Antenna /Booster question

[jd800]

I have a 2014 Passport 238ML, with one tv,one roof antenna and one cable connection on back. It has a Winegard booster behind the tv.
The TV worked fine for the past 5 years with the roof antenna and I never used the cable connection. About 3 years ago I changed the Winegard for a King batwing style. No issues with it and it worked fine. This past season it quit working, listed are the attempts I made to diagnose the issue with the results. I would appreciate any input on this matter.

Remember, it just quit, I did not change any settings.
In this process, I always scanned channels after every antenna change.
I used auto program with AIR selected and booster on.
The antenna booster light is green, so I know it gets power, plus I tried channel scan both ways, booster on and off. I get about 5 channels with it on and none with it off.
The King antenna red power light does not go on, so I put the old Winegard back on and there was not any difference.
I hooked up a digital indoor with its own booster directly to the TV and I received 33 channels.
I also tried the King antenna with a cable to the back of the booster then the booster to the tv. That would eliminate the trailer cable but the results were the same, about 5 channels.
Any ideas?

Thanks Joe
Passport 238ML

[LHaven]

"Put the old Winegard back on" eliminates broken connection in the antenna as the problem.

Put a voltmeter across the coax on the top end and see if you're really getting power from the green light button. I'm thinking rodents. (I have reasons to think rodents, though coax would require some dedicated rodents.)

I'm not sure what you did with your "cable to the back of the booster" test, but if you essentially replaced the in-wall amp-to-antenna cable and still got the same results, the problem has to be somewhere between the unpowered amp connector and the TV. Take the rabbit ears and use the existing cable from the unpowered amp outlet and see if you get the same loss. If not, I'd replace the amp wallplate.

[jd800]

I will try your last suggestion you recommended as you are correct, I already eliminated the trailer cables. I tend to agree, it seems like the wall plate. Thanks for the suggestions.
Joe

[ChuckS]

All that wall plate does is provide a switch to turn 12 volts dc on or off up to the OTA antenna.. it is not a booster...

The older Winegard OTA antenna requires 12 volts up to its preamplifier that’s built into the head of the antenna

That 12 volt signal ISNT on the coax feed ... its a separate two wire connection from power switch down below up to antenna

The newer King antenna you installed ... depending on model ma6 have used a power injector which DOES inject 12 volts dc thru coax cable


Have you got up on the roof and verified the OEM 12 volt supply wires to Winegard actually have power...

[jd800]

Thanks for the info. Very good points, I really did not understand that switch until you explained it. I will check that in the next day or so before the cold weather predicted snow hits here. Additional followup: I tried the King batwing and a Mohue indoor with there associated power hookups, bypassed the 12v power switch and they both worked, hooked directly to the TV and through the cable hookup on the back of the trailer. I will check the roof and also do the power test you suggested.

[flybouy]

If you have a Wall Plate Signal Amplifier for Non-Amplified Sensar RV Antennas (RA-7296) then the switch will switch between cable and the outside antenna. Here's the manual for it.

[ChuckS]

OPs RV came OEM with amplifier at the antenna so wall switch is just an on off 12 VDC switch to

[ChuckS]

OEM Sensar 3 is what shows came on 2014 passport

Manual for that install

https://d38mfwkkxtsm2m.cloudfront.ne...ts/2452013.pdf

[jd800]

Yes, I have a Winegard Sensar III with the wall plate RA-7596 which has an on/off button, green light when on, plus a 12 volt receptacle. This is the way it came from the factory. I checked today for voltage and this is what I came up with: I have 12 volts going into the wall plate so that is good.
I have 12 volts in the receptacle,
Button on green light, button off no light,
I could not get any voltage on the coax fittings on either side of the
plate. I may have not checked the cable correctly, I checked using the
wire in the center and the threaded part on the out side. I tried with and
without a coax cable.

My minimal technical guess is the wall plate is bad, so I will just order a new one and see what happens. I want to thank all of you for your input in guiding me through this. Not sure when I will get this wrapped up, but when I do, I will post whether the new wall plate fixed the issue or not.

[LHaven]

Winegard Sensar III installation manual is here.
According to page 6, the amp is indeed in the antenna head and is fed by 12VDC bias on the coax itself, not separate leads. So if you're sure you're not seeing the 12VDC on the coax, I agree with your conclusions.

[jd800]

Thanks for the input and reply.

[jd800]

The old wall plate green light would go on, I had 12 volts at the receptacle and I could not get 12 volts through the coax cable. I replaced the old wall plate with a new wall plate and now get 12 volts through the coax cable and the tv works. Thanks for all the input as it helped walked me through solving this issue.