What is this?

[Adam Hicklin]

This is in the water bay.  Obviously the lower is a coax connector (although I have another coax cable on a reel in the same bay). What is the other connector?  The cover is marked "phone" but I have never seen a phone connector like this.  Tanks for the help.

[Gerald Farris]

Adam,
That type of phone connector was fairly common in the upscale marine industry 15 years ago. A lot of the early equipment on luxury motorhomes was borrowed from the marine industry.

Gerald

[Adam Hicklin]

Is there some kind of adapter to make it functional?

[Dick Simonis]

Yep, that is a marine phone inlet.  However wired phones are pretty much obsolete so the adapters may be tough to find.

[LEAH DRAPER]

Why in the world would any builder put that type of connection in a motorhome???   Did they expect a Beaver to float???

[David T. Richelderfer]

I would say, "for the same reason they put generators in motorhomes."  With the invention of and manufacture of cheap cell phones, there is no need for a shore phone port in modern motorhomes.  I would submit that in the future, perhaps 20 or 30 years, generators will not be required in motorhomes.  At some point solar panels will be sufficient to charge and maintain a bank of highly efficient and powerful batteries.  Just a thought...

[Gerald Farris]

Leah,
Marine components were used in earlier production Beavers because they were the most durable and moisture proof components that were available at the time. In the 80s and early 90s, Beavers even used expensive twist lock marine power cords that had to be unplugged from the coach and rolled up for storage every time that you moved locations. However, as the RV industry has matured, components have been developed especially for RVs, so the number of components in RVs that were designed especially for marine applications has diminished.

Gerald

[Adam Hicklin]

I wouldn't have any need for it.  I'd just never seen anything like it.  I wonder if the coax is connected to anything?

[Gerald Farris]

Adam,
If your coach has a coax installed on a reel like most coaches of that era, the coax connection in the phone connector box was not connected, and left unused.

Gerald

[Adam Hicklin]

Thanks Gerald.