Vegas 24.1, COMPLETELY baffled by the Winegard system

[jannnda]

Originally Posted by TimmyB

See? This is EXACTLY my point. If what you say is true, why doesn't the manual say this??? Why does a user have to get this info from someone else? This should be as plain as day in the user's guide, but it's not! Thank you for shedding some simplicity into this for me!

I have learned more on this forum than any “user guide “. I feel your frustration and I had a lot too. What I found out is this is part of owning a MH. There are a lot of people here that are very willing to help you.

[TimmyB]

Originally Posted by jannnda

I have learned more on this forum than any “user guide “. I feel your frustration and I had a lot too. What I found out is this is part of owning a MH. There are a lot of people here that are very willing to help you.

Yeah, couldn't agree more. Thor Forums has been an unbelievable resource for us, already. I'm hoping to be able to repay the favor to others, once I actually know something!

[jannnda]

Originally Posted by TimmyB

Yeah, couldn't agree more. Thor Forums has been an unbelievable resource for us, already. I'm hoping to be able to repay the favor to others, once I actually know something!

Haha I don’t know anything. The other thing I have learned is you need to be somewhat mechanical or have a “handyman skill set “ if you have a MH. The learning curve has been a little painful for me. It has been fun. And I do find that I laugh at myself a lot. You should have been here when I did my first oil change. I had more oil on me than I did in the drain pan! Oh it was funny.

[TimmyB]

Originally Posted by jannnda

Haha I don’t know anything. The other thing I have learned is you need to be somewhat mechanical or have a “handyman skill set “ if you have a MH. The learning curve has been a little painful for me. It has been fun. And I do find that I laugh at myself a lot. You should have been here when I did my first oil change. I had more oil on me than I did in the drain pan! Oh it was funny.

That's embarrassing. I can guarantee you I will get no oil on me, as I get my credit card out of my wallet!

I'm actually not scared to tear into certain things, as long as I know I can't get in TOO deep.

[bevedfelker]

I have probably said it a thousand times, but owning a MH is an adventure in self-discovery.

You also might want to download the owners' manual I compiled from things posted on this forum and other information I researched. I contains tons of stuff you won't find in your owners' manual or hear from any sales people at the dealership. Here is the link for the manual:

https://1drv.ms/b/s!AiYx6DLSeiiPgYBSfmvPhwGsR_0TkQ

[TimmyB]

Originally Posted by bevedfelker

I have probably said it a thousand times, but owning a MH is an adventure in self-discovery.

I was a complete novice when we bought our house in '99. Never operated even a power saw before that, other than in shop class in middle school! That home ownership forced me to tear into things. Now, after that experience, I have much less fear about owning a MH than I would have had before. Plus, we know there are great resources here in case we get in over our heads!

[Bandit]

Winegard makes an optional amplifier panel that solves the problem of where to point the antenna. There is a led digital readout that has several different things it can tell you. It can ether show the general signal strength based on how you have the antenna pointed. This way you just rotate until you find the highest number.
Another option is if you have a specific channel you are looking for, you set that number on the display and rotate until you get the highest signal strength number. You can also turn on the volume and it will beep at you as you play with antenna direction so you don't have to look at the display. the beep changes frequency as the antenna points on the direction of the tower. Its 69.00 on Amazon and works good

[TimmyB]

Originally Posted by Bandit

Winegard makes an optional amplifier panel that solves the problem of where to point the antenna. There is a led digital readout that has several different things it can tell you. It can ether show the general signal strength based on how you have the antenna pointed. This way you just rotate until you find the highest number.
Another option is if you have a specific channel you are looking for, you set that number on the display and rotate until you get the highest signal strength number. You can also turn on the volume and it will beep at you as you play with antenna direction so you don't have to look at the display. the beep changes frequency as the antenna points on the direction of the tower. Its 69.00 on Amazon and works good

HA, now I understand why Winegard makes their system so poor; they want us to buy their "upgrade"! Thanks for the tip, Bandit! I'll check it out.

[Bandit]

It's not Winegards fault. Winegard makes omnidirectional antennas that don't need to be pointed any particular direction. In this case, the one installed would work fine. Thor is the one that decided to put a directional antenna in their motorhomes. They could have spent an additional 30.00 to give us something that would make our lives easier

[wrapped]

I thought this would get you.Be careful you might learn something. I was trying to help the person with his antenna problem, in my post I said you have to push knob up very hard,as I was following the thread someone posted the installation instructions. I saw how it works and wondered if the tube was to long not allowing me to push the knob up out of the notches easily. Took it apart tube was flush with the ceiling,instructions say cut off 1/2 inch from flush mark, idid,it worked. Now I can push up and spin it with one hand. Still learning.

