Having quality issues from one tv to the next...

[shanna23]

Well, this is our first RV (Landmark Newport), and as of the 4th, our second time using it. We are enjoying it very much But, we are having a puzzling problem. Both RV resorts we went to offered cable tv. We learned quickly (thanks to some other campers), that we had to turn off the amplifier to even get the cable to come through.....check. However, once that hurdle was conquered, we noticed that our cable quality diminishes from the bedroom tv to the living room tv to the outside tv, even losing channels between them. The bedroom tv seems to work the best, though still grainy on most channels, but seems to get all the channels that the resort offers. Any ideas??

Thank you!

 

[JohnD]

For starters, the cable TV you'll get in RV parks will not be high def, but will be standard def, which doesn't look good on a flat screen (high def) TV.

This past weekend we were at a KOA in northern Colorado and I didn't bother with the parks cable, but used the antenna instead and still pulled in over 30 channels.

In our new 5th-wheel I also notice a signal drop from the bedroom to the living room TV . . . not sure what to do about that either, short of tracing down the coax connections and making sure they are tight.

Also, when scanning for channels (antenna or cable) be sure the other TV is turned off.

 

[boatto5er]

Quality of picture and channels found will also vary from TV to TV based on the brand. Quality of input from the campground box is often questionable too. Last, but certainly not least, the quality is affected by the quality of the crimps on the cable connectors. Check all the ones you can get to (dig around in the underbelly for others when you get a chance). Check for loose or poorly crimped connections. I solved many problems on ours by "fixing" those at the wall plates and the incoming connector in the UDC.

 

[jmgratz]

We were having problems with poor cable reception. We found several of the screw on coax connectors were loose. We tightened and that solved our problem. Check all of the coax connectors first. Also be sure you have your television set to cable and not antenna.

 

[chet]

we are new to camping and using our new big country 2014 could not get good cable reception. finally found antenna booster shutoff switch the next day after looking every where in the front bed room front closet left side .they should have put it in the tow hitch, I could have found it sooner! that was not the only problem so got a50 ft. coax cable and ran it the front door straight to the tv eliminating wiring in camper. still had problems .changed campsite cable hookup and solved problem.

 

[JohnD]

We finally got a chance to hook up our cable line at a campground last month and had no cable signal through to either TV.

Last weekend at the Colorado HOC Rally at Central City, Dan Mayer brought his bag of electrical tricks over to our trailer and got it working (Thanks Dan!).

Turned out being in the bedroom ceiling in the TV/cable hookup with amplifier button plate, plus a possible coax issue where I had a antenna signal meter hooked up.

We are heading out later this week for our last campout of 2015 where there is no OTA reception (same place where we were last month for a week - and photo in my sig below - and discovered the cable didn't work), so will give it a good test then!

 

[redharleymn]

We have a Torque 321. One TV works fine from the cable box but the TV in the bedroom has lots of snow on it. I used a spltiter to accommodate both TVs.

I have 3 connections on the other side of my Toy Hauler. Can someone provide me some guidance on what should be done to get both TVs working properly. I've looked through my owners manual and can't find anything that shows what the 3 connections and how to use them.

PS - I've only been a RVer for 30 days. NEWBIE!!

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

My landmark 365 had a coax cable schematic sheet in the blue bag of paperwork, I started with that and went over every connection inside, outside and behind the basement wall. They were all loose.
They are color coded so you can trace them from point to point with that schematic sheet. Then you also need to run an auto channel search from each of your TV's (if your not already doing that) each time you hook up to a new campgrounds service.

 

[cookie]

If you have one TV working on cable you are on the right track as far as which input to use at the UDC.
There are a couple of things that must be in place for you to view cable or antenna from any TV.
First the antenna booster must be off for cable, on for antenna.
Second you must tell your TV where the source of signal is coming from. IE cable, antenna (sometimes called air) or HDMI.
Third, as Jerrod said, you must scan for channels at every TV each time you are at a new location.

Peace
Dave

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

Also once you figure out what is what label each jack so you know what your looking for on the next trip out.
I have to switch from my tailgater Satellite on one trip back to cable on another.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[JohnD]

OK . . . we are back out at Blue Mesa (Colorado) and hooked up the cable . . .

Worked great in the bedroom . . . but bad in the living room!

First off, I bought a brand new coax for outside from the campground feed . . . and I ran it from the bedroom connection directly to the living room TV and I got a perfect picture in the living room!

So I hooked everything back up the way it was, then put the new coax up to the campground feed . . . no better!

I opened up the basement wall again and investigated the spliter behind the wall, and it was indeed hooked up backwards!

The cable outlet on the basement wall for the outside TV was connected up to the input . . . and the outside cable connection and the coax to the living room were both hooked up to the output of the spliter.

I just removed the spliter and bypassed the basement TV connection (since we will probably never ever use it) and put a connection post between the other two so I have a straight line to the living room.

Still . . . a bad picture in the living room . . . a little better but unwatchable!

I replaced the coax from the TV . . . still a bad picture!

Now, pulling my hair out, I had a realization!

A few weeks back I had pulled out the Fusion stereo/DVD player to unroll the diapole radio antenna, and I discovered that it was hooked up to the roof antenna!

Hmmm, I wondered . . . I'll bet there is another spliter under there!

And there was!

I pulled the stereo out of the entertainment center, and when I unplugged the stereo's coax from the splitter . . . the picture became immediately better . . . but still not good enough to watch!

I replaced the coax into the spliter and it seems that the plug-in on the back of the stereo is defective (another thing for the list of warranty repairs), so I just decided to leave the radio out of the mix (even in our side yard in the Denver metro area I was only pulling in a couple of FM stations, so I guess that should have been a clue).

I fiddled around with the spliter and connections, then decided to just remove the spliter altogether!

I put a post between the two and got a much better picture . . . almost as good as in the bedroom!

However, both of the screw-on coax connections there seem to have shorts at the connector and I had to bend the wires just right to get the good picture and then carefully put the wires and stereo back into the entertainment center so that we can watch the Bronco's beat Oakland today!

So, it turns out that the wiring job from the factory was bad . . . and perhaps the built-in stereo is bad as well!

I hope I didn't ruin our OTA reception as there are no OTA stations up here in the mountains so I can't check to see if that is still working after all of this wiring fanigiling!