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Old 10-10-2019, 10:38 AM   #1
RFB
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Metal TT and Radio Issues

New owner of my 2016 Springdale. Unhappily, discovered that Keystone does not consider external AM/FM antennas important in a metal TT - found nothing but a folded wire dipole immediately behind the radio. Result is no signal unless station is practically next door. I have found a solution that requires replacing the TV "Batwing" with a unified antenna that has VHF/UHF/AM/FM capability AND a TV preamp. The downside is that it requires two antenna cable runs from the antenna to the entertainment cabinet. QUESTION: Does anyone know if the factory supplied coaxial cable for the TV antenna is loose in the walls and can be used to pull a new set of cables (two), or is it connected somewhere to the wall or ceiling other than at the roof seal? I do not want to rip out the ceiling or wall panels if I can avoid it.
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Old 10-10-2019, 12:22 PM   #2
chuckster57
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What antenna is on the roof now? You may just have to change the booster.
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Old 10-10-2019, 12:37 PM   #3
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Coax Run in Travel Trailer

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Originally Posted by chuckster57 View Post
What antenna is on the roof now? You may just have to change the booster.
Nope, will not work very well. I have an old Winegard bat wing. The RF amp has a built in RF filter to cutout the FM part of the VHF band. Most of the TV RF amps do this. However, there are several that have a separate coax for the AM/FM that is tapped off before the antenna mounted preamp. The GOOD - much improves radio reception at little cost (.3 dB) to the TV RF. The BAD - requires another coax to be pulled. That is why I want to know if I can use the existing coax to pull two new ones. That way, no need to pull ceiling or wall panels.
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Old 10-10-2019, 04:56 PM   #4
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What I did was I got a marine antenna mounted it on exterior wall by entertainment center and I had a cabinet to run the antenna lead thru. I mounted it so antenna extended above roof. And it had a spring on it.
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Old 10-10-2019, 05:21 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by RFB View Post
Nope, will not work very well. I have an old Winegard bat wing. The RF amp has a built in RF filter to cutout the FM part of the VHF band. Most of the TV RF amps do this. However, there are several that have a separate coax for the AM/FM that is tapped off before the antenna mounted preamp. The GOOD - much improves radio reception at little cost (.3 dB) to the TV RF. The BAD - requires another coax to be pulled. That is why I want to know if I can use the existing coax to pull two new ones. That way, no need to pull ceiling or wall panels.
I would be leary of using the existing coax to pull a new pair. I would be concerned that pulling it through the ceiling and walls it could get hung up or "trapped" in the corner of a rafter or a hole that was only drilled large enough for a single coax. One good tug, the 3 cables go their separate ways and you have a real mess on your hands.
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Old 10-11-2019, 09:31 AM   #6
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Angry

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What I did was I got a marine antenna mounted it on exterior wall by entertainment center and I had a cabinet to run the antenna lead thru. I mounted it so antenna extended above roof. And it had a spring on it.
I thought of that, but the floor layout of my TT means that the only wall open to the cabinet would be under the awning. I cannot find a way to move the cable laterally in the walls.
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Old 10-11-2019, 09:39 AM   #7
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I would be leary of using the existing coax to pull a new pair. I would be concerned that pulling it through the ceiling and walls it could get hung up or "trapped" in the corner of a rafter or a hole that was only drilled large enough for a single coax. One good tug, the 3 cables go their separate ways and you have a real mess on your hands.
Sadly, I think you are correct, and I can identify where it will hang. I tried to "girdle" an electrical snake on the existing coax, and it hung where the wall to ceiling transition is. There are several other wires from other locations going through this opening and they would interfere with any attempt to pull.

So, I am now on to a single coax solution. I found an amplified antenna from China that does not have the FM bands filter. They do the filtering at the distribution plate/power supply end. That same box also has an RF pigtail for the AM/FM. The information was not long on details, so I am still checking into it.
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Old 10-11-2019, 09:53 AM   #8
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Do you have any way to get to the roof thru the cabinet that has the radio in it?
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Old 10-11-2019, 10:56 AM   #9
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Yes, but only near the awning. I can't move forward or back in the roof space either.
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Old 10-11-2019, 11:51 AM   #10
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Sounds to me like you have a couple of options. Install an amplified FM antenna inside as high as possible, install a marine FM antenna (no ground plane required) on the roof, or install a standard FM car antenna on the siding. If the siding option you could install it in a horizontal position or vertically upside down if your under the awning and no window below to interfere .
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Old 10-31-2019, 08:50 AM   #11
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Thumbs up The Fix Worked

After absorbing all of the thread information, I came up with a fix that worked! The solution was to upgrade to old Winegard Batwing to a King Jack Head (OA8300) and then use a Winegard Sensarpro to power the antenna and provide tuning and gain controls. The King antenna does not have an FM bandpass filter, so the FM signals are sent to the Sensarpro. The Sensarpro has a variable gain control, so it can be set as necessary for either TV reception or for FM signals. As a bonus, it functions as a signal monitor to help point the antenna. I then needed only a type F connector to Motorola FM jack to make the antenna connection to the Kenwood FM receiver. It works great- both for TV and FM. AM also works and seems unimpaired, at least in the areas tested so far.! The only additional piece of information - if you have two TVs you will also need a coaxial splitter to get enough connections out of the Sensarpro. There will not be a signal loss doing this due to the adjustable gain in the Winegard unit.
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Old 11-03-2019, 06:15 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RFB View Post
New owner of my 2016 Springdale. Unhappily, discovered that Keystone does not consider external AM/FM antennas important in a metal TT - found nothing but a folded wire dipole immediately behind the radio.
That explains why it's so horrible. I'll bet any money my 2018 CM17FQ is set up the same way. Fortunately my stereo is in a cabinet up against an outside wall, so I can install an antenna on the siding fairly easily. Good solution you worked out.
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Old 12-04-2019, 06:52 AM   #13
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New Antenna

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That explains why it's so horrible. I'll bet any money my 2018 CM17FQ is set up the same way. Fortunately my stereo is in a cabinet up against an outside wall, so I can install an antenna on the siding fairly easily. Good solution you worked out.
Well I lost the bet. Mine had a fifteen foot piece of RG-6 coax connecting the antenna jack on the back of the stereo to the "SET 2" jack on the back of the King Jack control panel. Very lossy set up and while the rooftop King Jack TV antenna is okay for TV, in my experience (with the factory excess length of coax) its marginal for FM broadcast radio and AM is non-existent.

I finished the install of the new AM/FM antenna today. While it is still a bit of a compromise, it performs much better than the factory set up. Doesn't look too bad either.
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