Outside cable tv connection

[tlhdoc]

I have a question about my outside "cable tv" connection. My trailer came with the Winegard antenna and 12 volt signal booster. I added the Winegard Wingman to improve my tv reception. The outside of the trailer has a "cable tv" connection. If I connect an antenna to the "cable tv" antenna will the signal be boosted if I turn on the 12 volt signal booster? Will the roof antenna and the other antenna enhance each other, mess up the signal, or what???

[Quahog]

I'm no expert on this but I believe the CATV is just coax pre-installed for the cable system to aid in connecting up an outside source and distributing the signal inside to your TV location(s). AFAIK, it has no signal booster as does the Winegard over-the-air antenna on your roof.

The other thing is that cable and antenna inputs are mutually exclusive so I don't think you can select "both" as an option.

Clear as mud?

[nylyon]

While I am certainly not an expert, I believe that the switch does 2 things, first it amplifies the roof top antenna by providing power to the head unit itself, and second it is an electrical switch which selects either the roof top antenna or cable input. It should not amplify the cable input as it sits on the wrong end of the line.

There isn't any reason why you can't use that CATV input for an external antenna and if that antenna has signal boosting functions, you would need to figure out how to incorporate that into your system (which wouldn't be too difficult.)

[Quahog]

You're probably right, Karl. Thinking about it, there's a single coax connector adjacent to the power plug and signal amp. I don't use the cable at all (or haven't needed to yet) but I have read on the forum that if the signal amp is on, the cable reception is pretty bad.

[Seann45]

It does not boost that signal..... but then if you are using a REAL outside antenna you dont need it... When I camp for the winter I have a Yagi design that I put up .. no signal enhancement needed...

[azjerry]

Sigh. Our Swift didn't come with an outside cable connector. I just know I'm going to need it sooner or later. And, yes, it's on my list of mods to do.

[David472]

There was a lengthy thread a while back, where Terry (Tafische) and others laid out diagrams for the TV cable connections. Here's the link;
http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthrea...t=cable&page=4
Hope this helps.

[Quahog]

I love those diagrams... wish there was an easy way to save some of this stuff without having to remember thread names or getting the right search arguments. At any rate, I save the pics to my local drive for future reference. Thanks, David.

[azjerry]

David,
Thanks for the link. I haven't pulled the plate off yet but now I know what I'll find.

[LongIslandCamper]

Originally Posted by Quahog

I love those diagrams... wish there was an easy way to save some of this stuff without having to remember thread names or getting the right search arguments. At any rate, I save the pics to my local drive for future reference. Thanks, David.

There is. What browser are you using. All you need to do is bookmark the page that you want and it will be saved.

[Quahog]

Yeah, thanks... I am using Chrome. Trouble is, I have so many bookmarks, even with folders galore, finding things when you want them isn't easy

What seems to work best for me is to print the post to a PDF and then store it in a folder marked RV Mods or some such.

[tlhdoc]

Originally Posted by David472

There was a lengthy thread a while back, where Terry (Tafische) and others laid out diagrams for the TV cable connections. Here's the link;
http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthrea...t=cable&page=4
Hope this helps.

Thank you for the link and I thank everyone for their input.

[tlhdoc]

Originally Posted by Seann45

It does not boost that signal..... but then if you are using a REAL outside antenna you dont need it... When I camp for the winter I have a Yagi design that I put up .. no signal enhancement needed...

What kind of distance can you be from a tower and still get signal with your Yagi? I am a little over 100 miles from the towers I am able to watch, if I use the booster. PS I do have an outdoor antenna.

[Seann45]

Originally Posted by tlhdoc

What kind of distance can you be from a tower and still get signal with your Yagi? I am a little over 100 miles from the towers I am able to watch, if I use the booster. PS I do have an outdoor antenna.

I am getting over 100 miles with no booster... IF my sat TV does not work better this coming winter (snowbird) I will also add a rotor to the yagi and get the LA stations as well as the Yuma ones...

[David472]

Originally Posted by tlhdoc

What kind of distance can you be from a tower and still get signal with your Yagi? I am a little over 100 miles from the towers I am able to watch, if I use the booster. PS I do have an outdoor antenna.

A lot depends on the terrain between you and the station tower. If there's a mountain in the way, all bets are off.

[tlhdoc]

Originally Posted by David472

A lot depends on the terrain between you and the station tower. If there's a mountain in the way, all bets are off.

I do have mountains in the way. My camp is in a narrow valley. The valley runs mostly east and west. The stations I am picking up are at 85 degrees from my camp, so that is why I can pull them in. There are transmission towers in 2 other areas (south and south west) that are much closer to my camp, but I can not get any signal from them. I have a huge mast antenna and I am lucky if I can pick up one station at a time, and that is with a signal booster. My new little jack antenna works much better. I am getting 10 channels. The most I was able to get with the mast antenna or the Winegard antenna with the Wingman attached was 7 channels and they weren't coming in great.

[mtnrv]

Trying (for the first time) to get cable tv to work. I have a class c - I plugged the coax into the site and into my connection by the power cord. When I go through all the sources on the tv I get ... Nada. Any ideas what I'm missing?

[bedrck46]

Originally Posted by mtnrv

Trying (for the first time) to get cable tv to work. I have a class c - I plugged the coax into the site and into my connection by the power cord. When I go through all the sources on the tv I get ... Nada. Any ideas what I'm missing?

Check the switch Plate where you connected the TV to If the switch is in the wrong position you will not get cable. One position is for your roof top antenna. The other position is for cable. There is also a LED light if its on move the switch