Connecting Satellite Thru Outside Jack

[ricky5924]

Hi Guys. New to this forum but not a new RVer. We recently purchased a 2020 Thor ACE 33.1 motorhome. Have not camped in it, only had a chance to drive it from dealership to home, and had to go back to work. Anyway, my question is that it has a single outside cable jack, which I assume, is for a park cable connection. I have had this on previous coaches and when I try to tie in the Dish Tailgater (Wally receiver)at this connection, I received no signal, I can run the cable thru a window to the box and everything works fine. I am thinking, although I don't know that this will be the case with the Thor also. I don't want to have to run my satellite cable thru the window. Does anyone know of any type of mod that can be done to make the outside cable jack useable to tie the Tailgater into?

Thanks in advance

[Bill_Satellite]

The satellite TV coax does not need to be in the same bay as the cable connection. You satellite TV antenna can be located anywhere around the RV as the antenna just needs a clear view of the sky and not necessarily anywhere near the power pole. Look for an easy route from outside to where the receiver is located. It might be easier than you think. Inside a storage bay and drill up into a closet and a run from there? Something like that might be easily doable with no hole in the outside. Maybe a route in through the firewall (front engine) and up the windshield post? Lots of possibilities.

[joebedford]

I run the 4 coax cables from my dish through the utilities entry (water for example) to my sat. receivers located in the basement of my rig. I use the factory connectors for RV park cable and 3rd party cable internet.

[ricky5924]

Bill.Satellite wrote:

bob213 wrote:
Specs say it is prewired for sat. Maybe the coax you are looking at is for an outside tv.
***Link Removed***

Likely pre-wired for a roof top satellite antenna. Won't help with someone working on a ground connection. 2020 or not, most manufacturers do not have exterior satellite and cable connections. Running just cable saves money! In many cases the Cable connection CAN be used for satellite TV but some modifications must be made to the wiring at the Winegard power supply wall plate.

I think you’re right about being pre wired or a roof satellite. I’m beginning to think that the best option may be to run a separate cable and install a jack somewhere like in a basement. I definitely don’t want to start drilling holes in the side of the rv and mount it next to the existing cable jack, also, not too sure about doing any mods to the existing wiring as it may void some warranties.
Thanks for the reply

[Bill_Satellite]

bob213 wrote:
Specs say it is prewired for sat. Maybe the coax you are looking at is for an outside tv.
specs

Likely pre-wired for a roof top satellite antenna. Won't help with someone working on a ground connection. 2020 or not, most manufacturers do not have exterior satellite and cable connections. Running just cable saves money! In many cases the Cable connection CAN be used for satellite TV but some modifications must be made to the wiring at the Winegard power supply wall plate.

[wa8yxm]

Ok, First I highly recommend adding another coax. Specifically an RG-6 (Or RG-11) you may well be able to route it out via existing holes (Like beside a water line).. Or not.. To a ground block or bulkhead connector.

On my motor home they run to a ground block that's on the brake bell crank bracket under the hood..

WHY: well first the cable already in place is often CHEAP RG-59 At Sat Frequencies the loss is about 4 TIMES greater than decent RG-6 possibly more. So each 10 feet is the same as 40-50 feet of RG-6.

Second the cable runs not to the bay where you think (not to the TV) but to the Winegard (or King Controls) wall plate somewhere in the RV. There it encounters electronics that can NOT pass what's needed for the sat..

Now for my strongest recommendation

I spend $25.00/year on an electronic program guide. For that I have two vintage DVR's and a Windows Computer. The computer downloads the guide. Makes a few format changes and serves it up to the DVR's which then do all that expensive subscruption stuff

Record in one room watch in another.. Start on one finish on the other (or switch back and forth) Fast forward, pause, rewind, download to portable and more

Record based on Show title. Actors. And more

I spend but 25.year for the tv-guide.

Sadly they do not make the DVR I use any more.. but I have issues overflowing the hard drives (Only have about 300 hours of storage before I have to offload.. So far I've only run out of shows to watch once.. I have about 500 hours off loaded so that was no problem.
)

[rexmitchell]

RoyF wrote:
I assume that the outside cable jack passes through a box with various switches (for roof antenna, cable jack, etc). The signal to the Dish Tailgater cannot go through that box.

What I did was to look at the lines in and out of the box (what is it called, anyway?) and find the the cable jack input. Unplug the cable jack line from the box's input. Use a short extension coax (if neccessary) to connect the Dish receiver directly to the line from the cable jack.

This is what I did on my old trailer. Just bypassed the box that had the splitter or whatever in it, bought a single coax wall plate and wired it directly. Problem solved.

[bob213]

Specs say it is prewired for sat. Maybe the coax you are looking at is for an outside tv.
specs

[ricky5924]

lryrob9301 wrote:
Wait a second, a 2020 coach should have a cable AND a satellite connection. Have you asked the dealer about this or called Thor. I would investigate further before trying to run an additional cable.

No I have not. I was only home in time to get it home from the dealership. The cable in jack is on the side of the motorhome, not in a basement compartment, so, I would think that if there is another jack for satellite, it would be right beside it. I'll check it out better when I get home, but, I don't think that there is two.

[lryrob9301]

Wait a second, a 2020 coach should have a cable AND a satellite connection. Have you asked the dealer about this or called Thor. I would investigate further before trying to run an additional cable.

[BB_TX]

RedRocket204 wrote:
Just install your own weather proof coaxial plate and connect it to a new inside coaxial wall plate. Simple and there are no splitters or other items that could filter out the signal.

That's what I did.

Same here since I only had the one outside coax connection.

[RoyF]

Let me add to my reply above. I had two outside lines, labeled "satellite" and "cable", so I ran the first directly to the Dish receiver and still had "cable" running through the switch box.

Last season, a blowout severed both of my TV coax lines. I had a new coax wall plate installed near the TV (RedRocket204's solution). A line goes directly to the Dish receiver.

[RedRocket204]

Just install your own weather proof coaxial plate and connect it to a new inside coaxial wall plate. Simple and there are no splitters or other items that could filter out the signal.

That's what I did.

[RoyF]

I assume that the outside cable jack passes through a box with various switches (for roof antenna, cable jack, etc). The signal to the Dish Tailgater cannot go through that box.

What I did was to look at the lines in and out of the box (what is it called, anyway?) and find the the cable jack input. Unplug the cable jack line from the box's input. Use a short extension coax (if neccessary) to connect the Dish receiver directly to the line from the cable jack.

[Dutch_12078]

The "Cable" jack coax runs through a switch box where you select cable or OTA to the TV. It may be a simple single push-button wall plate that also houses the OTA antenna power injector or it may be a more complex multi-source entertainment selector box, but either way it interferes with the power feed from the Wally to the Tailgater. Running a more direct line is the best option that leaves the cable/OTA setup intact. Feeding a new coax from the sat receiver location to the panel where the cable jack is can be a chore, but only needs to be done once. Or you can feed the coax through a slide seal or window each time you set up.