Satellite dish

What is the best way to hook up a satellite dish.  Can you use the cable connection on the outside of the rig, is it RG6, what do you do about the amplifier and splitter?

I have heard that the best way is to run a new RG6 directly from the dish to the receiver and then use HDMI from the receiver to the TV, but that requires getting the new cable into the rig.  So, if the cable in the wall of the rig is RG6 then maybe I can get to it behind the amplifier and then add cable to go to the dish receiver, but they say I can't use a splitter or switch so I would have to change it out each time?  Then I need to pull out the TV and get to the connections on the back to run the HDMI, right?

Hopefully someone has done this with success and can share their experience.

We thought we could live without satellite, but on our last trip this winter we stayed in a campground that had no cable, or antenna reception, or WiFi, or cell phone, for 10 days waiting for the weather to improve so we could get home.  We realized that it would have been great to have news and weather.

Thanks, Bob

For what its worth Bob, we have DirecTV. I purchased the new Winegard manual crank up mounted on the roof with the digital read out inside. I mounted it on the roof, ran the wires on top of roof into the cabinet next to the TV. The LnB has two places for RG6. It goes to the DVR. Then the TV goes to the DVR Your local cable hooks up to the out side and the on the back of the DVR is a place for the outside cable. I had only one reasonable place to mount the dish. The RG6 was necessary to run on top of roof. You can see the RG6 here.

http://web.me.com/wd6afc/Simple_Pleasures/Simple__Pleasures/Entries/2011/3/10_Changes_To_The_Cruiser.html

I searched around on the internet a couple years ago to find out the best way to connect the dish and found an articleon  how someone redid the amplifier to accomodate satellite.  It got too confusing, so I simply ran a new cable up the front inside wall by drilling a hole in the floor and fishing the cable up to the shelf.  Then I unscrewed the shelf and ran the cable into the cabinet where the amplifier is.  I ran the other end of the cable under the bottom of the pc back to where I wanted the outside connection to be, drilled a hole in the floor under the bed and a hole to the ouside.  I then mounted a cable connection box (found at camping world) on the outside.  I built a simple stand for the salvaged (free) directv dish.  When I connect to satellite, I remove the tv cable from the amplifier, connect it to the directv receiver along with the cable from the dish, find the signal (usually takes about 5 minutes), and sit back and marvel at how bad all the programs are.  On my previous 2007 pc, I used the telephone connection box for the outside cable connection.

Bob,

I did not want to drill any holes in the roof or floor so this is what I did.

I could not receive Direct TV using existing wiring on my 2008 PC.

I contacted technical support for both ANTENNATEK and WINEGARD about this situation.  Both companies provided the same explanation, a DC filter is installed within the wall plate to block any DC voltage on the cable input.  The satellite dish requires approximately 12 - 18VDC to power the LNB portion of the dish.  This voltage is supplied by the satellite receiver and is required to pass through all cables and any wall plates that are installed.  This filtering action is what prevents the satellite dish/receiver from working.

Wall plates that are typically installed in the RV industry are ANTENNATEK Part Number 065840 or WINEGARD Part Number RV7012.  These wall plates provide the option of watching TV from the RV TV antenna or from an external cable source but not from a satellite provider. 

Solution.

The existing OUTSIDE CABLE JACK is used to connect to either a satellite dish or to the park cable to the coach and a Diplexer is used to route the signals inside the coach.  Two modifications are required.  First, the existing Telephone jack wall plate is replaced with a combination Telephone/TV wall plate.  Second, a Diplexer is installed between the OUTSIDE CABLE JACK and the existing amplifier wall plate.

The Diplexer is a passive device that combines or separates satellite and cable signals.  In addition, the Diplexer will pass DC voltage on the satellite port but will block the DC voltage on the cable port.  The cable port of the Diplexer is connected to the CABLE IN port of the existing amplifier wall plate and the satellite port of the Diplexer is connect to the TV connection on the new combined wall plate.  The satellite receiver is then connected to the new wall plate.  Distribution of the TV signal within the coach is a function of the installed Television equipment.

