Bighorn 3875FB Using cable at park

[DWG]

Hi, my beatiful bride and I are new to 5th wheeling. We are having trouble using cable at RV park. We have Insignia tv in LR & Bdrm. We read many of existing posts seeing something about turning off the tv booster. We don't have a red/green light but there is a red button in Bdrm closer where pre-wire is for wifi and satellite. When switching that then we don't get local channels and even when scanning for cable Channels we get none. We tried switching tv to hdmi 1 and hdmi 2 but still get nothing. What are we missing? While on subject of electronics our unit in LR has a Jensen radio/DVD player. When playing a Dvd we get the sound but no video. We tried hdmi 1 & 2 plus the component option for source. We also checked to be sure all cables connected to back of tv. We tried tracing to Jensen but all cabling from tv runs behind a panel and we can't see where it goes. Our bighorn is only 4 weeks new and this is our first trip. We can certainly have the dealer address, just checking if anyone has suggestions while we are on the road.

Okay last question unrelated to electronics. We have a half bath at kitchen. We noticed there is waste monitor in there besides the main one at the rig entry door. We were told there is only one black tank. If that is the case why the second monitor?

 

[rhodies1]

Hi, my beatiful bride and I are new to 5th wheeling. We are having trouble using cable at RV park. We have Insignia tv in LR & Bdrm. We read many of existing posts seeing something about turning off the tv booster. We don't have a red/green light but there is a red button in Bdrm closer where pre-wire is for wifi and satellite. When switching that then we don't get local channels and even when scanning for cable Channels we get none. We tried switching tv to hdmi 1 and hdmi 2 but still get nothing. What are we missing? While on subject of electronics our unit in LR has a Jensen radio/DVD player. When playing a Dvd we get the sound but no video. We tried hdmi 1 & 2 plus the component option for source. We also checked to be sure all cables connected to back of tv. We tried tracing to Jensen but all cabling from tv runs behind a panel and we can't see where it goes. Our bighorn is only 4 weeks new and this is our first trip. We can certainly have the dealer address, just checking if anyone has suggestions while we are on the road.

Okay last question unrelated to electronics. We have a half bath at kitchen. We noticed there is waste monitor in there besides the main one at the rig entry door. We were told there is only one black tank. If that is the case why the second monitor?[/QUOTE


Good day, have you checked the menu details on your tv to ensure your tv is set on cable and not air/antenna before you do your scan.

 

[DWG]

The menu options are to scan channels for cable/satellite box or cable-wall connected and air antenna. We have not found anywhere else in the menu to select whether cable or air.

 

[danemayer]

Hi DWG,

In your bedroom closet, there's probably a wall plate with 2 coax connectors and a small button, which when pushed causes an LED to illuminate. Near that there's probably another wall plate with a single coax connector. A short coax cable probably connects those 2 wall plates.

The wall plate with single connector goes to the bedroom TV. The wall plate with two connectors and pushbutton/LED is 1) a coax connection for cable/rooftop antenna, 2) a cable for satellite to the bedroom, 3) a signal booster which is irrelevant to satellite, but needs to be ON for antenna TV and OFF for cable TV.

The jumper cable is used to connect either satellite or antenna/cable signals to the bedroom TV. When you change between those sources, the jumper must be moved to the appropriate connector on the 2 coax wall plate.

If you have satellite, you also need to connect the coax to the satellite receiver and the receiver output to the TV, by interposing the receiver somewhere in that chain of connections; either in the closet, or near the TV.

When using cable or antenna, the TV input should be on TV or some similar input name - not on HDMI or Component. Some newer TVs don't have a menu setting to differentiate between cable and antenna - they just figure it out. On others, you have to select between AIR/CABLE or similar names. The TV manual will guide you on these specifics.

And of course the jumper wire needs to be connected to the correct coax connector on the 2 coax wall plate.

Connections and wires can get reversed in manufacturing, so don't assume the labels on the wall plate are correct.

In the Universal Docking Center (UDC) where your water connections are, there are probably 4 connectors for satellite and 1 connector on the side wall for cable TV. The side wall cable TV connection is the one you want if connected to campground cable TV.

In the living room, I think you'll already have a coax connection to the TV. For antenna, the signal booster in the bedroom must be ON. For cable OFF. With signal booster ON and the TV input set on TV or some similar name, you should be able to do a channel scan and get any local stations. With booster OFF you should be able to get a cable channel scan.

