Vista - Satellite Hookup

[DJRVLuvBugs]

I have a 2015 Winnebago Vista 31BE and I lost on how to hookup my Carryout with Directv! I connected the coax from the Carryout to the input in the Service Bay. Now where do I get the feed inside the motorhome to connect to the Directv Receiver Box? Then how do I feed the output to the TVs?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[grtharris]

DJRVLuvBugs, I'm assuming you have a 31KE. The drawings for your coach only shows a cable TV connection in the wet bay and that coax goes to the back of the OTA antenna power switch. If that is actually what you have you cannot use that cable unless you disconnect it from the power switch then connect it to the satellite receiver.

[powercat_ras]

If there is a external sat dish coax connector in the basement wet bay, then it goes to an overhead cabinet some where in the coach where there will be a plate with similar connectors one will say "external sat dish" and another will say "roof sat dish" or something like that. You should be able to connect the Sat Rcvr to that jack with a short cable.

In my Vista 27N the cabinet that the plate with the connectors is located is in the overhead cabinet above the driver's seat. Winnebago also provided a HDMI cable from there to the main TV so that you can connect the Sat Rcvr HDMI out to the main TV.

[grtharris]

DJRVLuvBugs, this is from the 2015 Vista brochure, which confirms what I was seeing in the wiring diagrams.
A satellite can be hooked but looks like it is not plug and play.
The drawings did show a composite video cable in the overhead cabinet going to the TV.
Satellite system ready (NA 26HE, 31KE)

[DJRVLuvBugs]

I have the 2015 31BE (BE). The TV is on the Slide Side and there and there is no coax plug on either side of the TV. There is a coax plug over the driver seat with a TV on/off button built into coax plate, but no HDMI port near it.

If I remove the TV and tap off the coax, I would need to figure out how to feed the outside TV, but feeding the bedroom TV looks hopeless.

Where are you guys getting the coax wiring diagrams?

Thanks

[powercat_ras]

You can go to winnebagoind.com/diagram/wiring.htm web site and get wiring diagrams for your specific make and model coach. Look at your TV/DVD wiring diagram.

> bedroom TV looks hopeless

If there is a plate with coax connector directly below it that says Sat. Rcvr. Conn. then it can be done but it's not trivial.

The coax from there runs to under the roof where there is a sticker that says where to drill a 1 1/2 inch hole to access roof top sat dish cables. That cable and the other roof sat cable can be found under that hole. Drill the hole to access the cables, connect them together with a coupler, cover the hole with a plate and seal good, and your bedroom sat jack is now connected to the front roof sat jack. Add a A-B switch and another short coax cable and you could switch the external sat in to either a sat. receiver in that front cabinet or the cable that goes to the rear jack and have the sat. receiver in either place.

[aauummm]

Originally Posted by DJRVLuvBugs

I have the 2015 31BE (BE). The TV is on the Slide Side and there and there is no coax plug on either side of the TV. There is a coax plug over the driver seat with a TV on/off button built into coax plate, but no HDMI port near it.

If I remove the TV and tap off the coax, I would need to figure out how to feed the outside TV, but feeding the bedroom TV looks hopeless.

Where are you guys getting the coax wiring diagrams?

Thanks

Your TV is in the same location as mine. Here is what it looks like with the TV removed. Mine is hooked up by component cable that comes down behind the TV from the valance above it. Yours may have an HDMI cable instead of the component.

I'll take a look at your wiring diagram. On mine the bedroom TV comes off of a splitter that is behind the upper front cabinets above the dash. I don't have an outside TV though.

[aauummm]

Originally Posted by DJRVLuvBugs

I have the 2015 31BE (BE). The TV is on the Slide Side and there and there is no coax plug on either side of the TV. There is a coax plug over the driver seat with a TV on/off button built into coax plate, but no HDMI port near it.

If I remove the TV and tap off the coax, I would need to figure out how to feed the outside TV, but feeding the bedroom TV looks hopeless.

