TracVision C3 help

[Mikwallace]

Source of the post If you havent already located it. The over the air antenna that was oem on the 405 is located stbd side storage and fwd on the bridge in front of the bench seat behind the stbd sliding access door on the front wall

I found it today! There’s a red light on the bottom of it. Does the red light indicate it’s power boosted?? And what powers the red light on the bottom of the antenna? When I scan the channels the tv doesn’t pick up any over the air stations but I’m still under a metal roof and I’m probably too far away from any tv stations to receive them. We plan on going out Saturday for a night on the hook, so I might go south and then channel scan to see if it works.

This must be it:

1DEF54F0-688C-4313-86C9-8EAD4066FC52.jpeg

[km1125]

Source of the post
... There’s a red light on the bottom of it. Does the red light indicate it’s power boosted?? ...

Yes.

Source of the post
And what powers the red light on the bottom of the antenna?

Probably this thing:

maxview.jpeg

To verify, just unplug it and see if the light on the antenna goes off too.

Source of the postWhen I scan the channels the tv doesn’t pick up any over the air stations but I’m still under a metal roof and I’m probably too far away from any tv stations to receive them.

What kind of TVs are you scanning?? If they're OEM TVs, they may not be capable of picking up the off-air digital signals.

[bud37]

I had one of those......find the power supply for it, for those usually a small black box.....on our model it was behind a cupboard secret panel above the fridge. The one we had seemed to work but never any good at all.....finally gave up after cleaning connections, testing circuit boards, cables etc and got a new antennae unit with new power supply . What a difference, lots of channels and clear.
My guess is they have a life like everything seems to, once past that no amount of intervention is fruitful. Good luck, you may be partially right about the shed roof over your slip though.

One question....do you have an A/B switch to control antenna signals in your entertainment centre ?

[g36]

Make sure the coax is still attache to it also. Yes the red light means the antenna booster is on.On my 405 the oem power booster was behind the TV in the salon. I also have a A/B selector that was mounted in the bottom left cubby below the tv. If there you may need to scan on both selections. So the black box shown isn't original but good chance it may be powering the antenna. I also can get nothing when boat is at the dock under the metal roof. I have sat dishes mounted at the dock when tied up and the sat dome while at anchor.

[Midnightsun]

Never really had much luck with those TV antennas/boosters, a few snowy channels at best. That being said I went Satellite several years back and now I have elected to go Starlink RV internet and streaming.

Many have spent thousands on wifi boosters in search of internet at anchor or even while underway. Cell phone works OK however you will bust the bank rather quickly if you stream anything like Netflix. Last year I elected to go with a Starlink RV which honestly is the best way to go IMHO as you get unlimited internet and can be technically anywhere and still get a signal as long as you have a clear view of the sky. Not cheap in Canada as it cost me $200 a month with taxes and all however I have it connected for 5 months at best due to our boating season. Can be cancelled and restored as one pleases through the app an no cost. My satellite TV service was around $90 a month and was a pain to activate and turn off plus there was a $50 activation fee. Most everything has gone internet access so Starlink is a great additions all in one package. Really enjoyed it last summer and looking forward to using it this summer. May even uninstall my Intellian TV setup on the arch as it no longer gets used.

[Mikwallace]

Source of the post

Source of the post
... There’s a red light on the bottom of it. Does the red light indicate it’s power boosted?? ...

Yes.

Source of the post
And what powers the red light on the bottom of the antenna?

Probably this thing:

maxview.jpeg

To verify, just unplug it and see if the light on the antenna goes off too.

Source of the postWhen I scan the channels the tv doesn’t pick up any over the air stations but I’m still under a metal roof and I’m probably too far away from any tv stations to receive them.

What kind of TVs are you scanning?? If they're OEM TVs, they may not be capable of picking up the off-air digital signals.

You are correct! The white box with the red light is a booster and it does power the antenna. When I unplug the white box, the pilot light on the antenna extinguishes. I pulled the boat out of the slip today and anchored in the open. No TV stations over the air, but again , I might’ve too far from the transmitters. The Salon TV is a new Vizio, so there’s no issues with over-the-air scanning, just need to be in service area. Plus I figured out all the A/B switches, too.

Tried the KVH C3 satellite dish and it receives and locks on to the satellites. Problem is it’s DirecTV SD only. At least I know the system works.

Still weighing my options. I’ll probably leave as-is for this first full boating season and see how the cell/ROKU and Dish Anywhere works.

Thanks for all the input!!

[km1125]

Roughly, how many miles are you to a larger city with local broadcast stations?

You can try a couple things.

1) bring some type of portable antenna to the boat, like a pair of "rabbit ears" that someone might have lying around. Hook them directly to the tv and put them as high on the boat as you can get (might need an extension coax to do this). Point them in a couple different directions and scan the TV and see if it picks up anything.

2) Does one of the coax connections on the Maxview box go directly to the TV? If not, put a coax jumper on there from the Maxview "out" to the TV RF input and do a scan on the TV.

[Mikwallace]

Source of the post Roughly, how many miles are you to a larger city with local broadcast stations?

You can try a couple things.

1) bring some type of portable antenna to the boat, like a pair of "rabbit ears" that someone might have lying around. Hook them directly to the tv and put them as high on the boat as you can get (might need an extension coax to do this). Point them in a couple different directions and scan the TV and see if it picks up anything.

2) Does one of the coax connections on the Maxview box go directly to the TV? If not, put a coax jumper on there from the Maxview "out" to the TV RF input and do a scan on the TV.

That’s an idea, thanks. I’m probably 35 miles. Also found the two cables that connected to the MaxView had bad ends; they came off as they were poorly made. Next trip to boat I’ll replace the connectors and see if that helps.