Motorhome Roof Antenna

[ramsay]

Hi

I have owned a motorhome for 2 years its a Fiat Ducato Rollerteam 2003. The previous owner told me he could never get the roof tv antenna to work. Could someone advise me on how to check where the problem is? I have attached pictures. I have no manual or any documentation for the antenna. Do you need to be hooked up to 240v power for the antenna to receive power ? One of the pictures shows a cable coming from the roof with no connection I know this needs looked at thanks in advance.

[Derek Uzzell]

I know very little about the types of satellite TV systems used in motorhomes, but the white MAXVIEW-marked ‘box’ in the 2nd photo above is just a signal-booster - there’s a used one for sale here

 

https://tinyurl.com/xuxw87pr

[buddy]

Looking at the Maxview website it looks like the item on the roof is a , crank up mk1 satellite dish , and can be found in the product spares section but yours seems to have a few bits missing , including the wind up handle . The other item ,as has been said , seems to be a signal amplifier as used with a normal tv antenna , possibly with a stand alone item , and I do not think the two are normally used together . It looks to me that it may be best to remove these items and get a new roof antenna and amplifier or sat dish fitted that will work with the type of tv you have or intend getting.

 

 

[Alanb]

Like Derek, I am not an expert in satellite TV systems, but my reaction to the first picture was that I was looking at satellite dish. A satellite dish needs to be pointed at a satellite. This can be done mechanically, or electrically at 12V DC. An EHU mains connection is not normally required.

 

Again as Derek has said, the second picture is of signal amplifier (for a terrestial TV aerial). I suspect that the two items are not compatible.

 

The third picture shows a 12V supply to the amplifier, but no other connections.

 

Fourth picture, is this the underside of the roof mounted unit shown in the first picture. If so could the empty bushing be for a manual winding crank for raising and rotating the dish.

 

To hazard a guess, we seem to be looking at components of two different systems, and that the original terrestial aerial has been removed and replaced by the satellite dish.

 

Alan

[Ninian]

Hi, My first motorhome had this type of satellite dish and the crank up handle is mounted directly below the dish along with a surround displaying the degrees at which to point it. None of the pictures show that.

[Derek Uzzell]

As buddy has said, the sat-TV ‘dish' shown in the 1st photo is an early-ish Maxview product and I note that it was referred to here in 2009.

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Hints-and-Tips/MaxView-Satellite-Systems/15526/

 

Assuming that the dish is crank-operated, there ought to be a crank inside the motorhome directly below the dish. As described by Ninian, the crank unit should look like the image attached below

 

 

[ColinM50]

I visited Maxview in Kings Lynn (??) five years ago when I was considering a satellite dish. Very helpful people and worth a call for advice 01553 813300.

 

Would make a good couple of days away in the m/h to get them, to fix it for you

[ramsay]

Thanks everyone for there input i will have a look for the crank handle and take it from there.

In the mean time im currents using a small indoor antena but in some locations i visit the picture is very poor, could someone tell me if its possible to connect this indoor antennna to this booster box ? Do i plug the antenna into this booster then feed a arial wire from the tv to this box ? Is this possible or do these type of boosters not require a seperate antenna ? Sorry i dont know allot about arial - antennas thanks.

[Keithl]

If the signal from the small indoor antenna is weak then amplifying it is, imo, unlikely to have much effect.

 

What you need is a better quality outdoors directional aerial, something like https://www.towsure.com/a630-17-vision-plus-image-420-uhf-digital-tv-antenna

 

I use one of these mounted off the rear cycle rack and put it away in a locker when not in use.

 

To tune in the aerial I use one of these to get the best signal https://www.towsure.com/vision-plus-tv-signal-finder

 

Keith.

[Derek Uzzell]

Last year ramsay enquired here about TV aerials

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/TV-Antena/56408/

 

Ramsay’s 2003 Auto-Roller 2 has a satellite-TV dish on its roof and a Maxview signal-booster inside and (has has been advised above) the dish and the Maxview booster are for different types of system.

 

The “One for All” signal-booster is intended for ‘domestic’ use, is powered via an AC-mains plug-in adapter and an Instruction Manual can be viewed here

 

https://www.oneforall.co.uk/sites/default/files/2018-11/sv9601_manual_all_languages.pdf

 

The Maxview booster is intended for ‘mobile’ use (eg. motorhomes, caravans, trucks, boats) and its power supply is 12V/24V DC. The Maxview booster in ramsay’s motorhome is a superseded model, but the following link should be sufficient to explain how ramsay’s single-aerial-output booster should be connected up.

 

https://maxview.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/MXL008-INSTRUCTIONS.pdf

 

The “One for All” booster requires a 230V power-supply, which means that the motorhome would need to be connected to a 230V mains hook-up (or require an inverter) for that booster to function, whereas the Maxview booster could be powered directly from the motorhome’s batteries.

 

The logical thing to do would be to connect the Maxview booster to a 12V power-supply to check if it will become ‘live’. If it does, connect the indoor aerial’s cable to the booster’s input socket and the booster’s output socket to the TV and see if there’s a beneficial effect.

 

However (as Keith has warned) neither booster may be effective with the little indoor aerial currently being used.

[ramsay]

Hi there is no crank handle directly below the dish ? Also no signs of one beeing there Im now puzzled on how this was originaly operated ?

 

[buddy]

If you scroll back through the replies that have been made to your question there is a photo put on by Derek Uzzell on 3 Nov. that shows the handle etc that are missing and this is confirmed and its operation is described by Ninian on the 2 nd Nov. There is a picture of the sat. dish you have on the Maxview website in the parts section and that confirms that you have a , Crank-up Mk.1 sat dish fitted and that some of your parts are missing that means it cannot be cranked up and therefor is not possible to be used even if your tv is able to receive satellite tv.

If you do require satellite tv it would be best to replace it with the latest Maxview item that is avaiable and shown on their website , if you do not need satellite tv there are many types of ariel , both fixed or non-fixed that can be used and some are purpose built for Motorhome / Caravan use .

[Derek Uzzell]

The following link is to a manual for the ‘old type’ Maxview B2590 Omnisat 66 crank-up satellite system, and the drawings (and photos elsewhere online) make it pretty clear that this is the sat-TV dish unit that’s on the roof of ramsay’s 2003 motorhome.

 

https://www.libble.eu/maxview-crank-up-b2590-65/online-manual-758818/

 

Installing the B2590 unit will have involved drilling through the vehicle’s roof a fairly large hole (drawing below) for the spindle/tube to which the direction/cranking operating mechanism would be attached inside the motorhome.

 

Even though the latter mechanism is no longer there, within the motorhome - directly below the base of the sat-TV unit on the roof - I’d expect there to be signs that the mechanism was once present. It would be hard (though not impossible) to repair a large-diameter hole in a motorhome’s ceiling, but quite easy to camouflage a hole with a cover of some sort. In fact, I’d be interested to know what the thing is I've arrowed in red in the photo below (copied from ramsay’s original posting) and whether it is on the motorhome’s ceiling directly beneath the sat-TV dish’s base.