Digital TV Problems

[QuiGonJohn]

We just got an analog to digital converter and tried it out. First off, the wires in my RV seem to be wired strange. I thought the ANT IN on the converter would go to the small Winegard plate near the TV and then I have another coax which goes into the paneling beside my TV, so I thought that would go to ANT OUT (OUT to TV). Would not work. Finally got it working by also connecting through a SATELLITE coax panel with 3 leads, trying various combinations.

But here are the really weird things.

1. The small Winegard plate near the TV has a coax jack and a 12v Cig Lighter connection as well as a push button. If I leave the push button off, I can get some stations after having let the Converter scan. But if I turn it on, (I believe this turns on the Amplification Feature of the antenna, then it all goes to snowy.

2. At home, we got a some stations, at the campground this weekend we could get nothing and on the way home, parked at a truck stop, I turned it on and got a few stations but they kept freezing. Could the result at the campground and truck stop just be because we were too far away, or are they antenna problems. We have a Winegard Sensar Model RV2001A Antenna Head, (at least as far as I can determine from my book and the fact that it is amplified). Will this antenna work for Digital or do I need something else.

Thanks!

[rossboyer]

1. The Wineguard plate is a power supply for the amplifier that is the antenna. It sould be ON to receive over the air signal. The connection on the front is probably not used. There are usually 3 connections on the back, and they are Ant In from the roof top antenna, Cable in, and Signal out to the TV. When the switch is off the cable is connected to the TV, and when the switch is on the antenna is connected to the TV. Many motor homes also have switch box to route these signals to front, rear and outside TVs which can confuse issues. If you are not going to use some of those features, I would place your Digital to Analog converter between the Wineguard plate and the TV. If you also want the signal to go to the rear TV, use a splitter after the D to A Converter. The one of the two output cables goes to the front TV and the other to the rear TV.

2. There is an addon for the Wineguard antenna that improves reception, but causes the antenna to be more directional. We have found that digital broadcasts are easily received within a 40 mile radius. Beyond that the signal becomes weak. Usually a D to A converter will have a signal strength option to test the signal. Select that option and slowly turn the antenna until the strength is the highest. There are some web sites that will map the tv reception based on the location you put in. One of those is TVFOOL.COM.

Hope this helps.

[RVerOnTheMove]

If you are running a new coax cable from the 12V power supply (the wall plate) directly to the input on the back on the TV then the coax connection on the front of the power supply should work just fine. As mentioned above, some coaches are/were wired in such a way that the front connection is not used and a coax runs from the circuit board on the back of that power supply (behind the wall) directly to the TV.

It's certainly possible that your power supply is bad as what you describe is exactly opposite of what should be happening. I would suggest that the first thing you do is turn on the power supply and then go up on the roof, disconnect the coax from the head of the Sensar and verify that you have good 12-13V+ inside the coax cable itself. If you do not then you have found the problem and you will need to find out what is not hooked up correctly or where you have an issue with the coax cable itself.

Let us know if the voltage on the roof is good and we can do some additional trouble-shooting from there.