84TOYRV Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Just was wondering if anyone has a small digital TV that can work off the house battery, without running it down real fast. It would sure be nice to find a system that would be solar compatible. I wanna be a snowbird next winter. Minn is a drag in winter. Thanx, guys. Tudy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wickerman Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Just was wondering if anyone has a small digital TV that can work off the house battery, without running it down real fast. It would sure be nice to find a system that would be solar compatible. I wanna be a snowbird next winter. Minn is a drag in winter. Thanx, guys. Tudy I have been looking to add one too.There are a few good site that sell 12v TVs. Some also have a built in DVD player. http://www.12volt-travel.com/12-volt-televisions-c-684.html http://www.truckers-store.com/12volt-tv/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84TOYRV Posted January 21, 2010 Author Share Posted January 21, 2010 Thanx so much for the great info. Now to decide which one. I already have a Haier 19in digital TV with DVD that has served me well, when hooked up to shoreline power. Looks like the smaller ones have their own rechargable batterypack. Hmm.... Decisions..... Happy trails to all. >^..^< Tudy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Most of the newer 26" or smaller LCD TV's are only 35/60 watts so they should run just fine on a small 150 watt inverter. One with a built in DVD will probably use twice as much. I'm not much of a TV watcher so I use my laptop and a monitor to watch movies monitors are getting cheaper every day usually half the price of a TV. A lot of guys are using TV tuners in their laptops hooked up to an antenna out side. Maybe that would be an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futar Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Any one ever convert their crank up TV antenna to hold a satellite dish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McShank Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 futar, I have been thinking of replacing the crank up with a dish. My wife got interested and found a VuCube online for $500. It weighs about 13 lbs and is portable so you can place it in the open when you might be camping under tree cover. Model 1000 used a remote control to lock onto the satellite so now I won't have to mess with my dish on a tripod. I tried it out last weekend and it took about 3 minutes to get a feed the first time; I moved it to another spot and got reception in about 30 seconds. I might fabricate my own mount for it on the roof or off the ladder as their ladder mounts look great but are $175. Seamus McShank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted April 9, 2010 Share Posted April 9, 2010 This looks pretty neat fits old mounts. http://www.rvupgradestore.com/detail_22-1489__112.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulfstream Greg Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 Just was wondering if anyone has a small digital TV that can work off the house battery, without running it down real fast. It would sure be nice to find a system that would be solar compatible. I wanna be a snowbird next winter. Minn is a drag in winter. Thanx, guys. Tudy We use a small PC, a notebook, Acer 1810TZ (11.5 inch screen) with a 12 volt dc to laptop adapter, a double layer dvd burner player that needs no external power and a Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 850 usb tuner. The netbook can run 8 hours easily on a charge so you can imagine the energy consumption is on the coach battery. The TV tuner will recieve the digital channel over the air via our rooftop wingaurd antenna. Amazing clarity! The other option with the usb tuner and connected to your home base cable is the ability to record TV shows prior to departure and watch them later. You may not be able to get a station in the boonies and if you do how many channels? So pre recording is a wonderful thing. The Acer 1810tz does not have a built in DVD so an external one is needed. I found that it flawlessly played DVD's, recorded tv shows and over the air digital. Remember analog tv is no more so for over the air you have to have a digital tuner. I know, your seeing several dollar signs flash by. But it does everything in one small compact easy to stow package. We found that the 11.5 inch screen is plenty big enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 Hey Greg did you have any luck with the antenna that comes with the dongal? I need some thing for my laptop my MH antenna is out it's the railing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulfstream Greg Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 Hey Greg did you have any luck with the antenna that comes with the dongal? I need some thing for my laptop my MH antenna is out it's the railing. I have not even tried it. Our new MH came equipped with a winguard and the winguard amplifier. Our last trip was the first opportunity to use the winguard. I have not even checked the connections at the antenna. The antenna that came with the dongle is a single element (not sure how long it extends) not even rabbit ears. So my guess is if the transmitter is nearby it might work. The railing antenna will work better. The railing is basic in design, just a couple of connections that usually get corroded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 I have not even tried it. Our new MH came equipped with a winguard and the winguard amplifier. Our last trip was the first opportunity to use the winguard. I have not even checked the connections at the antenna. The antenna that came with the dongle is a single element (not sure how long it extends) not even rabbit ears. So my guess is if the transmitter is nearby it might work. The railing antenna will work better. The railing is basic in design, just a couple of connections that usually get corroded. I was doing some other stuff on the roof and redid all the connections and used a new 300/75 ohm balan and I tried it once before they went to digital found it better then sticking my hand out the window. Well I just swept the antenna