TV auto scan doesn't find any channels

[stogies4life]

Pretty much that's it. We have a 2020 Bullet Crossfire that for the life of me I cannot understand why it doesn't pickup any at all. Just got back from a trip to Colorado and had a stop in Kansas where we only got 2 channels but I figured that was because we were many miles away from any decent signal. When in Colorado we got zero channels. The antenna has an amplifier and it was on but nothing. Same on the return trip in Abilene, zero channels. I was able to hotspot my phone so we could stream Amazon and Netflix.

Do I need to upgrade my antenna or is there something I'm missing?

tia,
s4l

PS- There is a campground we use locally that I get plenty of channels (St. Louis area)

[dutchmensport]

It could be a number of things.

Yes, it's possible you are simply in a location with no television reception. That IS a possibility. Easy way to find out? Ask your neighbor campers if they have television reception or not.

It's possible you have a loose or disconnected coax wire somewhere between the antenna and your television. There are several connection along the path, and any one of them could be loose or not connected at all.

It is possible the manufacturer did a really shoddy install job with the wires. If possible, pull the booster (that thing with the little button you push) from the wall or ceiling and look at the back of it. In my very first travel trailer, mine was installed really shoddy. They did not trim all the little fine hair wires off of the coax and as a result, those little fine haired wires were touching different parts on the back side of the booster. That prevented a good signal.

And, it's possible, they connected the coax wire running from the antenna to the power booster incorrectly. You'll need to look at the back of the booster to figure this out.

If you have a portable antenna, like those shown on "As Seen On TV", try an independent antenna, other than your trailer antenna and see if you get signals or not. If not, it "could" also be the television itself that's malfunctioning. So, as another "test" before swapping out antennas, try a different television on your trailer antenna (a known good television) and see if you get good reception. Then, you know there's something going on with the television or not.

Don't be so quick to spend money on replacing parts until you've check things out first.

Good luck.

[notanlines]

Lots of things I would recommend you trying.....and Dutch hit them all. Good luck!

[flybouy]

There are several apps to help find tv signals and their strength. Weingard has one. Go to your app store and search for tv signal or tv tower finder.

[Javi]

Abilene, TX has at least 8 OTA channels
Including Grit for us old folks.

[stogies4life]

Originally Posted by Javi

Abilene, TX has at least 8 OTA channels
Including Grit for us old folks.

I was in Abilene KS.

[LHaven]

Another issue I have seen on this forum is that the shoddy wiring is up at the roof antenna, i.e., the coax is badly or not connected. This gets a little tricky, as a lot of these antennas tell you than once you slide the stalk together you cannot disassemble it again without destroying it... you can, of course, but it's a lot of bother.

(Although if you get lots of OTA channels at your local campground, I'm thinking you may not really have a problem.)

[stogies4life]

Originally Posted by LHaven

Another issue I have seen on this forum is that the shoddy wiring is up at the roof antenna, i.e., the coax is badly or not connected. This gets a little tricky, as a lot of these antennas tell you than once you slide the stalk together you cannot disassemble it again without destroying it... you can, of course, but it's a lot of bother.

(Although if you get lots of OTA channels at your local campground, I'm thinking you may not really have a problem.)

This is why I think I may need an upgrade to my antenna, since I get tv there but nowhere else

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by stogies4life

This is why I think I may need an upgrade to my antenna, since I get tv there but nowhere else

Try out the apps. If you are <20 miles away with a clear line of sight getting 8 channels you can't compare that to being 40 miles away from the broadcast tower with hills, buildings, ad trees in between. I have the "old weinguard bat wing" antenna that's directional and must be raised. When laying flat on the roof it may not receive any channels but after extending it I may get 10 or more.

When the fixed omni directional first became standard I would ask neighbors in the cg how many channels they were getting. They would always report fewer than what I was getting. Of course this is purely anecdotal as brand of TV and even being 20' away can effect reception as digital TV broadcasting is line of sight and unlike the old vhf TVs won't display a weak signal.

[CedarCreekWoody]

Download the free app DTV Antenna or Digital TV Antenna. It will tell what is in range and which way to point your antenna.

