it goes on. Reading the above comments I do not seem to be alone in wondering what Newmar was thinking.

[FlyingDiver]

Electronics systems integration is not Newmar's strong suit. OTOH, the OP basically broke the system that Newmar designed by not allowing for different input devices to play on different TVs. The problem with RVs is that they come with two, three, or even four TVs, and most RVers are used to being able to play any input device (Sat, DVD/BD, Cable, OTA, etc) on any TV. Doing that properly is a very expensive proposition. So they do they best they can while staying in a reasonable equipment budget.

That said, I don't use the component switching system that was originally installed in our coach. I have a Genie Client and AppleTV connected to the BR TV, everything else connected to the LR TV, and the basement TV isn't even installed right now...

[newmarpusher]

Originally Posted by Algoma

... The DVD was connected to the TV via an FM modulator using the coax s...

State of the Art in 1982.

[PDR John]

Originally Posted by newmarpusher

State of the Art in 1982.

That's pretty state of the art for the Amish.

[andyh]

I guess Newmar's logic to use the splitters is for using the outside TV for source selection without using an IR repeater. Even if this is the case, they could have hooked one of the ouputs of the splitters to the receiver.
I have rewired my AV compartment similar to yours, Nebster, but since i have only the elevator TV, I eliminated all the HDMI splitters. The next project is to put a shelf in to separate the components and to add a fan to improve cooling.
Newmars electrical engineering department has been improving thru the years, demonstrated by the difference between my 2008 and 2015 DS, but it is still not up with the best.

[nebster]

Originally Posted by andyh

I have rewired my AV compartment similar to yours, Nebster, but since i have only the elevator TV, I eliminated all the HDMI splitters.

It's funny, I really wish I didn't have all the TVs. We don't even own a TV at home, although we have a projector for the occasional movie. The TVs take up a lot of space, they kind of dominate the look, and especially the one in the bedroom is taking up the spot where I want to put my computer instead.

It was funny, buying a tiny house on wheels with six TVs in it (seven if you count the backup camera monitor?). Several more TVs than we have bought in our lifetime, I think. But we do love the Death Star. Hehe.

[Algoma]

Originally Posted by newmarpusher

You'll need the optical "backfeed " in place if you want to watch the built in Netflix etc of the TV and hear it through the surround system.

On my 2015 Ventana with the HDMI option, the main tv backfeed is only a cheesy red/white analog cable back to the reciever. With a nice ground loop. :(

If you have an HDMI cable from the output of the A/V unit to the TV there should be an audio return channel so that you get good sound from the TV back to the A/V. Of course this only works if the TV has an HDMI with ARC, which I don't know in your case.