37F cable problems

raycyn778 · 05-18-2014, 06:17 PM

Hello all, just got back from Myrtle Beach and our 2nd trip in our 14' adventurer 37f. Didn't bring our portable sat. set up and decided to just hook up to the campgrounds cable system (TWC). got very few channels and terrible picture. called the office and they sent a tech out. He found the campground jack to have very good signal strength so I had him test the cable I was using. I disconnected it at the coach and he tested it with the same results. I saw the meter readings myself.
Got with my neighbor who had a brand new 5th wheel and he got over a hundred channels with excellent clarity. So the issue has to be my unit. I made sure the power boost for over the air reception was off and when i turned it on, I had nothing but snow. Trying to avoid going all the way back to the dealer (110 miles away) to fix. Anyone had a similar experience? Suggestions anyone?
Thanks in advance
Ray

I have the HDMI switcher system and wonder if that may be part of the problem. checked for loose connections but everything was tight.

artgpo · 05-18-2014, 07:50 PM

You did have the cable connected to the correct jack on the RV? Just asking.

emiddleb · 05-18-2014, 08:50 PM

We have an LG flatscreen and when we change campgrounds we need to do a channel scan so the TV 'knows' which channels are available, either from cable or OTA. The TV can recognize a variety of signals (TV, DVT, CATV, and CADTV in our case) but won't see them until the scan is done. Does your TV have the same?

SuperGewl · 05-19-2014, 03:58 AM

It may sound dumb but it just happened to me. Make sure you Reprogram the TV and also ensure you check the Cable vise Antenna box during the Setup. On some TV's you even have to go as far as tell it what type of signal it is actually receiving, digital, IRC or what ever.

Check it when you get home and see if works there without any setup

raycyn778 · 05-20-2014, 08:54 AM

I do the channel scan every time we go to a different campground. One thing that I have yet to figure out is the main TV in our coach, when you begin the scan asks me to choose IRC, HRC or Standard. The TV manual does not explain the differences. Does anyone know what that means and how you tell the difference?

Superjewel, unfortunately we do not have cable at our home, we have Direct. I may drive over to a campground a few miles from here and ask if I can hook up to their cable to test mine again before going out to dealer

artgpo..I think that the fact that we got any kind of picture meant that we were hooked up to the right jack..just don't know about the wiring in the coach. we have the HDMI matrix box and that may be the problem.

Ray

raycyn778 · 05-20-2014, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperGewl

It may sound dumb but it just happened to me. Make sure you Reprogram the TV and also ensure you check the Cable vise Antenna box during the Setup. On some TV's you even have to go as far as tell it what type of signal it is actually receiving, digital, IRC or what ever.

Check it when you get home and see if works there without any setup

Cable vise antenna box? What exactly is that?
Thanks
Ray

emiddleb · 05-20-2014, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raycyn778

I do the channel scan every time we go to a different campground. One thing that I have yet to figure out is the main TV in our coach, when you begin the scan asks me to choose IRC, HRC or Standard. The TV manual does not explain the differences. Does anyone know what that means and how you tell the difference?

Here's a good reference...

What does STD HRC IRC cable mean? | Solidly Stated

A thought... can you access the back of the TV? If so, next time try running a coax directly from the campground hookup to your TV, bypassing all your electronics and switches. Will tell you where the problem is... TV, HDMI box, wiring, etc.

Hikerdogs · 05-20-2014, 04:25 PM

Our Samsung remote has a "Source" button. If yours does also you have to choose either HDMI, Antenna, or Cable before doing a channel scan.

raycyn778 · 05-20-2014, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emiddleb

Here's a good reference...

What does STD HRC IRC cable mean? | Solidly Stated

A thought... can you access the back of the TV? If so, next time try running a coax directly from the campground hookup to your TV, bypassing all your electronics and switches. Will tell you where the problem is... TV, HDMI box, wiring, etc.

ED, thanks for the link..I understand it now! Great idea about running the cable direct to the TV. I am going to try that next time I am at a campground. I hooked up our Direct TV to the coach today and it worked great. I believe that proves that the HDMI Matrix switcher is working fine as well so it is the cable side that I have an issue with. It just may be the plate that I hook up to in the cargo compartment.

Hikerdog...I have been doing the "source" choice every time I hook up and did it a few times last weekend. tried it in IRC, HRC and Standard just in case!

grtharris · 05-21-2014, 06:48 AM

raycyn778 the over the air antenna signal and the cable TV signal do not go through the HDMI switcher. Both cables are ran to the over the air antenna amplifier switch plate and are combined and send to the antenna input on the TV. Make sure the power light is off on the switch plate when you are using the cable TV input.
When using the over the air antenna does the picture change when you switch the amp on and off?

WineLuvrs · 05-21-2014, 02:08 PM

Above the passenger seat overhead there is a switch for cable or antenna .
This too confounded us until we read the instructions, Again.

grtharris · 05-21-2014, 02:28 PM

WineLuvrs Yes, that is the over the air antenna amp power switch.

raycyn778 · 05-22-2014, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grtharris

WineLuvrs Yes, that is the over the air antenna amp power switch.

