Forum Discussion

Rcksmom's avatar
Rcksmom
Explorer
Apr 14, 2016

TV Antenna

We purchased a 2005 Thor Citation TT last year and absolutely love it. The previous owner or owners took very good care of it and it is in great shape and working order, and we have all of the owner's manuals for the installed items. There is a Wineguard antenna installed, I'm assuming OEM. Inside there are two cable jacks on the outlet in the living room, and two cable jacks on the outlet in the bedroom. On the outside, side rear of the camper there is a cable jack. Inside the living room cabinet there is what appears to be an aftermarket sound system panel, but it may have been also OEM. I can't remember the name of the system but I will check on that. We have the books for both the antenna and for the sound system. The panel is pretty self explanatory in that the buttons are labeled and the outlets in the back are labeled, they pretty much are to be able to send whichever signal you are using to either the living room, the bedroom, or both; and the wiring for the surround sound speakers, which work fine, when direct connected to a separate radio or CD player. The panel is for switching only, it does not contain a CD Player or Radio.
The TV we have is a new Digital TV with the over the air/cable/internet/DVD capabilities, so no converter is needed. Here's the problem. When we have the TV hooked to the Antenna, we get almost no reception no mater what direction we turn the antenna...we do get SOME variation in the snowy reception, but would never be able to watch anything. However if I disconnect the cable from the antenna of the camper and use a stand alone portable antenna, (one that we got with a little 7 inch portable TV) we get anywhere from 30 to 60 over the air programs, including locals. Since we do get some fuzz using the camper antenna, we can't tell if there is something wrong with older camper antenna, if the wiring between the antenna on the roof and the jack in the camper is bad or corroded, if we need some type of converter for the antenna even tho the TV has the built in conversion, or what is going on. We haven't tried the cable hook-up to the back of the camper since we really don't ever want to carry a separate dish/cable antenna. We're just not that into watching that much TV, but we do like to hear the local news etc. in the morning and at night...and of course if it's raining, it's nice to be able to have something to to other than sitting under the awning. Does anyone have any suggestions? Should we just try to run new cable/wire using the existing cable as fish wire? We're hesitant to do that because it would mean breaking the seal around the antenna and the wire on the roof or do we just bite the bullet, break the seal, and invest in a new antenna, maybe one of the multi directional antenna's?
  • Rcksmom's avatar
    Rcksmom
    Explorer
    Apr 19, 2016
    This is what the set up looks like

    This is the Winegard console...it is a signal distributer.

    This is the jack outlet, I found out that the top is the antenna, the bottom goes to the satellite jack that's on the outside of the camper

    These are the Jack's on the outside of the camper

    When the TV is hooked up to the top jack we get mist everything except local channels. When the TV is hooked into the bottom jack we get all the over the air near us and the locals are iffy. If this little antenna is plugged either directly in the TV or into the satellite jack outside we get everything perfect.

    These Winegard console doesn't appear to affect things either way, and neither does turning the roof antenna.
  • Rcksmom's avatar
    Rcksmom
    Explorer
    Apr 19, 2016
    This is what the set up looks like

    This is the Winegard console...it is a signal distributer.

    This is the jack outlet, I found out that the top is the antenna, the bottom goes to the satellite jack that's on the outside of the camper

    These are the Jack's on the outside of the camper

    When the TV is hooked up to the top jack we get mist everything except local channels. When the TV is hooked into the bottom jack we get all the over the air near us and the locals are iffy. If this little antenna is plugged either directly in the TV or into the satellite jack outside we get everything perfect.

