Moving ahead with Satellite - Newbie questions

obiwancanoli wrote:
Ok, found the OTA/cable wall switch easily enough. And the tiny light... still looking for a few more answers...

Too much to re-read. What other questions might we answer?

I have an OTA King Controls system like this, factory installed, in my 2018 Navion. The video demonstrates the parts and functions. The little lights are on the roof mounted antenna directional control. Mine has little blue lights that indicate signal strength as I rotate the antenna. They are demoed at around the 7:30 mark of the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JRl5MFzT-8
I'm thinking your motorhome is much larger and probably has something different, but I thought this might be similar enough to give you something to look for.

Ok, found the OTA/cable wall switch easily enough. And the tiny light... still looking for a few more answers...

Thank you, Bill... any thoughts on my other questions?

OTA=Over the air TV antenna. Look for the wall plate. The tiny light needs to be off to get cable to come through.

Bill, no, was a brand new RV for me, Turning off the OTA (what's that?) TV antenna power supply is new to me, no idea where that's at, but will investigate that... materials I received with RV don't speak to setting up the tv's, cable, satellite, cable box, etc., etc... having to learn this on my own, and much is a mystery, so thanks for your help!

Don't confuse the satellite TV receiver (Wally) with anything having to do with cable. For campground cable you just connect a length of coax from the campground power pole connection to the RV input cable connection (not the ones in the bays where a TV is expected to be). You then turn OFF the OTA TV antenna power supply (small wall plate with push button or slide switch and a tiny light) and this allows cable to go to the TV's instead of OTA. Change the TV input from Antenna to Cable and do a new channel scan.
The satellite TV and your Pathway X2 cannot use the same cable input connection without some wiring modifications so how that setup works will be a separate discussion. Has someone ever used satellite TV in that RV?

Also, our Winnebago has one of these to transfer HDMI from the compartment over the driver (where the box lives) to the living area TV. HDMI does not carry much more than 12 feet so for longer runs you need these. The Winnebago also has an infrared "repeater" that has a lens by the TV that "sees" the remote signal and transfers it to an emitter in the compartment where the sat box lives (the 211z does not have the RF remote the Wallys do). To watch different shows on different TVs using satellite, you do need 2 satellite boxes. I do not know if you can split an HDMI signal like cable TV and the small boxes I have seen only have 1 HDMI port. In any event, getting satellite to a bedroom TV is a real challenge as you either have to use a device like this (and find a way to run the wire) or find a way to get a direct run of coax between the box and the dish (to put the box by the TV).
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1080P-3D-HDMI-to-RJ45-Network-Extender-Over-Single-Cable-Cat6-6A-7-Ethernet-IR/253260863104?epid=4008013192&hash=item3af7861680:g:nnAAAOSwuLRZyPQl

Our Winnebago has 2 outside jacks, one marked satellite, the other cable. In a compartment above the driver was the other end of the satellite line as well as a HDMI connection that is wired to the TV. There was also a satellite connection cable buried under the roof skin and measurements were furnished in the manual as to where to bore a hole to get at it for a roof mounted antenna. When I put the dish on the roof, I had to pull the jack in the compartment to switch the cable to connect the roof line to the jack (rather than the run to the outside connection) Our last RV had a manual roof mounted dish and when we got our new coach I opted to use our new Tailgater as a portable to 'dodge trees' for a while. After a few months, I just mounted it on the roof as I found I was climbing up there to set the dish on the roof anyway to dodge bushes. I found it was a wash as to whether having it portable was a plus or minus. Tailgater antennas have 2 output jacks that require 2 cables if you want to use two boxes. The problem I've seen with coach TV wiring is that the cable circuit really will not work with satellite as for satellite, you must have a straight run between the dish and the box. Any type of splitter keeps the system from working and the splitters are usually inacessibly buried in the wall somewhere. Being able to make a direct cable run for satellite bedroom TV is a real problem on most coaches. The cable connection should let you run all your TVs off cable (after setting the TV menu to cable). That said, for cable, you generally have to be sure the over-the-air antenna amplifier is turned off (usually a wall plate with a small pin button and light) and for over-the-air reception, the amplifier on and the TV menu set to antenna. We are not that technically inclined and found that we never used the additional features on our home DISH box (DVR, etc.) so ended up returning it and just moving the 211z back and forth in our home and RV. Saved $7 a month and the remote operation is now consistent in the house and RV. I can only speak from experience of buying my system outright (Tailgater and 211Z).

We had Direct TV for 5 or more years and the first 4 years were great then they started to up the price each season we would had it turned on. It started out at $29 for the season and it got up to $79 for the last season that's when we stopped the service. The auto ant. is still sitting on the RV but we never turn it on now.
We can camp without a Tv, but it was nice for the weather when we were on no the road.