TV / Cable System Upgrades

[nohurrynoworry]

Hey fellow travelers.. Lots of help on this site, so maybe some ideas on this. Watching tv in my 1994 Winnabago Brave has not been high priority but as we travel further and longer... The system is original, with the interior wiring getting the signal from the bat wing antennae.nthe tv, however, is a new nexus which has good marks for RV, truck, etc, with all the bells and whistles as to comparability with 12 volt systems. When I tried to use the tv recently at an RV park, I unhooked the cable from the bat wing and put it into the cable at the park. Didn't work, just fuzzy channels after going thru the televisions cable download process. When I got home I investigated further and see that 1) removing the cable wall socket, it's way more then a simple connection of cable. There is a circuit board involved, and an on/off switch which I failed to even engage at the RV park. There are three cables coming into the system. One from the batwing and two probably feeding interior systems.
2) I never tried to turn the wall switch on when I was at the RV park. Didn't even see it.

Question is, this technology is really old. Would I be best off just by passing it all by putting a cable splitter on the cable entering the RV from the batwing? I don't know what the over the air channels offer thru the batwing but I could probably put an A/B switch on the cable feed to go between a cable Chanel system or the batwing feed. Any thoughts of what to do to come into 2017 technology?

[Johno02]

In our local area, we can get all the networks on the three stations within a 50 mile radius.

[Johno02]

Depending on where your are determines what channels you can get. In some places we have had 2+ channels, with all the networks and a bunch of other junk. Other places, only get one channel, or none. All depends on you local broadcast stations. The cable in connection from outside should be direct to the cable in connector on your wall switch.

[nohurrynoworry]

Thanks to all, lots of good information. Yes, I have a cable port in my 30-amp power cord box, never would have found it without the feedback. Thanks!


Some clarification, yes, the tv is a brand new NAXA AC/DC that is meant for RVs, and is equipped for both cable and antennae feed. When I was at the RV park I went up on the roof to undo the cable from the batwing antennae, then hooked the parks cable directly to the RV cable (that the batwing would be hooked into) that enters the RV and terminates in the wall jack inside behind the front tv compartment. I now see this was nuts! That said, the internal batwing pre-amp was not on (the wall jacks two-way switch was positioned so that the led light was not on). The tv was able to scan the cable systems channels, but the picture was so distorted and fuzzy it was unwatchable. I then bypassed the whole internal RV system and hooked a cable directly from the RV parks cable port to the back of my tv and that worked great.

I don't have the ability to test it at home, but my question is this: does the RVs cable port inside the 30-amp power cord box provide a simple direct connection to the internal cable ports and thus to the tv? Or am I to expect the same distorted picture. I guess I will find out on our next stay at an RV park with cable hookup. Also, I am woefully ignorant about this: do the over the air digital channels (accessible thru the batwing) broadcast your popular networks such as nbc, abc, cbs? I figure they would not have channels like ESPN.

I also saw suggestions as to replacing the wall jack assembly with a newer Sensar IV assembly which I may do if I want to use the batwing antennae. Also saw the suggestion to upgrade the RVs cable wire itself, but that would be a difficult process as it is all buried in the walls. Not sure I want to tackle that one.

[wa8yxm]

First NEVER unhook the cable from the batwing less you are replacing the cable or the batwing.. This cable carries, or rather used to carry 12 volts to the pre-amp, which is not the wall switch, but rather inside the batwing.

The switch has, on the back side, 3 Ports (connections)

Ant. Cable, TV-2 (Looking at it from the rear with the 12 volt outlet at the top)

TO use cable you first switch OFF, and then hook to the other end of the cable hooked to the center port.

Suggestion. If you normally use the batwing.. Replace wall switch with a SENSAR PRO (About 100 dollars) Big improvement.

[1995brave]

On your Winne Brave the external tv connection is in the 30 amp power cord bay. It is on the ceiling of the bay. Took me several hours to find mine on my Brave. And your amp power is in the over head bay next to the front tv. All the cable is RG-59, try to change it to RG-6 for a better signal.

[Dutch_12078]

Where did you unhook the cable from the batwing? At the batwing on the roof? Your RV should have an external cable 'F' connector somewhere, often located in the electrical bay. Connecting a coax from that external connector to the park cable connector is the correct way to do it. The cable wall box contains a switch that controls wheter the batwing signal or the park cable signal is fed to your TV, It is also a power injector that sends 12-volts to the batwing's built-in amplifier when the switch is on and the LED is lit.

[Johno02]

BTW, if your TV is an older non-digital one, it will NOT work with all the stations now being digital only. You can either replace it, or get digital-to-analog converter boxes for each TV. I find that is is usually better just to replace the sets with relatively cheap digital flatscreens. Lots of posts here, including mine, on doing that. Converters boxes usually cost $25-50, and new TVs are under $200.

[Johno02]

The quick answer is NO, just a splitter will not work like you are talking about, and you already have one installed. For the rest of it, What you have is about the best you can do, although some upgrades will probably help. Change the batwing head to a newer Sensar IV, or a Jack, either one will be a 10 min replacement and the new ones are a lot better. The cable wall plate is an AB switch, to switch between cable input and the antenna. It also supplies the required 12v to the antenna head amplifier, which is located up in the antenna head. The three connections are cable in, antenna in, and TV out, plus a 12v power. It may or may not be good, replacement would not be a bad idea, but get the Sensar amplified one, cost a bit more but really works well. You also need to check all the connectors, and may need to run a new cable from the Wall plate cable jack out to a more convenient location on the outside or in a basement. New, fancy, expensive systems installed in many new rigs are set up for TVs, DVDs, and surround sound systems, and can get quite complicated. The type you have will perform just a well and a lot cheaper. There is a lot more information available, and I am sure someone will post with a lot more details.

[rk911]

nohurrynoworry wrote:
Hey fellow travelers.. Lots of help on this site, so maybe some ideas on this. Watching tv in my 1994 Winnabago Brave has not been high priority but as we travel further and longer... The system is original, with the interior wiring getting the signal from the bat wing antennae.nthe tv, however, is a new nexus which has good marks for RV, truck, etc, with all the bells and whistles as to comparability with 12 volt systems. When I tried to use the tv recently at an RV park, I unhooked the cable from the bat wing and put it into the cable at the park. Didn't work, just fuzzy channels after going thru the televisions cable download process. When I got home I investigated further and see that 1) removing the cable wall socket, it's way more then a simple connection of cable. There is a circuit board involved, and an on/off switch which I failed to even engage at the RV park. There are three cables coming into the system. One from the batwing and two probably feeding interior systems.
2) I never tried to turn the wall switch on when I was at the RV park. Didn't even see it.

Question is, this technology is really old. Would I be best off just by passing it all by putting a cable splitter on the cable entering the RV from the batwing? I don't know what the over the air channels offer thru the batwing but I could probably put an A/B switch on the cable feed to go between a cable Chanel system or the batwing feed. Any thoughts of what to do to come into 2017 technology?

before I or others comment I want to make sure I understand what you did.

- you unplugged the coax coming from the batwing antenna from the back of your TV and did what with that?

- what did you plug into the back of your TV?

- what is the make/model of your TV?