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Last changes 2/11/2007 |
Some RV parks offer cable TV for a fee or as a benefit.
RV park cable TV is not always what you receive in a city.
Sometimes RV park cable TV is more like a community antenna system,
giving you the broadcast channels in the area.
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To simplify wiring, the typical installation for an RV has a traditional batwing
antenna that is amplified.
A batwing antenna does a decent job when we are near a major city. |
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The front of the antenna plate has a coax jack that attaches the antenna coax from the TV. There is a power plug
jack (cigarette lighter like) that can be used to power a DC TV.
There is also a power button to turn the antenna amplifier on and off. There is a LED lamp to indicate that the power is on. |
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The amplifier is built into the antenna and the power supply for it is mounted
on the back of the antenna plate.
There are three coax connections on the back of the antenna plate. One is from
the batwing antenna. The second is from the cable input plate (see below).
The third coax connection goes to the TV distribution network (all the other TV jacks). |
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Usually there is a single or double plate similar to this on the outside of the RV. It could be located inside a utility
compartment.
One coax connection is for park cable connection. This is for RV parks that offer cable TV.
That input is cabled to the cable input on the antenna plate. |
If the power is on for the antenna plate, then the antenna amplifier
is energized and the antenna signal is put out on the front coax
plug and to the TV distribution network, If the power is off,
the signal from the cable jack it put out on the front coax plus
and the distribution network. |
Digital TV |
If you rely on the bat-wing antenna, you should consider getting a digital
TV (DT) now. Note - digital TV does not mean HDTV (High Definition TV).
HDTV uses DT for reception but has a higher resolution display.
DT means the method that the signal is received. The reason for a DT now is
less snow. There is no snowy middle ground with DT. With DT, if you
either get an extremely clear picture, or no picture at all.
Because of the digital encoding, DT can receive usable signals father than the
old analog method. Many TV stations have already converted to DT transmission
in preparation for the February 2009 end of analog transmission.
When we bought a TV for Tige, we wanted to stay in the 27" size TV
because we did not want to change the TV cabinetry. We bought a Samsung tube
HDTV. At the time, we did not think about the digital tuner function because
we were going to use satellite TV. But we had the occasion where we could
not get satellite reception and had to crank up the bat-wing antenna. We ran
the cable scan and were surprised when we found more channels than we expected.
For example, we found a snowy channel 6( old analog), a clear channel 6-DT, and a
weather channel on channel 6-DT1.
We were in Fort Wilderness at Disney World which has a lot of trees. We
were able to find a hole for the Internet satellite dish but no luck with the
TV dish. Fort Wilderness has cable TV to about half the site but ours was
not one of them. We cranked up the bat-wing and the Samsung was receiving
clear channels. The bedroom TV is a smaller older unit and not digital.
All the channels it found on the channel scan were snowy.
We would like to replace the bedroom TV with a digital model. Unfortunately
the TV manufacturers are dragging their feet on the FCC order that all
TVs must be manufactured with digital tuners by March 1, 2007.
All TVs 25" and larger are supposed to be manufactured with a digital
tuner since March 2006 and yet you can still buy a TV in that size
that is not a DT. (Note -this has changed)
When the analog cut-off comes in February 2009, you will need a digital
converter box (ala the UHF boxes of the '50s) to receive TV with an antenna.
Cable and satellite TV connected TVs should be okay until those
providers find it is cheaper to deliver the signals in digital format
from their boxes to the TV. |
Cable |
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You should carry a 25' piece of coax cable for RV park cable. That is
usually enough. We also carry a 50' piece just in case the cable outlet
is farther away. Usually the park cable jack is mounted on the electrical
power post. |
