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Old 03-22-2006, 06:40 AM   #1
50kw
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Default Poor television reception

I have a new Sun Voyager 8351. The television reception is unuseable on both TVs. The antenna is up and when the antenna is moved side to side what picture there is will come and go. The power to the amplifier is on (red LED lit) and if turned off the picture gets worse. The playback from the DVD player is good.

I think some of the F connectors may not be installed correctly. I have already found one RG-6 coax without a F connector. It was the one that goes from the wall plate with the red LED to the Sony DVD player. The F connector had not been pulled off the cable. There was no F connector. While inspecting others they are not put together well or loose on the coax.

Anyone have any idea how the cables are routed or other things I should be looking for?

Is there an A/B switch that changes the in house wiring system from the cable input to the roof top antenna? If so, where is it located?

Is there a splitter for the cable input to each TV? I am looking for additional places the F connectors may be hiding.

I am suppost to have a set of drawings ordered from Gulf Stream for my RV as part of the sales agreement but I am not willing to wait to be able to see TV if I can fix a likely simple problem.

Thanks for any input you may have.

Duncan
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Old 03-22-2006, 10:44 AM   #2
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I would examine the F connectors on all outlets to make sure that the center pin has not been mashed against the outside nut on the inside. This can happen very easily. Check the connectors on the backs on all wall plates as well as the exterior jack and all connector cables to and from the a/v box.

On the drawings from GS, good luck. I am sure that the sales associate confused Gulf Stream with Winnebago in terms of their policy for disclosing such info. Let me know if i am wrong.
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Old 03-22-2006, 04:37 PM   #3
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As our GSadmin said, good luck with the drawings. They remain nonexistant to my knowledge. I will have to look up some of my data to be more specific, but in the meantime, some generalities:

I had the same problem as you describe. The problem was many-fold. One time it was as simple as there was no strong TV stations on air at the time.

You should have an A/V box sitting on top of the entertainment unit. The A/V box has 3 inputs & 3 outputs ("3x3"). It needs to be powered in addition to the in-wall amplifier (red light). Each "channel" of the A/V box has TV, Satellite, & CD. There are 3 unmarked channels. The left is front TV, the middle is the B-room TV, I think the right is unused (I forget).

You have to get the TVs setup correctly to receive from this cable. Do NOT attempt to operate your front TV remote with the front ceiling light lit. It is florescent & the remote will NOT work the TV!

I will attempt to get additional info when I get home, but this should get you started. I think I also found a wire unplugged in the rat's nest behind the A/V.

Happy hunting, more later
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Old 03-22-2006, 07:52 PM   #4
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Thanks for everyones responce. You are very correct about the front light. This drove me nuts for a while. Tomorrow I am going to check each F connector I can find.

The box on top of the DVD player is working correctly. I have also found how to switch the front TV between AV2 and TV after I turned the light off.

Duncan
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Old 03-23-2006, 01:43 PM   #5
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Duncan,

I had a chance to check some notes I made last summer. I assume you have the mostly unmarked video switcher on the top of your vcr/dvd/tuner. This link
http://www.riverparkinc.com/display....ist=&id=AVS100 will take you to the manufacturer, River Park Inc. On that page are links to a suggested connection wiring diagram (pdf) as well as product information sheet.

The antenna amplifier (red light) has 3 coax connections total. The two (unmarked) behind the wall are the antenna input & output to dvd-etc entertainment center. Amazingly, the amplifier's coax in the entertainment cabinet doesn't need to be connected to anything (if memory serves me) because the other line is snaked thru the wall to the TV. The AVS box works perfectly other than I do recall some reception issue as you describe that I never resolved, just worked around.

Wait till you try figuring out the speaker wiring! You think it's simple, do you? You will notice on the PDF diagram, that speaker leads go off to sheet #2, River Park Inc P/N 6CHXOV-01. That sheet doesn't exist. When you finally manage to crawl under your dashboard in front of your driver's seat, lo & behold you'll see a big electronic box that you would mistake for an engine ECM of sorts... NOPE, its the River Park Inc speaker-switcher! How does it work? ...beats the daylights out of me, other than if your dash radio/CD is on, the entertainment center audio is switched off. You must switch off the dash unit to play your entertainment center sound. Oh yeah, you've probably noticed that the front TV won't play with the engine running thanks to the Power Tek controller in the overhead compartment., I don't remember if it's engine running, or merely ignition on... just be aware its there! The TV is not broke!

Sorry about blathering on & on, but the lack of any explanation or documentation from GS really gets my blood boiling.