[TimmyB]

Originally Posted by Bandit

It's not Winegards fault. Winegard makes omnidirectional antennas that don't need to be pointed any particular direction. In this case, the one installed would work fine. Thor is the one that decided to put a directional antenna in their motorhomes. They could have spent an additional 30.00 to give us something that would make our lives easier

I'm discovering that's true about quite a few things. I guess that's why I have to adjust these things; I'm in the "entry-level" class of RV's! I just put SumoSprings on mine. I couldn't believe the hockey puck material that was used for the part that I replaced! To be fair, though, that's on Ford, not Thor for this one.

[TimmyB]

Originally Posted by wrapped

I thought this would get you.Be careful you might learn something. I was trying to help the person with his antenna problem, in my post I said you have to push knob up very hard,as I was following the thread someone posted the installation instructions. I saw how it works and wondered if the tube was to long not allowing me to push the knob up out of the notches easily. Took it apart tube was flush with the ceiling,instructions say cut off 1/2 inch from flush mark, idid,it worked. Now I can push up and spin it with one hand. Still learning.

Yeah, I saw your earlier post and now that I understand how the thing works (that it really only has two positions, I understand what you were saying about the dots. Hopefully, the TV Towers app and these suggestions will allow me to at least know that I am doing it correctly! Thanks for the help.

[wrapped]

Sorry if I didn't explain it right. From the travel stop push up you can move 1/4 inch and let go it will lock, you can do 1/4 at a time all the way around to other side of travel stop, for fine tuning.

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by TimmyB

See? This is EXACTLY my point. If what you say is true, why doesn't the manual say this??? Why does a user have to get this info from someone else? This should be as plain as day in the user's guide, but it's not! Thank you for shedding some simplicity into this for me!

Each coach is ordered by a Thor MC dealer with an option list of about 45 to 200 different installations, wiring and configurations. It up to the dealer to instruct you on how things work and where they are located. Thor has dealer salesmen trainers in every region to make sure the salesmen are familiar the the coaches the dealers have ordered.. The owners manual is generic for all coaches of that type. Specific information is available from Thor Customer Service.

[capeharj]

Go back to your dealer and tell them to give you the documentation packet for your unit. It would include instructions for all installed appliances, antenna, furnace, air conditioner, hot water heater, refrigerator, fuse/circuit breaker panel, etc.

[largejoe13]

I aligned antenna to face forward with rig. Then made a cpl small marks on knob so I now have a reference point which direction antenna is facing. Once rig is set-up then use app to find towers and point antenna that direction before doing channel scan. Tweak antenna a s needed after scan.

[jannnda]

Originally Posted by largejoe13

I aligned antenna to face forward with rig. Then made a cpl small marks on knob so I now have a reference point which direction antenna is facing. Once rig is set-up then use app to find towers and point antenna that direction before doing channel scan. Tweak antenna a s needed after scan.

That’s exactly how I do it. Works great!!

[CEustice]

TimmyB: Wait, you said there's nothing connected to your coax connector ?? that's where your antenna/cable connection goes! If there's nothing there, you're not going to get anything. ever. sounds like someone forgot to put in an important piece of cable. BTW, having gone thru the Camping World debacle myself, I'd be looking for somewhere else to get service.

[TimmyB]

Originally Posted by CEustice

TimmyB: Wait, you said there's nothing connected to your coax connector ?? that's where your antenna/cable connection goes! If there's nothing there, you're not going to get anything. ever. sounds like someone forgot to put in an important piece of cable. BTW, having gone thru the Camping World debacle myself, I'd be looking for somewhere else to get service.

Well, if you look at post #12 above, you'll see there is nothing but an empty female coax connector on the switchplate. I am indeed able to get channels, though. We did our first three-day trip last week and we had about 10 channels to choose from, although there was quite a bit of tiling no matter where we put the antenna. I'm not 100% convinced that this thing is working correctly but when I take it to the dealer this summer for some required fixes, I'll have them show me in more detail how to use this thing.

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by TimmyB

Well, if you look at post #12 above, you'll see there is nothing but an empty female coax connector on the switchplate. I am indeed able to get channels, though. We did our first three-day trip last week and we had about 10 channels to choose from, although there was quite a bit of tiling no matter where we put the antenna. I'm not 100% convinced that this thing is working correctly but when I take it to the dealer this summer for some required fixes, I'll have them show me in more detail how to use this thing.

Post #12 shows a normal switch plate with a male coax connector for your DVD player. As stated before you must have the antenna power switch ON to use the terrestrial antenna on the roof of the coach. It should be OFF for cable connections and for DVD operation. If you are going to use an external satellite antenna(dish), you must remove the switch plate and fish the coax out of the cavity until you find the splitter. The splitter Thor installs must be replaced with a splitter that will pass DC current for the LNB on the antenna. My coach came with a King Jack antenna. It works well if the stations antenna is within 20 miles. The only time I use it is we are parked at home. On the road I use DirecTV or the mobley if we are in the trees.