Coax Cable Diagram ( '19 315RLTS )

[howson]

I just did 1st time shakedown of my RV (337RLS) last weekend and the HD antenna was hardly working in the middle of Ocala FL. I have a DISH tailgater also so I didn't really think much about it. Now I think I have a bad coax line or loose connection somewhere in the system. I only have one TV so this should simplify my search. I also had a common shower leak but found a fix in here earlier...

Very likely you'll find loose coax connections. Unfortunately.

[sthomasTS]

I just did 1st time shakedown of my RV (337RLS) last weekend and the HD antenna was hardly working in the middle of Ocala FL. I have a DISH tailgater also so I didn't really think much about it. Now I think I have a bad coax line or loose connection somewhere in the system. I only have one TV so this should simplify my search. I also had a common shower leak but found a fix in here earlier...

[Dentil]

Howard
Thank you for this post. We have a 2019 Reflection 337 and have been unhappy with over the air TV reception. I thought there might be bad connections somewhere or even a defective antenna. Long story shorter, I decided to install a new antenna yesterday and when I did the channel scan I only got 8 channels with the booster on. This isn't right. I went to Home Depot and got their Coaxial cable tester. The cable from the antenna to the booster was "open." I didn't know where to begin so I searched this forum for cable diagrams and found this post. I see the note that your antenna was connected to the pass through so I decided to check mine. BINGO! Direct from the antenna to the port labeled pass through behind the Natilus. I searched around and found the cable to the booster (with my handy little tester) and connected the two and the TV channels filled my camper. New scan was 62 crystal clear channels! I don't know how I would have resolved this if I hadn't come upon this post! Thank you so much.
Dennis

[howson]

I now know why the antenna performance was so poor for the entire time I've owned my camper. The antenna output was connected to the passthru outlet. They were connected like this behind the Nautilus panel! No signal was transmitted from the antenna to the booster.

The picture below shows what I found. I had zip tied this assembly to the ceiling to keep it out of my way, but this was the way it was connected from the factory. I did not disconnect these wires during the Nautilus rebuild.

So what was the booster amplifying? Whatever the wiring in the camper (acting as an antenna) happened to pick up. Not knowing any difference I "assumed" what I experienced from OTA TV in the camper was normal. What a surprise when I ran a scan this evening and about 30 channels came in crystal clear on the living room TV--and rock steady even with the rough weather in the area!

It is hard for me (as a former electronics technician) to fault the assembly personnel. There's four white coax cables that all converge in the same spot behind the Nautilus panel. (2nd TV line from booster, curbside passthru, antenna, and antenna to booster.) Super easy to mix them up--and they did. GD should use different colors or label them. (I did the latter.)

So glad I took the time to do this audit and trace all the wires.



Howard

[howson]

7 Jun: Updated to v4 (added additional detail)
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One of the projects on the "To Do" list with the coroplast down was to sort out the coax cables and ensure all the connectors were correct, tight, and to draw a diagram of how the trailer was wired (GD does not have one for the 315RLTS).

Here's what I did.
1) Turn off the booster and disconnected all the cables from it.

2) Cut a spare coax cable in half, shorting the center and shield together so there was a "loop" created. Connect this test cable to the outlets in the trailer while connecting the other half of the cut cable (with a multimeter attached to the bare shield and center conductor). The multimeter was in "diode" mode so it BEEPED when there was continuity.

3) Crawled the entire length of the trailer looking for connections and/or splitters.

The cable coax was easy to identify--it was orange.

The sat and TV coax was a nightmare, as they are all a white/beige color except for one black that goes to the bedroom SAT connection. (Why?)

Note that different GD model lines use different colors for SAT and TV. (Trust me, it's confusing.) If you have a 315RLTS it might even be different from mine!