Antenna Booster Switch

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Antenna Booster Switch

November 22, 2014, 10:33:08 pm

Does anyone know where the antenna booster switch might be located in a 1996 U295?

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #1 – November 22, 2014, 10:46:18 pm

I would guess at center overhead cabinet, just right of TV, lower left side wall of cabinet interior.
Neal

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #2 – November 23, 2014, 05:25:11 am

Bruce on our coach 1997 U295 the antenna booster switch is in the overhead cabinet next to the tv. The switch itself is on the left side, it sets behind the cabinet door trim you should be able to see it.

Craig

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #3 – November 23, 2014, 05:34:08 am

Bruce maybe this will help.

Craig

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #4 – November 24, 2014, 10:24:00 am

Thanks for the replies. I'll take a look there.

Chris

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #5 – November 24, 2014, 01:29:39 pm

On my 95 U320 its above the closet across from the shower

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #6 – November 24, 2014, 01:58:44 pm

Ok thanks, one more place to check. We looked in that area yesterday and didn't see it but will check again.

I guess we have general agreement that there is, in fact, a booster switch somewhere - which is progress for me. We've had one on every other RV we've used - but have never seen one on this coach.

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #7 – November 24, 2014, 04:26:07 pm

Bedroom wall, near the TV and VCR, adjacent to rear remote generator start panel? Doesn't seem like it would be that hard to find... There's a red LED on the video selector panel.

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #8 – November 24, 2014, 05:07:47 pm

I agree, it shouldn't be that hard...but since both me and Brett Wolfe couldn't find it, I think we have a bona fide mystery.

The prior owner had a Winegard Travelr installed, and I'm wondering if the antenna booster switch went away with that installation. Can't imagine why, but it's the only explanation I can think of.

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #9 – November 24, 2014, 05:35:39 pm

Quote from: bogeygolfer – November 24, 2014, 05:07:47 pm

The prior owner had a Winegard Travelr installed, and I'm wondering if the antenna booster switch went away with that installation.

This sounds like a logical explanation for the missing switch panel. Do you still have the crank-up antenna on the roof? If so, see if you can find the original Winegard control box. On our coach, it is under the floor in one of the closets (Pull up carpet, lift the thin plywood floor piece). Silver Winegard box - has connection points for several TV antenna coax cables and a place where the original control switch tied in. You may be able to restore the "antenna boost" function by installing a new (or used) switch...you could easily mount it in the thin plywood closet wall.

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #10 – November 24, 2014, 06:05:03 pm

Yes, antenna is still on the roof. I'll try looking under the closet floor - thanks for the tip.

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #11 – November 25, 2014, 12:09:47 pm

Just an update: didn't find a booster switch in any of these places. PO had the front TV cabinet rebuilt when he upgraded to a flat panel so maybe the switch was there before. I looked under the closet floor and do find a small coaxial junction box, but see no evidence of anything else. Looks like no one has ever been under there before, so I don't think anything's been changed there.

The quest continues...

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #12 – November 25, 2014, 08:05:41 pm

This is what mine looked like in our 95. Same in our 99. (under aft closet floor) Did you check behind the bedroom TV? You can access that area by removing the closet wall.
jor

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #13 – November 26, 2014, 08:29:32 am

Previous owner may have replaced original booster switch with upgraded video control center that's has a built -in/included antenna booster.

Here is a possible model RV Video Control Center on Sale - PPL Motor Homes

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #14 – November 26, 2014, 08:48:45 am

Another alternative: install a King Controls Jack antenna head- it comes with a 12 volt "power injector". When we replaced our old Winegard batwing with the Jack antenna head, we didn't use the "power injector" because our original antenna power switch still works. In your case, you could install the Jack antenna, then see if you have 12 volt at the coax connector. If you do, a red LED light on the bottom of the Jack head will illuminate. If no 12 volt is present, then you can use the supplied "power injector". Either way, you're good to go, and will enjoy the improved reception provided by the Jack.

http://kingcontrols.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/20898_Rev-P-Instruction-Manual-Compressed.pdf

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #15 – November 26, 2014, 10:00:02 am

On our '93 U225 there are two panels for the tv sets. In the bedroom there is a panel that turns the boost amplifier (under the closet floor) on or off and controls whether the aft tv set receives signal from the antenna, the cable connection, or the vcr.

The front tv has a small panel located directly behind (and above) the driver's head (on the forward end of the cabinet) that simply switches signal between antenna, cable, vcr. But for the front panel to work at all, the rear panel must have the Wineguard system turned on. Brett, who owned a U240, would surely have looked there, however, so that would not be where your switch is (or was).

On our coach, all TV signals - whether from the antenna, the outside "cable" connection or a VCR, look like they were designed to go first to the Wineguard under the closet floor and then are routed to each TV. Of course, different owners over the last 20 years or so could have changed things significantly.

My Tailgater satellite receiver is in the bedroom and the coax from the antenna/LNB carry-out package goes into the "cable" connection in the service bay. So I connect my sat system input to the wall TV connection, turn Wineguard on, and set the switch for "cable" in order to feet signal from the satellite antenna to the satellite receiver.

But the output from the satellite receiver is not strong enough to produce a decent picture on the front HDTV (it really wants HDMI not 72-ohm coax) so I bought a wireless system from Amazon for $50 and use that to carry satellite tv to the front HDTV instead.

