Cable tv connection problems - Montana Owners Club

gary s swenson · 04-11-2018, 04:15 PM

We have a 2017 3721 RL. I cannot get the park cable to work. I have turned off the over the air ant. I have tried to make it work in several different parks. I went out today and tried to check continuity with a coax tester. Could not get a signal on either the living room or bedroom tv. I am using the connections in the convenience center. Can anyone give me an idea of what I am doing wrong? I would check for loose connections behind the convenience center, but I do not know how to get back there. Any advice would be appreciated. Regards gary

team bradfield · 04-11-2018, 05:01 PM

I had a bad cable once, drove me crazy chasing down ideas. then the DW said, maybe the cable is bad.....bought a new one at the KOA store and problem solved, just a thought

gary s swenson · 04-11-2018, 05:24 PM

Thanks, already tried a new cable while we were gone to Rushmore last year. Trying to solve the problem before we head out the end of may.

CarWin · 04-11-2018, 05:34 PM

In your pass thru basement storage on the driver side, there should be a black carpeted board screwed to the aluminum studs. Remove the screws from the board that is adjacent to your convenience center, and you will find the cable splitter with multiple connections attached up overhead.

gary s swenson · 04-11-2018, 05:46 PM

Ok thanks, I will go out in the am and see if I can get behind the center and check for loose or unconnected cables . Keep your fingers crossed.

topjustice · 04-11-2018, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gary s swenson

We have a 2017 3721 RL. I cannot get the park cable to work. I have turned off the over the air ant. I have tried to make it work in several different parks. I went out today and tried to check continuity with a coax tester. Could not get a signal on either the living room or bedroom tv. I am using the connections in the convenience center. Can anyone give me an idea of what I am doing wrong? I would check for loose connections behind the convenience center, but I do not know how to get back there. Any advice would be appreciated. Regards gary

I know this doesn’t answer your problem but it’s a good backup plan in a pinch. I carried one of these flat cables with me so if I had a connection problem I could run this through a window near the tv and close the window completely. This allows you to hook up directly until problem is solved. In my previous SOB I never could solve the cable problem so I used it regularly.

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-JUMPER-...+coaxial+cable

Eagleback · 04-12-2018, 04:09 AM

You might need a Convertor. Cable TV services are digital now and need a setup box to receive channels. Most parks have them at the office if you are not an extended stay customer.

GregN · 04-12-2018, 06:33 AM

Are you setting the television to search for channels? I know I have to do that in every park I stay in.

MARK A · 04-12-2018, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gary s swenson

We have a 2017 3721 RL. I cannot get the park cable to work. I have turned off the over the air ant. I have tried to make it work in several different parks. I went out today and tried to check continuity with a coax tester. Could not get a signal on either the living room or bedroom tv. I am using the connections in the convenience center. Can anyone give me an idea of what I am doing wrong? I would check for loose connections behind the convenience center, but I do not know how to get back there. Any advice would be appreciated. Regards gary

Gary,
Before you dismantle anything try hooking into the other connection, more than one of these rigs has had incorrect markings on the connections.

Mark

mjammersc · 04-12-2018, 08:33 AM

I was just at a campground with cable and my bedroom TV got a decent amount of channels and was reasonably clear but the main TV (next in chain) only got 2 and they were poor (booster was off). Was curious if can use the satellite inputs vs cable TV and jump the TV directly to that to reduce the loss (only occasionally watch the bedroom TV). Also is it possible to add a signal amplifier at the cable connection by the post to boost the signal? Wondering if either of these options are feasible.

gary s swenson · 04-12-2018, 09:07 AM

Well , l got behind the panel and checked for any loose or missing or missing connections but everything was tight and connected. Does anyone have a schematic of how they are supposed to be connected? The top connection on the panel says cable and the other two say satellite. I have tried using all three connections. Thanks for your help. Regards gary

CarWin · 04-12-2018, 06:11 PM

Sadly there is no rhyme or reason or schematics of ANY of the wiring/plumbing/cableing in any of these coaches. Its just whatever strikes their fancy at the time of the build for your particular unit, and thats a downright shame, considering what they charge for these dang campers.

gary s swenson · 04-12-2018, 06:21 PM

Well I may pick up a flat coax and go through a window and hook up direct to tv until we go up to the rally in September and then get Montana to fix it so it will work correctly. Thanks for everyone’s suggestions. Regards Gary

glendodom · 09-23-2018, 07:11 PM

Gary Swenson

We just bought a 3721RL and I am having the same issues you noted. I can get my Dish Satellite feed in both the LR and the outside TV, but when I hook into the second sat input for bedroom, it will not receive sats.