Where are you guys getting the coax wiring diagrams?

Thanks

I could only find the Vista 31BE as a 2016 model and those wiring diagrams aren't posted yet on the Winnebago website. All of your wiring from the plate in the upper cabinet to the TV's is already in place. All you have to do is figure out where to connect your satellite receiver to.

Wiring Diagrams

I have a plate in the upper front cabinets that has a coax outlet plug and is labeled "from portable satellite dish". That is where I have my sat receiver hooked in to.

[aauummm]

Originally Posted by DJRVLuvBugs

I have the 2015 31BE (BE). The TV is on the Slide Side and there and there is no coax plug on either side of the TV. There is a coax plug over the driver seat with a TV on/off button built into coax plate, but no HDMI port near it.

If I remove the TV and tap off the coax, I would need to figure out how to feed the outside TV, but feeding the bedroom TV looks hopeless.

Where are you guys getting the coax wiring diagrams?

Thanks

Here is a wiring diagram for a 2015 Vista 30T. The 30T has the TV in the slide. The diagram is very similar to mine except the 30T is using HDMI cable from the sat receiver to the TV instead of the component cable like mine.

This is only a guess as to how your wiring looks as Winnebago will do similar things for similar models through some amount of years and then all of a sudden they will change it for one model only, etc.

[grtharris]

aauummm, Thanks I can see now!!!. But like you said not drawing yet.

[aauummm]

Originally Posted by grtharris

aauummm, Thanks I can see now!!!. But like you said not drawing yet.

Yep, we're kind of trying to put two and two together to come up with something that might help the guy figure out his wiring. Without the 2016 wiring diagrams we just have to take a look at what Winnebago has done in the past on similar models and project that into what we think Winnebago has done on his model!

Hopefully we hear back from him and he has good news!

[aauummm]

Originally Posted by DJRVLuvBugs

I have the 2015 31BE (BE). The TV is on the Slide Side and there and there is no coax plug on either side of the TV. There is a coax plug over the driver seat with a TV on/off button built into coax plate, but no HDMI port near it.

If I remove the TV and tap off the coax, I would need to figure out how to feed the outside TV, but feeding the bedroom TV looks hopeless.

Where are you guys getting the coax wiring diagrams?

Thanks

I've taken the above diagram for the 2015 Vista 30T and added some notes on how to connect up the satellite receiver. There are three things that need to be hooked up to the sat receiver. First is a coax from the wall plate that says "from portable satellite dish" to the sat receiver "in" connection.

Next find the HDMI cable that is coiled up in the upper cabinet and hook it to the sat receiver. Next find the component cable (multi colored ends, probably only use four of them) that is coiled up in the upper cabinet and hook it to the sat receiver. The component cable is already hooked to the exterior TV.

Make sure that the over-the-air antenna power is off, if you have that (you may not).

grtharris-do you see any problems with the connection diagram?

[powercat_ras]

That diagram is how my 2015 Vista 27N with outside TV was done: in compartment above driver's seat:

- 120 volt outlet fed thru the 1000 Watt inverter, if you have the inverter option
- HDMI cable to main living room TV
- Component cable (5 ended cable R G B video + L R audio) to outside TV,
if you have that option
- Back wall of compartment has a plate with 2 coax connectors,
1 for outside Sat that is run to the wet bay plate Ext. Sat. coax connector,
1 for roof Sat that is stored under the fiberglass roof,
under a "drill here for satellite cables" sticker.

- The other part of the satellite pre-wire is the plate that says Sat. TV conn. in the bedroom with a coax that also runs to under the "drill here for satellite cables" sticker.

I know all this as I removed all the panels in the compartments in front of my Vista to install a roof top dish and run cables for solar and air horns. There is also the splitter coming off the plate with the TV antenna amplifier power switch up there, so if you wanted to output your Sat Receiver to a RF modulator and feed the bedroom TV coax with an A-B switch that would be possible, the TV can still accept analog TV signals that the modulator would put out as well as digital.