    These Winegard console doesn't appear to affect things either way, and neither does turning the roof antenna.
  • Rcksmom's avatar
    Rcksmom
    Explorer
    Apr 18, 2016
    Thank you to all of you for your suggestions....I will be posting pictures later of what we have because I don't think I've explained it correctly.
    Old Biscuit; The plate(s) one in LR and one in BR, have the two jacks, neither of which are labeled; Outside on the back side of the camper there are also two different jacks and they ARE labeled one says Cable, the other says Satellite.
    RoyB; My jack outlet doesn't look anything like that and there are no switches or LED lights on it.
    Dutchman Sport; No, I may not have explained it correctly. It's the samt TV, but using a portable antenna instead of the RV antenna, I get all the stations.
    FLAGypsy; I dont think we have a booster, at least I don't see a switch for it.
    Rockhillmanor and TerryAllen; Yes, did all that, just changes ho much the TV flickers between the scrambled little boxes and the No Signal message.
    I will take pictures tonight and post them. I did look at all of our paperwork and the console that is mounted in the cabinet with the switches is also a Wineguard, but the instructions just tell you how to connect it, which is pretty self evident since all of the jacks on the back are labeled, but there is no operational instructions. The switches are also labeled, but changing the switches doesn't make any changes in reception.
    Is it possible that the outlet(s) with the jacks are ONLY for the cable and satellite being that there are two separate jacks on the outside; and then if we want to use the RV antenna the TV needs to be hooked directly to the console that is installed in the cabinet? The switches on that console only refer to two different TV's and antenna; there is no button/label that says booster or cable or anything. All of the wiring from the console goes behind the wall, which is the same wall that the jacks outlet is on; then there is a whole host of wires that comes out through the wall and into the lower cabinet. We just assumed that some of the wiring from the console went to the jacks outlet, but it could very well bypass the outlet and go directly to the bundle below that's in the cabinet. That would mean that the jacks that are on the outside of the camper go directly to the jacks outlets, and there would be no need for that console when using cable or satellite; does that make sense? Hopefully the pictures will help because we really want to get this figured out to see if we need to rewire the antenna or get a different antenna, before we re-coat the roof..
  • CavemanCharlie's avatar
    CavemanCharlie
    Explorer III
    Apr 16, 2016
    As others have said. Most likely the booster is not turned on. Their should be a button or small switch on one of the TV cable jack plates.
  • Terryallan's avatar
    Terryallan
    Explorer II
    Apr 15, 2016
    Something else to consider. the TT antenna is directional, and you can turn / aim it by pulling down on the inside mount, and turning it until the picture is better.
  • rockhillmanor's avatar
    rockhillmanor
    Explorer
    Apr 14, 2016
    X2 on all above.

    1.Make sure booster is turned on.

    2, Raise and turn your antenna to face the direction of the nearest town that broadcasts your local stations.

    3. Go to menu, antenna, and scan channels on your TV.

    4. You will have to rescan the TV for channels at each CG you go to.

    5. If the channels are digitized going in and out, slowly turn your antenna to fine tune the direction.


    When you get on the road RV'ing, when you pull into a CG 'look' which 'direction' everyone's antenna's are pointed.

    THAT will save you the time of inching your antenna around for minutes on end looking for the correct direction, your fellow campers have done the work for you!. :W
  • fla-gypsy's avatar
    fla-gypsy
    Explorer
    Apr 14, 2016
    Make certain the antenna booster is turned on, the tv is set to the correct input function and scan for available channels. Adding the "wingman" (cheap and easy) to the antenna can improve reception in most cases but the lack of one does not prevent receiving some channels.
  • DutchmenSport's avatar
    DutchmenSport
    Explorer
    Apr 14, 2016
    "The TV we have is a new Digital TV with the over the air/cable/internet/DVD capabilities,..."

    Considering you are getting stations on a different television, I don't think there is anything wrong with the camper antenna or the wire. The problem (I think) is... you are scanning your stations on the old VHF-UHF stations and not the new Digital Stations (the "dash" channels ... 8-1 / 8-2 / 8-3 etc.). You are only capturing the old analog stations. You need to scan both analog and digital.

    If you have a picture with snow or fuzz, it's analogue, not digital. If it's a digital station, you will either have a clear picture, pixil freeze, or nothing -- black screen.

    Try rescanning. I bet this is all your problem.

    You can also try taking the same television inside your house and see if it is scanning right too.
  • RoyB's avatar
    RoyB
    Explorer II
    Apr 14, 2016
    I am assuming the TV works fine with the cable input connection.

    When using the OTA ANTENNA you need make sure the TV PANEL small switch is pushed IN and shows a small LED light ON. This provide 12VDC up to the antenna where the pre-amplifier is located...


    Also your TV menu has to set to ANTENNA and a digital scan for signals has to be done first...

    Your older Trailer may not have the BATWING crank up antenna that has the added dipoles...

    It should look like this google image


    this antenna shown in the photo is pointing toward the transmitting station to the right of the picture. The added dipoles are for UHF frequencies reception...

    Roy Ken
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Apr 14, 2016
    Does wall plate look like this?




    Connect TV to lower connection and turn booster (amplifier) ON by pushing button (light ON---Booster On)

    When hooked up to 'cable' via outside connection cahnge TV to upper connection and turn booster OFF (light off)

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