2015 Vista TV connections

abqnm · 10-08-2020, 01:19 PM

HI,

Recently bought a 2015 Vista, love it.
It has 3 TV's and I'm trying to figure out the connections and only getting so far and would appreciate some advice.

Main dining area TV:
either the rooftop sat or our portable sat (left over from previous rig) work
fine. OTA reception is fine but.... the amp switch (wall plate with little green light) needs to be on as i would suppose, but I also have a King directional antenna with control in ceiling and this doesn't seem to make a difference on or off. Also, the bnc connector on the amp wall plate?? what can be connected to that and for what purpose.

Bedroom TV:
can get OTA signal but that's it, no sat. Also am confused by the two wall plates behind the TV. One is component jacks marked TV input, the other is identified as "from roof sat dish", which seems pretty clear but the TV has component inputs and a BNC input already. ?? Don't want to dismount TV and make unnecessary connections.

Outside TV:
again can get OTA but no satellite. If TV setting is on auto input sensing, it identifies either TV or HDMI 2.

Previous owner returned his satellite receiver to DTV, I put our Dish receiver in its place. Am wondering if I'm missing some other piece of hardware, a multiplexing box of some type???

If I was to attach to the exterior cable input where would that signal show up?

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Also, what the heck is this???

Thanks in advance for any and all help..............

**creativepart** · 10-08-2020, 04:43 PM

Those are IR repeaters for use of an IR Remote rather than a RF (radio) remote to activate your hdmi switcher and SAT receiver, etc.

I'm not sure what device they put in a 2015 Vista - in our 2017 Adventurer we have a Pace HDMI 4x4 Matrix in the entertainment cabinet. It connects all the TVs through Ethernet cables to small Ethernet to HDMI Network Balin boxes at each TV. Those IR repeaters are part of the system.

Here's the thing - this system is a bit foreign to most non-techy users. It's not uncommon for people to have totally replaced or removed the system. I know I've kept mine in operation even though I know I could simplify things greatly to get rid of it. But any next owner would be totally lost if I chucked it.

**creativepart** · 10-08-2020, 05:01 PM

Oh, as for Antenna TV - yes, you push that little button on the cable plate. That connection sticking out there is an standard Coax cable connection, not a BNC. You probably don't need it. It's a separate cable/SAT connection in case you need it.

So, when you turn on the little button with the green light - that does what you think, it switches from Cable TV attached in a basement compartment to OTA TV. The King Antenna should light up with a bright blue light when that button is pushed, if it doesn't feel around the outside edges for a small slider switch to turn on the amplifier there. Then use the knob to aim the King antenna watching the blue signal strength lights to determine the strongest signal. There is also a squelch knob to attenuate the amp if all the signals are too strong.

Here's a video from King Jack that shows how this works - but it should also be covered in your Operator's Manual. The video (featuring the late Gary Bunzer) shows how to install one of these which I think the link I post will skip that part.

https://youtu.be/4JRl5MFzT-8?t=368

**creativepart** · 10-08-2020, 05:11 PM

Brice, here's a link to your Operator's Manual. I had to guess on which model Vista you have, since you have not mentioned the model.

https://winnebagoind.com/resources/m...15/15Vista.pdf

Entertainment is Section 8. The King antenna is detailed there.

Here is a screenshot of that page:

powercat_ras · 10-08-2020, 09:35 PM

I have a 2015 Vista LX. The switch on the ceiling plate only turns on and off the signal meter that is to help you turn the antenna to maximize the signal. It only maximizes the strongest station so sometimes you'll find that the direction with the most lights will not be the best direction for the particular stations you want to watch. You can get a phone app that will show the stations around you and what direction they are coming from. You can switch the signal meter switch off once you have aimed the antenna by maximizing the lights on it without degrading the TV signal. The button on the wall plate turns on 12 volts to both the antenna's internal amplifer and the signal meter.

With 3 TVs the signal coming off the back of the plate with the button is split 3 ways and this degrades the signal. There is a different panel you can get the Winegard RFL-42 Sensar Pro Signal Strength meter. It has an additional amplifier built in that can compensate for the triple splitter. It also lets you maximize signal for specific TV stations.

abqnm · 10-10-2020, 10:52 AM

Thanks for the responses. I understand now that the antenna direction/signal strength indicator works with the OTA amp, should have realized that. Same with the BNC/co-ax distinction.

Still wondering why my satellite signal does not show up at the bedroom and outside?
In the cabinet where the satellite rcvr sits I have a cable containing 6 component jacks, 2 reds, 1 each blue, white, yellow and green. I need to do some googling on component in's and outs. Rcvr also has HDMI output. Will gladly take any help. Some of this is probably just trial and error.

Bedroom: the co-ax connection apparently from the OTA amp? I need to try a DVD and see what I get.

outside tv: would I expect the satellite to show up on HDMI or co-ax or component inputs?

Will do some more testing and may end up with more questions. Not that much of a TV watcher so we'll see. Imagine if I went to a dealer and said fix it I'd take a big hit in the wallet.

Hey Randy, RCJH...

2015 Vista, wfe27n 10e38t285752

**creativepart** · 10-10-2020, 11:04 AM

I think to get the SAT at the bedroom and or outside TVs you may need to run a Coax from your SAT receiver to the "Cable TV" aux input on the Cable/OTA plate.

If your SAT receiver doesn't have a Coax output you can get Component to Coax converters or even HDMI to Coax converters. However, you'll find that the video will be very low resolution. If you use this route set the TV to Cable input.

They make HDMI wireless devices to send a HDMI signal to your Bedroom TV's HDMI input. There are cheap ones, but the more expensive one's work better.

Trial and error is the name of the game.

