Off air antenna

[kfp673]

Hello All,

I am very comfortable with technology but not overly familiar with the powered TV antennas that come on campers. Our trailer has the "flying saucer" type antenna. Tried it a few times with the amp turned on and got no reception. I just said, oh well must not be in a good area. But then I tried it at home as well as another campground where neighbors were getting multiple channels and again nothing. made sure the antenna amp button and green light were on in both cases. Any thoughts of common problems and things to check? Thanks!

[wa8yxm]

Dutch_12078 wrote:
Those "flying saucer" antennas are omni-directional, something that the antenna engineering world refers to as "Equally bad in all directions." It's possible that you were just too far from the TV towers to pick up anything even though your neighbors more powerful directional antennas were able to receive stations.

First: not all of the "Flying Saucers" are omni the very first one I ever saw was marketed by RCA and was directional but you you do not have directional controls... Well then it's not directional.

Basically My opinion of them is... JUNK!

but your TV's. are they Modern Wide Screen capable of ATSC or older NTSC only NTSC well there are still a few stations from what I understand. low power and you can likely count 'em without running out of fingers.. but ATSC is the digital standard for broadcast.

Any TV made since I think 2007 has to be ATSC or clearly labeled as not.

Possible antenna issues other than the fact the saucer is junk
Bad coax Antenna to roof. Bad connector in roof. bad cable roof to Switch. bad switch. blown fuse.

On one RV I looked at there were no cables connected to the switch. THe prior owner had ripped 'em all out.

[kfp673]

Quick update just as an FYI for others. Have my camper home preparing for a week vacation (Typically keep it at a storage yard) and dug into the amp and wiring. Pulled as much cabling out of the ceiling as I could and found 2 splitters. I noticed that almost every connector was loose.Tightened them all up and it seems to be working. Still dont get great reception, but it went from zero to 10 channels. Still not sure though why I was getting no green light. The power wires were always connected firm. Today I got the green light fine. Might be some sort of terminal block somewhere with a lose connection but nothing I see as obvious. Thanks again for all the help

[Bill_Satellite]

The wall plate IS the power supply. It's not a booster or anything special, it just allows the 12V power being supplied to the wall plate electronics to be passed into the coax that leads up to the antenna itself. There are some antennas (not good ones!) that have a separate booster but not too many any more.

[kfp673]

Bill.Satellite wrote:
I would suspect you have a short in the coax somewhere. You should try running a new cable directly from the antenna to the power supply. Some of the omni style antennas have the connection under the base making this a difficult option. You could start by simply using a multi-meter to see if the coax is grounded (shorted). There should not be any continuity if you touch the center wire and the outside collar.

Thanks Bill. Where do you suspect the power supply might live? Up in the ceiling somewhere? I cant imagine the wall plate is powered directly from the battery without some sort of power supply in line adjusting amperage but I could be wrong.

When I pulled down the plate I pulled as much slack as it would give (only about 6") and all I saw was a few wires that appeared to be power wires plus I think 3 or 4 coax. The coax were run to a splitter which likely goes throughout the camper.

Thanks again!

[Bill_Satellite]

I would suspect you have a short in the coax somewhere. You should try running a new cable directly from the antenna to the power supply. Some of the omni style antennas have the connection under the base making this a difficult option. You could start by simply using a multi-meter to see if the coax is grounded (shorted). There should not be any continuity if you touch the center wire and the outside collar.

[Roger10378]

The supply is 12 volts from you battery. There should be a fuse in you 12 volt supply board.

[Itinerant1]

The coaxle is the 12v source. If you have the booster turned on and checked the connection at the roof were it goes into the ota antenna if you can (unscrew it) could help troubleshooting if it's the antenna, cable, booster.

Take your meter positive probe to inner cable and negative probe to outer screw area it will show a voltage reading.

[kfp673]

Hello All,

So we ha a rainy morning this past weekend while camping so I decided to pull down the wall plate with the amp in it. Of course it's on the ceiling so not the easiest thing. Everything appeared to be nice and tight including all Coax cables and the connectors I assume provide power. However I did notice that green light is not staying on any longer. So when I click the power button it blinks for a split second and goes off. I wonder if there is an issue with the power supply? Problem is, I have no idea where that is. The amp is mounted right next to an AC outlet, but this is a 12V device so I dont imagine it is tied in with that in any way. Any idea where the PS could be for the amp mounted in the master bedroom ceiling? Thanks!

[austinjenna]

I had the same problem with mine, I unscrewed the wall plate and saw the cable wasnt even connected to the wall plate and they made it about 6 inches to short to even reach it. I put a barrel connector on it and a short cable extension to fix it.

[kfp673]

Yes, selected antenna on the TV and scanned channels. Actually have a small TV in the bunk room and tried it there as well making sure it was not the TV. The jack that has the amp button is in the ceiling of the main bedroom so I have not pulled that down yet to check connections, and I'm not 100% sure where the connection is on the antenna itself. Previous campers had the crank up and rotate type where you could see the cable and antenna. Had to fix multiple connectors over the years. No media switcher.
Thanks for the replies!

[Ed_Gee]

What rk911 said....., can we assume you selected ,antenna' input in your TV menu system and then scanned for new channels?

[rk911]

did you re-scan for channels in either area?

do you have a media switcher that allows you to direct multiple inputs...antenna/cable/DVD player to multiple TV sets? if so did you seiect ANTENNA and the TV you're trying to watch?

[Dutch_12078]

Those "flying saucer" antennas are omni-directional, something that the antenna engineering world refers to as "Equally bad in all directions." It's possible that you were just too far from the TV towers to pick up anything even though your neighbors more powerful directional antennas were able to receive stations.