Has anyone ever attempted to upgrade their old analog entertainment center to a digital format? I have a 2003 Winnebago Minnie with it's original entertainment center in it. Needless to say the thing does not work. I attempted to connect the original antenna to an led flat screen and it would not receive any signal. All wiring is coax cabling which is not compatible with the hdmi connections on the tv. We also have a small tv in the back bedroom that has a coax running to the front of the RV that when switched used to send signal to the rear tv for viewing. I'm curious if anyone knows if I can pull an hdmi cable through the walls to the rear of the RV using the coax cable as the snake. Also anyone that has attempted to upgrade their RV please chime in on things you did, things that worked and things you would do different.Here is a picture of the Entertainment Center. Click For Full-Size Image.

I upgraded my TV to a new TV, but for the antenna I still use a coax cable from the antenna. The TV had both HDMI and a coax cable connection. Used the coax cable to connect the antenna and HDMI to connect the Blue Ray player. Used the existing Coax to send the antenna signal to the TV in the Bedroom via a splitter.

I guess everything is different...My TV setup uses one of those ANTENNA WALL PLATE PANELS that gives a direct connection to Main TV and BEDROOM TV Antenna INPUT RG connection. This can be from either CABLE TV or OTA TV by pushing a small switch on the outside of the TV WALL PLATE Panel...Google imageI would be using standard VIZIO type 24-30 inch LCD TVs from WALMART...My OFF ROAD POPUP is setup using the ANTENANN PANEL and will work just fine with both CABLE TV from Camp grounds or OTA TV using my BATWING antenna...My outside antenna is one of those BATWING antennas.I had to change out my TV sets in 2009 I think it was when the US changed over from Analog TV to Digital TV...We mostly camp off grid and seems to pickup stations off the BATWING antenna just about everywhere we go... There are a few time we will be out of range of TV Transmitter Towers sometimes...If you are wanting to downstream all of your TV and not use CABLE TV or OTA TV connections then it would be a different animal haha... If all you have is the smart TV's then I think they want to see HDMI cables routed between them... Most of those however still should have a standard Cable or OTA TYPE F connector on them to use for CABLE or OTA TV connections...I may not be understanding you question here...Roy Ken

Well Roy the bottom line is I'm not getting reception from my antenna. So I don't know if I have to replace it with a newer (Post 2009) BATWING antenna to receive a signal. I have a media switch at the front that would switch the antenna signal from the front tv to the rear tv. This switch board also has a VCR and AUX port for other devices however they are all coax. My blue ray is hdmi and I would need to route that through a coax adapter or run an hdmi cable the length of the rv to watch movies in the rear. I'm curious to know if anyone has ever attempted to route an hdmi cable through the walls of their rv for the rear tv. Does that make better since?

I use my old surround system that came with my 05 Fleetwood. It has optical and RCA sound inputs. I replaced the tv (get one with sound out) with a flat screen with four HDMI. Bought a Blu-ray. Had Appletv. DISH sat box. I connected everything to the tv via HDMI. I connected sound out of the tv to the tv sound input on the surround amp. I connected the OTA antenna to the tv via Winegard Pro Sensar amp. (Great product)This allows me to use the tv remote to select what to watch. The sound automatically comes out the surround. I leave it in TV mode and it never needs switched unless listening to the tuner or cd. The rear tv is connected to OTA only which is fine with us. One could add a DVD player if they wanted. I have a wireless DVD device for the outside tv which we rarely use. If we watched more tv outside I would get another sat box. The dvd device is a bit pricey.

Colorado #5 wrote:I'm curious if anyone knows if I can pull an hdmi cable through the walls to the rear of the RV using the coax cable as the snake. I have pulled several RG type cables from the front to the back of my fifth wheel using the ceiling a/c vents. I have one about every 6-feet or so in the ceiling. They are not actual vents per say but an opening that runs the whole length of the trailer. If you use this route be sure your entry and exit places are sealed good as these A/C ducts are designed to provide even air flow by design. You mess up the plan and may have some vents not blowing air as strong as others...Most of them can drop down into the inside of a ceiling cabinet of some sort where you can drop down into a table top or something using stick on cable ducts...You can easily pull one of those vents to gain access to the ceiling vent trail. Just stick some cables into the down as far as you can and go open the next ceiling vent and grab the cable and so forth... I was doing a lot of this for my ham radio and police/fire scanners from an op area in the main room back to the bedroom area...The walls in the trailers are not very thick and not easy to use for adding cables behind them. Adding cable ducts on the outside of the walls is a better idea and paint them to blend into your room décor.. A better solution may be to add PVC cable ducts with slide on covers etc between cabinets along the floor out of sight along the walls. Then you can paint them to same décor of the walls... If running along the walls is not practicable for you go through the floor under the trailer. Run your PVC ducts/conduit under the trailer from Point A to Point B...If all you want to do is running HDMI cables them look up on AMAZON for BLUETOOTH WIRELESS HDMI Devices... Do it wireless... All kinds of adapters are available to get HDMI control from point A to B... Roy Ken

Entertainment Center Upgrade | Good Sam Community

Darryl_Rita
Explorer
May 18, 2019
I'm curious if anyone knows if I can pull an hdmi cable through the walls to the rear of the RV using the coax cable as the snake.

