Cable TV & 2012 Sunstar 35F

[oakcreekeric]

Hello..

This weekend while camping, we had the opportunity to get cable... Normally, we are able to pick up a local channel or two via our normal antenna, but this time we couldn't.

So, I went to the office to inquire about cable. The office gave me a "cable box" and said I would need to use it to get the channels. Great... only problem.. I have no idea on how to "set it up"...

I went to my wet bay and there are two ports, satellite and cable.. Naturally, I screwed the coaxial cable in the the port labeled "cable"... Then I went into the coach trying to figure out where to hook up the box... this is where I encountered some issues.. like.. where do I hook up the box???

I pulled out the owners manual and that was of no help to me.. So, we didn't get to watch TV this weekend.. which isn't a big deal, but we do like to watch the news for the weather report.

So... for all those not technically challenged who may have a similar set up to my 2012 Sunstar 35F.... how do you hook up to cable when a "cable box" is required?

and.. further more... am I going to be able to watch TV on all three TV's, or just the one the cable box is hooked up to?

Thanks for the help..

[ghutch]

There should be a "cable" connection in an overhead cabinet. If they gave you a box, I'm only guessing from what you said, that it should be connected to the connector in a cabinet that feeds to the TV. ( you will need a short RG6 cable with ends.) Then connect the TV to the output of the box, turn off the antenna booster and hope for the best. Usually park cable is available at or near the electric pedestal and connects to the cable connection in the wet bay with no box needed. You may have to set the TV to "cable" and scan for channels.
Not sure how the box plays into this setup.

[trafman]

I ran into to this with our Vista 35F. The park adapter only had coax connections. I used an older VCR that we carry and connected the coax to the input and used the RCA connectors in the cabinet above the drivers seat. It is my understanding that they are there to use if you add a satellite dish and receiver. Otherwise you would need to access the rear of your TV to hook up the coax. I have heard of folks taking the TV down and adding. Short piece of coax for any such future needs,
.

[grtharris]

oakcreekeric, The cable coax in the web bay connects to the back of the OTA antenna power plate and not accessible without removing the plate. Like the above post most cable TV connections are at the power post and do not require a box.
If the cable box converted all of the channels to normal channels you could have connected it a the web bay and the channels would be fed to all of the TVs.
Note the power to the OTA antenna must be off.
Where was the campground?

[SuperGewl]

If your MH has a switch box the plug the cable box into the AUX In and AUX Out and then select the AUX Input to the TV's. Now the only thing is that all TV's will be watching the same thing. You will also have to change the input of the TV's to the Output channel of the cable box.
The other option is to just buy a SAT dish.

[oakcreekeric]

I have no box...

The only thing I have is the cables in the cabinet above the drivers seat.. but those are only RCA jacks..

and what i was looking for is a "cable in" and "cable out" type option.. I really don't have anything like that..

I will attempt to take pictures and show you.. I have a feeling I'm not doing a good job explaining my situation..

keep the idea's coming though..

[wa8yxm]

You should have one (or both) of two switches in your RV

one is a wall plate 12 volt accessory socket, antenna connection and between them is a light and a switch

The other is a what I call a Box of Many Buttons, technical name is Matrix Switch, this has buttons grouped by destination (Main TV, DVR/VCR, TV-2, TV-3 AUX and in each group is a series of buttons
Sat, DVD, VCR, ANT, Aux Cable

Order may be different, VCR/DVR group lacks an option for it.

Easiest way to install cable box

IF you have a VCR/DVR remove it, choose CABLE on the matrix switch for the Device removed, replace it with teh cable box and choose the device removed for the TV's.

If you have the wall plate.

Remove it from wall, with 12 volt outlet at top disconnect the 2nd cable on the bottom, route it to the box, route jumper from box back to that port and make sure switch is OFF.

[oakcreekeric]

Ok.. I was able to take some pictures.. I hope this makes better sense to those of you trying to help me..

In picture one.. this is the wet bay... I assume I should use the port labeled "cable"...


In picture two (above driver).. it gives me two options.. from roof satellite or portable satellite..


In picture three (above passenger).. you see a cable outlet/inlet.. but no 12v receptacle and the button to power up the antenna...


In picture four (above driver).. you see the RCA cables..


