Runnin' Cable

[Keener50]

Hello All..........I'm looking for insights on running wire through our 5th wheel. I need to run a satellite coax from the roof to the TV in the living area. It would be awesome if I could just use the coax from the OTA antenna but I've heard too may times to use the wire that the satellite comes with to reduce interference. The TV is in a slide so I'm assuming I need to come in from the bottom where the rest of the wires are coming in?

Here's my thought; drop the coax in from the roof through a "new" hole that is directly over our floor to ceiling pantry. Run it straight down in a corner of the pantry and then through the floor. From there, run it along the frame to the same place where the other wires enter the slide from the bottom.

Here's the truth; everything above after "here's my thought" is a total SWAG theory. Thus my need for your experience. Thanks !!

[DMRGMC]

Keener, I assume you want to run the coax from the roof because that’s where your dish is. You also don’t give year or model, that might be important to others answering, that have done what you want to do. If the coax from the OTA antenna is RG6 there shouldn’t be a signal issue. You would need to use a few splitters to facilitate that. I have experienced signal loss due to a bad splitter.
Also you can contact Jayco thru the tech answer site and they would provide you with schematics that might help. Schematics helped me out. It showed that the cable and satellite systems weren’t married in any form but by moving a cable connection with a splitter to the satellite system, I solved my problem.
Last, the roof dish might limit the use due to tree/foliage issues at campgrounds so a portable dish might be the answer.
Good luck.

[Keener50]

DMRGMC
Thank you for your insights and taking the time to reply. Being new, we need all the help we can get and this site means we probably dont have to reinvent the wheel. Here are the specs:
2018 Jayco 28.5 RSTS. / Satellite is a King Tailgater specific for Dish network

We also went with the King Quick Release Roof Mount because, like you, many have pointed out the importance of being able to move the satellite should we find ourselves near too many obstructions. Just another great tip from this site that saved us from making a mistake we might have regretted. There is already a SAT connection on the exterior of the rig so that connection should be reasonably straight forward when not using the roof mount.

I think the next thing to determine is the type of coax currently connected to the OTA antenna. And then to check on the schematics from Jayco as I can foresee them being a great benefit for other future additions. Thanks Again

[Keener50]

I discovered that Jayco used RG6 coax throughout my particular 5th wheel. I went in through the storage bay on the front door side. Inside the bay to the right is a "low point drain" cover which was held in by two screws. I removed the cover and found the three coax cables that are accessed from outside of the unit where the water connection is. The thee connections are for SAT, CAT and Aux. Each one uses RG6 so although I have not yet checked the OTA connection on the roof, its a safe bet that it too is RG6 coax.

[Grumpy]

That can be easily checked by pulling the Ant Amp and looking there.

[Mustang65]

Make sure all your connections are tight as the DISH receiver sends 18VDC to the DISH satellite alignment system while aiming the antenna. Make sure, if you happen to use the OTA cable back to the media center, that the OTA amplifier is disconnected.

Don


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