No Cable signal to our TV's!

[Rig Rat]

While traveling the week of the World Series we decided to stop at a campground that had cable TV to watch games 6 & 7.

To our disappointment we could not get the cable TV signal to be recognized by either of our two TV sets in our 2015 AI!

The campground manager checked the signal at the cable box on a TV he had and everything there worked fine. I even rechecked the coaxial connections several times from the box to our rig. However, nothing we did worked. Every time we did the auto programming on the TVs for the cable, there were zero channels that loaded. The TV information booklet to our used 15 AI was of little use.

Has anyone had this similar issue with their unit and can give us an insight on how to resolve it next time we want to hook up and watch cable TV ?

Also, When I got into the cubby above the driver seat and tried to figure out if there were any cables that were not connected, I somehow disconnected the HDMI cable that went to the switch box that sits on top of the Blu-ray player. I plugged it back into port #2.

Does anyone know The correct port 1,2,3 or 4 that that HDMI cable should be plugged into?

Thanks in advance!

[amirm]

Originally Posted by Mister B

Also, When I got into the cubby above the driver seat and tried to figure out if there were any cables that were not connected, I somehow disconnected the HDMI cable that went to the switch box that sits on top of the Blu-ray player. I plugged it back into port #2.

Does anyone know The correct port 1,2,3 or 4 that that HDMI cable should be plugged into?

Thanks in advance!

The ports are all the same function but if you change which one you were using, you need to play a disc and then keep pushing the front switches until you see an image on the TV. The switch selects which input is used to output.

By the way, I threw out the cable they were using and got a much thinner, short HDMI cable. The one they had in there was massive/stiff and broke itself apart when I tried to move things around there.

[UKDUDE]

Originally Posted by Mister B

Every time we did the auto programming on the TVs for the cable, there were zero channels that loaded.

By that you mean you changed the TV setting from "over the air" to "cable" ahead of the auto program?


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[nvestysly]

I don't own an Interstate but I have looked at a few for sale and I think their antenna system is similar to the system in our trailer. If not, somebody will correct me I'm sure.

Somewhere in your Interstate is small wall-plate similar in size to an electrical outlet. The wall-plate is usually located at or near where the coax connector is located inside the Interstate. From this coax connector a cable routes to your TV.

The small push-button on the wall-plate is used to change from over-the-air reception via your on-board antenna to cable TV where you connect the outside cable to your cable TV input on the outside of your Interstate.

When the push-button is depressed a small LED illuminates. This means you're in over-the-air mode. Not only is the wall-plate activating the over-the-air antenna it's also amplifying the signal. This setting, combined with scanning for channels in the "Air" or "Antenna" setting on your TV should allow you to watch conventional television broadcasts.

When the push-button is released the LED will turn off. This setting is CATV or cable mode. In this mode you have to be connected to a cable signal from the campground attached via the external door on your Interstate. With this mode you should be able to scan for stations in "Cable" or "CATV" mode on your television.

[Rig Rat]

Originally Posted by UKDUDE

By that you mean you changed the TV setting from "over the air" to "cable" ahead of the auto program?


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Yes, I put it onto the 'cable' setting from the 'over the air' prior to selecting auto program!

[Rig Rat]

Originally Posted by nvestysly

I don't own an Interstate but I have looked at a few for sale and I think their antenna system is similar to the system in our trailer. If not, somebody will correct me I'm sure.

Somewhere in your Interstate is small wall-plate similar in size to an electrical outlet. The wall-plate is usually located at or near where the coax connector is located inside the Interstate. From this coax connector a cable routes to your TV.

The small push-button on the wall-plate is used to change from over-the-air reception via your on-board antenna to cable TV where you connect the outside cable to your cable TV input on the outside of your Interstate.

When the push-button is depressed a small LED illuminates. This means you're in over-the-air mode. Not only is the wall-plate activating the over-the-air antenna it's also amplifying the signal. This setting, combined with scanning for channels in the "Air" or "Antenna" setting on your TV should allow you to watch conventional television broadcasts.

When the push-button is released the LED will turn off. This setting is CATV or cable mode. In this mode you have to be connected to a cable signal from the campground attached via the external door on your Interstate. With this mode you should be able to scan for stations in "Cable" or "CATV" mode on your television.

****************
Thanks! Now I will have to go looking for that wall plate and switch.

[Rig Rat]

Originally Posted by amirm

The ports are all the same function but if you change which one you were using, you need to play a disc and then keep pushing the front switches until you see an image on the TV. The switch selects which input is used to output.

By the way, I threw out the cable they were using and got a much thinner, short HDMI cable. The one they had in there was massive/stiff and broke itself apart when I tried to move things around there.

Thanks! I too found the cable to be very unforgiving and had a hard time reattaching the box back to the velcro on top of the blue-ray player!

[Rig Rat]

I found the plate, push button switch and green LED light!
Appreciate the advice....now I will know what to do next time I hook up to cable to watch TV. Hopefully that will be before the Indians make it to the World Series again!

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by Mister B

I found the plate, push button switch and green LED light!
Appreciate the advice....now I will know what to do next time I hook up to cable to watch TV. Hopefully that will be before the Indians make it to the World Series again!

That plate and push button in the overhead above driver seat is the over-the-air TV Booster. It should be OFF for cable TV, see page 5-21 of your owners manual. Clip from manual attached.

Your problem sounds more like a cable disconnected. If the previous owner was using a satellite TV receiver the connections for Cable TV could be disconnected. Page 9-38 in your manual is a AV Schematic - it shows the TV Cable routing from the exterior connection. Clip of key part attached. It's worth checking your cable wiring before doing anything else.

[73shark]

Originally Posted by Mister B

I found the plate, push button switch and green LED light!
Appreciate the advice....now I will know what to do next time I hook up to cable to watch TV. Hopefully that will be before the Indians make it to the World Series again!

I'd recommend that you hook a cable to the RV to verify that fix since on earlier models the push-button switch w/ the green LED is for the OTA antenna amplifier and has to be ON (illuminated) for the TV to receive an OTA signal.

There was a pigtail coax that was used when using a satellite system. Since I didn't have a sat system, never figured it out.

[Lineolated]

What year is your interstate? Ours is a 2014. It has a plate in the front overhead cabinet next to the antenna booster switch. The plate has 2 coax connectors on it. To use cable, there should be a jumper piece of coax connected to both.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by Lineolated

What year is your interstate? Ours is a 2014. It has a plate in the front overhead cabinet next to the antenna booster switch. The plate has 2 coax connectors on it. To use cable, there should be a jumper piece of coax connected to both.

Fairly certain that jumper has been used since 2010-2011 Interstates. It is farther forward on same panel as the TV booster. It was on diagram I posted earlier. Here is annotated version.



- - Mike
2013 Interstate Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

[Lineolated]

Sorry, missed that!
Our jumper was poorly crimped and fell apart. Check for a good connection.

[EvanR]

We had the same problem and it was a change in the TV settings in our 2011 Airstream, 25' FC. Next time go to settings with the remote control and find where it says to source from external???. I do not remember the exact setting but that was how I fixed the same issue.