Cable TV Not Working

I fully believe there is a contest at the RV builders to see who can best hide stuff.. The switch you found,, GFCI's. Even breaker boxes, and of course if you have a generator the ATS.

On my motor home it is very easy to find the converter for example.. Think.. Where is the DUMBEST place to park the converter... Yup, it's there.

I finally found the antenna booster. It was black and was hidden by the black strap that goes over the tv when traveling. My vision is not what used to be apparently!

I do not know what equipment is hard wired in your rig but we had two small portables, a batwing with the power panel and a black box similar to the one shown in the link;

Black Box

Here is a different model, TV Box

Mine is smaller and only has three inputs and three outputs.

We had a VCR and an external connection for cable.

With the Black Box, I could select OTA antenna, park cable or VCR for an input and send the signal to the record connection of the VCR, to the front or rear TV. Now part but not all of that is done by the TV by using the Input Menu of the TV. What it won't do is switch between the cable and OTA unless the cables run to each TV set. Each input cable, OTA antenna, Park cable and most likely now a DVD player requires a cable be connected to the back of the TV set. Most TVs only have one RF input(F connector) and multiple HDMI inputs. I'm sure some RVs have multiple cables prewired, it is just that I don't look at high end units but come Sept. I'll look closer at the entertainment equipment in the rigs at Pomona.

Look for the entertainment select box like the Winegard shown in the clicky and make sure it is set correctly.


I hope you can understand what I'm trying to say. Somewhere I have a line drawing of the setup but can't find it right now.

Most every one calls those antenna panels boosters. ALL the ones I have ever saw are a PUSH BUTTON that routes 12VDC up to the BATWING antenna. The BOOSTER (PRE-AMPLIFIER) is mounted in the BATWING antenna housing buts needs 12VDC from the trailer to make it operate. I suppose WINEGARD does make a BOOSTER switch panel for non-amplified TV Antennas but I have never seen one. Must be very rare to have one on a RV trailer...

You do have to have the PUSHBUTTON OFF (LIGHT ON PANEL IS OFF) however on the Antenna Panel to be able to view CABLE TV when connected.

Roy Ken

I'm assuming you ran a cable from your house and plugged it into your toy hauler, right? Try running the cable directly to one of your TVs and see if the reception is better. If not, you have a cable issue. If yes, the problem is your trailer.

Good luck

If you have a Winegard batwing antenna, there should be a booster somewhere. I don't know the brand but some manufacturers are using a new style fixed antenna that may not have one. What make and model antenna do you have? This may help others with responses.

Are you sure you dont have one of these?



That little black dot is the antenna amp power supply on/off switch.

Note: The antenna booster in in the antenna head on the roof, the power supply is what you need to turn off.

ALL RV's that have roof top antenna's and a sidewall CABLE inlet, will have a switch between Cable and Antenna. This switch is usually the Roof Antenna wall switch which is also the booster. Since you get OTA signals fine to the TV's that means the booster must either be turned OFF or put in the "Cable" position. Winegard Antenna's, the booster is just switched OFF and then the Cable is routed thru to all TV's. Jensen Antenna's, the switch is a 3 position switch, OFF in the center, and then push 1 way for Roof and the other way for cable. It will have a metal toggle switch. The Winegard will have a push button switch. You DO have a Booster somewhere, you just have to find it. Doug