Testing TV Antenna?

I have a 2004 3124KS. Tried the TV antenna last weekend and I could not get any channels, others in the park were able to get a couple of channels with good reception. I did hit the button to amplify the signal. No effect either way.

After I got home I opened up the trailer and tried the antenna again. Extremely lousy reception. I tried a set of rabbit ears and one channel was decent and another was very good. I would assume the TM antenna should work better than rabbit ears.

I have not tried the external catv connection because I do not have a long enough cable.

So how do I test the antenna to find out where the problem is?

While tv is not a priority when camping, I would like to have the option available.

Mike

Yes

I did raise the antenna all the way up and rotated in from stop to stop.

Even looked at other campers antennas to see see how they were positioned.

Mike

[commodor47]

Originally Posted by SireMike

So how do I test the antenna to find out where the problem is?

Mike

Start by removing the cover plate (power button and cable connector) from the wall. Check to make sure all the connections look okay. If there is a fuse, make sure it is okay. Disconnect the coaxial cable from the back of the wall plate. Get a hold of a 20 foot coaxial TV cable (or one that will reach from the back of the wall plate to the antenna on the roof). Look at the bow tie on the antenna mast. You should see a rubber boot covering the coaxial cable connector. Remove the connector and attach the 20 foot by-pass cable. Attach you TV to the wall plate and push the power button (on the wall plate). If you now have good TV reception, the problem is somewhere between the wall plate and the bow tie (antenna). On my TM there is a pass through connector behind the refrigerator which can be accessed from the outside panels (grills). Keep working back towards the wall plate by hooking in your by-pass cable at the pass through (or any other pass throughs). I had a short in the coaxial cable somewhere between the wall plate and the bow tie. I contacted the dealer in Hyannis (Dana) and he suggested checking the pass through connector at the base of the hand crank (inside the TM). Remove the screws holding the cover plate. It will reveal a very narrow opening in the ceiling (careful, the metal is very sharp!!) Poke around inside and you should find the pass through connector. In my case the center wire of the cable (going from the hand crank up to the bow tie) was shorted out. The installer had stripped the insulation off the center wire and realizing the mistake, applied some silicone. Over time the silicone wore off (either that or silicone is a good conductor?) causing the a short in the cable. There isn't a lot of room to work and not much extra feed, but I was able to cut off the bad connector and attach a new one. Problem solved!

I hope all that wasn't too confusing. Send me a PM and I will try to send a few pictures to help with the explanation. We are getting ready for a trip to Cape Cod so it may be a few days before I can take some pictures.

Thanks for the tips on xshooting.

We went out last weekend to a local lake and I confirmed again both inside antenna connections were worthless. The rabbit ears were better.

I will get a longer cable and starting trying to figure out where the problem is.

Weekend trips without tv is not a big deal but I would like to have a working antenna for the real vacation trips.

Mike