The Jensen DVD could be connected by way of a standard AVI cable with YELLOW/White/Red connectors. The TV menu would probably be AVI, but not component or HDMI.

I think the front bath/half bath Bighorn models are similar to the Landmark 365 front bath/half bath models which have a 2nd black tank. Check out our Landmark 365 User Guide and see if you have the gate valve arrangement shown on pages 23 and 24. The A/V section toward the end of the guide may provide additional helpful detail on your TV connections.

 

[NTXNEWBIES]

We also have the 3875 2016 model and indeed there are 2 black tanks and 2 gray water tanks.
In addition our Jensen DVD only emits sound. We have checked all connections coming into the TV and all appears good. In addition the DVD mode does not appear in the source choices as per the operation book indicates.

 

[DWG]

Hi there and thank you for all the detail.

Yes there are are two wall plates in closet and I have a photo I can send once at a PC. That said, it is as you describe and everything appears connected properly. We did press the red button and it definitely stopped the air antenna but still no cable channels received when we scan. We don't have a satellite so our interest is strictly if cable is available at park. By the way when we press the red button to turn off the booster for the antenna a red light came on one time but not since. The button pushes in but it doesn't light up. Maybe there is something wrong with that switch this the cable doesn't get through.

In the UDC we were connected to the single coaxial connection on the side of the panel and not the four grouped together. We also double checked the LR tv and there is a coaxial cable connected.

Just st to be sure I'm clear do we have to turn off the air antenna booster before connecting the cable at the UDC and then the last step is to run the channel scan choosing the cable/wall connection option on the tv? In other words does the order we do things matter?

regarding the Jensen - there are red, white & yellow AV connections running to tv. We only have options on tv input source of tv, hdmi 1&2, component/AV and USB. We assume it should be the component/AV but as I mentioned while we get sound from the Jensen we aren't getting video on the tv.

And mid finally on the 2nd bath I will look at info you sent to confirm if there is a 2nd black tank. We have not been using the half bath with just the two of us. We will be using in two weeks with our grandkids so we just want to be sure we understand whether there are two black tanks and are properly caring for them.

Next time we are at site with cable I will try the things you suggest and only need to know if there is a certain order. I appreciate your help.

Hi DWG,

In your bedroom closet, there's probably a wall plate with 2 coax connectors and a small button, which when pushed causes an LED to illuminate. Near that there's probably another wall plate with a single coax connector. A short coax cable probably connects those 2 wall plates.

The wall plate with single connector goes to the bedroom TV. The wall plate with two connectors and pushbutton/LED is 1) a coax connection for cable/rooftop antenna, 2) a cable for satellite to the bedroom, 3) a signal booster which is irrelevant to satellite, but needs to be ON for antenna TV and OFF for cable TV.

The jumper cable is used to connect either satellite or antenna/cable signals to the bedroom TV. When you change between those sources, the jumper must be moved to the appropriate connector on the 2 coax wall plate.

If you have satellite, you also need to connect the coax to the satellite receiver and the receiver output to the TV, by interposing the receiver somewhere in that chain of connections; either in the closet, or near the TV.

When using cable or antenna, the TV input should be on TV or some similar input name - not on HDMI or Component. Some newer TVs don't have a menu setting to differentiate between cable and antenna - they just figure it out. On others, you have to select between AIR/CABLE or similar names. The TV manual will guide you on these specifics.

And of course the jumper wire needs to be connected to the correct coax connector on the 2 coax wall plate.

Connections and wires can get reversed in manufacturing, so don't assume the labels on the wall plate are correct.

In the Universal Docking Center (UDC) where your water connections are, there are probably 4 connectors for satellite and 1 connector on the side wall for cable TV. The side wall cable TV connection is the one you want if connected to campground cable TV.

In the living room, I think you'll already have a coax connection to the TV. For antenna, the signal booster in the bedroom must be ON. For cable OFF. With signal booster ON and the TV input set on TV or some similar name, you should be able to do a channel scan and get any local stations. With booster OFF you should be able to get a cable channel scan.

The Jensen DVD could be connected by way of a standard AVI cable with YELLOW/White/Red connectors. The TV menu would probably be AVI, but not component or HDMI.

I think the front bath/half bath Bighorn models are similar to the Landmark 365 front bath/half bath models which have a 2nd black tank. Check out our Landmark 365 User Guide and see if you have the gate valve arrangement shown on pages 23 and 24. The A/V section toward the end of the guide may provide additional helpful detail on your TV connections.