I have checked connections at the splitter behind the service center and also the connections in BR. It is something in splitters and cabling. If I run a line via slide to BR everything works.

The way Montana uses all these single lines and splitters is above my tech knowledge.

When you went to the annual rally did the tech guys get yours fixed? Any suggestions.

Thanks,

Dusters · 09-24-2018, 09:20 AM

Just last week, we experienced cable noise at a premier RV resort and asked if their analog cable of 25 channels had a secret to getting clear stations on the first 7 channels. They came out with a monitor and viewed perfectly clear stations. So I ran a cable direct to the big tv and also got clear stations. Tried a few other things and noticed the 12v exhaust fan added noise to the cable. My quick solution was to add a splitter to the inner side of the convenience center and run an external line to the front room. You need a barrel connector at the tv plate to connect to the tv cable in place.

glendodom · 09-24-2018, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusters

Just last week, we experienced cable noise at a premier RV resort and asked if their analog cable of 25 channels had a secret to getting clear stations on the first 7 channels. They came out with a monitor and viewed perfectly clear stations. So I ran a cable direct to the big tv and also got clear stations. Tried a few other things and noticed the 12v exhaust fan added noise to the cable. My quick solution was to add a splitter to the inner side of the convenience center and run an external line to the front room. You need a barrel connector at the tv plate to connect to the tv cable in place.

When you note you ran an "external line to the front room", are you saying you did a splitter an run an alternate second line direct to the front BR? How did you get the cable pulled through up into the wall to the TV area?

When I look at the rear of my convenience center and detect the 3 white cables coming off of the multi-switch at the rear they all three seem to head to the rear of the trailer? I can understand two of them going to the rear but not why the front BR cable would also? I haven't been able to really find the front BR cable line of where it is coming from.

Dusters · 09-24-2018, 10:40 AM

My Livingroom is in the middle for this model and I added a small cable to the back of my outside cable connection just inside the black wall area. I used another short cable off the second splitter connector to extend over to a wall (3 ft) and put a small hole to pass the cable through. When I got home, I had a cable plate to attach that cable to the wall for future use. I can temporarily loop another cable around the back of the sofa and hook to the tv. This works for me, since I don't have to figure out how to fish coax through the walls to reach the opposite side of the room and come through a fireplace or cabinet on this unit. If I was a full timer, then it would be necessary to cosmetically install something more appropriate and out of the way. I don't use the bedroom tv only the living room. My standard installed cables with antenna are not affected with the addition of a splitter, because you have disconnect from their cable plate to run your external cable.

summer home · 09-24-2018, 03:20 PM

On my 2017 375FL, the cable inputs are fine... The bedroom sat input was "troublesome", so I installed a new connection thru the camper to right outside the bedroom.... now my DISH works on both TV's....

glendodom · 09-24-2018, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by summer home

On my 2017 375FL, the cable inputs are fine... The bedroom sat input was "troublesome", so I installed a new connection thru the camper to right outside the bedroom.... now my DISH works on both TV's....

When you say you installed a new connection "thru the camper" to right outside the br" can you clarify? How did you connect from your br sat box to the outside br connection?

What is strange my Dish tailgater will work on both the LR and outside tvs using the top sat connection but when I connect to the lower sat connection (br I am presuming), no signal.

I have bypassed the multi-switch just inside the central service area outside and also bypassed the br splitter and still no signal.

It is unreal Keystone don't wire these units so they are compatible to the various satellite systems! As I understand the issue is the small auto satellites can not transmit power/signal through the various splitter/multi-plexers Keystone uses.

masterdrago · 09-24-2018, 07:42 PM

We tried to watch local tv this week from central Texas on the Wingard Razor 1 antenna. Was not able to get the thing to turn in the bedroom ceiling. Found the instructions and spent most of an hour doing the quarter turn recommended b4 trying the channel search each time. Finally went out to discover the antenna was not getting turned. Took off the the ceiling mount to discover that the handle had broken off the 2" long black prongs attached to the antenna on the roof. Now have a reference number with Wingard. Spent the next half day discovering that the park cable will only work if I bypass the switch others have refereed to above. Also found the coax wired to CAT/TV instead of Sat. Once I got that figured out and jumped around the switch, the park cable worked fine. Now when I get a real dish satellite, I know where to hook it up. I've labelled everything but may not ever be using the Wingard again.

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