2014 Living area TV fix - Montana Owners Club

CruzerDoc · 12-23-2013, 03:57 AM

As many have noted, the living area TV does not connect to the digital antenna. Here is a simple "work around". WARNING!!! The coax cable connects were improperly marked in both the living area and bedroom of my unit. Good luck!
You will need two jumper coax cables. A few bucks at Wally-world and get a couple of three footers. In the bedroom disconnect the TV from the antenna outlet and use one jumper and jump from the antenna outlet (will have a 12v power connect and a red light that should be on) to the "bedroom satellite" outlet beside it. There is also an "outside tv" outlet beside the "satellite" outlet. These were backwards on my unit.
No go to your convenience center and use your second jumper. Connect the "living room satellite" to the "bedroom satellite".
Go into your living room and connect the TV cable to the "satellite" outlet (this was also switched on my unit). You should now have digital service to your living room TV. You can also use a "splitter" in the bedroom and be able to use both TV's at once.
Hope this helps.

scott-pati · 12-23-2013, 04:02 AM

Had to do that on my old 2004 2955rl unit and labeled everything. Boy the new owner will be lucky that I did all the hard work for them. lol

jfaberna · 12-23-2013, 04:12 AM

So is there a block diagram of the way the cable/satellite/antenna are wired?

**DQDick** · 12-23-2013, 04:18 AM

I've got it for the older models, don't know if it's the same for the new ones. If you want it, email me at dqdick10432@yahoo.com and I'll send you what I have.

jfaberna · 12-23-2013, 05:43 AM

I'm going to map out my 2014 3402RL, but it looks like the Satellite connections in the convenience center are point to point to the living room, bedroom, and basement. The Cable must be tied to a switch because they say you have to turn the Antenna AMP off in the bedroom for Cable to work. Also the PDI tech mentioned that if I wanted to configured with Cable in the Living room, I'd have to take the plate off the Antenna connection and change which cable was connected behind the plate. I'm not sure I followed all of that, but I'll figure it out when I have it setup in a campsite somewhere with plenty of cold beer.

scott-pati · 12-23-2013, 05:55 AM

I'm not sure what the tech is talking about either. I know that the labels are wrong on mine, it says cable instead of satellite. My unit switches from roof antenna to cable using the amp power button too! There are no directions anywhere that tell you how to due a few things in these units. As far as I can tell, with the exception of the labels being wrong, everything works as intended. Glad we have this forum!!!
Scott

K0LCB · 12-23-2013, 05:56 AM

I think mine works ok

CruzerDoc · 12-23-2013, 05:56 AM

Beer helps!

Took me awhile to get this going because I assumed everything was wired correctly. We pulled into a RV park with cable and I couldn't get it to work in the living room. On a hunch I switched cables around and everything started working. Who'da guessed?

scott-pati · 12-23-2013, 06:03 AM

You would think this would be tested before leaving the factory. Don't they have a QC person? Or would that add more to the cost of the unit. Haha

Art-n-Marge · 12-23-2013, 06:13 AM

Having the label say "cable" is not wrong. In this case whether you use cable or satellite, it's the same, to imply the connector should be used for cable (or satellite) connection. They are one and the same and just wanted to keep the label wording short (I think). I went ahead and labeled mine with Sat In and Sat out, just to avoid any doubt for me.

My older model rig does not work the way CruzerDoc describes, so please note, you'll need to decide whether this works for you or not. Then as new technology keeps getting added to rigs, then connections will vary once again. I wonder when HDMI cables will get added into the mix. Can you imagine the possibilities?

**Carl n Susan** · 12-23-2013, 06:47 AM

Here is one of several diagrams of the TV wiring in various years of Montanas. http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...ad.php?t=37324

I really doubt the design has changed for 2014. Rather I suspect the "old world craftsmen" have mot followed the plan or there is some confusion in how this should work.

There is a dedicated Satellite connector (for DirecTV and/or Dish) to the living room and the bedroom. The RF connectors near the living room TV are for the satellite connection.

There is also an external "Cable" connection (for the park supplied signal) which feeds both the living room and bedroom in one circuit. This circuit also includes the OTA antenna on the roof. The Cable/Antenna connection is separate and is wired directly to the TV.

When you are in a RV park and hooked to their cable it is assumed you won't need the OTA antenna and the booster should be off (the booster current destroys the cable signal). If you are not hooked to park cable and want to use the OTA antenna, turn on the booster and each TV will have access to what ever channels are available. Remember to switch the TV from Cable to Antenna (aka OTA) as the signals are different.

If there is a problem, you should be able to have the dealer sort it out if you are on warranty. If you past that, then it isn't difficult to figure it out with the diagram and a tone tester device.

Once you get it sorted out, then switching from Cable/Antenna (for local channels) to your satellite service is simply done by changing the "Source" of the inputs.

CruzerDoc · 12-23-2013, 07:37 AM

Thanks for the diagram Carl. After looking the diagram over I went and undid everything I had done. I pulled the bedroom RF receptacle and sure enough, it matched the diagram, but no TV. I checked the cables to make sure they were tight and the RF out to the living room fell off when I touched it (did someone mention QA earlier?). After tightening all connections the living room TV began working. So my "fix" simply bypassed the problem. Should have asked you all earlier and saved myself some time. Would have come up with another excuse for beer though.

jfaberna · 12-23-2013, 11:45 AM

BTW, I emailed owner relations at Keystone and they sent me the PDF of the latest TV wiring diagram. I have not confirmed it is correct for my RV yet, but it looks similar to the Diagram Dick emailed me.

Overlord · 12-23-2013, 12:17 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by scott-pati

You would think this would be tested before leaving the factory. Don't they have a QC person? Or would that add more to the cost of the unit. Haha

Bwaaaaaaaaa Hahahahaaaa!!!

That's a funny one, RV factory and QC person used in the same sentence!!!

jcurtis934 · 12-23-2013, 01:10 PM

Actually folks, I know of at least one rv factory that does have an active Quality program since I saw it with my own eyes. And yes, it does add to the cost of the units produced. The other side of this is that IF there weren't odd things that needed sorting out, then we would be doing all strange kinds of upgrades to occupy our time. John

Doberman · 12-23-2013, 01:36 PM

My DirecTV receiver in the living room has recording capabilities. When at the house, I can watch one channel and record another. In the RV, there is only one cable going to the Living Room outlet. Has anyone attempted pulling "double" coax with the single coax currently in the RV? By tying a double to the single and pulling thru the RV, I could connect both to the receiver like I have at home.

**Carl n Susan** · 12-23-2013, 01:38 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by jfaberna

BTW, I emailed owner relations at Keystone and they sent me the PDF of the latest TV wiring diagram. I have not confirmed it is correct for my RV yet, but it looks similar to the Diagram Dick emailed me.

Does the PDF from Keystone have the date "1/18/10" in the lower right corner? That is the latest we have here on the MOC. If the one you received is newer would you please post it (or email it to me) so everyone can see it?

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