 

[danemayer]

It sounds like something might be wrong with your signal booster. There could be a short behind the panel. Or a blown fuse in your fuse panel. Toggling the push button switch in and out should light up the LED when in. It should be out and light off when on cable. The sequence of connecting wires and pressing the switch shouldn't matter.

If cable doesn't work on either TV location, you might have a problem with the coax between UDC and bedroom wall plate, but my suspicion would be on the booster.

If your TV has an input mode marked Component/AV, I'd take a look at the manual to see if there are any menu settings to differentiate, or perhaps if it's automatic.

 

[SNOKING]

Component video is the red/blue/green cable, composite video is the single yellow cable.

Both require the red/white audio leads.

https://www.google.com/search?q=com...droid-verizon&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

You may have add the component cable. Chris

 

[JohnD]

Component video is the red/blue/green cable, composite video is the single yellow cable.

Both require the red/white audio leads.

https://www.google.com/search?q=com...droid-verizon&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

You may have add the component cable. Chris

On both of our Vizio TV's in our Prowler, if using the yellow video cable from the built-in DVD player (Jensen), the yellow plugs in to one of the colors (I think it is the blue plug) which serves as the standard video in.

Try each color (red, blue, green) with the yellow plug to see if one of them will serve for standard video.

As for the cable, try running a coax directly from the RV parks cable feed at the pedistal and through the door or a window and attach it directly to one of the TV's to see if you get signal.

Our Prowler was wired completely backwards and I spent one whole afternoon on a campout tracing the coax and checking each and every splitter in the trailer.

The first big problem was that the wall plate by the living room TV with the sat/cable connections were marked backwards, so cable/antenna was actually coming off of the one marked 'sat'.

Secondly . . . the cable connection on the outside wall of the trailer was connected to the wrong side of the first splitter . . . in other words, that was connected to the output and the input of the splitter was connected to the back of the TV connection in the basement for an outside TV.

Splitters are one way, so having the cable line in go to an output doesn't send a signal any further . . .

After I figured it all out and had it working (ie.- removed all splitters and put barrel connectors in their place so I had a straight run), I had our dealership 'fix it right' . . . and they just hooked it all back up the way it came from the factory . . . backwards!

So, on our next trip . . . I spent an entire afternoon fixing the dealerships bad redo.

Don't count on anyone at your dealership knowing how to hook up a TV right . . . they don't have a clue!

 

[DWG]

Thank you you all for the responses. We figured out the cable and the DVD player. It turns out the red light for the antenna switch doesn't light up but "out" does allow cable to come through and "in" is antenna. The reason it wasn't working when out is because the coaxial connections were loose. We assume they either were never tightened during installation or vibrated loose in traveling. Once those were tight and the red button out the tv scanned and we were all set.

As as to the Jensen there are some cabinets overhead of the unit and only two screws held the bottom panel in place. So we took those out and lifted the panel to see the connections to the Jensen. It turns out it was an hdmi that had come loose from the unit. Once we plugged it back in, selected hdmi 1 we had video! I suggest the person who said their Jensen was doing the same thing give it a try. It only took JoAnn about 30 seconds to locate the cable and reattach once I held up the panel. She has smaller hands and could get in the space better.

Regarding the half bath we started using it last night to see if the monitor ever moves from empty. So far the little monitor still reads E while the main one reads 1/3 even though we have barely used the main Bdrm bath. To the folks who wrote they had two black tanks - can you tell me where the drain is for the second tank to release the sewage?

It sounds like something might be wrong with your signal booster. There could be a short behind the panel. Or a blown fuse in your fuse panel. Toggling the push button switch in and out should light up the LED when in. It should be out and light off when on cable. The sequence of connecting wires and pressing the switch shouldn't matter.

If cable doesn't work on either TV location, you might have a problem with the coax between UDC and bedroom wall plate, but my suspicion would be on the booster.

If your TV has an input mode marked Component/AV, I'd take a look at the manual to see if there are any menu settings to differentiate, or perhaps if it's automatic.