Much of this is not pertinent to your quesiton but since people search around for info I figured I'd just make it complete.

Good luck!

Craig

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #16 – November 26, 2014, 11:08:41 am

Quote from: Tony Pasquale – November 26, 2014, 08:29:32 am

Previous owner may have replaced original booster switch with upgraded video control center that's has a built -in/included antenna booster.

Here is a possible model RV Video Control Center on Sale - PPL Motor Homes
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The tech details indicate that the replacement video control center does provide antenna boost power so the old Winegard has probably been removed.

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #17 – November 26, 2014, 11:12:23 am

Craig,

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but since we're all talking about how these old RV systems work and you have the same OEM video setup as our coach, I have a question. I have not (yet) had any luck getting a park-supplied cable signal to work on our new Toshiba flat screen TV. We do fine receiving Over-The-Air signals with our Jack antenna head. As mentioned in post above, our original Winegard amplifier (antenna switch) provides the required power to the Jack antenna. BUT, when I try connecting a park TV cable to the coax connector in the service bay, I don't get anything but static on the TV. I know you are now using a satellite receiver, but I figure you have also used cable in your coach.

My question: Do I have to do anything "special" to use the RV park cable as a video "source"? Should the Winegard antenna power switch be "ON" or "OFF" to use cable? Does RV park cable work on any (new) TV, or does it require some kind of external "tuner box" to work?

I should not be so ignorant about cable TV, but I have a excuse: we have lived out in the sticks for 35 years, and in that time have never had access to cable TV. We use a rooftop antenna to receive OTA programing, which works fine for us, but leaves me "in the dark" concerning how cable works. Hence my question...

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #18 – November 26, 2014, 11:26:51 am

My Unihome and Unicoach are very different in regards to where things are installed, one at the back, the other all at the front. There is lots of info in this thread, but understand which coach is being talked about each time.

Original question was about a Unicoach. On mine, the control is as shown and talked about in a number of threads, in the overhead foreward compartment on the wall as shown in the photo posted earlier. After a remodel, it might be gone, or pushed into a hidden space out of view.

As to the newest question about getting the park supplied source to work, we have a selector box in our overhead that needs to be selected for the "source" input. I can never ever just flip anything on and make it all work. I have to get out my cheat sheet and muddle thru the routing, on and offs and more.

After almost 9 months we parked with park cable and nothing worked. I bought a pinger to send a signal from the outside source to the inside bundle of cables. I found and hooked up things correctly for the stay. In our case the old sat. dish receiver was taken out for their next coach, and a bunch of wires were all laying unconnected to anything.

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #19 – November 26, 2014, 11:49:37 am

If your coach has not been altered, you do have to have the boost switch on to get cable. There should also be a three way rocker switch on the upper cabinet end behind the drivers head that will say cable. There is a similar switch in the bedroom near the TV that controls the source of the coaxial signal.

If your tv's have HDMI cables and no longer use coax the the foregoing does not apply. If so, The cable jack in the bay is wired to the Winegard distribution box under the carpet in the closet. The Winegard box should be labeled for the cable input coax so you should be able to reactivate cable in by attaching the original coax to the TV and changing the TV IN signal to cable via the TV menu.

Again make sure the booster is on.

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #20 – November 26, 2014, 11:57:51 am

Thanks, Dave and Kent, between the 2 of you I think you answered my question. I'll try it out next opportunity. Now, back to the OP's original query...

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #21 – November 26, 2014, 02:39:22 pm

Interesting. I also cannot get campground's cable to give us any signal in our coach.

Anyway, I did find the Winegard 3-way connector box under the closet floor, but didn't see anything that looked like an amplifier there (as pictured above). We do have a switching box up front, but it doesn't appear to be one that has any amplifier built into it.

I'm thinking the most likely answer at this point - absent a pinging device to help me trace things - is that the PO simply had the satellite installed and wired everything to use only that. Unfortunately, I don't get anything on the rear tv - which is probably a whole different problem.

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #22 – November 26, 2014, 03:13:46 pm

Quote from: cajk – November 26, 2014, 11:12:23 am

My question: Do I have to do anything "special" to use the RV park cable as a video "source"? Should the Winegard antenna power switch be "ON" or "OFF" to use cable? Does RV park cable work on any (new) TV, or does it require some kind of external "tuner box" to work?

I'm certainly no expert on cable... and the only connection I've ever made to the cable connector in the service bay has been the Tailgater antenna/LNB carry-out. Check your cabling under the closet floor and make sure that the cable that comes from the service bay connector actually goes into the Wineguard. Former owners do strange things.\

The Wineguard amplifier needs to be ON for practically all of this to work. And the selector switch set to "cable" for anything connected to the cable connection in the service bay to work (at least on our U225).

I also thought that cable requires a slightly different setup on your HDTV due to a different set of frequencies on at least some of the systems. There is usually a setup that includes cable or can be selected to cable.

If a park requires a cable box then they should be able to tell you.

You could also connect a VCRs output to the cable connection in the service bay and then, with a known signal on Channel 3 (or whichever is selected) you can trace it that way.

Craig

Re: Antenna Booster Switch

Reply #23 – November 26, 2014, 05:59:28 pm

In my 1088 SOB, the switch in the Winegard plate had to be in the ON position, with LED lit up, for the antenna to work, and off, in the cable position to route the outside cable connection to the TV.

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