Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum - View Single Post

Art-n-Marge · 01-03-2010, 06:27 AM

The satellite dish needs to be connected to the RV's external "cable" connector which you have probably done. Then inside the RV you need to locate the "looped" coax jumper which is probably near the entertainment cabinet where the OEM DVD player is located. This loop jumper allows you to connect your satellite receiver in series to get the satellite signal to the RV's televisions.

The first problem is locating the loop jumper. But the biggest problem is figuring out which of the loop coax connectors goes to the external cable connector that you connected the satellite dish's cable. Mine happens to be the bottom one and the top one goes to the televisions. It does matter! The way to do this is turn on your television to the proper channel (3 or 4) for your receiver. Then connect the TV output for the satellite receiver into one of the coax ports. If you get the receiver's picture on the TV you've picked the right one. If you don't see the receiver's information, then try the other coax port. After finding the correct port for the TV, the other one is used for the satellite connection.

Make sure you are using RG-6 cable everywhere you can!

Let us know how you are doing.

On edit:

Whoops - I re-read your post. You said the interior wiring looks good since you had this working at home.

It must be the aim of the dish. I carry a "spare" 15" LCD TV and take the receiver and set these up right next to the dish. I do this when I want to watch TV outside. This way I have immediate feedback when I find the signal just like when using the electronic signal finder. Then I run the coax to the RV after it's been found. I found the vertical scale on my dish was off by about 5-7 degrees even when north and level were perfect.

Did you test your satellite dish at home to find out if it was off? Even though I started with the dish aimed north, and the tripod and base very level, and started with the right direction, I had to move the dish higher than called for to get the signal. Knowing that, I have been able to minimize problems. I still haul a portable flat screen television but rarely have to use them now for that reason.

Like Orv mentioned I have an inline signal detector but have never had good success with it, because you still have to find the signal and with the TV and rcvr right next to the dish that works just as well (and the alarm for the detector is irritatingly high-pitched and drives me bonkers when it detects the signal).

Good luck with this. It used to take me a while but I am getting better at it.

01-03-2010, 06:27 AM	#6
Art-n-Marge Montana Master Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Murrieta Posts: 5,816 M.O.C. #9257	The satellite dish needs to be connected to the RV's external "cable" connector which you have probably done. Then inside the RV you need to locate the "looped" coax jumper which is probably near the entertainment cabinet where the OEM DVD player is located. This loop jumper allows you to connect your satellite receiver in series to get the satellite signal to the RV's televisions. The first problem is locating the loop jumper. But the biggest problem is figuring out which of the loop coax connectors goes to the external cable connector that you connected the satellite dish's cable. Mine happens to be the bottom one and the top one goes to the televisions. It does matter! The way to do this is turn on your television to the proper channel (3 or 4) for your receiver. Then connect the TV output for the satellite receiver into one of the coax ports. If you get the receiver's picture on the TV you've picked the right one. If you don't see the receiver's information, then try the other coax port. After finding the correct port for the TV, the other one is used for the satellite connection. Make sure you are using RG-6 cable everywhere you can! Let us know how you are doing. On edit: Whoops - I re-read your post. You said the interior wiring looks good since you had this working at home. It must be the aim of the dish. I carry a "spare" 15" LCD TV and take the receiver and set these up right next to the dish. I do this when I want to watch TV outside. This way I have immediate feedback when I find the signal just like when using the electronic signal finder. Then I run the coax to the RV after it's been found. I found the vertical scale on my dish was off by about 5-7 degrees even when north and level were perfect. Did you test your satellite dish at home to find out if it was off? Even though I started with the dish aimed north, and the tripod and base very level, and started with the right direction, I had to move the dish higher than called for to get the signal. Knowing that, I have been able to minimize problems. I still haul a portable flat screen television but rarely have to use them now for that reason. Like Orv mentioned I have an inline signal detector but have never had good success with it, because you still have to find the signal and with the TV and rcvr right next to the dish that works just as well (and the alarm for the detector is irritatingly high-pitched and drives me bonkers when it detects the signal). Good luck with this. It used to take me a while but I am getting better at it.