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spinners1's avatar
spinners1
Explorer
May 13, 2014

Itasca Sunova TV antenna Coax problem

I have a 2004 Itasca Sunova. Recently we lost reception of TV on the roof top antenna. I have completely diagnosed the problem (I have aback ground in electronics) and isolated it to the coax cable between the antenna and the amplifier inside the coach. It appears to have a break somewhere in it's length. If I jump this with a coax everything works fine. The problem is, how to replace the installed coax. I have looked at all the wiring diagrams and diagrams of how the coach is put together and cannot find a way to replace it without tearing the ceiling apart. I tried the old standby of attaching a wire to the old one and just pulling it through, both from the inside and the outside, but it won't budge.

Has anyone had to replace this coax (it's only about 7 or 8 feet) and how did you do it?
Class A

8 Replies

  • SCVJeff's avatar
    SCVJeff
    Explorer
    May 14, 2014
    wMiRV wrote:
    ---snip---
    If you have a Fluke, you could isolate the exactly where the cable is bad…
    ---snip---.

    How would you do that? A Fluke is a DVM, not a TDR
  • BryceB's avatar
    BryceB
    Explorer
    May 14, 2014
    I just went through this on my TT. My cable was spliced under the antenna (Winegard Sensar) on the roof with f-connectors and a barrel connector. I was able to get enough pulled out (about 6 inches) and replace the ed on the cable under the roof, put the barrel connector back and run a new cable up the mast to the antenna. That took care of it for me. Try to see if you can find a splice under the antenna to replace.

    I put a Jack Antenna on it and it's so much better.
  • MiRV's avatar
    MiRV
    Explorer
    May 14, 2014
    @spinners1

    We had the same issue on our 2002 Sunova. I spoke with the Itasca folks and all of those cables were bundled and sprayed with expandable foam during installation at the factory. So it's not possible to "pull" new cable -- bad design if you ask me. I pulled as much up top and made a new connection…seemed to fix mine for now.

    If you have a Fluke, you could isolate the exactly where the cable is bad…

    So…the only way to do a fix is to run a new cable along a new path…best path is down from the antenna to the inside and back to a cabinet (if you can angle it properly from the top, would make it a lot cleaner installation). Then run the cable behind the various cabinets up to the front connection.
  • spinners1's avatar
    spinners1
    Explorer
    May 14, 2014
    Thanks Tommy. Yes I did that. I even clipped the coax back a few inches just in case there was water wicking up the wire. I also used dielectric grease to displace any water that may have gotten in. Since the antenna itself was so old I upgraded to a new antenna as well. Everything works fine if I bypass the coax. I suspect that flexing of the exposed part over the years has done it in. Coax doesn't last forever. In my younger days as a fire control (gunfire) technician on Coast Guard ships I replaced a lot of coax.
  • tommy_g's avatar
    tommy_g
    Explorer
    May 13, 2014
    Have you changed out the connectors on both ends and checked for corrosion? The fittings are always more suspect than the cable.
  • spinners1's avatar
    spinners1
    Explorer
    May 13, 2014
    Thanks Bill. I was afraid of that. I had guessed that the Cable was bundled or connected to something that was preventing it from being pulled. What I have done now is to run a coax down to the cable input and then attached the cable coax inside to the antenna in connection on the amplifier. I think I will just live with that. It works fine but looks messy. We don't use cable or satellite so it doesn't interfere with that. I really don't want to start tearing things apart. My wife would probably go ballistic.
  • Bill_Satellite's avatar
    Bill_Satellite
    Explorer II
    May 13, 2014
    You will likely need to pull down some portion of the ceiling or taking a new route from the power supply to the roof. That would require a new small hole in the roof which would be simple to seal but it may likely be a much better option that going into the ceiling. The wiring is tied into the factory wiring harness and cannot be used as a pull (I believe you have already discovered) so the only option is getting access to the entire length of cable or rerouting a new cable.

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