Satellite Wiring Woes....

LovingRV1031 · 08-19-2013, 03:16 PM

So, does anybody have suggestions on the Satellite wiring/prep for my Alpine 3535RL? I don't understand why nothing comes labeled from the factory and there isn't a diagram in the owners manuals. I'm trying to complete the install of my Winegard Anser. Using a DVR in the living room and a stand alone receiver in the bedroom. Both units have been fired up by doing a test set up on a bench with the Satellite outside of my RV. However, when trying to move it all inside, the wiring is not labeled and all switching from this receptacle to that receptacle has come up null. All I can get is one line to work from the outside to the living room. Nothing else will work......HELP!

therink · 08-19-2013, 04:51 PM

Here is what I did,
There is a "sat prep" male coax connector in my water works bay. This goes from satellite liv rm receiver. There should be a standalone coax at a the main TV area for this.
There is also a second male connector in the water works bay. This is park cable connection that sends signal to a splitter in the wall or ceiling cavity located wherever your 12v antenna amp switch is (mine is located in ceiling in the upper bedroom). Then cable in feed branches off of this splitter to all other coax outlets in the rv (except for the sat in coax at main tv I referred to earlier. The trick is to pull the splitters (I have two) from the cavity behind the rv antenna booster. There should be a bees nest of coax wires in there that should all pull out from the cavity with a little coaxing. Once you have these wires out, you should then have the connections in hand for every coax outlet in the rv. What I did was find the cable that runs directly to the park cable male receptacle in the water bay. Once I identified it I removed it from the splitter and labeled it. I then located the coax that ran to the TV location where I wanted 2nd satellite receiver and labeled it. I then took a coax male/male connector (barrel connector) and joined the two labeled coax together. I now had signal from the dish to 2 separate receivers.
The important thing to keep in mind is that the coax feed from receiver to satellite must be direct with no rv related splitters in between.
I hope this helps:-)

Jim Dow · 08-19-2013, 05:32 PM

I suggest that you take no re-wiring suggestions from anyone - including myself. The configurations for different trailers are different.

Do it yourself with your own unit - following the directions in the TV4RV.com paper entitled "Rewiring your Coach for Satellite TV" which can be found on this forum by using the search function. That's what I did; and it was successful on the first try.

However, make certain that you know where ALL your coax cables are running, both To-and-From. This means that you have to trace them and label them. I used a Klein Coax Tracer from Lowes - quite inexpensive but effective.

As described in the referenced paper above, the solution lies in a) replacing the original splitter with one suited for satellite (higher) frequencies and b) rewiring the coax "around" the antenna amplifier. The antenna amplifier cuts the satellite signal out. The antenna amplifier should be OFF when using the satellite signal.

When you have re-wired around the antenna amplifier and replaced the splitter, you will have good satellite reception throughout the trailer; and you will still be able to use the antenna (with amplifier ON) should you need to do that.

Be patient; and you will be successful!

LovingRV1031 · 08-20-2013, 05:17 AM

Thanks to both of you, this will put me on the right track!!!

howard · 08-20-2013, 11:17 AM

Therink got it right, although I figured it out by trial and error. Nothing is marked in our Alpine either, except the "SatPrep" in the water works area. That is just for the satellite input from the dish. The other video input in the waterworks area is for CATV. They are not interchangeable. I use an HMDI cable to connect the satellite receiver to the TV.

Outbackmel · 08-20-2013, 05:43 PM

A. Become so frustrated you blow your cork!
B. Swear so much your DW complains
C. Agree to calm down
D. Hook up your rv
E. Visit your local RV dealer
F. Pay them $150
G. Smile forever as you enjoy TV

Took less than 2 hours for them to rewire mine 2 years ago.

Garyd · 08-21-2013, 08:56 AM

Well this is my first post. My wife and I bought an 09 Sprinter 311BHS a week ago and we are starting to make some mods to meet our desires. One of those is adding a Directv DVR since it is only costing us the monthly receiver fee and I got a great discount on the equipment lease as a long term customer. After I started reading all the posts about what I nightmare the installation can be I got a bit panicked about how the tech would handle the project. I started printing off sheets of "instructions" and diagrams and then saw a posting that Keystone does have wiring diagrams and will share them with owners. I called owner services and talked to a very helpful guy named Henry who promptly emailed me a very good diagram called "How to Hook a Satellite System to an RV Cable input." As well as a photo of the backside of the wall plate with the wiring mod completed. Hopefully they are attached to this post. And once again...thank you Henry1

Gary

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