Connecting to cable TV at an RV Park.

Mullins

Active Member
Howdy, it's been awhile since I have asked a question. I'm attempting to connect to CA
Cable at an RD Park, but not having much luck. I have an 2015 Cyclone toy hauler. There are 3 connections on the outside of the RV, on the left, by itself is a cable connection then to the right are two more. I have tried the two on the left and did a channel scan, I get nothing. Where the TV is there is a a receptacle with 2 cable connections, I have tried both, still nothing. I know the cable in the park is working because I am with other folks and they are connected. Any ideas?
 

Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn

Well-known member
It is probably the single connection. You will need to connect the TV to that same connection inside. You should have 2 coax connections inside behind the TV- 1 for Satellite and 1 for OTA TV/Cable. Also make sure your TV anntana booster switch is off (light off) after all of that is correct you can try a TV search again. I Know some TV will not accept the new broadcast without a conversion box.
 

kableguy007

Member
Hello, Generally there is a satelite input and a cable input in the bay or outside of the coach are yours labeled? if so next make sure your antenna power button is not turned on, meaning the red/green light is off. The antenna button is usually behind the primary TV near or part of the cable connection for the TV. lastly if you have a long enough coax cable you can verify the cable connection is really working by connecting it directly to your TV by running the cable through the window if needed to validate the cable connection is really on, sometimes it is disconnected at the cable tap connection for your site:(

Have you connected to cable before? all cable systems generally work the same unless it is digital which would require the user to have a cable set top box. Analog systems do not require a set top box.

Good luck reply back if you still need help:)
 

Mullins

Active Member
Thank you for the reply. The sad part is, nothing is labeled. I have never tried to hook up cable before
and the booster is turned off. I am now trying the single connection that is by itself that is to the left of the other two, I am scanning, getting nothing!
I have also tried switching from the top cable connection to the bottom connection that is behind the TV. nothing.
Currently I have gone thru 74 RF channels and getting nothing.
 

Nbomar

Well-known member
Thank you for the reply. The sad part is, nothing is labeled. I have never tried to hook up cable before
and the booster is turned off. I am now trying the single connection that is by itself that is to the left of the other two, I am scanning, getting nothing!
I have also tried switching from the top cable connection to the bottom connection that is behind the TV. nothing.
Currently I have gone thru 74 RF channels and getting nothing.

Sounds like you are as unlucky as most heartland customers. My road warrior has never worked. I've tried all kinds of setups to get the internal wiring going. I ended up buying a portable dish and just running coax through the windows to get it to work. It sucks to have a $70,000+ camper and little things like this don't work.

There are many threads in the cable satellite section that detail how to rewire the whole system and get it to work. Good luck and let us know how yours works out.


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jbeletti

Well-known member
Sounds like you are as unlucky as most heartland customers. My road warrior has never worked. I've tried all kinds of setups to get the internal wiring going. I ended up buying a portable dish and just running coax through the windows to get it to work. It sucks to have a $70,000+ camper and little things like this don't work.

There are many threads in the cable satellite section that detail how to rewire the whole system and get it to work. Good luck and let us know how yours works out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry to hear you've had a difficult time with you RW coax system. Generally, it's a simple matter to diagnose the real issue but often, there are too many variables to do so online. It requires a tech with some skills and a couple of tools to figure it out.

I was at the Tucson rally recently and helped 3 people diagnose TV related issues. I have some skills and had my tools with me so it was pretty easy. Like you, one guy had his coax running through a window. Sad indeed. I had to help him get that fixed. We got it done is short order.

Hope one day, you can get hooked up with a person or tech that has the skills and time to figure your system out and get that wire out of the window.

I was an RF technician/engineer for many years, so that experience helps me help others. Hope to run into you at a rally in the future.
 

Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn

Well-known member
There should be a coax cable sematic sheet in your blue packet from Heartland. That will help you track things down. The cables are color coded to help figure out what is what.
Also get a label maker or masking tape for now and label them as you go so down the road you won't have to figure it out again.


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JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
The wall plate in the living room of our Prowler was labeled backwards . . .

Once I figured out what was going on, I just unscrewed the wall plate from the wall and inverted it so that the correct connections was next to the right label.

As for the schematics . . . chances are you'll find that your trailer is not wired up according to the schematic.

So far, both of the Heartlands we've owned were coaxed backwards from the schematic.

Of course, I believe that the wiring is laid out and connected while the frame is upside down before the walls are attached, which could explain why they always seem to be wired up backwards.
 

chaplady

Well-known member
Might be a left field question here but did you go into TV menu and switch tv from ant to cable ? I did not see any references to looking at that.
 

