2012, 2013 Mesa owners - how do you hook up satellite and cable?

[DougAndJudy]

We looked at our 2013 Mesa today and came away with some questions:

Primarily - how do you hook up both satellite and cable (or OTA) in this new floorplan? The antenna amp is stuck in a closet well away from the bedroom TV. And the living room TV is in a cabinet separated from the single coax connection. Am I missing something? We currently have two connections near the TV in our 2010 Grand Canyon and we select the input via the Source button on the TV remote. It was easy to figure out. The Mesa not so much.

The only obvious method is to manually change the coax jumpers whenever we change from Satellite to Antenna (or cable.) This is not a reasonable expectation for a fairly high-end unit.

Thanks!

 

[JJOren]

Doug and Judy..

Have you checked the hook ups in the comm center out by the gate valves. There are satellite and cable hookups out there. Keep in mind, I really have little knowledge because I only have cable to deal with here.

My cable is hooked to the connector outside. I turn off the pre-amp for the antenna and I'm good to go. When I shift to the pre-amp, the antenna takes over.

There are digital connections there for the Satelitte and I'm assuming if you hook your dish in there it will work the same.

Hope that gives you a direction to go!! We drop dead love our Mesa. We also had challenges figuring out the hookups. In retrospect, we figured that had more to do with our dealers short comings than that of the coach.

Good luck!!

 

[DougAndJudy]

Thanks John and Janie!

We are pretty familiar with the satellite connections in the UDC. I don't see any issues there. It's in the bedroom and living room that I have questions. I should also mention that we have HD satellite receivers, so need a HD compatible cable run from the receivers to the TV, like HDMI. So far it appears that Heartland hasn't taken HD satellite reception into consideration with this floor plan. I hope I'm wrong... The biggest issue seems to be that the TV is way separated from where the connections are.

 

[danemayer]

Doug and Judy,

It sounds like you're familiar with the 2010 layout that ran coax lines from the UDC into the living room and into the bedroom. If I understand the current problem, you can't locate the separate satellite connectors near the TVs. In our Rushmore, they're on the same faceplate as the coax for TV/Cable. If you've looked around the cabinets for other coax connectors, it might be time to call Heartland Customer Service to ask where they're located.

In our 2011 Rushmore, the satellite wiring supports Directv HD signals just fine (although I ran an additional coax line to the living room because I use a DVR).

 

[DougAndJudy]

Dan and Ruth,

I can see the sat and cable/air connectors, but they aren't anywhere near the TVs. In the living room, the TV rises out of a cabinet in the slide and the connectors are in a cabinet above (and separate from) the TV cabinet; in the bedroom, the connectors are in a closet and the TV is on a totally different wall. There appears to be only a single coax cable run from where the connectors are to where the TVs are. In my current setup, I run a coax directly from the cable/air jack to the TV in each room, and an HDMI cable from the DirectTV receiver to the TV. I'm able to switch between satellite and cable/air by using the "Source" button on the TV's remote.

Since the Mesa has separated the TVs from the connectors, I have no way (that I know of) to run a HD Satellite signal from the satellite receiver to the TVs. That is the problem I think I have. I'm looking for a way to get both a cable/air signal and a HD satellite to each of the TVs from the overhead cabinet in the living room and the closet in the bedroom.

 

[danemayer]

Sounds like you're already there. The best way to get the HD signal from satellite receiver to TV is via HDMI cable. The typical antenna or cable connection to the TV is COAX. As you're already doing, you switch the TV Input selection to whichever you want to watch. This is exactly our configuration, although the connectors are all close to the TV. By the way, the only time I ever switch over from satellite to antenna (if both are available) is 1) when I want the local station or 2) if I'm recording 2 programs on the DVR and want to watch a 3rd. Both circumstances are infrequent.

When we travel in Texas, we just keep watching our Austin stations since the narrow beam for Austin covers most of the state. When we're in Colorado for a long trip, I change the service address so we get local Denver stations. When we're travelling around the country, I turn on Distant Network Services and we get the local New York stations.

