Satellite hookups

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
We have a automatic Roof satellite. It works really great except if we have trees blocking the signal at the campground. Even though our rig is 2007 and we bought it new we have never used the external satellite and cable hookups. So a few days ago I decided to try hooking up the home satellite cable to it. Guess what...it didn't work. So I started wire tracing. This is the screwyist mess I have seen. After hours of trial and error I bought a tone generator signal tracer. None of the hookups traced to the inside cabling. So I opened up the basement and crawled in. Our unit has 2 external satellite and 1 external cable hookups. I was able to tone the external cable hookup and found it was run to the VCR in hookup on the inside video switcher. Then I found one of the external satellite connectors has a wire connected to it that was about 1 foot long and was not connected to anything. The other external satellite connector ran from the other external hookup to some unknown place as I could see the wire was connected and ran from the off-door side to behind a wall in the basement to somewhere I could not get to or see. I was never able to tone this one.

So I decided the best way to solve the problem was to run an entirely new cable. So I used the fish-tape and after gaining access to the underbelly edge was able to use the fish-tape to run the new cable from the external satellite connector (the one that was connected to anything) through the underbelly up through the bottom of the slide to the inside, through the wall to the entertainment center shelf above the television. Now I am able to hookup to an external freestanding satellite or a cable hookup at an rv park. Now trees are not an issue. BTW - I still prefer to use the roof satellite as all I have to do is push a button to aim the external satellite.

Moral - Dont wait several years to check all of the connectors. If we had checked it earlier it could have been done under warranty. Also give a slight tug on the connector ends as I found 3 ends that were not tight and came off when pulled on. Now all is good.
 

Moose

Well-known member
Would people accept this type of shoddy workmanship in a new home or a new automobile? I don't think so. But it seems to me it is accepted prectice in the RV industry . . . . mostly because of consumer complacency/frustration I would think. (Read getting the run around from dealers, manufacturers, etc).

I guess the expression that squeeky wheel gets the grease hasn't squeeked loud enough yet.
 

rustyshakelford

Well-known member
We ran into this with our carryout in Colorado. Only got the trailer home a couple days before leaving town from the dealer and could not check the sat system due to trees at the house. Arrived in eureka and wa-la! Not satellite from any of the three connections in the udc. Ended up cracking the bedroom window open a bit and ran it in thru there.

When we get home it gets to go back to the dealer for this and tge furnace won't run when the generator is running. It's only 25 degrees at night so waking up at an interior temp of 44 really isn't bad considering!

Brett
 
Top