Where Do I Plug In My Satellite Dish???

[braydenspoppa]

On the outside of my rig there is a cable jack, assumably for cable or satellite.  However, when I plugged in my dish, none of the 3 outlets in the camper had a connection.  All 3 seemed to connect to the antenna.  Is there something I'm missing?

Thanks!!!

[Woody]

Evidently your jack is hooked up to anything. It should be in a location that is easily accessed and you can run coax cable to your receiver. You probably already have a box that lets you shift from Antenna to Cable to VCR anyway. Not sure how the wiring will run from there.

Woody

[Ned]

The jack is for cable and probably goes through a video switch and possibly a splitter.  Either will cause it to not work with a satellite antenna as it will block the DC power necessary to switch the LNB polarity.  You need a direct connection from the antenna to the satellite receiver.

I rewired one of my external jacks to not use a splitter or go through the video switch to connect an external satellite antenna.

[RV Roamer]

Ned is right on - your "park cable" input jack will probably not work with a satellite dish. Nearly all RVs route it through an over-the-air antenna amplifier (it will have a cable/antenna switch on it) and also a video switch. Unless each of those has been specifically designed for satellite tv use, it will not work with a satellite dish.

[Clay L]

There are several ways to rewire so the cable input can be used for a dish. Winegard recommends the diagram below.

Note that this assumes your front TV is connected to the coax connector on the front of the wall plate. If yours isn't, there should be  a splitter in the line labeled "To second TV" that will send the signal to both the front and rear TVs (if you have two TVS).

What Winegard calls a "power supply" below is the wall plate with the antenna booster switch and LED showing when the amplifier is on.

If you still want to be able to use the external cable in for both cable TV and the external dish just add an A/B switch to switch the incoming coax from the sat receiver sat input  to the sat receiver TV input.

One thing not shown in the diagram is using the RCA type connections between the sat receiver and the TV. I connect them and get a better picture with no interference from any local channels. You have to select a "video in or AV" input with your TV menu instead of using channel 3 (for example).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/ClayL/Winegardsathookup.jpg

[braydenspoppa]

Thanks Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ron]

You can purchase a device called a Duplexer at Radio Shack that looks similar to a splitter only it will allow the required voltage from the receiver pas on one connection.  You need two of these one for the cable connection in the bay and one for inside where the cable comes into the cabinet.  Connect the satellite receiver to the connection labeled SAT and the other existing cable from the selector box to the connector labeled cable.  The cable from the bay connects to the side that only has one connector.  The second duplexer is connected to the cable in the bay and the dish will be connected also to the connection labeled SAT.  We have this setup in our Motorhome.

[John From Detroit]

Most of the rigs with an outside cable jack, it's for park cable, NOT for sat tv

Let me ask you a question: Is there a wall plate (Same size as a standard outlet or switch plate) inside with a round hole (12 volt socket) An Antenna type connection (With wire running to your tv) a button and a light?  That is a combination device, it's is both a switch (Park Cable/Rooftop Antenna) and power supply for the roof top pre-amp.  IT will not pass sat tv power and signal from/to the receiver/lnb

My suggestion is this.. Open that wall box, identif the park cable lead (Should be the center one) and using what we call a "Barrel" connector (This looks like the fitting the cable to the tv is hooked to..> On both ends) and some antenna cable extend this wire to the Outside TV ANTENNA IN jack on the Sat receiver

Run the TV-OUT from the sat receiver to the fitting you just freed up by disconnecting the above mentioned cable

Run brand new RG-6 to a handy connection point,, This may be a basement compartment or a bulkhead (Through wall) connector from the LNB IN on the sat receiver. That's your sat input

Switches

The button on the  wall plate.. If it's on you are watching the TV antenna on your roof

With it off... And teh sat receiver ON you watch Sat TV

With both it and the sat receiver off PARK CABLE.

[Ron]

Yes the cable for park TV can be made to serve as a sat cable too by installing a duplexer as I previously mentioned.  No guessing that is exactly what I did on our coach and I know other members here have done the same.  Works very well.