[DJRVLuvBugs]

Originally Posted by aauummm

I could only find the Vista 31BE as a 2016 model and those wiring diagrams aren't posted yet on the Winnebago website.....

Wiring Diagrams

I have a plate in the upper front cabinets that has a coax outlet plug and is labeled "from portable satellite dish". That is where I have my sat receiver hooked in to.

You are absolutely correct, my RV is a 2016, but built in August of 2015. I still don't quite understand how it is a 2016 model!

There is a plate in the upper cabinet over the Passenger seat. It is labeled TV with a push button that appears to turn it on and off. If I connect my DirecTV box there, then I have to run a cable around the cockpit area to reach the TV on the other side of the coach.

I'll have to wait for the wiring diagrams to see what it is connected to.

[DJRVLuvBugs]

Originally Posted by powercat_ras

If there is a plate with coax connector directly below it that says Sat. Rcvr. Conn. then it can be done but it's not trivial.

The coax from there runs to under the roof where there is a sticker that says where to drill a 1 1/2 inch hole to access roof top sat dish cables. That cable and the other roof sat cable can be found under that hole. Drill the hole to access the cables, connect them together with a coupler, cover the hole with a plate and seal good, and your bedroom sat jack is now connected to the front roof sat jack. Add a A-B switch and another short coax cable and you could switch the external sat in to either a sat. receiver in that front cabinet or the cable that goes to the rear jack and have the sat. receiver in either place.

powercat_ras, I cannot find a plate labeled Sat. Rcvr. Conn. anywhere in the coach. And I did not see a sticker on the roof that says "drill a 1 1/2 inch hole to access roof top sat dish cables."

Thanks

[powercat_ras]

Originally Posted by DJRVLuvBugs

You are absolutely correct, my RV is a 2016, but built in August of 2015. I still don't quite understand how it is a 2016 model!

There is a plate in the upper cabinet over the Passenger seat. It is labeled TV with a push button that appears to turn it on and off. If I connect my DirecTV box there, then I have to run a cable around the cockpit area to reach the TV on the other side of the coach.

I'll have to wait for the wiring diagrams to see what it is connected to.

No. That connector is an OUTPUT of TV signal and does not help you at all for a Sat. install. Even if your Sat. Receiver has a RF "channel 3" type output you can't connect it to the coax connector on front of that plate.

That plate serves three purposes related to watching TV or RV Park Cable ...
1: the button switches back and forth between using the Cable TV input in the basement wet bay and the and the roof top antenna to feed all the TVs.
2: when the button is in TV mode and the LED is lit is feeds 12 volt power to the roof top antenna that has a DC powered signal amplifier.
3: You could feed coax to a third TV with the RF connector on it.

[grtharris]

DJRVLuvBugs, Look around in the area above the passenger seat in the same area as the OTE power switch for a cable with Yellow, Reed and White connectors? Secondly how meany coax connectors on the plate in the wet bay?
Also you can not connect the satellite receiver to the connector on the front of the OTE power switch.

[grtharris]

aauummm, looking at the 3D parts catalog for the 2016 BE it looks like there is only one coax connector in the wet bay more like a KE.

[DJRVLuvBugs]

Originally Posted by grtharris

DJRVLuvBugs, Look around in the area above the passenger seat in the same area as the OTE power switch for a cable with Yellow, Reed and White connectors? Secondly how meany coax connectors on the plate in the wet bay?
Also you can not connect the satellite receiver to the connector on the front of the OTE power switch.

Girth arris, no yellow, red, white component cables up there. There is only one coax connector on the plate in the basement, but not in the wet bay.

[grtharris]

DJRVLuvBugs, a couple of more questions. Are there any other cables behind the TV besides the antenna coax? What are the last 5 digits of yours coach's Winnebago's serial number?