Community Forums

EngineerMike · 04-21-2012, 08:43 AM

Dave- if you have literally never gotten OTA stations and have tried, its probably not the antenna, but rather the cabling. There could be a bad coax end, coax not connected, not connected properly, or cross connected so the logic of switches doesn't work. WRV used white coax & labelled the ends w/marker pen, so somebody w/patience who knows entertainment system cabling can usually dope that out.

dwebcbceo · 04-22-2012, 08:48 PM

Thanks, Engineer Mike, I appreciate your response.
When I opened the Winegard OTA antenna I found several wires broken that connect the various antenna components so that could be part of the problem. However, the cable lead was severely crimped and bent and I think that may be a problem as well. I think I'll need to pull a new cable through but pulling on the cable yielded no give. I think I need a professional in the RV TV area to take a look at this. I'll give you follow up when I get a knowledgeable person to look at this.
Thanks again,
Dave Weber
Wenatchee, WA.

Renipladlo · 04-23-2012, 11:12 PM

Dave - are you crossing the mountains before June? If so give me a call if heading to Vancouver area. I have new ends, tools and RG-6 cabling if need to fix it. Let me know.

FWIW - Behind the area where the TV is, WRV installed an antenna amplifier, which may be part of the outside antenna used on your coach (everyone here might be affected), so first check to make sure all the coax connections into that unit are tight, and there should be a indicator light showing its on. Mine is on all the time and I found it when we were camping in a dark place and all the lights were out, front shades pulled, etc. I saw the indicator light and had to figure out what it was. Also you might have the control box (don't remember the name of company) which shuts off the TV when you turn the key to the "ON" position, that also has a little light on it. Those connections are very fine wire, maybe fiber optic, and so be very gentle with them.

To gain access to that stuff, I had to remove the doors on the PS side, the wooden cover plate, and remove the direct TV receiver to gain access. While you are in there, I would change the cooling fans to a quieter model (do post search on TV cooling fans for the brand to use). I have changed one of them, and it made a difference. I used the ones with a thermostat so they speed up if it's really hot up there. I believe one owner changed the doors, or center panel of the doors to black screen metal so the air flow was better, as I leave doors open when parked.

dwebcbceo · 04-27-2012, 09:20 AM

Monty,
Thank you for your kind offer. However we will not be in the Vancouver area in the foreseeable future. Will you be coming up to the Leavenworth rally? We will be there.
I've been behind the front panels and did check all the connections I could find with no lose connections found. I need more expertise than I have so will have our local RV dealership take a look. They have a Winegard certified tech who should be able to sort this out.
On another subject do you know of any place that could rebuild our entry steps so we can have storage space there like you have on your Apex? That's a neat and useful feature.
BTW, I appreciate your information about replacing the cooling fans. They are very irritating and I've been planning to check on replacing them. That's project #489 on my Alpine to-do list. (<;;
Thanks again for all your help.
Dave Weber
Wenatchee, WA

TerryM · 04-27-2012, 10:41 AM

Dave,

If you haven't gotten it worked out by the time of the Leavenworth Rally, I can help you dig into it there. I had WRV do some unique wiring up front when we had our '09 built, but it's got the same basic components as you probably have in your coach. I pretty much rewired all the TV stuff on our '06 before and I've spent some time behind the cabinet in our current coach. We'll see you in Leavenworth.

kraig · 04-28-2012, 12:01 AM

Dave,

I don't know if it was just my luck or bad luck. I had wiring problems with my 2000 and my 2007. On my 2000, it was up at WRV for warranty problems for a month and TV wiring ended worse than when I started. I picked it up and everything was supposed to be fixed. However, I found later when I went to use the tv that they and disconnected a lot of wires and left it that way. They did leave me some cheap tools, but no wiring diagram. I don't if it was quiting time or they just quit.

Behind the tv and in the cabinet everything was messed up on both of them. I rewired everything. To trace all the incoming wires I used an ohm meter on both ends of the coax and labeled them all. For your OTH antenna, I don't know if you have batwing or the round one. My round one did not work as all the contacts inside it were corroded, so I repaced it. First I would run a coax direct from the ant through a window to portable tv and see if it works. Next if cable is ok to the booster try hooking up to a portable tv. You just have working down the line to check it out.

I did install Motosat HD which I would not recommend. It is geared very slow and looks at a lot of trees before it locks on a satellite.