Our DIRECTV HD DVR receiver has coax input to support an antenna connection, and it can be programmed so the antenna channels appear on the satellite guide screen. If your receiver has that, it would allow you to run a single HDMI connection from receiver to TV, carrying everything. BUT, if you're moving around, reprogramming channels on the satellite guide would be more annoying to me than changing the input on the TV. And programming a bunch of cable channels might be a pain. I don't think I'd do it.

The only part of your situation that sounds kludgy is that you have to run cables out in the open. In the living room, maybe you can drill a hole inside the cabinets to route an HDMI cable without it showing. The bedroom sounds like a tougher project to make the HDMI cable invisible. I think Heartland might want to reconsider where the bedroom connectors are located.

 

[jbeletti]

Doug and Judy,

I hope you are closer to figuring this out.

If the Mesa is similar to my Key Largo:

1. Cable/Ant wiring is completely separate from Sat wiring
2. Antenna wall-plate in bedroom closet (or wardrobe cabinet) may have a satellite jack on it, but it's only a pass-through
3. Antenna wall-plate in bedroom closet (or wardrobe cabinet) likely has an output jumper on it going to another wall plate, back up to the ceiling and over to the bedroom TV (for cable/OTA)
4. *I believe the design assumption/premise is that the bedroom satellite receiver would be in the bedroom closet on the upper shelf (or wardrobe cabinet)
5. There should be 2 coaxes to the livingroom entertainment cabinet, one for satellite and one for cable/ota
6. I believe the design assumption/premise is that the livingroom satellite receiver would be in the upper entertainment cabinet
7. I believe there may be a wall plate in the entertainment cabinet with an HDMI jack on it. This should feed down to the TV. Check on this on your end.

* I suggest you run a 25 foot (or whatever length you need) HDMI cable (www.monoprice.com) from the bedroom closet (or wardrobe cabinet) shelf/sat receiver to the bedroom TV. I'd run the cable under that carpeted area below the long bedroom window and into the bottom of the dresser cabinet, then up the back of the cabinet behind the drawers, out the top of the cabinet to the TV. Another way is to run it behind the crown molding out of the closet and over to the TV area. I always supply the plant with my HDMI cable and they run mine through the ceiling. How, I do not know.

Jim

 

[DougAndJudy]

Our DIRECTV HD DVR receiver has coax input to support an antenna connection, and it can be programmed so the antenna channels appear on the satellite guide screen. If your receiver has that, it would allow you to run a single HDMI connection from receiver to TV, carrying everything. BUT, if you're moving around, reprogramming channels on the satellite guide would be more annoying to me than changing the input on the TV. And programming a bunch of cable channels might be a pain. I don't think I'd do it.

The only part of your situation that sounds kludgy is that you have to run cables out in the open. In the living room, maybe you can drill a hole inside the cabinets to route an HDMI cable without it showing. The bedroom sounds like a tougher project to make the HDMI cable invisible. I think Heartland might want to reconsider where the bedroom connectors are located.

Thanks Dan,

Our DirectTV HD receiver does not have a provision for cable/air pass-through. So my solution is going to be kludgy - as you said! That was my concern - that the designers of the wiring for the Mesa floorplan have not thought through real-world HD satellite TV connections.

 

[DougAndJudy]

Doug and Judy,

I hope you are closer to figuring this out.

If the Mesa is similar to my Key Largo:

1. Cable/Ant wiring is completely separate from Sat wiring
2. Antenna wall-plate in bedroom closet (or wardrobe cabinet) may have a satellite jack on it, but it's only a pass-through
3. Antenna wall-plate in bedroom closet (or wardrobe cabinet) likely has an output jumper on it going to another wall plate, back up to the ceiling and over to the bedroom TV (for cable/OTA)
4. *I believe the design assumption/premise is that the bedroom satellite receiver would be in the bedroom closet on the upper shelf (or wardrobe cabinet)
5. There should be 2 coaxes to the livingroom entertainment cabinet, one for satellite and one for cable/ota
6. I believe the design assumption/premise is that the livingroom satellite receiver would be in the upper entertainment cabinet
7. I believe there may be a wall plate in the entertainment cabinet with an HDMI jack on it. This should feed down to the TV. Check on this on your end.