Tackle your reception issue with the attitude that it WILL work once you get (& memorize) the combination, rather than "Oh darn, it's broke." Keep us posted.
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Old 03-23-2006, 08:20 PM   #6
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Bob,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. The information is useful. I hope I will have time to apply some of it this weekend. I had to work today and will work tomorrow. This working is getting in the way of my personal project.

As things develop I will post my progress.

Duncan
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Old 07-24-2006, 11:32 AM   #7
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I finally found a GSC Forum. The switch that you are refering to,
at least on mine, is for the 12v overhead lites, and is a house battery diconnect.

The GS installers, in all their great wisdom, failed to protect the two large terminals inside the cabinet. Now picture a metal can, like Enddust, and the coach movement, ooppsss wonder what caused that fire ????.

So, electrical tape and a plastic cover solved the problem. I also e-mailed GS to their suggestion box.

Well, I'm glad I found the site, I hope that I can learn and contribute.

Best Regards to all, Clyde and Peggy


"Ride it like a Ford" :P
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Old 07-24-2006, 11:50 AM   #8
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Hi Retired,

I must say I'm a tad confused, though very curious. Where exactly is the switch you are referring to? Big exposed terminals where anything (let alone an Endust can) metallic can contact is worrisome.

Let us know if you get a response (or even acknowledgement) from GS regarding your suggestion. Private Message me & I'll give you another contact within the company.
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Old 07-24-2006, 12:54 PM   #9
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Hi Bob, Yes it shook me up when I spotted it. Its location is on the lower side of kitchen cabinet about 6 inches off the floor, and 4inches in from the outside wall at the entry door.

GS reply was "thankyou for your suggestion" .........

"Ride it like a Ford"

Clyde
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Old 07-24-2006, 01:33 PM   #10
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My 2004 has the Wineguard w/ 3 sets of controls, Front TV, Back TV
and the VCR. You have to remember to turn the unit on and identify the TV/s and the function Ant, Cbl or Aux.

The front flourescent had me fooled for awhile. (Remote won't work)

Don't forget after the input is selected that you have to program the TV.

Go to menu then setup (depending on your TV) and auto program the
channels. They just don't make things easy anymore !!


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Old 07-28-2006, 09:35 AM   #11
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After a night of wire-chasing, I almost understand.

Your TV antenna lead snakes thru roof & connects to type-F connector on back of Winegard RA-7596 ( http://www.starkelectronic.com/winman.htm ) wall-plate amplifier. The amplifier connection is marked ?antenna?. Surprise, the cable is marked ?ant? about 8? from the connector.

The unmarked connection for ?shore cable? is in the power compartment, dual device box with covers (phone & type-F). This RF type-F is used to bring shore cable from outside, to the entertainment center. The wire lands on the rear, center connector of the Winegard amplifier. The amplifier connection is marked ?cable?. Again surprise, the cable is marked ?cab? about 8? from the connector.

The 3rd type-F connector on the rear of the amplifier is marked ?Set 2?. The cable has no identification, and cannot be wiggled or moved in the wall. The front type-F connector on the amplifier is ID'd in the Winegard manual as ?Set 1?. It is also connected to the amplifier & available to be used anytime as a RF signal source, but is not needed in our coach setup.

When the Winegard amplifier ?red-light? is on, your roof-top antenna?s signal is channeled to Set 1 & Set 2. When the amplifier ?red-light? is off, the shore cable connection is directed to Set 1 & Set 2.

I cannot find it, but there HAS to be a 4-set coupler buried in a wall somewhere. The amplifier?s rear ?Set 2? seems to be connected via the coupler to
1) the front TV antenna input,
2) the bedroom TV antenna input,
3) the unmarked, external, auxiliary type-F outlet in the power compartment (single device wall plate), AND
4) the coax lead that enters the entertainment center through a hole in the wall. This lead attaches to the DVD/VCR/Tuner RF antenna input (VCR recording)

Note that the entertainment-center parts-kit provided a short type-F cable that I plugged into the RF-out, but it has nowhere to go in our coach setup. )

One further note: I tried to use a ?slip-on? male (type-G) connector for my testing. The conductor wire is too short to reach the internal connection in the mating female type-Fs. Make sure that your adaptor cables are screw-on type-Fs or at least have a long center wire or, for example, you won?t get your signal to an auxiliary TV out at your fireside lounge-chair.

Summary: the only piece of the puzzle I cannot figure out is WHERE are all the TV?s tied together.
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Old 07-28-2006, 01:17 PM   #12
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AND, you will never find out from GSC, because ... it's proprietary


"Ride it like a Ford"
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Old 07-29-2006, 07:50 AM   #13
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Hey guys the disconnect you are talking about on mine is in front out side compartment wires exposed !!!! As a mater of fact their are two, This is were I keep tools, Another good GS idea

Earl
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