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Topic: RG-6 quad shield upgrade. (Read 1114 times) previous topic - next topic

RG-6 quad shield upgrade.

I've gotten increasingly disgusted by the bad crimp ends on the factory cable wiring over the last year. An upgrade to quad shield is worthwhile - as long as you do it all. I bought 70 feet of cable at Lowes and a decent compression fitting tool.

First run was yesterday - the 'cable in connection'. On a 95 model the Winegard switch box/amp is located under the false floor in the rear closet (this is the model with locally controlled switches and a 'hidden' box). First was to remove the panels in the utility bay which was relatively easy since over half the screws had fallen out anyway...
The cable connection in the utility bay runs directly up into the coach. But remember, the bay wall is inset nearly a foot. In my case, that entry location corresponds roughly to the exact center of the Splendide washer. No way am I anal enough to remove that washer AND the floor to remove and follow the same routing. There are 3 pipe penetrations in the same area - 2 under the washer (grey drain and vent) and one (black vent) to the left (forward) side of the 'forward' closet door. For those who are wondering, the forward closet ALSO has an easily removed false floor. After verifying nothing below was in the way I drilled a 1/2" hole about 2" outboard of the black vent pipe. This placed my cable entry about 12" aft of the original penetration, still within the bay. I added a good amount of sealant to the hole, installed a compression fitting and buttoned everything up. The utility bay wall is now the sturdiest it has ever been!

Next installment - forward to aft run(s). 'Antenna in' and TV1, possibly a satellite unless I want to run a 40 foot HDMI back.
I've already identified to my surprise that there are two cables run all the way forward to the dash at the floor level. That means on my year they did not use the 'pillar' behind the seat, or use the chassis wire way. I may try to find a local upholsterer to redo the couch instead of FOT, as I want to pull the jackknife for ease of access. The J lounge is finally getting threadbare. Starr is waffling over a green chenille or off white beige/tan ultra leather.

I think I've identified a splitter off TV1 in the closet for 'TV3' in the bay. If so, I'm glad - I was concerned they might have split off under the coach or something silly like that...

 
The selected media item is not currently available. Dave Head & Megan Westbrook
Titusville, FL - The Great Outdoors
'98 270 buying this month
Toad is a 2018 F150 XLT

Re: RG-6 quad shield upgrade.

Reply #1 –
update 1
As my coach has a satellite install, it has an extra RG59 cable running forward. Today I determined that pair of cables actually run under the coach in the main wire way, go forward  and up to the floor of the dash area, go back along the wall to the vertical tube behind the driver's seat, and up into the compartment above. Yuck.
 
The antenna wire appears to go into the upper aluminum channel, runs back and then drops down. At this point I haven't identified where it drops in the back.

I spoke to Mike Rogers at MOT and he said it drops by the rear TV. However, the cable at the Wineguard switch appears to run forward (of course, disappearing under the Splendide).
I asked Mike if there was any magic to removing the jack knife sofa, like disassembling it. Nope. My plan is to just fish the cables behind the sofa all the way back to the closet...
The selected media item is not currently available. Dave Head & Megan Westbrook
Titusville, FL - The Great Outdoors
'98 270 buying this month
Toad is a 2018 F150 XLT

Re: RG-6 quad shield upgrade.

Reply #2 –
Dave JT at FT about how the coax cables run as there is no drawing, and his answer was installers choice. Ain't it fun.
Bruce, Linda, and Macy
Zoey RIP 1/20/19
1999 U295 40' build #5400
2017 silver Jeep Wrangler, 1260 watts of solar on top
Moving around the country

Re: RG-6 quad shield upgrade.

Reply #3 –
I hate leaving cable in a wire way, but their runs defied common sense...
The selected media item is not currently available. Dave Head & Megan Westbrook
Titusville, FL - The Great Outdoors
'98 270 buying this month
Toad is a 2018 F150 XLT

Re: RG-6 quad shield upgrade.

Reply #4 –
One thing I will mention about cable install by FOT, in most of the coach's the switch for tv 2 is split some where in the line and it feeds the tv outlet in the basement,if you are going to use satellite in the basement ,this splitter WILL NOT pass a sat signal, you will have to run a new feed to it.
The selected media item is not currently available.Bill&Doris 97 U270 36'
University of Parris Island Class of 66
Semper Fi  Build# 5174 MC#17094

Re: RG-6 quad shield upgrade.

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Bill Willett –
One thing I will mention about cable install by FOT, in most of the coach's the switch for tv 2 is split some where in the line and it feeds the tv outlet in the basement,if you are going to use satellite in the basement ,this splitter WILL NOT pass a sat signal, you will have to run a new feed to it.

An easy fix is to replace the UHF/VHF/cable tv splitter with a satellite splitter. Looks about the same, is cheap. Buy at electronics store.

You can also run a HDMI cable a long distance to a remote TV in the stateroom for instance. Rather than running several, use a HDMI selector that will control several HDMI sources. Many selectors feature a remote control so you don't have to get up to switch from a DVD player to satellite receiver for instance.
Pierce and Gaylie Stewart
'93 U300/36 WTBI
Detroit 6V-92TA Jake
1140 watts on the roof
SBFD (ret)

Re: RG-6 quad shield upgrade.

Reply #6 –
You can also run CAT 5 network cable with HDMI adaptors at each end. You start losing signal over 40 feet with HDMI.
The selected media item is not currently available. Dave Head & Megan Westbrook
Titusville, FL - The Great Outdoors
'98 270 buying this month
Toad is a 2018 F150 XLT

Re: RG-6 quad shield upgrade.

Reply #7 –
Quote from: Dave Head –
You can also run CAT 5 network cable with HDMI adaptors at each end. You start losing signal over 40 feet with HDMI.

Dave, that was the info I was looking for. I had read it before and forgotten it was Cat5 not Coax. Thanks!!!
The selected media item is not currently available.Kent Speers
Locust Grove, OK
1993 U300 SSE 40' (Restored at FOT 2009) Build 4323
720 watts Solar
6V92TA DDEC Silver Engine
2014 Subaru Outback

Re: RG-6 quad shield upgrade.

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Dave Head –
You can also run CAT 5 network cable with HDMI adaptors at each end. You start losing signal over 40 feet with HDMI.

CAT 5 would do the job nicely.

Another option would be to use an active HDMI cable. Have seen 50, 80, 100 footers or use an HDMI active extender. The active extenders are only a foot long or so. The active chip uses the 5 volts already in the cable so no additional power supply is needed. The only down side is the cost, quite a bit more than the basic HDMI cable.

An external WiFi antenna amplifier can be used without the high coax loss with an active USB cable. Pretty reasonable on ebay. Mine works great.
Pierce and Gaylie Stewart
'93 U300/36 WTBI
Detroit 6V-92TA Jake
1140 watts on the roof
SBFD (ret)

Re: RG-6 quad shield upgrade.

Reply #9 –
CAT 5e and CAT 6 are available. They may provide a bit less attenuation than CAT 5.
J D Stevens
1997 U295 CAI 36' Build #5085
2002 Subaru Outback
Motorcade 16869
Bellville, TX
 

Re: RG-6 quad shield upgrade.

Reply #10 –
Go to amazon and search for 'HDMI adaptor' and HDMI splitter.
The selected media item is not currently available. Dave Head & Megan Westbrook
Titusville, FL - The Great Outdoors
'98 270 buying this month
Toad is a 2018 F150 XLT