If you intall any type of dish type satellite, it should be installed behind the first AC, or it will bounce on the roof going down the road.

Renipladlo · 04-28-2012, 12:10 AM

Dave we wont be at the rally, we don't have MH, as it's in the shop from the accident, they say late May, I'm thinking 1st part of July if they are lucky on the parts. About the under the stop storage, it may be only an APEX thing, we find it very handy though. I would ask other owner here, if they have it, and that would determine if I'm correct, then it is a matter of finding out who made the compartment, and it might be Magic Metals in Yakama are. Regardless, your substructure might not be setup correctly to handle it. I would have Kustom Coach Works do it if it was me. They can be reached at: 541-501-3371

Jim A · 04-28-2012, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kraig

First I would run a coax direct from the ant through a window to portable tv and see if it works.

That is a good approach to take, but in this case you need to be sure to connect that temporary cable through the Winegard antenna booster setup. Without the antenna booster working you will get much worse reception even if everything else is perfect. I get nothing without the booster being turned on, great reception with it.

Also, avoid splitters wherever possible. I worked on a friend's Alpine Coach and found 7 splitters in the line! I took them all out and went from getting about 9 OTA stations to over 90 with no change to the antenna or its direction.

Renipladlo · 04-28-2012, 11:28 AM

Note - I believe to do this job correctly, all the cabinet doors, and the front panels of the cabinets need to be removed as well. Acces is still very tight, and in some cases, WRV did lable the wires, but they may be hooked incorrectly. THey never had a true A/V specialist on staff I don't think. Based on comments read herein, no one's coach is the same, and most folks have had some issues. I will post my experience once I'm down with the RV since I need to change the cooling fans, take out the DirectTV dish and possibly upgrade to a better one, then that begs the question of:
1. New Winegard Traveler Dish @ 1500 dollars.
2. New TV since the Dell wont' do 1080P.
3. Possibly remodle the front end to accomodate all that new stuff.
Which lends itself to to much money/work for an RV which has very little value. So I will just try to fix the poor OTA situation, and change those loud fans.

dwebcbceo · 04-28-2012, 06:35 PM

Terry,
Thank you for your kind offer. I don't want you to spend your rally weekend working on another guys coach but let's meet and talk it over at the rally. In the meantime I will do a little work "behind the scenes" myself to see if I can come up with any solutions.
Dave Weber
Wenatchee, WA
08 Alpine Limited SE 40MDTS

dwebcbceo · 04-28-2012, 06:44 PM

Kraig,
Thank you for your response and excellent and knowledgeable suggestions. I will follow up on your suggestions. It's discouraging to hear all the issues with Alpine assembly. Ours was one of the last ones made and it's safe to assume that they were cutting corners in addition to the usual poor electrical workmanship.
The online consensus seems to be the Weingard is the way to go.
Thanks again,
Dave Weber
08 Alpine Limited SE 40MDTS

dwebcbceo · 04-28-2012, 06:47 PM

Monty,
As Engineer Mike notes the Alpine is the "Ultimate DIY project. I'm looking at the same choices that you are for the TV, etc. I will call Kustom Coach Works to see if they can do the under steps storage. Good idea.
Dave

dwebcbceo · 04-28-2012, 06:48 PM

Jim,
Great suggestion! I'll give it a try.
Dave Weber

Jim A · 04-28-2012, 06:59 PM

Monty,

I am not familiar with the Dell TV's that were put in some coaches. Does the Dell TV do 720p or 1080i? If so the difference between 720p and 1080p on a 32" screen would not be worth a change. On 42" and above you could see a difference.

I would suggest that anybody doing any rewiring on their coach entertainment center investigate using Cables to Go Mini-coax cables. They are smaller and more flexible coax cables, and make it much easier to do the wiring. I left the heavy RG6 cables in the back and used these mini-coax cables to wire to the components. You can move things around much easier.

Do a Google or Amazon search for "cables to go mini coax".

They make them in 1.5', 3', 6', and 12' lengths, and longer ones too.

I would not consider using these for longer run, like to the bedroom TV, although they do make them up to 50' lengths. Maybe even 100'. There is not need to do that. But to wire from a main coax or a coax switch to a component, I would use them. They are perfect for wiring to the Winegard distribution switch boxes if your coach has one. The quality is great. I use them for satellite receiver connections all the time.