I needed to have the cable come into the RV (wet bay "cable" port) and then from there, I needed to have 110v plug for the cable box (this is where I got confused).. I needed a cable to go into the cable box and then out to the TV's... I had no RCA connectors to choose from on the cable box that was given to me..

I just saw this thread "http://www.irv2.com/forums/f101/upda...ol-223548.html" and that would be so awesome to do.. but I believe it is above my pay grade.... help ?!?!?!

This is all so confusing to me.. I apologize for my ignorance in advance ...

[grtharris]

oakcreekeric,
Picture one: Portable Satellite Dish goes to the plate in picture two same label. The cable one goes to the back of the plate in picture three.
Picture four: The small red and white are audio and the blue, red, green are HD video and the yellow is SD video going to the TV. They are there to connect to a Satellite receiver.
Need to know more about the cable box they gave you.
The way the cables are set up they expect the cable signal to be connected at the wet bay connection and from there it ties in through the antenna amp plate to the OTA antenna input on all of the TV's.
Do you have the 1D3 Entertain Center/Ext TV-DVD option?

[SuperGewl]

Good and Bad news. Your MH must be a Tweener model. In the far right cabinet above the passenger behind the inner covers is a 2 or 3 way splitter. This is how the TV's are hooked up to cable. You can disconnect the input to it and plug it into the cable box then the Output of the cable box to the input of it. All TV's will watch the same thing. Tune each TV to channel 3/4 depends on output of box.
If you are lucky the box will have RCA outputs just like the ones you took pics of above the Driver. RBGYRW This is component video and audio. If it does has this then plug the input into the Portable SAT input spot above the driver and plug the park cable into the portable sat spot in the SANITARY bay. Only the main and outside TV will get TV.

[oakcreekeric]

Hello again...

Sorry to revisit this thread.. but need help/advice... AGAIN !!

So.. first of all.. I appreciate all the help given the last time..

On to my next problem... I am in the process of investigating the possibility of getting a portable satellite system... at this point.. I'm not sure.. but it will be something like the Dish Tailgater..

As it turns out.. a friend of mine purchased a new-to-him RV and it came with a Winegard Pathway set up for Dish, but he has Direct at home.. I asked if I could "play" with it seeing as I was having issues trying to get my cable to work..

Well, after several attempts.. I finally got it working last night (turns out I had a bad external coaxial cable)...

I worked thru WBGO and found out I'm a bit screwed.. as you may know.. the Jensen radio in my dash doubles as the DVD player for the main salon TV.. well.. if you notice the pictures of the R/B/G/Y RCA jacks.... well, they are kinda worthless unless I have a "component" receiver... it appears WBGO ran out of ports in the back of the TV, so they kinda "stole" the port that would be normally used for the satellite receiver.. After discussion, they advised me how to proceed, effectively disabling the dash DVD player..

My friend only has the VIP211Z... it appears I may need the VIP211K..

Anyway.. I finally switched the cables around in the back of the TV and got it to work.. although, the quality isn't the best.. I used the HDMI cable and the picture is perfect.. So, I know its not the satellite or the receiver, I think its just the hook up using only the Yellow, Red & White RCA cables..

So.. my quandary is this.. After speaking with the A/V WBGO expert.. he was telling me that due to the long run from above the drivers seat to the TV, HDMI would lose something/quality and it's a better option to use the R/B/G/Y... is this true... he also said there would be no discernible difference between "component" HD vs "HDMI" HD... again, is this true ?'

What I want is the following... I would like to have HD satalite.. I have the technology, I'd like to use it.. I'm hoping they WBGO guy was/is correct and the "component" HD is exactly like using an HDMI cable (if so, I would purchase a VIP211K receiver).. Also, I'm ok with purchasing a DVD player, but I don't like the idea of losing the ability to have the surround-sound speakers... is that out the window now that I want to use a satellite ??

Any and all help/advise is much appreciated !!

[grtharris]

oakcreekeric We run 50' HDMI cable a lot and do not see any picture degrading. If you notice the longer HDMI cables are bigger with more shielding. I agree there would be no discernible difference between "component" HD vs "HDMI" HD just one digital cable versus 4 analog cables. Will look at the other stuff later.

