General Boards > Redecorating and Updating your Motorhome

Updating TV's - Front, Rear and Exterior (Maybe/Possibly/Hopefully)

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JCMillerSr:
For the past several days I have been pulling my hair out trying to understand the antenna wiring in my 92 Marquis.  This all started when I began trying to trace the dozen or so coax cables I found in the front passenger side overhead cabinet.  After testing each cable I have identified the following connections:
1. Main TV - Front lower center dash
2. TV #2 - Bedroom
3. VCR - In and Out
4. Park Cable
5. TV Antenna
6. Satellite
In addition to these 7 cables there are an additional three cables that I have no idea what they could possible be.  I know there is another connection in the bay next to the entry door but it seems to be connected directly to the TV Antenna.  I have traced the coax from this connection up into the living area, along the wall under the dining table area and into the refrigerator cabinet where it appears to be heading straight to the rear TV cabinet.  Unfortunately the rear TV cabinet only has on coax which comes out of the ceiling in the back of the cabinet and goes straight to the TV and has been identified as TV #2 cable.  The original wiring diagram indicates that one coax was routed to the VCR and then from the VCR it was split three ways to cover the Front, Rear and External TV's.  I really need to find that splitter and am at my wits end as to where it could be located.

A lot of my frustration is due to the fact that the previous owner(s) made modifications to the wiring and equipment.  The original Winegard distribution system is no longer operational although the switches and control wiring seem to remain in place.  The VCR is DOA and I am hoping to replace it with either a DVD player or something similar.

The front TV is the original Panasonic standard definition and needs to be updated in the worse way but so far I cannot figure out how to take the cabinet apart without destroying it.  Hopefully someone out there has already done some similar upgrades and can offer some free advice before I go crazy (crazier is more like it).

So has anybody out there found that darn splitter and what is the secret to removing the old brick of a TV without destroying the cabinets?

Steve Huber:
JC,
The splitters in circa 2000 coaches are usually in the front/side cabinets. I'd also check all the cabinets between the rear TV and the VCR (on that side of the coach). Also, look behind any removable panels in the cabinets. You may want to consider getting a wire tracer. It makes locating wires a heck of a lot easier!
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_11?url=search-alias%3Dindustrial&field-keywords=wire+tracer&sprefix=wire+tracer%2Caps%2C207
I got the Fluke Pro 3000 and am very satisfied with it.

Not sure what your TV cabinets look like but here is what I did on our 2001 Contessa. Not too tough a job and very functional.
http://beaveramb.org/forum/index.php/topic,1976.msg14297.html#msg14297

Good Luck, Steve

Edward Buker:
The extra cable heading to the rear of the coach could be a cable input intended to come from the campground. There should be a female plug in the rear somewhere near the utility connections. Usually all the cables went to a central point like where the roof antenna switch was and a jumble of splitters and rf switch boxes were nearby. Once you have the key cables defined that you need you can usually improve the connections with adding distribution amps and HDMI cables if the changes are planned to accommodate them.

A lot of us have made these kind of changes and documented them on the forum. I have several as does Steve that you may find helpful.

Later Ed

Fred Brooks:
Good Mornihg JC,
     I have done over 35 of these updates over the last 5 years on all Luxury coaches. I am a retired RVIA certified technician and my talant is cabinetry and audio/video upgrades. I am currently doing a 2002 Marquis. It will have a 40" TV in the center overhead and matching cabinetry in the "Marquis Theme". If you could send me a picture of the existing TV cabinet and video selector location, I'll be glad to talk to you and give some direction how to comprehend what you have and how to get where you want to go.    Fred Brooks

JCMillerSr:
Thanks to everyone who has commented so far.  The original equipment in this coach had a Winegard system which allowed the front TV and the Bedroom TV to share either the VCR (located in the front), the OTA Antenna or the Park Cable. This was also the original source for the 12v amplifier for the antenna. The switchplates and the wiring for these controls is still in place as far as I can see but was long ago abandoned and replaced with a Winegard selector box in order to handle the addition of a satellite receiver. 

As far as the exterior cable (coax) connection here is only one coax coming into the box which also includes a 12v adaptor.  The coax runs up through the floor approximately 18" to the left of the entry door where it then travels in what I will call a wire trough (plywood box out along the floor) on the passenger side back to the refrigerator cabinet.  Once inside the refrigerator cabinet it runs up the wall to the ceiling and continues to the rear of the coach.  Once it reaches the ceiling I can no longer see where it is routed.  Lucky for me (or unlucky depending on how you look at it) I am having the refrigerator replaced next week and when they pull out the old unit I will be there to take a look at where the wires go.  As previously mentioned, the cabinet for the Bedroom TV only has one coax which has been identified as TV #2.  That means that somewhere between the refrigerator and the bedroom the OTA antenna cable has taken a detour.

So far the only tracing I have been able to do is to use my voltage meter and olm out each cable.  After I had located all of the basic cables I remembered the exterior connection and was sure it was going to be one of the three or four undefined cables I found in the front A/V cabinet.  Imagine my surprise when it ended up being part of the OTA Antenna cables.

As to the VCR, it was located in the front center upper cabinet directly over the Main TV.  When I removed it last week the only wiring in the entire cabinet was the power cord, one set of RCA jacks (red, white, yellow) and two coax for VCR In and VCR Out.  My next step will be to remove the plywood ceiling in the upper right front cabinet and see what else may be hiding up there.

For the present time I am taking a break from the renovations and will resume my search next week.  Starting Monday the new refrigerator will be installed and then it is back to "search and rescue" mode for me.  Hopefully between now and then someone can give me some additional ideas of where to look.  I will also post a few pictures next week of the front TV cabinet, the old Winegard controls and anything else I can think of that may spark someone's memory.

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