Digital Channels

[Tatanka Ob Waci]

We have a 2014 Keystone Raptor 384PK.

There are 3 tv's in the unit and when we hook up to cable 2 of the tv's find all the channels and one will not find digital channels.

If I hook up to the antenna, all tv's will find all channels. I'm wandering if there might be an issue with the splitter going to the one tv that has issues finding digital channels. I'm pretty savvy on electronics, but this one has me stumped.

We are currently at a golf resort in Casa Grande, AZ. Any ideas from you pro's out there?

[Bostongone]

Digital OTA (over the air) is a different format that the digital signal from a cable provider. Suspect that the non-cable friendly tv lacks a QAM built in tuner.

Just what is a QAM tuner? Well, according to Wikipedia, QAM stands for "quadrature amplitude modulation, the format by which digital cable channels are encoded and transmitted via cable television providers."

More specifically, it allows you to pull in certain digital cable channels without the use of a set-top box. Or, as the Wikipedia entry puts it, "an integrated QAM tuner allows the free reception of unscrambled digital programming sent 'in the clear' by cable providers, usually local broadcast stations, cable radio channels, or in the case of providers which have transitioned to do so, public access channels."

While a QAM can be harder to find in more basic, smaller TVs like the kitchen set I was looking for, most of the larger sets now feature integrated QAM tuners. That said, if QAM is a feature you're interested in, always check the specs to make sure it's there. (Note that "ATSC" doesn't guarantee QAM compatibility--you want to make sure that QAM is specifically mentioned).
Hope this helps!

[JRTJH]

Just off the top, is it possible that two of the TV's are "OTA/cable ready" and the errant one is "OTA/non-cable ready" ???

[Tatanka Ob Waci]

The TV in question is a Sansui SLED 3200B HD TV. I looked up the specs on it and it says that it has a ATSC, QAM digital tuner and an ATSC analog tuner. I have completed a scan 4 times now and it will only find 2 analog channels on the cable. It works fine with DISH VIP211Z, gets HD, etc. Just won't find the digital channels on the cable that is provided.

[JRTJH]

If you have a "known good coax connection" on another TV, I'd take that TV to the "known good coax" connect it and run the scan. If it works, it's the coax in the trailer. If it doesn't work, try the "good TV" at the "bad connector plate"... That will tell you if it's the TV circuitry or the RV coax wiring....

[Tatanka Ob Waci]

Thanks very much for all the replies. I hooked up one of the known "good" TV's to the coax that feeds the problem TV and no problems, found all the channels. So it appears that the tuner on the problem TV is the culprit so gee whiz I'm going to have to go TV shopping tomorrow. Once again thanks, I love this forum!

[JRTJH]

Super !!! It's nice to solve a problem and create another one.... Now, how do you pay for the new TV ??? :facepalm:

[Bostongone]

Tatanka, one last thought, are all of these TVs the same? I assume for the faulty tv you are selecting “Cable” on your scan setup instead of Air or Antenna. Seems that if the tv is supposed to have a QAM tuner you should be able to receive these cable channels.

[RoscoeV]

Another suggestion is to do a factory reset on the TV and go through the setup again.