[grtharris]

oakcreekeric to help me understand a little better. The drawings shows the DVD player in the dash using a Yellow, Red and White (Composite video and audio) cable going to the back of the TV. It shows a Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, red and white (component video and audio) going from the Satellite receiver area to the video distribution center and feeding the main and external TV with component video.
You could buy a HDMI to Component video adapter and use the VIP211Z if you coach is wired like the drawing.
The drawing also shows a HDMI cable connected to the TV but does not show were it goes.
Just a note when using the component video cable with six wires do not use the yellow one. That is for when you only have composite video available.

[oakcreekeric]

Originally Posted by grtharris

oakcreekeric to help me understand a little better. The drawings shows the DVD player in the dash using a Yellow, Red and White (Composite video and audio) cable going to the back of the TV. It shows a Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, red and white (component video and audio) going from the Satellite receiver area to the video distribution center and feeding the main and external TV with component video.
You could buy a HDMI to Component video adapter and use the VIP211Z if you coach is wired like the drawing.
The drawing also shows a HDMI cable connected to the TV but does not show were it goes.
Just a note when using the component video cable with six wires do not use the yellow one. That is for when you only have composite video available.

This is interesting information..

First of all.. the HDMI cable that is connected to the TV goes to a wall plate in the cabinet below.. When we did our "walk thru".. the sales guy mentioned it was for the kids XBOX..

Ok... so let me get this straight, as I'm confused.. You just said if I was able to use an HDMI to component adapter, I WOULD NOT use the yellow RCA cable.. is that correct.. cause right now, I'm using it.. likely the reason for the poor quality picture.. I'm guessing..

Please excuse my ignorance.. but if you look at picture #4 above.. I've got Y/B/G/R that appears to be "thicker" (component HDMI ??) and a R/W that appears to be "thinner" (audio ??)..

Based on the information above,

• If I was to purchase a 211K unit, I would only use the B/G/R and not the Y ?? Also, would I use the "thinner" R/W ??
• If I purchased a HDMI to Component adapter, where would I use it, "at the TV" or in the the compartment above the drivers seat?

I like the idea of using the component adapter.. I THINK it would allow me to use the "in-dash" DVD player and surround-sound when watching a DVD.. and I wouldn't need to purchase a new satellite box.. cause from what I have been reading.. the 211Z is the newest generation and runs cooler than the 211K..

Lastly... As I search Amazon for a adapter box.. there seems to be two choices... a HDMI to Component or Component to HDMI... I'm assuming there's a difference...

• If I was to purchase one, which one would I purchase ??

This one ?

http://www.amazon.com/aoeyoo%C2%AE-C...5%3A2470955011

grtharris - Thank you for taking the time to baby step me thru this process... I can be a little slow at times.. especially when it comes to electronics..

[grtharris]

oakcreekeric Does the attached drawing look like your system with addition of the Sat receiver and HDMI to Component adapter?
The cable is picture #4:
Large Red, Blue and Green are component video
Large Yellow is composite video
Small Red and White are audio.
With component and composite video you also have to use the audio cables.
You will need a HDMI to Component video adapter to use the 211Z that only has a HDMI output.
IF you purchased a receiver that had component video output you would not need the adapter picture would be the same less the adapter.
Hope this make this makes sense.
If you do not have the external TV I need to make a few changes.
Here is a link to the correct adapter. HDMI to Component.
http://www.amazon.com/Portta-PETHRT-...r+to+component

[artgpo]

Use King Flex satellite dish (works with both DirecTV IN SD and Dish HD. Have two ViP211k receivers. Front TV is connected to the 211k via the factory component cables. HD picture is fine. Bedroom 211k is connected to the Flex via a through the window coax and then HDMI to TV. Flex seems to have developed a problem but that should be addressed under warranty. If I were to do it all over again I would purchase the new Tailgater. It has two outputs for two TVs and can be roof mounted to the RV.

[oakcreekeric]

grtharris -

Thanks for the info... Wondering if you could suggest another HDMI to Component interface.. Looking for something cheaper if possible.. I don't have the set up yet (and not sure if I will), so I really didn't want to spend $40 if I didn't have to...

Thanks !!

[grtharris]

oakcreekeric, here is one for $29.34.
1080P HDMI V1.3 to Component Video YPbPr + 3.5mm L/R Audio HDCP Converter 2015 – $29.34