No TV channels with Winegard antenna

[Junkman-WO]

I purchased a 1997 Winnebago Warrior 32RQ, and I can't figure out what's going on with the TV cable system! First of all, Heres what I have as far as I know. The Winegard antenna on the roof, a TV in the bay between and above the front seats, a device that has three cables attached to it (red, green and blue) which is behind the TV, a connection box in the rear bedroom and a "cable input jack with cable attached, in the power shore hookup bay. The problem is that no matter what I do, I can only get 5 channels, all public access channels and nothing else!! Im not sure if everything is hooked up the way it should be. A print I have from Winnebago shows a splitter but where is it? I can't see it when I look up into the TV bay. I need help!!

 

[Wingchop]

Every over the air antenna I've had has had a little power switch for the antenna to work. I'd look for the device where the three colored cables hook into (motor home side, not tv) to see if you see a power switch, should be out in the open.

 

[BCam]

Check out page 8-9 of your operator manual:

https://winnebagoind.com/resources/manuals/pdfs/Operator1997/97Warrior.pdf

You'll also find a wealth of information here, including wiring, plumbing diagrams, etc:

https://winnebagoind.com/product-resources/product-information

 

[CharlesMoore]

The Winegard antenna is a amplified antenna. Somewhere there is a switch (probably a little square switch in the front, upper, right (starboard) compartment in a (brown?) receptacle looking plate. Usually, when you turn it on there is a green light that shows the amplifier is on. (FYI - In my coach the button and green light was pushed so hard it became dismounted and was behind the plate).

 

[esyers]

Are these the original tv's? This is the condition I had picking up my first 'new to me' coach. Over the air signals today are all digital. You can get a converter box at Walmart to put between each tv and the antenna. Then you scan for the channels with the converter box. The other remedy is a newer model, digital tv.

 

[rhodesaz]

My box is hidden in the cabinet above the co-pilot. Don't forget, you will have to re scan for OTA channels at every location.

 

[rumrunnerxx]

Since you can get some channels I suspect the amplifier is not turned on. When I lost all my channels I traced the problem to the connector up on top of the roof where the coax went inside from the antenna. My connection was corroded off. The section of coax sticking out from the bottom of the antenna must have moved back and forth enough that it finally broke. As a side note, while I was up on the roof I oiled the antenna joints. What a difference that made when cranking the antenna up and down.

 

[Journey39n]

If your TV's are the originals from 1997, they will not work with the new digital channels. Some time around 2004, everything went digital for over the air signals, and the old TV's needed converter boxes to work. There are still some old analog channels out there, that may be what you are picking up. I had to install them in my 2003 Horizon, and they worked great. But without the converter boxes, I could only get 2 or 3 channels.

 

[CharlesMoore]

Are these the original tv's? This is the condition I had picking up my first 'new to me' coach. Over the air signals today are all digital. You can get a converter box at Walmart to put between each tv and the antenna. Then you scan for the channels with the converter box. The other remedy is a newer model, digital tv.

Thanks for the comment: In our case we pulled out all the old analog TV's and replaced them with a new "Smart" TV's. Winnebago Tech support can help you with removing the frames which can be challenging. Once they were removed and the new ones installed everything worked perfectly without the converter box (which I hope to never have to use again). I'll bet there are tens of thousands of these converter devices still in the field. I think mine will go on the free table the next time we are in an Escapee's Park.



Yes, every new location requires you to determine what direction to the new stations, rotating the antenna to that direction and rescanning for channels. To me it is amazing to see how many antennas are pointed away from the TV stations. I use Google maps to find the nearest big city to determine the direction (E, SE, S, SW, W, NW, N, NE) and go outside with a compass to orient myself. All this takes about 5 minutes or less.

 

[Morich]

Very late to the party on this but there may be a better way to locate TV broadcasts. I now use an APP called DTV antennas to locate and set the OTA stations. Some towers are not located near the metro areas, so finding what channels are expected and which direction can help sort which direction to best face the antenna.
This app is free to download and does the following things for me:
It give me list or a map depending on which I want, name and power of the stations considered in range, as well as arrows showing the direction. Knowing the power of a station can be critical as that is a vital point of whether it works or not.
I normally look for the network channels and if they are in one single direction, tune the antenna to best pick up those and then switch to the section which gives an arrow onscreen. As I rotate my phone, the arrow lines up and lights when the phone is pointing to the tower. That only leaves me to turn the antenna to the same direction as my phone and adjust the amp on it.
Very helpful app ---when you have cell service!!

 

[CharlesMoore]

Very late to the party on this but there may be a better way to locate TV broadcasts. I now use an APP called DTV antennas to locate and set the OTA stations. Some towers are not located near the metro areas, so finding what channels are expected and which direction can help sort which direction to best face the antenna.
This app is free to download and does the following things for me:
It give me list or a map depending on which I want, name and power of the stations considered in range, as well as arrows showing the direction. Knowing the power of a station can be critical as that is a vital point of whether it works or not.
I normally look for the network channels and if they are in one single direction, tune the antenna to best pick up those and then switch to the section which gives an arrow onscreen. As I rotate my phone, the arrow lines up and lights when the phone is pointing to the tower. That only leaves me to turn the antenna to the same direction as my phone and adjust the amp on it.
Very helpful app ---when you have cell service!!

Good app! I now can throw away my compass the app points the way. Thanks.

 

[Morich]

I found this app to be very handy on trips to mountain areas as they may not do the transmission from the city which is often down in the valley but they can get much more coverage if they put the tower up on a mountain nearby. At a campground near the top of Ratan Pass between Colorado and New Mexico, we were picking the local channels from each side of the mountain range, depending on how we turned the antenna.
If you dig into the app deep enough, you can find a somewhat accurate map of how far out it was expected each tower would go and that can lead to knowing why some will get to you and others might not.
Some big things are what's blocking the signal so if we are in a short RV and hard up against the side of a big bus between us and the tower, we know to expect less than if we were on the other side of that bus!
Never enough info!