I've read through alot of the posts about TV antenna reception and haven't been able to find anything about the issues we're having. On our first weekend with a new to us Bighorn 3670 we tried to hook the TV up to the batwing antenna to get a few channels to pick up the morning news. I found that when the TV is connected to the connector marked "cable" the signal booster won't work( indicator light goes out). If I disconnect the TV the light on the booster lights up again. Obviously we couldn't pick up anything on a channel scan. I'm assuming something is shorting out somewhere but hoping someone might have some simpler idea than trying to find a short somewhere since I don't even have a clue how its wired. Has anyone had this problem before? Thank You.
Another New Owner With Antenna Woes
- Thread starter Sherkad25
- Start date
RoadJunkie
Well-known member
The booster amplifier only works with the Over-The-Air antenna, the "bat wing". If you connect to a cable signal you will need to turn off the amplifier. I'm not sure why you're moving the signal cable from "cable" to your TV.
Thank you for replying. I'm not actually connected to a cable signal as there is no cable service available in the park. There are two coaxial connections in the living room. One is marked "satellite" and the other is marked "cable". I tried connecting to both of them but had no success getting channels with either of them. When I connect to the connector marked "satellite" the signal booster works, but I don't believe the satellite connection is hooked to the antenna. When I connect to the one marked "cable" the signal boost light goes out. I don't have a wiring diagram to see which plug actually routes to the antenna.
Dahillbilly
Well-known member
use the tools tab above; electronics;Coax layouts hopefully you will find sonething that works & make sure your tv is on antenna good luck
centerline
Well-known member
the antenna wires in my bighorn was messed up as well..... I purchased used, so its impossible to tell how it happened, and it doesnt matter anyway.... what matters is how to fix it.
my problem was someone had switched the satellite connections with the cable connections, and it messed with the booster in a way that there was never a usable signal to the tv...
once I found the issue, it was an easy fix, but finding out the problem was impossible without 2 people and LOTS of time.... so I bought a coax tester.
to look for a faulted coax, you can unhook all the cables at the tvs, switches, booster and antenna, and then you can ohm out the center conductor of all the wires against the retaining nut to check for any cable faults.... no reading means GOOD... if you get a reading, that cable is either faulty, or may still be connected.
this can be done to check for a faulty wire, with patience, but a better option is to buy a tester for the purpose.
for about $30 at a hardware or big box store, you can get a coax tester, which some models come with different colored test plugs that plug in to the ends of the disconnected coax connectors..... with corresponding colored lights on the receiver.
with the different colored test plugs being plugged in to various ends, when you touch the other end of the coax with the receiver unit, it will light up with the color of the transmitter.... so you can find out where each wire runs from/to by testing and marking the ends that have matching colors.
if it doesnt work on one coax, but does on another, the coax that wont light up is faulty....
my problem was someone had switched the satellite connections with the cable connections, and it messed with the booster in a way that there was never a usable signal to the tv...
once I found the issue, it was an easy fix, but finding out the problem was impossible without 2 people and LOTS of time.... so I bought a coax tester.
to look for a faulted coax, you can unhook all the cables at the tvs, switches, booster and antenna, and then you can ohm out the center conductor of all the wires against the retaining nut to check for any cable faults.... no reading means GOOD... if you get a reading, that cable is either faulty, or may still be connected.
this can be done to check for a faulty wire, with patience, but a better option is to buy a tester for the purpose.
for about $30 at a hardware or big box store, you can get a coax tester, which some models come with different colored test plugs that plug in to the ends of the disconnected coax connectors..... with corresponding colored lights on the receiver.
with the different colored test plugs being plugged in to various ends, when you touch the other end of the coax with the receiver unit, it will light up with the color of the transmitter.... so you can find out where each wire runs from/to by testing and marking the ends that have matching colors.
if it doesnt work on one coax, but does on another, the coax that wont light up is faulty....
Last edited:
centerline
Well-known member
it would be helpful to owners if the manufactures would use different colored coax for the satillite wires vs the cable wires, as this would help minimize confusion/mistakes made in the factory, and would help us know what coax goes where, for what purpose...