This is the simplest solution and requires the fewest new parts, however, it does present a problem.  Since the OUTSIDE CABLE JACK is shared between the Satellite input and the Cable input there is a chance the Satellite Receiver may put 12-18VDC onto the park cable.  To prevent this the Satellite Receiver needs to be disconnected from 120VAC or RG6 cable opened to the Diplexer. The simple solution to this issue is to always unplug your satellite receiver prior to hooking up the RV park cable.

Hope this helps.

Barry

Bob:

We have an in-motion satellite installed in our mh.  We ordered it directly from Phoenix.  I am not sure of all the magical workings, but I can tell you that I do have the wall plate that Barry talks about.  When I pull into a campground that has cable I plug the cable into the mH like you do. In addition to the wall plate,  I have black plastic box in the cabinet that is marked. sat, antenna, or cable and corresponding push buttons.  I can switch between sources and never remove my cable. It is some kind of splitter. If I can figure out how to post a picture I will do so tomorrow. 

David

Barry and David,

Thanks for the info, I like this solution in that I can use the cable installed in the RV.  This assumes that the cable in my 2010 is in fact RG6, if it was in Barry's 2008 then it probably is.  I guess I could call Kermit to be sure.

The diplexer Barry describes may be the same as what PC installed in David's at the factory.

Now I can do some research on diplexers and see what I learn.

thanks again,
Bob

Bob:

i was able to get my mh out today. I hooked up my sat dish and was wondering how you made out.  Do you still need me to take a picture of the diplexer?  By the way I went with a new provider this year.  www.dishformyrv.com.  You only pay for the months you are using the sat. No new hookup fees or disconnect fees.  You call them up when you put the mh away and disconnect . Nice idea.

David

David,

I pulled the amplifier wall plate in the cabinet today and am glad to see that the coax is indeed RG6 (Stuart said it was), so I should be able to hook up the dish to the existing outside cable jack.  I plan to remove the coax from the amplifier wall plate and put it on a wall mount feedthru coupler in the wall alongside the amplifier plate.  Then I can either hook up the sat receiver or the existing amplifier to the cable from the outside cable jack, depending on whether I am using sat or cable.  I also pulled the TV so I can run an HDMI cable from the TV to the sat receiver.

I plan to test the setup in the driveway in a couple of days and I will let you know how it goes.  If it works, I won't need a diplexer, just have to switch coax cables in the cabinet.

My plan is to take our bedroom sat receiver when we travel, but I will check out the dishformyrv.com website - might be easier.

Interesting note, when I pulled the TV I saw where the center speaker for the surround system was mounted below the TV behind the trim piece below the TV.  It seems that the sound would be muffled by being behind the trim piece and I notice in photos of 2011 models that there is now a speaker in the ceiling above the TV - seems like a good improvement.

Bob

I have had success in using the outside cable jack for a satellite dish, I tried it in my driveway and it worked!

The issue is that the satellite receiver can't go through the amplifier wall plate because it blocks the dc voltage that the receiver sends to the dish.  I bypassed the amplifier wall plate for satellite dish use as follows:

The back of the amplifier wall plate has three RG6 coax cables attached, from outside cable jack, from roof antenna, to second TV in bedroom.  I removed the coax coming from the outside cable jack and installed it on the back of a feed-through coupler next to the wall plate.  I then attached a short coax cable to the amplifier wall plate where I removed the one from the outside cable and ran it through the wall so I could hook it to the newly installed coupler feed-through as shown in the photo.

So now the RG6 coax from the outside cable jack comes to the newly installed feedthrough coupler, I can either attach the coax going to the amplifier wall plate (as shown in the photo) so both TVs can use the roof antenna or park cable via the outside cable jack as normal, or I can connect the new RG6 coax (shown disconnected in the photo) going to the satellite receiver thereby bypassing the amplifier wall plate.  This is a simple direct way to get the satellite dish to the receiver, a regular spiltter won't work as it doesn't allow the 12v dc to pass through, a more complex diplexler would work, but I went the simple way.




I cut a hole in the cabinet where the receiver will go to run the RG6 coax and the HDMI cable to the TV, the power cable will go there as well.



One problem doing it this way is that I don't get Satellite reception to the rear TV, will have to work on that. 

I seem to have made this sound a lot harder than it actually was to do.

Bob