Wireless HDMI.
colliehauler
Explorer III
May 16, 2019
The range on mine seems about 30-35 miles. I seen the old tv is why I asked.
Colorado__5
Explorer
May 16, 2019
Here's a question. What kind of range does an RV antenna have?
Colorado__5
Explorer
May 16, 2019
colliehauler wrote:
Are you trying to get a signal with a new digital TV or your old analogy tv? If you are trying your old tv there are no longer channels to receive.

Nope I knew that much. Yes the old TV that is in the picture is an old 2003 analog. The previous owner had a analog to digital converter box hooked up but I could figure out for the life of me if it was right. The TV I'm trying to hook up to it now is brand new.
Colorado__5
Explorer
May 16, 2019
DFord wrote:
If I remember right, the coax to the antenna should have a connector at the antenna. Climb up there and disconnect it and the cable where it goes into the back of the wall plate. Then ohm it to make sure it isn't shorted. Then short it and test the other end again to see if you can read the short through the cable. If the cable is good, you could use a set of rabbit ears to the TV and see if they'll pull in any stations. If that works, connect them to the cable at the antenna on the roof and bypass the wall plate with the other end straight to the TV and see if you can still do a successful channel scan. Prove the cable is good before condemning the antenna.

That's a good point... I was on the roof last weekend and yes there is a coax that connects to the antenna and then to a connection in the roof. But they are showing their age and looking rather brittle. So it very well could be the cable. Thanks Dford.
Colorado__5
Explorer
May 16, 2019
philh wrote:
Assuming you scanned for OTA signals?

Drive to a better reception area. I get a ton of channels on my B&S house, but the antenna is sitting 35 feet off the ground. In my driveway, I only pick up a few with the TT.

See that's what I'm wondering... I wonder if I need to be 35' off the ground in order to receive anything. Not sure what ota or tt is though.
colliehauler
Explorer III
May 16, 2019
Colorado #5 wrote:
RoyB,

I hadn't thought of using the air ducts as a way to run the length of the RV that is genius. And I hadn't thought of running under either. But this Bluetooth thing sounds interesting. I'm going to do some more looking into that. Do you know if this Bluetooth will also send signal from the antenna as well as the blue-ray?

DFord,

I think I had pushed the little button and the green light was on next to it . I have a picture of it somewhere. If I find it I'll post it. For me the biggest issue is figuring out if I'm even getting a signal. I have the coax connect to the tv and I run an automatic scan and it comes up with NOTHING. Not a single channel. So does that mean I need the antenna higher maybe or a stronger antenna or something? I thought maybe it was because it was old but if you're saying that shouldn't matter than I'm perplexed. You would think I would at least get one channel. or a couple fuzzy channels.
Are you trying to get a signal with a new digital TV or your old analogy tv? If you are trying your old tv there are no longer channels to receive.
DFord
Explorer
May 16, 2019
If I remember right, the coax to the antenna should have a connector at the antenna. Climb up there and disconnect it and the cable where it goes into the back of the wall plate. Then ohm it to make sure it isn't shorted. Then short it and test the other end again to see if you can read the short through the cable. If the cable is good, you could use a set of rabbit ears to the TV and see if they'll pull in any stations. If that works, connect them to the cable at the antenna on the roof and bypass the wall plate with the other end straight to the TV and see if you can still do a successful channel scan. Prove the cable is good before condemning the antenna.
philh
Explorer II
May 16, 2019
Assuming you scanned for OTA signals?

Drive to a better reception area. I get a ton of channels on my B&S house, but the antenna is sitting 35 feet off the ground. In my driveway, I only pick up a few with the TT.
Colorado__5
Explorer
May 16, 2019
DFord wrote:
For whatever reason, I'd say the signal from the antenna isn't reaching your TV. If it was, a channel scan should find something even if you can't view it.

Well that's what I thought that's why I'm here. Could the antenna connections corrode enough to inhibit signal getting through? Or could my amplifier be bad? I don't know how to trouble shoot this. Don't even know where to start.

Forum Discussion

Entertainment Center Upgrade

About DIY Maintenance

Related Content

Problem with iRV entertainment center

Removing overhead entertainment center

Upgrade RV Entertainment System

Overhead entertainment center removal

entertainment center pics