[jeff57]

The Omni-directional TV antenna that came stock in my camper never worked, even when other campers in the same campground were receiving OTA channels.
I tried gaining access to the coax connecting to the factory antenna with no visible way to do it, I did some digging and found out that once it's in place, things get pretty messy trying to take it apart.
After going through he camper and checking the connections (some were a bit loose) I decided to buy a "King OmniGo Portable Antenna". It comes with a small portable tripod stand (kind of flimsy), a magnetic base for attaching to any metal surface and an in-line signal booster.
For about $100 it was worth it. Not that we go camping to watch TV, but it is nice to catch the news before bedtime (if applicable).
I tried it on the ground to test it out and the reception I got was amazing, so I went ahead and created an "Antenna Tower" using 3" PVC sections that I screw together. This way I can get about 3' of additional height above the camper roofline. This setup is lightweight, easy to use and works great!
I just left the factory antenna on the roof, didn't want to open up a can of worms.

https://www.amazon.com/KING-OA1501-P...66412774&psc=1

Hope this helps.

[stogies4life]

Thanks to all for your help. I don't believe I have a "directional" antenna on my TT (Bullet Crossfire). If I do, I cannot find a way to align it for better reception. I am going to check the connections first. I do have a cheap antenna that I bought so we could watch tv at home before we had the cable man out and will try that as well. If none of that seems to work, I am really intrigued by the portable antenna that @jeff57 recommended.

[jsb5717]

I changed out my broken OEM Winegard directional antenna for the Winegard 360+. It will pull in 45ish channels sitting in my driveway but might not get anything at a campground. Location, location, location.

Maybe a dumb question, but is the booster turned on? Also, I opened up the wall in storage to get to the coax splitter in my rig and tightened all of the cables, as well as behind all of the wall plates inside my rig. Almost all of them were loose.

[stogies4life]

Originally Posted by jsb5717

I changed out my broken OEM Winegard directional antenna for the Winegard 360+. It will pull in 45ish channels sitting in my driveway but might not get anything at a campground. Location, location, location.

Maybe a dumb question, but is the booster turned on? Also, I opened up the wall in storage to get to the coax splitter in my rig and tightened all of the cables, as well as behind all of the wall plates inside my rig. Almost all of them were loose.

Yes, the booster is on.

[dutchmensport]

Since the topic kind of changed a little here, I'll add some more 2 cents to the pot.

We travel a lot. We are very seldom in one camping spot for more than 2 weeks, usually weekly we move. We also do a lot of week-end camping, that often extends to a week or more.

On all my previous travel trailers, we always had the old school batwing antenna, and actually, it worked very well. On our current fifth wheel we have a Razzor antenna. Although it is, somewhat, omni-direction, it can still be turned any direction.

Over the years, I have depended upon 3 apps on my cell phone.

The first is a compass which always tells me which way is North.

The second is whatismyzipcode.com. I don't have the "App", it's just a book mark on my Google browser on my phone. Open up "Whatismyzipcode" and if you have location enabled on your phone, it will give you the zip code wherever you are at.

The third is www.antennasdirect.com. This also is a book mark on my Google on my phone. After you have the zip code, you can punch in the zip code on AntennasDirect and it will present a map of your zip code location and show you where the local television stations are located with respect to your zip code you just punched in.

You now know which direction is North. Just turn the phone so the top is facing north, and then turn your RV antenna in the direction of the most signals. The whole process takes less than a minute.

Now I am ready to rescan the television at our new location. Works every time!

[dutchmensport]

stogies4life? Just a quick question, maybe I missed it... but ... did you re-scan the television?

[stogies4life]

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

stogies4life? Just a quick question, maybe I missed it... but ... did you re-scan the television?

Yes. Multiple times in each campground we have been to.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

stogies4life? Just a quick question, maybe I missed it... but ... did you re-scan the television?

I may have missed something also.
Did you set the input on the tv to antenna before scanning? If set to cable it won't pick up but a couple of OTA channels.

[stogies4life]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

I may have missed something also.
Did you set the input on the tv to antenna before scanning? If set to cable it won't pick up but a couple of OTA channels.

Yep. Every time

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by stogies4life

Yep. Every time

Good!
It was just a thought!