Replacing factory tv antenna

shevy

Member
So, my north trail standard tv antenna is horrible. Suggestion on what brand will work better and is the change out easy?
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
I'm thinking that you have the omni-directional antenna.
I suggest that you check all coax connections. Unscrew the F-connector and check that there is no shielding wire touching the center signal wire, make sure all the crimps are solid. Remove all wall plates and inspect the back side of those as well. And don't forget about the signal booster. Speaking of, is it turned on?

Peace
Dave
 

NHCelt

Well-known member
Yes....as Dave said, you may well find your problem is in the connections. Our antenna was not even connected to the cable.
 

shevy

Member
I'm thinking that you have the omni-directional antenna.
I suggest that you check all coax connections. Unscrew the F-connector and check that there is no shielding wire touching the center signal wire, make sure all the crimps are solid. Remove all wall plates and inspect the back side of those as well. And don't forget about the signal booster. Speaking of, is it turned on?

Peace
Dave

Yes, the booster is on and it is a factory omni which tells me they put the least expensive one on given the many other corners that are cut when these are made. connections are all good and tight. The issue is reception, or the lack thereof when we are only 30 miles outside a major metro. Funny though I can get all the shopping channels clear as a bell.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
You really should remove all of the F-connectors and physically inspect all of the wire. If there is a strand of shield wire touching the center signal wire having a tight connection will not help.
You might be right about the lowest cost antenna but I encourage you to do the inspections. If you take it to your dealer they most likely will have your rig for a long time and then report they found nothing wrong.

Peace
Dave
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
I recently helped a Wilderness owner troubleshoot their TV issue. All the fittings checked out. The problem was the antenna. I think it was a Winegard and it was out of warranty. He ordered a replacement (Amazon I think) and his problem was solved.

Let us know what brand Omni you have and what better brand you replace it with - if that ends up being the issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

carl.swoyer

Well-known member
So, my north trail standard tv antenna is horrible. Suggestion on what brand will work better and is the change out easy?
My batwing antenna was acting up so I got on the roof and the coax cable was disconnected. Tighten it up and now it's working perfectly.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 

Silverado23

Iowa Chapter Leaders
I'm thinking that you have the omni-directional antenna.
I suggest that you check all coax connections. Unscrew the F-connector and check that there is no shielding wire touching the center signal wire, make sure all the crimps are solid. Remove all wall plates and inspect the back side of those as well. And don't forget about the signal booster. Speaking of, is it turned on?

Peace
Dave

I have a 2016 North Trail with the omni-directional antenna and one of the first things I did was replace bad connectors and tighten up loose connections. Made a huge difference with the antenna. My previous North trail had miswired connections and bad connectors so I knew to it was one of my first issues to tackle.

There are hidden connections in some places that you may need to track down and check also.
 

ross0547

Member
Hi!
My factory antenna on the roof stopped working on my Heartland Sundance, so what I did was install a Walmart antenna to an aluminum mast. I attach it to the ladder and connect it through the hatch via coax cable. There are two connections beside the water/hose inlets-connect to the "satellite" connection. Run the scan inside on the "TV" source option with the "boost" button OFF. We are 40-60 miles from TV stations and I get 20 free to air channels. I am still trying to figure out why all of a sudden my factory antenna doesn't bring in any TV stations though. Suggestions??
 
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