* I suggest you run a 25 foot (or whatever length you need) HDMI cable (www.monoprice.com) from the bedroom closet (or wardrobe cabinet) shelf/sat receiver to the bedroom TV. I'd run the cable under that carpeted area below the long bedroom window and into the bottom of the dresser cabinet, then up the back of the cabinet behind the drawers, out the top of the cabinet to the TV. Another way is to run it behind the crown molding out of the closet and over to the TV area. I always supply the plant with my HDMI cable and they run mine through the ceiling. How, I do not know.

Jim

Thanks Jim,

I was hoping I would hear from you! I'm with you on points 1,2 and 3.

Point 4 is one I'm concerned about. As you know, the satellite receivers are generally used with a remote. This usually requires a line-of-sight to the receiver from the remote. If the design intent is to have the satellite receiver in the closet, how do you use the remote without leaving the door wide open? And how do you get the signal to the TV from the satellite receiver, if the single coax is jumped to the cable/air connection in the closet? After being awake most of the night thinking about this, I believe I will try to run a separate coax alongside the one that goes from the closet to the TV. I'll jump that one to the satellite pass-through in the closet. Then I can install the satellite receiver on the shelf under the TV (where it will be visible for the remote...) and run a short HDMI cable to the TV from there.

I'm good with points 5 and 6.

Point 7: I did not see a plate with an HDMI jack in it in the entertainment cabinet. That is what I would have hoped I would find. Maybe it's there hiding. Otherwise I will have to run a long HDMI cable from the entertainment cabinet alongside the bundle of other cables and into the TV cabinet.

 

[boatto5er]

Ref Pt 4, I believe DirecTV offers an RF option on their remote/receiver combo. Give them a call. If they have that, they'll probably send you the RF version. Then you won't need to move the receiver.

 

[DougAndJudy]

Ref Pt 4, I believe DirecTV offers an RF option on their remote/receiver combo. Give them a call. If they have that, they'll probably send you the RF version. Then you won't need to move the receiver.

Thanks! This is helpful!

Of course, I still have to get the HD signal from the receiver to the TV...

 

[DougAndJudy]

Update!

We picked up our new Mesa today and I found the HDMI connector in the living room entertainment cabinet. Hooked up satellite and Voila! Will try to run the extra coax in the bedroom tomorrow. Moving makes a long day!

 

[DougAndJudy]

Further update...

I was hoping the coax in the bedroom from the closet to the TV was run in a channel or a conduit and I could fish a length of coax alongside the existing cable. No such luck. The existing coax was tightly wedged in the ceiling. So I had to kludge this connection. I am jumping the existing coax so that it feeds the satellite signal to the TV area, where I have the HD satellite receiver sitting on the shelf under the TV. Here's the kludge: I stretched a 6' length of coax from the cable/antenna output, out the top of the closet door, and along the top of the window valance to the cable/air input on the TV. I added a quick-connect coax fitting to the TV end so I can just slide the connector on and off the TV. I can then coil up the coax in the closet when traveling and when we're not using a cable or antenna feed. Not pretty, but it works...

 

[jbeletti]

Further update...

I was hoping the coax in the bedroom from the closet to the TV was run in a channel or a conduit and I could fish a length of coax alongside the existing cable. No such luck. The existing coax was tightly wedged in the ceiling. So I had to kludge this connection. I am jumping the existing coax so that it feeds the satellite signal to the TV area, where I have the HD satellite receiver sitting on the shelf under the TV. Here's the kludge: I stretched a 6' length of coax from the cable/antenna output, out the top of the closet door, and along the top of the window valance to the cable/air input on the TV. I added a quick-connect coax fitting to the TV end so I can just slide the connector on and off the TV. I can then coil up the coax in the closet when traveling and when we're not using a cable or antenna feed. Not pretty, but it works...

Nice kludge. Thanks for not including a picture of it Seriously, glad you found a quick work around. When you are able to effect a long-term solution, strongly consider putting the receiver in the bedroom closet, use an RF remote and run an HDMI cable to the TV using one of 2 routes I suggested. No receiver to look at and no visible wiring to see

Jim