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Satellite antenna coax (don't be too hasty to place blame)

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  • Satellite antenna coax (don't be too hasty to place blame)

    Before I get to the most recent events, I need to lay down a little background on why my thought processes and trouble-shooting algorithms took the avenues they did.

    Our 2016 Reflection 337 had multiple issues with the satellite coax and connections between the utility bay and the entertainment center. After numerous attempts to find the issue, I finally installed a coax through-hull in the underside of the slide under the entertainment center with a short run of quad-shield coax directly to the satellite receiver location. This worked perfectly for four years - unless there were trees between the antenna and the satellites, of course.

    When we took delivery of our new Solitude the end of February, I was relieved to find that the coax and connections between the utility bay and the entertainment center were good and the system worked well (not so with the bedroom where the TV does not get a signal from the antenna amplifier). Fast forward a couple of months in the long-term site where we were hunkered down for the pandemic as the trees around us started to sprout their spring leaves and fill out. The satellite system started loosing the satellites every few days. I would move the antenna to the side a few feet and blame the problem on a tall tree that was "kind of" in line with the eastern arc satellites... first blame mistake.

    When this started happening more often and when, finally, the antenna would not respond to the receiver, I measured the control voltage at the utility bay and found there was none. So, where does my mind go? Of course, right back to cheap coax and connectors from the factory. My first experiment was to check the control voltage on the pigtail attached to the back of the receiver... it was OK. I plugged that back into the wall plate in the entertainment center and went outside and cut the coax between the chassis and where it enters the bottom of the slide. I got control voltage on the side coming from the receiver. Logical conclusion: a bad run or connection between the utility bay and the bottom of the slide. I installed a compression connector and splice fitting on that piece of coax, connect the coax to the antenna, re-scanned for the satellites, and everything worked OK... for a while. Then the system started acting up just like before (losing the satellites, antenna not responding to the receiver, no control voltage at the antenna). This time, when I disconnected the coax pigtail from the wall plate in the entertainment center and checked it, there was no control voltage. WHAAAT? (If you've listened to Trevor Noah read his book, "Born A Crime," imagine him saying the, "WHAAAT?")

    So, I pulled the Wally out of the cabinet. I was starting to suspect the female coax connector on the back of the Wally. When I took the Wally apart, I found - as I had feared - that the coax connector was modular and surface-mounted to the receiver motherboard - meaning not user-replaceable without a part from the manufacturer. My VOM and a safety pin confirmed that there was continuity between the signal and ground sides of the female coax connector to the motherboard. However, close inspection with a headlamp and magnifying glass revealed that the two little tabs inside the female connector that make contact with the center conductor of the coax cable had lost their spring rebound and were not making good, solid contact with the coax. Wiggling the pigtail and putting different lateral forces on it would make or break the connection and make the control voltage come and go.

    Final solution: since sending a Wally in for repair would cost about as much as a new one - and we'd be without TV for heaven knows how long - I just ordered a new Wally. It's already waiting for us at our daughter's for our arrival on the 6th. In the meantime, I held my mouth just right and put some lateral force on the coax pigtail in the cabinet so there will be a connection at the back of the Wally.

    Moral(s) of the story: 1) don't jump to conclusions based on prior experiences, and 2) don't be too hasty to place blame (sorry Mr./Ms. Tree; sorry Grand Design assembly line workers).

    Rob
    Rob & Laura
    U.S. Army Retired (Rob)
    2012 F350 DRW CC Lariat PS 6.7, PullRite OE 18K
    2020 Solitude 310GK-R, MORryde IS and disc brakes, solar, BB LiFePO4, DP windows
    (Previously in a 2016 Reflection 337RLS)
    Full time since 08/2015

  • #2
    Rob, I fixed a TV with a very similar issue. I got a quick connect male to female coax quick connector and put it on the female connector on the back of the TV. Then, from the inside, I was able to solder the male pin to the defective female socket. I could then use the female side of the adapter to connect my antenna. You could use a short piece of coax instead of the adapter. Your geometry may not allow it, but worth a look.

    John
    John & Kathy
    2014 Reflection 303RLS
    2014 F250 SC SB 6.2

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