It's possible (likely) that your SAT connection for the front of the RV is sending a raw signal to your bedroom and you need to put a separate receiver in the bedroom to use that signal. Be aware that this will only really work well if you have a full-size SAT dish with at least two LNBs (or two separate SAT dishes). If you have a small dome auto dish you'll not get good results with multiple connections.

I saw your Entertainment section in your Operator's Manual and I'm not at all sure how that is setup to work with your other TVs. Section 8 in your Operator's Manual does cover the operation of the system.

I suggest you look for other 2015 Vista owners in a campground and have a discussion with them about how they hook up their TVs. A dealer "might" know but I'd seriously doubt that they would know anything about the system.

powercat_ras · 10-11-2020, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abqnm

Thanks for the responses. I understand now that the antenna direction/signal strength indicator works with the OTA amp, should have realized that. Same with the BNC/co-ax distinction.

Still wondering why my satellite signal does not show up at the bedroom and outside?
In the cabinet where the satellite rcvr sits I have a cable containing 6 component jacks, 2 reds, 1 each blue, white, yellow and green. I need to do some googling on component in's and outs. Rcvr also has HDMI output. Will gladly take any help. Some of this is probably just trial and error.

Bedroom: the co-ax connection apparently from the OTA amp? I need to try a DVD and see what I get.

outside tv: would I expect the satellite to show up on HDMI or co-ax or component inputs?

Will do some more testing and may end up with more questions. Not that much of a TV watcher so we'll see. Imagine if I went to a dealer and said fix it I'd take a big hit in the wallet.

Hey Randy, RCJH...

2015 Vista, wfe27n 10e38t285752

This information is for the 2015 Vista 27N. I have one so this is fact based.

> Outside TV ...

The big video cable is connected to the back of the outside TV. You use the big R G B cables for component or the big Y cable for composite, it's either - or. The small R and B cables are for right and left audio. I have the end that is in the cabinet above the driver's seat connected to the Component Video + Left Right Audio outputs on my Dish Hopper 3 DVR. The Hopper 3 happens to output both HDMI and Component at the same time, and uses a RF remote control that when outside by the outside TV is still in range of the Hopper 3, so this works for me. You have the same program going to the main and outside TVs with this setup.

You set the outside TV to Component for this.

The radio/DVD player mounted below the outside TV has a Winnebago OEM installed Composite Video + Audio to HDMI converter, you watch/isten to it by selecting the HDMI input the converter is plugged into. The radio/DVD player only outputs a low quality DVD video signal (480i) so it's not true HD video quality.

> Main TV ...

The HDMI cable in the cabinet above the driver's seat is connected to the main room TV. I have the end that is in the cabinet above the driver's seat connected to an 2 in to 1 out HDMI switch, 1 input connected to a Sony BluRay DVD and 1 input connected to the Dish Hopper DVR HDMI output.

There is a Composite Video + Audio coming from the radio/DVD in the dash. If you don't mind a terrible picture quality (480i) on the large HDMI TV it works. Why I put the HDMI output Blu-Ray DVD player in, too.

> Bedroom TV ...

It gets a coax feed from the 3 way splitter coming from the TV plate with the green OTA button like the other TVs.

Nothing connected to the HDMI, Component, or Composite inputs on the back of the bedroom TV. No way to watch the main Sat receiver there, Winnebago did not pre-run a cable for that.

Option #1:
You can get an active Component Video 1 to 2 signal splitter and feed the component running to the outside TV to the bedroom TV as well. Audio you just split with "Y" cables. I do this. Don't try using one of the cheap passive component 1 to 2 spltters, it won't work due to the cable length from the front of the RV. With this option you have the same program from the Dish Hopper 3 on all TVs.

Option #2:
There is a Coax jack labeled SAT below the TV. That Coax runs to just below the point on the roof labeled "drill hole here for Sat install". So you can have a 2nd Sat receiver box in the bedroom, using that cable.

I installed my Dish HD cabling so that this coax jack is fed from the client output on the Dish Sat TV signal distribution box called the Hybrid Solo Hub. I have a Dish Joey 2 connected to it next to the bedroom TV and it feeds the bedroom TV with a HDMI cable. With this option you can watch different sat TV on the bedroom TV including being able to access the saved programs on the Hopper DVR.

abqnm · 10-12-2020, 10:03 AM

thanks for that info, powercat, exactly what I was hoping to get.

Ted P · 10-14-2020, 12:21 PM

I have 2014 Vista with Dish network with hopper and Traveler on i get satellite on living room and outside, bedroom is regular OTA.
Was told hopper will only give 2 units if i wanted bedroom would have to get another hopper.

rhodesaz · 10-14-2020, 06:32 PM

Here's a website to find the location of OTA channels. Once I have this information, I use a compass app on my phone to "dial-in" the antenna.
https://www.antennaweb.org/
All you need is the zip code of the campground or your location.

powercat_ras · 10-14-2020, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted P

I have 2014 Vista with Dish network with hopper and Traveler on i get satellite on living room and outside, bedroom is regular OTA.
Was told hopper will only give 2 units if i wanted bedroom would have to get another hopper.

You were told wrong. The bedroom would be a client such as a Dish Joey 2 not another Hopper. Each Joey 2 adds $ 7 per month to your bill.

You have to put a Hybrid Solo Hub (203952) with the HOST port connected directly to the Hopper 3 and the ODU port facing the DPH42 switch or the coax going directly to the DPH LNBF depending on your Traveler setup.

There are 2 additional ports on the Hybrid Solo Hub that can have coax runs to Joey 2.0 clients. I found new Dish Joey 2s for sale on Ebay for a reasonable price, that's the way to go for a client in a RV assuming you can make the coax run from the Joey 2 to the Hub client port happen which I realize can be a pain.