Digital Cable TV Question, Solitude

[KirbyRVA]

We've previously had not issue having our Direct TV, OTA, or cable at either TV. We have relocated our coach to a permanent site in Ocean Lakes in Myrtle Beach, SC. In this particular section, we have to use a box for the cable (Spectrum). With the box we are supposed to get 100 HD channels (the service is free in the leased site section). The cable guy was nearby and I asked him to identify their cable so I could get things working (I have the boxes). He showed me their cable but said it was not going to work in our coach unless we 're-wire' it. He said most of the RV's are wired such that their (Spectrum's) digital cable signal won't work over the same cables as the existing OTA/Cable signal wiring. I told him I can switch off the amplifier for the OTA antenna (which I know does scramble a cable signal) but he said it still won't work.

Curious of anyone else has a similar setup in a permanent or full time site.

[JCR GD]

Spectrum went all Digital at my home last year and all that is different is I need the box. All cable is the same from 20 years ago. Works fine.

(remember the "booster" is usually also a switch. Turn it off to use cable)

Edit: It may be the low quality (sometimes abundant) splitters and/or the Booster/switch may be the digital feed through problem, not the cable itself.

[KirbyRVA]

I made sure the OTA booster was off but the Spectrum box would never download the data. There are also, IMO, too many splitters and I suspect they were the cheapest GD could get. No worry. Our annual lease includes only their basic channels which is the locals and a bunch of channels we never watch. If we want the better channel selection, we have to pay an additional price. With our Direct TV and the OTA for any locals we want to watch, we aren't going to mess with setting up the cable.

[Hokensalem]

have you tried hooking the cable into your sat hook up. They are usually a straight shot into coach.

[KirbyRVA]

have you tried hooking the cable into your sat hook up. They are usually a straight shot into coach.

No plans to do that. I already use the SAT connections for my Direct TV dish so not going to mess with that.

[boyscout]

have you tried hooking the cable into your sat hook up. They are usually a straight shot into coach.

Wish you'd said that two years ago! Our Winegard Carryout G2+ sends power and control signals through the cable in addition to the video signals, and the manual is stern about avoiding splitters, etc., so I've used other "creative" means to get an uninterrupted cable from antenna outside to control box inside.

Since at the TV inside only one cable appears, how does the satellite signal get to it without following at least some of the same path (via splitters) as the over-the-air antenna does?

Thx.

[traveldawg]

Kirby,
This issue is that the Spectrum Digital signal (or any cable providers digital signal) can't get back and forth through the cheap OTA/Cable switch (the one with the tiny button to switch between antenna and cable.

For any reliable signal you will have to bypass that box. It's easy tho with these RVs! Just bring the digital cable in on the sat input to you main TV and then put your cable box on that connector inside and run the HDMI cable from the digital box to you TV. Problem solved!

I do this type of work at my home resort and come across it all the time. We're lucky we have separate inputs in the wet bay for cable and sat so it allows this easy work-around.

One more point of clarification.... the digital signals now have to both receive data from the cable company servers and then 'talk-back' to those servers (it really an internet device as well as tuner, not just a tuner anymore). Hence the complications. Chances are your box will get part way through set-up and then stall with an error. That error likely means something like 'failed to communicated to host'.

I hope this helps.

[KirbyRVA]

Traveldawg, thanks for the helpful info. As I noted in one of my responses, we have Direct TV so I am using the sat cable connections for that. The channel line up for the basic Spectrum is so lousy we just aren't going to fool with it.