TV Antenna no longer works

If you live where there are squirrels then check to see if they chewed thru the cable at the mast head...

HappyKayakers wrote:
That happened to me once and it was the coax connection at the antenna head. All that driving can vibrate a connector loose enough to lose contact.

The op didn't say what antenna they had, but if it is a Jack, the wire you speak of, going to the antenna head is a small, very fragile RG179 cable. Ours broke and I had the same problem.

I would first check all of the connectors on the coax cable. RV manufacturers normally use "screw on" connectors. Go thru and rescrew the connectors or take them off and have someone install crimp-on professional connectors. You would need to check on the powersupply for the antenna and also up top on the antenna itself for the connectors. These things will back off or even fall off in travel just like anything else that is screw together and not secured. Not a good solution for this application. Also a break in the center pin of the coax is not unusual if it has been kinked somewhere in the run to the roof. Even if everything has worked for years, all it takes is a little bit of the right vibration and it could severe a weak spot. Check continuity on the center conductor and also on the ouside sheathing. If either one lacks continutiy then you need to find the break or run a new cable.

I think if the "GREEN" light comes on when you press the BLACK button on the antenna panel indicates 12VDC is present.

You may have forgot to lower the antenna on the roof and it lives in a tree limb somewhere along the way now...

If mine ever went bad I think I would get the JACK antenna that does not crank-up just rotates...


The JACK will also mount to your existing crank up mechanics... Installs in a couple of minutes using the same pull-out pins and same RG cable with same Antenna Panel setup... Just screw in the RG cable...


We certainly would not survive very long without our BATWING antenna working... WE use ours at both camping off the power grid and at regular camp sites that has electric and cable hookups. We get 6-36 channels of full blown high def full screen TV signals from the local towns just about everywhere we go here on the East side of the US. Being in the OFF-ROAD POPUP having the live local town radar channel is a big plus for us keeping tabs on the local weather.

Roy Ken

To troubleshoot, you would need to check for 12 vdc on the coax cable at the wall plate and then at the antenna head. If you have 12 v then the booster in the head is bad. Camping World sells a replacement.

I had the same problem once. I had a blown fuse in the fuse box. Once fuse was replaced works great.

The circuit board is not the booster, but a power supply for the booster, which is located up in the antenna. It also isolates the 12v power from the signal going to the TVs, and it also incorporates an A-B switch to switch between the cable input line and the antenna line. That said, if you have no signal at all, problem is most likely the coax to the antenna head, or the head itself. If the head is actually bad, depending on where you are, there will usually be some signal to the TV.

One idea would be to toss it out and get a new Jack ant.
I recently installed one and now I get numerous stations in places where there was no reception at all before.

That happened to me once and it was the coax connection at the antenna head. All that driving can vibrate a connector loose enough to lose contact.