NEW DTV hookup in my Ultra Supreme

[gsadmin]

Many of us know what it feels like when you dig into the AV system of your new (what appears to be) fancy coach only to find out that your grandma must have designed how to connect all the sets and DVD players together.

Well, I finally did the upgrade I had been waiting for in my coach. The AV system...at least the first step.

First of all this was initiated by a break-in I had to my coach while it was sitting at my house. They came in through the front window, and ransacked the place. I do not leave much at all stored in my motorhome so I think they must have been kinda pissed off. They stole my "fabulous" Norcent DVD player (forgetting the remote). How were they to know they were actually doing me a favor. Then, they must have tried to remove the huge 26" TV I have up front. I know this because in their frustration (which after my now complete upgrade I can empathize) they took a screwdriver and tried to break the screen...no such luck, it simply put four or five 1/4" indentations in it. Again, little did they know they were doing me a favor.

In addition to this, my rear 13" TV was on the fritz with the controls not working sometimes from the panel or the remote.

Enter Costco.

Costco recently had a 19" Toshiba widescreen LCD with built in DVD for $80 off with a coupon making it just $249. They were out of them for a while so I had a rain check and they came in last week. Also last week, Costco started a sale on a 32" ProScan LCD HDTV for just $329 via their online store only. Now, I know that both of these sets are not the best of the best when it comes to all the specs they like to hash out over at www.avsforum.com (http://www.avsforum.com) (plug for Mr. Bott) but for my motorhome it was more than adequate.

Now the install. For the back TV, I pulled out the old one, and removed the oak bezel from the coach. On this I mounted a 6" wide piece of MDF to the back. I then took a manila folder and made a template from the back of the new sets mounting holes. I then drilled the holes in the mount, attached the TV with lock washers, and then reattached the whole thing with the oak bezel serving as the attachment point to the coach. Easy as pie.


http://www.gsowners.com/attachments/photobucket/img_7571_985945ec33e93ad7533136111505a9ca.jpg

Next was the front one. Now I know why the thief was so angry. This thing must have had 20 screws in it...and it still rattled around! First I removed the front footer plate and the oak bezel. Next I popped the screw caps on the rear panel and removed that. Next I had to remove 12 screws on two straps. Now I could roll it out of the front...this thing weighed probably 65 pounds!

To mount the new one, I used angle brackets screwed to the sides of the "box" that supported a 29"x13" piece of MDF. Then, I templated and drilled this plate (after it was mounted). I drilled 3/8" countersinks to the holes from the rear. My wife was a champ and held the TV from the front while I found the screw holes. Not easy for either of us. Once mounted, she realized I had mounted it to high as you could see a space between the bottom of the TV and the oak bezel. We had to remove it, I drilled a new set of holes 1.5" lower and we mounted it again. success!


http://www.gsowners.com/attachments/photobucket/img_7571_4e6eadd3340c057f6d785c0879d7dbb3.jpg

http://www.gsowners.com/attachments/photobucket/img_7571_eb06029a9cd42d64a807dbcad8cee8b8.jpg

Now the wiring. From the DVD I ran component since there already was an audio/LR run. From the satellite, I ran HDMI. Also, out of the satellite, I ran an RF converter from the composite out to the TV in the rear. This allowed me to see satellite (the box did not have a coax out) on channel 3 on the rear TV. Not an optimal solution, but good enough for a 19" rear TV.

In the end, I have two new TVs, the ability to watch DVDs on either set separately, and a clean install! Total cost ~$600 for both sets.

[David Bott]

Hey...Sorry for being late to this post.

Outstanding job and need idea showing coach mods.

While here at GS all week, now 1.5 weeks, I took the chance to correctly wire out 2008 Tour Master. Yes, you are SO RIGHT that they really messed up using composite wiring. The grandma line was right on! I guess they do not think that people would much care. Well, I do. :)

I will not take over your thread but will start a new one when I get some photos to post on the changes to our coach. Short of it, HDMI to 3 of the 4 TV (did not care to do the basement outside set.) and using a 4x4 matrix switch that allows me to choose any source and send it to any display. (Like you can do with the box the installed...but now I can do it for all HiDef sources.)

Again, great job.

[gsadmin]

One more thing to add. I used MDF and did DIY mounts for two reasons:

1. Store bought mounts are fine for the home where nothing jiggles. We all know that the one thing that never looks stable when you are going down the road is the big TV set. By firmly mounting the wood in the box and screwing directly into the set, there is little to come loose and the tilt is set by the angle of the back board. The store bought mounts have lots of set screws and hinges that will work loose over time.

2. DIY mounts are way cheaper.

On the maiden voyage since the upgrade last month (SLC->LA->monterey->SLC) the TV did not shake one bit. The only negative was that the rear TV was not quite loud enough for my son when driving down the road and the tilt of the mount was not quite right.

The easy fix for the tilt is to buy washers one size larget than the screws and stack them on the top pair of screws. You cant do this too far because it puts more strain on the screws, but it can get another 5 degrees.

[mfa]

...While here at GS all week, now 1.5 weeks, I took the chance to correctly wire out 2008 Tour Master. Yes, you are SO RIGHT that they really messed up using composite wiring. The grandma line was right on! I guess they do not think that people would much care...

Isn't that in Amish country? Perhaps they just aren't familiar with working with electronics & wiring...