Help with TV antenna

[A W Warn]

I have had my 2000 Safari 25'C for about 6 months now. I still am learning how everything works. I hope some of you can give me some advice about antenna and amplifier. My antenna does not work, there is no reception. Cable connected to the terminal block in the bumper storage works fine.

In the Excellas that I owned previously, the amplifier switch was in the wall plate where the tv connected just beside the refrigerator. There is no wall plate or switch at that location in my Safari. I cannot find the amplifier switch, even though the wiring diagram says there should be one. My trailer has had the interior upholstery customized by a PO. The panel at the side of the fridge has been upholstered, so I'm not sure if there was originally a wall outlet or switch behind the wall mounted TV. The cable is exposed on the walls then runs through the space behind the fridge, then behind lavitory cabinet, toilet, and shower into the bumper storage. The 120v outlet is beneath the dinet near the floor.

There are only two coaxial cables that come from interior of the trailer into the bumper storage that are connected to a spliter then a single coaxial to the terminal block.
The attached picture shows the tv mount area.


What I would like know:

1. Is the TV cable near the fridge in it's original location or has the wall outlet beside the fridge been eliminated by the PO?
2. Where is the amplifier and switch?
3. Should I be able to receive digital signal with my original antena?
4. Could any of you share a photo of the original locations of the tv outlets and amp switch in your Safari, even a similar year model.

Thanks!
Alan

Ps: if anyone recognizes this interior and knows history of PO, I would be interested.

[TBRich]

Alan...I can't help you with most of your questions, but I am wondering if your TV digital-ready or not...if it is the original TV I doubt that it is and you woul dneed a converter box for it to receive the digital signal. Ours is a 2006 and it seems we just missed the digital-ready original TVs. If your TV is digital-ready, I am pretty sure that you can receive the signal through your original antenna...we can, but the amplifier/booster must be engaged, just as when receiving an analog signal. For what it's worth our amplifier switch (which is just a button...pushed in for "on" and it is lit green) is on the face plate where the "antenna-in" port is.

[A W Warn]

TB,
I appreciate your response.
There is no port in the front next to the fridge. I suspect the PO removed it.
I have added a second digital ready tv in the rear bedroom, where there is a port. That tv will not work on the antenna. Both locations work on digital cable.
Since I had not been into another 2000 Safari I do nogt know what it looked like originally.
Thanks!
Alan

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by A W Warn

TB,
I appreciate your response.
There is no port in the front next to the fridge. I suspect the PO removed it.
I have added a second digital ready tv in the rear bedroom, where there is a port. That tv will not work on the antenna. Both locations work on digital cable.
Since I had not been into another 2000 Safari I do nogt know what it looked like originally.
Thanks!
Alan

Digital cable bypasses the over the air tuner. Any old TV will work on digital cable, dish, or converter box. To receive over the air digital, you need a digital tuner of some kind. Either a converter and an old TV or a newer HDTV television. The words "Digital Ready" were often used to mean that the TV would give you a picture if you added a digital tuner. This is also true of a monitor that isn't a TV at all, but will work just fine with a tuner. "Digital Ready" really means very little.

Any antenna is capable of receiving HDTV signals. The antenna doesn't know or care what it is getting.

The port in the front of my Excella looks like the port in the back of my Excella. I would expect yours to also look the same. You might check in other locations, especially behind the curtains. Mine is behind the street side curtain in the living room next to the galley, above the credenza.

If you know someone with one of the converter boxes, you might borrow that and try connecting to the port in the back. If you then get a picture, you know the problem is that the "Digital Ready" TV does not have a digital tuner.

Best of luck!

[wayner61]

Alan -

I think you are on the right track. At least in my experience, the amplifier has to be engaged in order to receive the over the air signal from the antenna. It is very possible that the P.O. modified the system and bypassed the factory wiring with a direct path to the RF terminal you are hooking cable to. Satellite TV doesn't usually work well if it is routed through the amplifier/wall plate so they might have just taken it out of the system if they weren't intending to ever use the antenna. You might try calling the A/S tech line to see if they can tell you anything about the original wiring and location for the amplifier.


