Antenna Booster Shot?

[The_Breeze]

I have a 2017 Thor with the king jack low-profile antenna. One night, I lost all channels, and troubleshot the wall plate first. The old wall plate antenna input female connection was corroded with rust as was the antenna coax. I tired to clean things up to no avail. I ordered and installed a new king jack plate with antenna, cable, an second TV jack. No noteworthy improvement.

I pick up 3 more channels running the connection through a splitter than running it through the new wall plate with the amplifier turned on. The screen freezes when the amplifier is turned off.

If I decide to tear into the existing antenna to test the 12v DC that's supposed to feed the antenna booster - I have to dismantle the assembly to access the coax for a voltage test. At that point, I might as well replace/upgrade the antenna while I'm at it.

I'd like to avoid replacing the antenna if someone knows how to better troubleshoot the problem without getting into a replacement or get recommendations for what to replace it with.

While the problem seems to point to the existing antenna booster, I want to make sure I've covered my other bases.

Thanks in advance for any suggestion/help you can provide.

[16ACE27]

Unfortunately, I think you're on the right track. You can verify the power injector is actually injecting power to the coax going to the antenna, but to verify it's making it to the antenna requires removal of the antenna. I agree you probably have a bad amplifier in the antenna, Wires/cables don't usually go bad out of nowhere.

[The_Breeze]

Thanks for your reply ACE. You've confirmed my worst fear (lol)

I am puzzled by the better reception bypassing the wall plate and using a splitter but stranger things have happened.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

[Dan-sr@perra-us.net]

Originally Posted by The_Breeze

I have a 2017 Thor with the king jack low-profile antenna. One night, I lost all channels, and troubleshot the wall plate first. The old wall plate antenna input female connection was corroded with rust as was the antenna coax. I tired to clean things up to no avail. I ordered and installed a new king jack plate with antenna, cable, an second TV jack. No noteworthy improvement.

I pick up 3 more channels running the connection through a splitter than running it through the new wall plate with the amplifier turned on. The screen freezes when the amplifier is turned off.

If I decide to tear into the existing antenna to test the 12v DC that's supposed to feed the antenna booster - I have to dismantle the assembly to access the coax for a voltage test. At that point, I might as well replace/upgrade the antenna while I'm at it.

I'd like to avoid replacing the antenna if someone knows how to better troubleshoot the problem without getting into a replacement or get recommendations for what to replace it with.

While the problem seems to point to the existing antenna booster, I want to make sure I've covered my other bases.

Thanks in advance for any suggestion/help you can provide.

I had a similar problem with the OE Wineguard Razor antenna on my 2018 ACE. The Razor is a directional antenna similar to your King Jack. There was no corrosion on the Power supply connections, I was able to isolate the the problem down to the antenna itself by substituting an inexpensive set top antenna. My RV happened to have an F connector in the line from the antenna to the power supply. I suspect that the movement from aiming the antenna might have damaged something inside the antenna. Rather than mess with trying to fix whatever was broken I chose to just install a new King Omni Pro omni directional antenna. I got all the OTA channels back and I do not have to worry about a similar problem happening again assuming the problem was movement related. While I could have had the problem "fixed" I reasoned that I would likely have spent nearly as much having the old one fixed as I spent buying and having the new one installed.

Another note, the power injector was not replaced. the OE power injector is powering the new antenna. In case the power injector ever goes bad I now have a brand new spare.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by The_Breeze

Thanks for your reply ACE. You've confirmed my worst fear (lol)

I am puzzled by the better reception bypassing the wall plate and using a splitter but stranger things have happened.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

The wall plate (DC power injector) introduces a signal attenuation that the splitter does not. So the non-amplified signal was just too weak for the TV to see.

[The_Breeze]

Originally Posted by Dan-sr@perra-us.net

I chose to just install a new King Omni Pro omni directional antenna. I got all the OTA channels back and I do not have to worry about a similar problem happening again assuming the problem was movement related.

Thank you for the detailed explanation. It brought to mind one thing I didn't mention in my OP. As I attempted to 'direct' the antenna to pick up a signal, I noticed the antenna would meet a resistance point and no move any further (e.g. binding). It was a soft bind, as if I hit the end of the line. The thought occurred to me that I may have twisted the coax to a point where I broke something.

Thanks again for you feedback. I look into the King Omni Pro. If I have to tear it apart anyway, I might as well cover that base and learn from my mistake.

Originally Posted by 16ACE27

The wall plate (DC power injector) introduces a signal attenuation that the splitter does not. So the non-amplified signal was just too weak for the TV to see.

Thanks Ted.

Ed