Input on upgrading the entertainment system
I'm sure most of you have either thought about doing this or have done it. So I'm reaching out to get input, advice, suggestions or pats on the back for a good idea.:)
In March I picked up my first class A Motorhome. 2005 40' 4 slide out Monaco Diplomat. So far it has been awesome and I love it. However, I am a tech guy and love my movies in hi def and surround sound as well as my sports. I was not too surprised to see that the entertainment system was outdated. The combo Receiver DVD/VHS is old and It was only wired so that surround sound was just for movies and not even for the cable. Obviously all wires leading to the 3 TV's are Coax and not HDMI. The surround sound has 5 speakers in the ceiling and a subwoffer hidden in a lower cabinet and work well. The front dash CD radio has its own 6 speakers, 4 in the Galley/living area ceiling and 2 in back bedroom. These work great and I've added an Ipod docking cord that comes out from under the dash.
Sooooo, now I've bought 2 bluray players, A winegard carryout answer satellite dish, 2 vip211K Dish receiver boxes (these worked great together at the Stanford tailgate last Saturday. Just took a bit to get them set up). I will now be looking to get a designated receiver and toss the combo Receiver/dvd/vhs player. I believe that I should have no problem wiring the old Speaker wires to the new receiver as they are easily accessible and marked. The old Receiver combo does use a special plug for them in the back but I can see where I can cut them off and just hard wire it like the traditional at home speaker wires that I have to my receiver.
Here are the issues-
1. I would still like to use a switch box to get Antenna TV and Campsite cable to the Tv's in case my Satellite has issues.
2. I would like to use the Cable box and the Bluray player from the main tv to get to the outside TV.
3. I would like to utilize the Receiver and the surround sound for all TV mediums on the main TV. (i.e. Cable, SAT, Bluray, Ant)
I have thought of purchasing a Wireless HDMI kit. Costco has a very high rated one for under $200. It has 2 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output (for main TV) the Receiver box has an HDMI output for outside TV plus it is powered by a USB cord which my outside tv is equipped with. This way I can velcro it to back of TV and there will be no visible cords. I thought this would work to get Sat and Bluray to outside TV.
Still trying to figure out how to get the Campsite Cable and Antenna feed to go into receiver. They are both delivered by coax and none of the new receivers have a coax input let alone 2 of them. I have been looking for a small device that turns coax into HDMI or turns it into RCA jacks to go into the receiver but no luck.
Anyway, I'm close to having problem solved (at least in my head and diagraming on paper) but any thoughts would be welcome.
Thanks,
Frankie
In March I picked up my first class A Motorhome. 2005 40' 4 slide out Monaco Diplomat. So far it has been awesome and I love it. However, I am a tech guy and love my movies in hi def and surround sound as well as my sports. I was not too surprised to see that the entertainment system was outdated. The combo Receiver DVD/VHS is old and It was only wired so that surround sound was just for movies and not even for the cable. Obviously all wires leading to the 3 TV's are Coax and not HDMI. The surround sound has 5 speakers in the ceiling and a subwoffer hidden in a lower cabinet and work well. The front dash CD radio has its own 6 speakers, 4 in the Galley/living area ceiling and 2 in back bedroom. These work great and I've added an Ipod docking cord that comes out from under the dash.
Sooooo, now I've bought 2 bluray players, A winegard carryout answer satellite dish, 2 vip211K Dish receiver boxes (these worked great together at the Stanford tailgate last Saturday. Just took a bit to get them set up). I will now be looking to get a designated receiver and toss the combo Receiver/dvd/vhs player. I believe that I should have no problem wiring the old Speaker wires to the new receiver as they are easily accessible and marked. The old Receiver combo does use a special plug for them in the back but I can see where I can cut them off and just hard wire it like the traditional at home speaker wires that I have to my receiver.
Here are the issues-
1. I would still like to use a switch box to get Antenna TV and Campsite cable to the Tv's in case my Satellite has issues.
2. I would like to use the Cable box and the Bluray player from the main tv to get to the outside TV.
3. I would like to utilize the Receiver and the surround sound for all TV mediums on the main TV. (i.e. Cable, SAT, Bluray, Ant)
I have thought of purchasing a Wireless HDMI kit. Costco has a very high rated one for under $200. It has 2 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output (for main TV) the Receiver box has an HDMI output for outside TV plus it is powered by a USB cord which my outside tv is equipped with. This way I can velcro it to back of TV and there will be no visible cords. I thought this would work to get Sat and Bluray to outside TV.
Still trying to figure out how to get the Campsite Cable and Antenna feed to go into receiver. They are both delivered by coax and none of the new receivers have a coax input let alone 2 of them. I have been looking for a small device that turns coax into HDMI or turns it into RCA jacks to go into the receiver but no luck.
Anyway, I'm close to having problem solved (at least in my head and diagraming on paper) but any thoughts would be welcome.
Thanks,
Frankie
