Who should install the satellite?

[Steve & Linda]

When DH & I bought our RV the front TV could be turned on, but even with antenna we couldn't get signal to watch anything. Previous owner took out rear TV and, apparently most of the 'stuff' for TV reception. We've been taking all our trips w/o 'benefit' of TV....you can imagine what that's like with teens on board! We've decided to invest in addt'l TV for bedroom and to have  hooked up for front one. Question is, do we need a satellite company, a TV & stereo place, or CW do the work? We've checked out both Dish & Direct as providers and feel Dish seems to have the better program for our needs; we have cable at home. Also, the RV appears to have been wired for cable and would like to use that if we're at a cg that has cable, but again, it isn't working at this time...so should I just have someone who knows what he's doing evaluate my system and then make the decision about spending the dough on a satellite?

 

[bucks2]

You need some grizzled old fellow that used to work in the factory that now does repairs because he's bored and doesn't want to travel. He might be found at the stereo/tv place but I'd place the odds of that at about 1 in a million. You might find him at the satellite tv sales place, but the ones I've seen had trouble counting the number of olives on their fingers and getting the same number twice in a row. (there may be a good one out there, but I sure haven't met him/her) Be aware that your motorhome is nothing like a home installation. Some folks may be OK with black cables stapled onto the side of their coaches, I think the basic black clashes with the three colors of brown already on mine. A personal preference I guess.

That leaves you with a stealership or CrappyWorld. These two are a 50/60 proposition. (I know that doesn't add up right, but your bill won't add up with the estimate either, so be forwarned) These two are probably your best chance of maybe finding someone who understands how the wiring is run in the walls of your MH. They also understand (maybe) the switching needed between the satellite dish, the outside crank-up antenna, the antenna booster, the two tvs, and the mystical magic that takes place to make them work.

Talk to the technician. Let him walk you thru what he plans to do and get a feel for how many times he's done this. If you don't feel good about his skills, keep looking. There are some guru's out there, you just need to find one.

Ken

 

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

We have been fortunate to find good RV satellite people in areas where there a lot of full timers and/or snowbirds and have also had good luck with Camping World technicians. When quizzing a tech about your motorhome installation, be very clear about what you expect and how much time you are willing to invest in his "discovery".

It also will help if you have any original equipment wiring diagrams to furnish the tech so he can gain some understanding about where power is run and possibly some information on what he might run into.

Your local DirecTV or Dish company may also have a short list of RV oriented installers.

When you are through with your installation, be sure you have a very complete walkthrough with the tech and have him demonstrate all the features. It doesn't help you much if he knows how to switch it all on and off and you don't.

 

[RVTom75]

We had some of the same problems with our 2002 Monoco Windsor. When we purchased the coach, apparently everything was messed up with our tvs.
We went on a 1 month trip (no tv) but we survived. After our trip we attened a FMCA campout in Shawnee,Okla. There was several venders there including a Dish & Direct Rep. He came to our coach and within 30 to 45 min. had it all straigted and everything working. Cost $100. You might look into one of these guys. Good Luck

 

[Tom]

We had some of the same problems with our 2002 Monoco Windsor. When we purchased the coach, apparently everything was messed up with our tvs

This seems to have been  a common isuue with Monaco products of that vintage. Our 2003 Monaco Camelot (purchased new) had two A/V selector boxes that tried to accomodate too many input and output options. Finding the right combination of switch positions was a nightly challenge, until we got to a Monaco service center and they made a simple wiring change.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Assuming that satellite is what you need (many use just an antenna or park cable, if available), you need somebody who specializes in RV satellite systems. Especially if the wiring has been mucked up by a Previous Owner. It's kind of surprising you aren't getting at least a few OTA digital signals and I wonder if you simply don't know what buttons to push or wires to connect to make that happen. It may not be great tv, but it should be working cause it doesn't require much, if any, any assists. Likewise, park cable should work easily.  You may just need someone who knows a bit about how Monaco typically sets things up, or somebody who knows RV tv gear well enough to figure out what you have (and thus, what you need to do get more/better reception).

Is there a dome type satellite dish on the roof now? One or two coax cables from roof to some place near where video switch, DVD/VCR, etc. are located?

I see you are in the South Carolina region. I don't know a RV tv guru in that area, but maybe somebody else does. I hesitate to send you to CW with this sort of problem - they tend to want to just replace everything with stuff they sell and I doubt if you need all that much.

 

[n7qvu]

I bought a NEW park model a few years back and couldn't get the sat. to work!

I pulled off one outlet cover and the coax connector fell off the coax. Seems on ALL connections, the builder had just exposed the center wire and slipped on the connector. Nothing in ALL the connections was grounded. I told the builder and properly crimped the six messed up connections.  All worked fine after that.

You never know what screw-ups one might find.

 

[Steve & Linda]

Assuming that satellite is what you need (many use just an antenna or park cable, if available), you need somebody who specializes in RV satellite systems... I wonder if you simply don't know what buttons to push or wires to connect to make that happen.  You may just need someone...

Yes, Gary, we definitely need someone to walk us through the set up of our TV(s).

Is there a dome type satellite dish on the roof now? One or two coax cables from roof to some place near where video switch, DVD/VCR, etc. are located? 

We only have an antenna but not sure what, if anything its attached to. I found the hookup for coax in the compartment with the shore cord. There are 2 of these, side-by-side. We bought a TV coax cable to run from outlet to the park cable and I tried the hook up to 1st 1, then the other and still got nothing 'cable.' My DH reminds me we did get local PBS channels and some channel that only played old TV sitcoms, but no local/national news channels. I really didn't remember that...but at least we know the front TV does work with the antenna up. Have to admit neither DH or I have been on the roof but will have knowledgeable and nimble son-in-law check it out before we make any decisions

I hesitate to send you to CW with this sort of problem - they tend to want to just replace everything with stuff they sell

Yeah, that's kinda what I'm worried about, too..I think this has already happened x1 or x2 when we've to CW for service.  Ignorance is NOT bliss! I think I'll finish reading that owners manual some more before we jump into satellite.  Thanks for everyone's input.

Linda

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Maybe someone near by to South Carolina can help you sort it out. At least do a survey of what you have and what might be missing.