 

[danemayer]

Do you have a small door like this on the side of the trailer?

and perhaps behind that door

 

[SNOKING]

I keep reading about loose coax connectors! Is someone taking this message back to Heartland? HD digital TV signals are very picky about the integrity of the coax runs including any connection(s) along the line. Chris

 

[DWG]

We have that and it does drain the 2nd gray tank. Nothing there for another black tank. We checked other small doors and none have another black tank pull. That said, in main UDC there are 3 pull handles. Beneath the top one it says gray tank 1 and that has indeed been draining the gray 1 tank. The other two handles are below the gray 1 and there is one label between the 2 that reads black tank. Perhaps these 2 handles are for first and second black tanks even though it reads singular as "tank". We will try open both of those today when we are ready to dump.

In in reply to the gentleman who asked if anyone has taken the coax issue to Heartland I can't speak for others but we have not as of yet. They are suppose to be sending us a customer survey. When we fill that out we will certainly mention it.

 

[Noofear]

Hi I have a 3875 2015 and if you look in the UDC on the lower right hand side you'll see 3 black handles. The top handle is for your gray water from the front bath sink and shower.
The middle black handle should be your half bath black tank. This is what the monitor in the half bath is for.
The handle Dan showed you in the small compartment is your grey water for your downstairs bathroom and kitchen sink.

The front bath is your number one gray tank on your control panel and the number two gray would be the kitchen sink and half bath sink.

This is the way mine is set up and I hope this helps.

Bob

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[SNOKING]

We have that and it does drain the 2nd gray tank. Nothing there for another black tank. We checked other small doors and none have another black tank pull. That said, in main UDC there are 3 pull handles. Beneath the top one it says gray tank 1 and that has indeed been draining the gray 1 tank. The other two handles are below the gray 1 and there is one label between the 2 that reads black tank. Perhaps these 2 handles are for first and second black tanks even though it reads singular as "tank". We will try open both of those today when we are ready to dump.

In in reply to the gentleman who asked if anyone has taken the coax issue to Heartland I can't speak for others but we have not as of yet. They are suppose to be sending us a customer survey. When we fill that out we will certainly mention it.

I just ordered this tool.

https://www.amazon.com/F-Connector-...words=F+Connector+Installation+&+Removal+Tool

Cable and sat guys use a more expensive one that is similar to this one, but more like a nut driver with a slot in the side. Chris

https://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-..._SR160,160_&psc=1&refRID=2MJHPFE04BAD1H3ZRAD8

 

[DWG]

Thanks. Dealer said only one black tank drain. Go figure.

- - - Updated - -
- - - Updated - - -

Great idea! We will order one of those.

 

[JohnD]

I keep reading about loose coax connectors! Is someone taking this message back to Heartland?

They know all about it . . . but do nothing about it (except pay for warranty repairs when we complain to our dealerships about it).

 

[danemayer]

I just ordered this tool.

https://www.amazon.com/F-Connector-...words=F+Connector+Installation+&+Removal+Tool

Cable and sat guys use a more expensive one that is similar to this one, but more like a nut driver with a slot in the side. Chris

https://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-..._SR160,160_&psc=1&refRID=2MJHPFE04BAD1H3ZRAD8

I've had the first one for years. Works very well. On molded cables, none of the tools will fit over the molding. But they work find on almost all compression connectors and crimp connectors that I've encountered.

 

[NTXNEWBIES]

We have that and it does drain the 2nd gray tank. Nothing there for another black tank. We checked other small doors and none have another black tank pull. That said, in main UDC there are 3 pull handles. Beneath the top one it says gray tank 1 and that has indeed been draining the gray 1 tank. The other two handles are below the gray 1 and there is one label between the 2 that reads black tank. Perhaps these 2 handles are for first and second black tanks even though it reads singular as "tank". We will try open both of those today when we are ready to dump.

In in reply to the gentleman who asked if anyone has taken the coax issue to Heartland I can't speak for others but we have not as of yet. They are suppose to be sending us a customer survey. When we fill that out we will certainly mention it.

We have one gray tank drain and 2 black tank drains in the UDC and the 2nd gray tank drain mounted on the frame behind a panel door on the side about 2 feet or so from the UDC panel.

 

[SNOKING]

I keep reading about loose coax connectors! Is someone taking this message back to Heartland? HD digital TV signals are very picky about the integrity of the coax runs including any connection(s) along the line. Chris

Well this morning was a cable maintenance day. I found that both of in frame coax barrel connectors were not even finger tight. I pulled both the sat/ white and black/cable cables out the hole in the I-beam tighten and pushed them black in.

In checking the AC power inside the motorized reel and breaker panel I found things properly thighened. Give that tech a QC bonus!

Chris