Yes, while looking for any problem that may be causing the poor cable reception, I turned the amp on and off. When on, only snow was on the screen, when off, a very poor picture. I did not know that both signals, (cable and OTA) combined at the switch plate, are you very sure about that? As someone else suggested, I am going to run a length of cable from the campground outlet through the window and into the living area TV, bypassing all of the splitters etc. to see what happens next time I go on a trip which is in 3 weeks right now. I have Direct here and tried it in the coach and the picture is perfect. Never have tried the OTA system...suppose I should be able to do it right here at home huh?!
Ray

raycyn778 · 05-22-2014, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WineLuvrs

Above the passenger seat overhead there is a switch for cable or antenna .
This too confounded us until we read the instructions, Again.

Hi, as a fellow 2014 37F owner, I was wondering what, if any issues have you had with your coach so far??

Ray

grtharris · 05-22-2014, 04:26 PM

raycyn778, Attached is the coax cable drawing for your coach. What this does not show is all of the connections in the cables.

raycyn778 · 05-23-2014, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grtharris

raycyn778, Attached is the coax cable drawing for your coach. What this does not show is all of the connections in the cables.

Grant, thanks this is great..what I don't understand is the connections from the splitter to the 2nd wall plate in the overhead cabinet. The lines into the splitter are from the cable/OTA but go out to a wall plate labeled Satellite receiver Connection?? what then??

grtharris · 05-23-2014, 10:27 AM

raycyn778 those connectors are to connect the OTA antenna signal to the satellite receivers if you choose to do so.
The OTA signal for the TV's come directly from the splitter.
Hey, we will be in Orlando at Fort Wilderness in 2 wks.

emiddleb · 05-23-2014, 08:50 PM

Ray, based on the diagram (and getting back to your cable tv issue) you have a couple things you can check right away.

First, if I were shooting this bug, I'd look at the plate in the bay. Should be held on by a couple screws that you can remove and pull out from the wall a bit. Check the 'cable tv' connector and make sure the coax that connects to it is tight. That's a 3 minute job.

Then I'd do the same thing with that "antenna/cable wallplate" that in the cabinet. I'd pull that off and make sure the 3 coax cables are tight and (hopefully they are labeled) the cables are connected to the proper connections. Looks to me that plate is just an A/B switch that lets you choose between the bay cable coax and the roof antenna and sends the proper one to your splitter.

Next if possible I'd do the same thing to the splitter box, checking all the coax in the back, make sure they are tight and connected to the proper connections.

Beyond that, the diagnosis gets deeper. I'd go back to my original suggestion of a direct coax from the cable tv source to your TV, bypass all the switches and boxes, and make sure your TV can see the cable signal. If that works, then the failure is either in one of the boxes or one of the coax cables between the components. I'd take that same new cable from the campground that you fed to the TV and put it in the spot on your splitter box and see if that works. Finally, if that works I'd take that new cable and put it into your A/B switch and see what happens.

Doing this will let you pin it down to one of the boxes, one of the coax cables, or how you are setting up the TV to see cable.

Hope this wasn't too confusing...

raycyn778 · 05-24-2014, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grtharris

raycyn778 those connectors are to connect the OTA antenna signal to the satellite receivers if you choose to do so.
The OTA signal for the TV's come directly from the splitter.
Hey, we will be in Orlando at Fort Wilderness in 2 wks.

Hey Grant, why would someone want to connect OTA signals to a sat receiver? My DTV sat receiver does not have an input for that. How does that work?
Fort Wilderness is very cool, very expensive but very cool. We have stayed there and in Kissimee for half the cost and it was fine. It is nice though to just get up and get on Disney's internal transportation system and go. We will be there in October...

raycyn778 · 05-24-2014, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emiddleb

Ray, based on the diagram (and getting back to your cable tv issue) you have a couple things you can check right away.

First, if I were shooting this bug, I'd look at the plate in the bay. Should be held on by a couple screws that you can remove and pull out from the wall a bit. Check the 'cable tv' connector and make sure the coax that connects to it is tight. That's a 3 minute job.

Then I'd do the same thing with that "antenna/cable wallplate" that in the cabinet. I'd pull that off and make sure the 3 coax cables are tight and (hopefully they are labeled) the cables are connected to the proper connections. Looks to me that plate is just an A/B switch that lets you choose between the bay cable coax and the roof antenna and sends the proper one to your splitter.

Next if possible I'd do the same thing to the splitter box, checking all the coax in the back, make sure they are tight and connected to the proper connections.

Beyond that, the diagnosis gets deeper. I'd go back to my original suggestion of a direct coax from the cable tv source to your TV, bypass all the switches and boxes, and make sure your TV can see the cable signal. If that works, then the failure is either in one of the boxes or one of the coax cables between the components. I'd take that same new cable from the campground that you fed to the TV and put it in the spot on your splitter box and see if that works. Finally, if that works I'd take that new cable and put it into your A/B switch and see what happens.

Doing this will let you pin it down to one of the boxes, one of the coax cables, or how you are setting up the TV to see cable.

Hope this wasn't too confusing...

ED, not at all confusing...very well explained and all great ideas. Going to try them all. not sure about the A/B switch..do I have one? Or are you referring to the splitter? Not sure how a switch that merges OTA and Cable allows the correct signal out. Or does that even matter. Trying to get this straight as I leave for a campground in NH in 3 weeks that is so wooded that I know my Direct TV Sat. will not be able to receive a signal so it will be cable or nothing. Unfortunately I do not have cable here at my home and will have to go to a nearby campground (15 miles away) to try all of this. I want to be as prepared as possible before I go out there...

Ray