Satellite and Keystone Cougar

[RJ_Driver]

We have a new Cougar fifth wheel and we love it! We bought a simple portable satellite system, the dish playmaker and Wally receiver, and we’re having a problem. When we set up our service, they told me to run the cable directly from the dish through the window to the receiver. Everything set up and worked perfectly. The next day I decided to run the satellite through my trailer wiring. The trailer has one hookup and it says “cable”. I ran the satellite through the “cable” hookup and I got nothing. I unplugged from the trailer and ran directly through a window to my receiver again and it worked great. I have tried a few times to run through the trailer and I get nothing. Has anyone had this issue with their trailer? I’m wondering if Keystone didn’t use good enough wiring. I’ve heard from people that sometimes manufacturers don’t use RG6 wiring that satellites need. Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

[RJ_Driver]

Thank you everyone for your help! It sounds like I need to run a dedicated coax line through the trailer, if possible. If I can’t figure out a way to run it through the trailer following the existing coax, I might try to drill a hole close to the entertainment center and mount a short piece that I can hook directly to. Thanks again everyone!!

[Bill_Satellite]

Satellite TV is NOT Cable. In most cases you will not be able to use that connection due to the way the manufacturer wires a trailer for cable (splitters, amp, etc.).
The best option, if you can a way, is to create a new input for your satellite coax connections. Many RV's are wired with a Cable input PLUS a Satellite input and this is the very best option. If the satellite receiver is in a slide-out you might consider drilling a hole through the wall to the outside where you can install a outside coax connection with a weather cover. If it's not in a slide you might be able to easily route a cable through a storage area, wall, floor, cabinet, something, to get a cable from outside to the receiver location.
As mentioned above, some trailers send the Cable signal directly to a wall plate where a small button or slide is used to turn on the power supply for the roof top OTA TV antenna and, when turned off, allows Cable TV to come through. If you are lucky and the manufacturer did not install any splitters along the way then this connection can be modified for use by both Cable and Satellite. To find out you would need to remove the wall plate and determine which coax goes to the outside cable connection (usually labeled) and remove that from the wall plate. Connect a coax extension from that wall plate to the receiver and see if it works. If it does not then you are done. If it does work then you can add an A/B switch to that coax and send one coax to the receiver and loop one back to the wall plate to allow the Cable connection to work as well when necessary.

[wa8yxm]

And you will NOT get anything using the cable in jack unless you mess up the cabling in your RV

Cable goes to the wall plate with the switch, light, 12 volt outlet and antenna connection... or to a box of many buttons. There it encounters ELECTRONICS and as a result of that power to the antenna is blocked (Power comes from the sat receiver).

YOu can.. 1: re-cable (Rewire the wall switch) but I do not recommend that

2: Run a brand new RG-6 or RG-11 (11 is better but for short runs it don't matter) from the Sat Receiver's input to a handy connection point. NOw odds are you can do this WITHOUT drilling holes.. But even if you do drill not a biggie.

Any RV store can sell you a mounted bulkhead connector.. You drill one small hole (about 1/2 inch) feed the cable out. Connect to the "Feed through" (tighten gently with a 7/16" wrench) then lather the back side of the plate with calk or adheasive sealant (GOOP?) and slap it in position. 4 screws (Through the adheasive) and it's water tight and looks factory.. In fact that's how the factory does it.

If you get the kind that has a "LID" that flips up use a P-Touch to label it SAT or you can use the labeling method of yoru choice. Job done

[Second_Chance]

Our rig has an input labeled "Cable" which goes through the antenna amplifier as Dutch says. It also has inputs labeled for each TV location in the rig (living room, bedroom, basement). To use the trailer wiring, the satellite antenna has to be connected to the direct line to the specific location. The run length for that setup, along with splices, poor coax quality, etc., still caused issues. I installed a through-hull and short length of coax at the entertainment center location to bypass all the other stuff and no more problems, now.

Rob

[Dutch_12078]

Your cable connection likely passes through a switch/power inserter for the roof top over the air antenna. From there it may also pass through a TV signal splitter before reaching the TV. Both devices can block the power from getting to your automatic dish from the receiver. There is a way to bypass the switch and run the cable connection directly to the satellite receiver, but the better solution is to run an entirely separate entry cable to the satellite receiver, leaving the cable connection as is.

[jerseyjim]

I have the "bottom dollar" setup. A dish,tripod, strength meter, compass. DirecTV SD.
I take a box from my house and put that in the RV when needed.
Everything goes thru a passive switchbox. (push the 'sat" button)
All I've ever done is use the "cable" connection of the RV. No problems.

If I am in, say, Arizona, I get all the "cable" stations minus the networks (out of my "spot beam"). For the networks, I put up my batwing, and push the "ant" button.

Just my experience and the way I do things. Now...in 2019, when DirecTV suppovily goes all HD, things might be different. I'll tackle that when the time comes.