Lynn1130

Well-known member
You will find this in the "tools" section at the top of this page. Then go to Manuals, electronics, coax layout, all brands, cyclone. There is more there than might help.

Here is the schematic for the Cyclone for all models. At least you can see where the cable routing for trouble shooting. Just because the schematic shows the connection on the top or bottom of an output plate doesn't mean it is in that order.

And Chaplady may be on to something. The TV will need to be in cable mode/input.

http://manuals.heartlandowners.org/manuals/Electronics/Coax_Layouts/All_Brands/Cyclone%20RW%20Torque%20Edge%202015%20COAX
 
Last edited:

Ldo

Active Member
Hello, Generally there is a satelite input and a cable input in the bay or outside of the coach are yours labeled? if so next make sure your antenna power button is not turned on, meaning the red/green light is off. The antenna button is usually behind the primary TV near or part of the cable connection for the TV. lastly if you have a long enough coax cable you can verify the cable connection is really working by connecting it directly to your TV by running the cable through the window if needed to validate the cable connection is really on, sometimes it is disconnected at the cable tap connection for your site:(

Have you connected to cable before? all cable systems generally work the same unless it is digital which would require the user to have a cable set top box. Analog systems do not require a set top box.

Good luck reply back if you still need help:)


Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 

aknavy

Member
I know this is an older thread, but same issue. No idea which connections are which, nothing labeled. Did I say nothing labeled? How hard is it to label connections? Anyways - I have side by side connections in the UDC, and two separate connections in the living room entertainment center. I've currently got the cable connection on the left connection in the UDC and the top connection in the entertainment center. When I scan for cable, it finds two channels - when I scan for antenna, I get a bunch. I can't find the switch for the antenna booster - looked in the bedroom closet, by the bedroom TV, and in the living room entertainment center. Any idea where it may be? Any idea why no cable?
 

danemayer

Well-known member
I know this is an older thread, but same issue. No idea which connections are which, nothing labeled. Did I say nothing labeled? How hard is it to label connections? Anyways - I have side by side connections in the UDC, and two separate connections in the living room entertainment center. I've currently got the cable connection on the left connection in the UDC and the top connection in the entertainment center. When I scan for cable, it finds two channels - when I scan for antenna, I get a bunch. I can't find the switch for the antenna booster - looked in the bedroom closet, by the bedroom TV, and in the living room entertainment center. Any idea where it may be? Any idea why no cable?

What year/model/floor plan do you have?

It sounds like you're connecting to the satellite input rather than the cable input, which is usually on the side wall of the UDC, all by itself. There's usually a diagram nearby, perhaps on the cargo door.

And if you are plugged into the cable input in the UDC, but you're getting a lot of antenna channels, that means your signal booster is ON and you won't get any cable channels. So you really have to locate the booster. On many trailers, it's in the bedroom. Since it's not by the bedroom TV, I'd suggest you grab a flashlight and look all the way to the left side of the bedroom closet.
 

aknavy

Member
Found the switch - it was by the bedroom tv, just a little push button. Pretty obscure, was expecting a real switch. Now to troubleshoot the cable wiring - pushed the button, antenna channels went out and no cable channels are being found. I'm guessing the previous two channels that were found were really antenna channels.
 

aknavy

Member
It's a Cyclone 2015 4100 King, think I may have it figured out now. At least it seems to be finding channels on the cable setting.
 

rbring

Member
I'm having no luck at the park. Every connection I've tried says no signal to tvs for cable. First trip out in this 2018 Bighorn, only getting antenna . Hooked to CATV but can't figure out connections inside at tis
 

danemayer

Well-known member
I'm having no luck at the park. Every connection I've tried says no signal to tvs for cable. First trip out in this 2018 Bighorn, only getting antenna . Hooked to CATV but can't figure out connections inside at tis

In your Universal Docking Center, you've got 4 coax connectors in a row, above the water connections. Those are for satellite. Lower down, usually on the rear panel, there's a single coax connector for cable TV. From there, the coax goes to the signal booster, usually in the bedroom (perhaps in the closet), where it joins with the coax from the roof antenna.

If you're getting over the air TV, everything downstream from the signal booster is working. Of course, to get cable, the signal booster MUST be OFF. Also, depending on the TV, you may have to go into the TV menu and select cable and then do a channel scan. At the TV, the cable and antenna use the same connection.
 
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