Toll Free Technical Support Line

1-877-596-6505

This is a voice mail system only. Your call will be returned within 24 hrs. After listening to a brief greeting, please record the following information:

Your name
Telephone number
Specify trailer or motorhome
Model year
Last six digits of the Airstream serial number
Brief description of problem or information need

Hope that helps -

Wayne

[au_ee]

Originally Posted by wayner61

Alan -

I think you are on the right track. At least in my experience, the amplifier has to be engaged in order to receive the over the air signal from the antenna. It is very possible that the P.O. modified the system and bypassed the factory wiring with a direct path to the RF terminal you are hooking cable to. Satellite TV doesn't usually work well if it is routed through the amplifier/wall plate so they might have just taken it out of the system if they weren't intending to ever use the antenna. You might try calling the A/S tech line to see if they can tell you anything about the original wiring and location for the amplifier.


Toll Free Technical Support Line

1-877-596-6505

This is a voice mail system only. Your call will be returned within 24 hrs. After listening to a brief greeting, please record the following information:

Your name
Telephone number
Specify trailer or motorhome
Model year
Last six digits of the Airstream serial number
Brief description of problem or information need

Hope that helps -

Wayne

Can you get in touch with the PO? I agree with previous responses. He probably made some modifications. The AS service reps may be able to help but they won't be aware of what type of mods were made and where they were done. If I were the PO I wouldn't mind a phone call to answer a few questions.

[vswingfield]

In your photograph, there appears to be a coax and a power cord running behind the curtain to the right of the set. Where is it (the coax) connected?

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by vswingfield

In your photograph, there appears to be a coax and a power cord running behind the curtain to the right of the set. Where is it (the coax) connected?

That coax you see in the photo is conntectd to the back of the tv set, then runs continuiously into the rear bumper storage. There it is connected to a splitter joining the other coax, then to the terminal block where cable can be connected.

One of my original questions in post #1 was, is this the original way the tv antenna was connected in the 2000 Safari, or has it been modified. I have had three other Airstreams, Excellas, that had a wall plate with a male coax connector at this area. These plates always had a switch for the amp built in. My trailer does not have either.

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by TBRich

Alan...I can't help you with most of your questions, but I am wondering if your TV digital-ready or not...if it is the original TV I doubt that it is and you woul dneed a converter box for it to receive the digital signal. Ours is a 2006 and it seems we just missed the digital-ready original TVs. If your TV is digital-ready, I am pretty sure that you can receive the signal through your original antenna...we can, but the amplifier/booster must be engaged, just as when receiving an analog signal. For what it's worth our amplifier switch (which is just a button...pushed in for "on" and it is lit green) is on the face plate where the "antenna-in" port is.

One tv is old type original with the trailer, new one in the bed room is digital. Neither work on the antenna on the trailer. The digital set will play one local channel using a small antenna, not on the trailer.

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by A W Warn

That coax you see in the photo is conntectd to the back of the tv set, then runs continuiously into the rear bumper storage. There it is connected to a splitter joining the other coax, then to the terminal block where cable can be connected.

Sorry, I didn't make the connection that it was a continuous run from the TV to the rear bumper storage.

Originally Posted by A W Warn

One of my original questions in post #1 was, is this the original way the tv antenna was connected in the 2000 Safari, or has it been modified. I have had three other Airstreams, Excellas, that had a wall plate with a male coax connector at this area. These plates always had a switch for the amp built in. My trailer does not have either.

That sounds strange to me, but I don't have a 2000 Safari. From your description, I wonder if there is any connection to the antenna at all. They could have just run the wire back there and always connected to cable in campgrounds.

My Excella has a wall plate, but no switch for the amp on the plate. The amp is in the credenza below the wall plate, but it's older. In my Trade Wind, the antenna out is in the control panel above the fridge. No amp switch there either. The amp is behind the control panel. Being vintage, neither had cable/dish wiring.

In both trailers, the amps are just plugged into 120v outlets and are on whenever hooked to shore power. I added a separate coax in for satellite connection, but did not bother running it to the bedroom in the Excella. I've never even connected to the antenna connection in the bedroom either.

It sounds like, as you suspected, that the wiring may be a result of the PO's remodeling. If you end up adding an amp, they should be available locally at places like WalMart, HD, and Radio Shack. They're not expensive.