from 100 to 520mhz it was the strangest trace I have ever seen. It want from an swr of 9.5 to 1.7 and back again all with in a few mhz across the whole band. My Bird only goes to 520mhz and it is pretty good up to that point not real sure what happens above 520 but I'm sure it have to beat a stick antenna. Even if it does not work I don't really care too much about TV DVD's work fine for me just might be nice to watch the morning news. Thanks I might buy the dongal any way they are cheap enough to experiment with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulfstream Greg Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 I was doing some other stuff on the roof and redid all the connections and used a new 300/75 ohm balan and I tried it once before they went to digital found it better then sticking my hand out the window. Well I just swept the antenna from 100 to 520mhz it was the strangest trace I have ever seen. It want from an swr of 9.5 to 1.7 and back again all with in a few mhz across the whole band. My Bird only goes to 520mhz and it is pretty good up to that point not real sure what happens above 520 but I'm sure it have to beat a stick antenna. Even if it does not work I don't really care too much about TV DVD's work fine for me just might be nice to watch the morning news. Thanks I might buy the dongal any way they are cheap enough to experiment with. I wonder if those antennas are directional and if so in which direction. I had to pull mine off the roof because it was in the way of the Ham antenna platform I put up. Also many of the screws mounting it had been ripped loose. I also wonder what effect an all metal roof, or metal framed, or a fiberglass and wood framed roof has on it. One conclusion I have come to with the wingaurd is the need to know the direction to point it when out on the fringes of a station. My first and only test was basically blind as I had no idea the location of the stations that came up in the list nor which direction I was actually pointing the antenna. With the digital it seemed the signal locked or it did not lock and it was tricky to find that sweet spot. There were many stations that came up on the list but I could not lock onto. So out of about 12 I was able to view 5, only one was in English! The wingaurd has a preamplifier but I do not know what db amplification it is. Guess I better do some research and throw a compass in the rig. It would be advantages to know the transmitters antenna locations. Just because a station advertises its in joeblow it might be transmitting from samblow 20 miles to the east. Not a big deal when near but in the boonies it could help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 You can try this:- http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d772153a3962214 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 I wonder if those antennas are directional and if so in which direction. I had to pull mine off the roof because it was in the way of the Ham antenna platform I put up. Also many of the screws mounting it had been ripped loose. I also wonder what effect an all metal roof, or metal framed, or a fiberglass and wood framed roof has on it. One conclusion I have come to with the wingaurd is the need to know the direction to point it when out on the fringes of a station. My first and only test was basically blind as I had no idea the location of the stations that came up in the list nor which direction I was actually pointing the antenna. With the digital it seemed the signal locked or it did not lock and it was tricky to find that sweet spot. There were many stations that came up on the list but I could not lock onto. So out of about 12 I was able to view 5, only one was in English! The wingaurd has a preamplifier but I do not know what db amplification it is. Guess I better do some research and throw a compass in the rig. It would be advantages to know the transmitters antenna locations. Just because a station advertises its in joeblow it might be transmitting from samblow 20 miles to the east. Not a big deal when near but in the boonies it could help. I ended up with the AVer dongal it is quite nice the software is a little funky and it came with rabbit ears all of about 4" long and the test results are in. The silly railing works better then the rabbit ears but it's no prize. I must say the received picture quality is excellent with my outside antenna hopefully the railing will be good enough for the evening news. I know what you mean with the locations I emailed our local PBS station and asked them exactly where their transmitter was and got back a response explaining how I might need an outside antenna dah. It might have been nice to know where I should point it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 You'll find WCBB at 73*(true) or 89*(magnetic). Your 45 miles from the tower (44°9′15″N 70°0′34.7″W). At least that's what TVFool and Google tell me. Or did you mean WMEA? 8 9magnetic 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 You'll find WCBB at 73*(true) or 89*(magnetic). Your 45 miles from the tower (44°9′15″N 70°0′34.7″W). At least that's what TVFool and Google tell me. Or did you mean WMEA? Oh I found out where it was but the people at the station had no clue where their transmitter was it's in Poland, (Poland Maine that is). Did not matter any way I can't get it where I am too many mountains in the way. 8 9magnetic 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wickerman Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Just wanted to let everyone know of another option if you have a laptop and wifi. I get Netflix for $8.99 a month which gets me 1 dvd out at a time by mail, but also gives me full unlimited access to their streaming content. While this does not include the newest releases it does have thousands of movies in all categories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Just wanted to let everyone know of another option if you have a laptop and wifi. I get Netflix for $8.99 a month which gets me 1 dvd out at a time by mail, but also gives me full unlimited access to their streaming content. While this does not include the newest releases it does have thousands of movies in all categories. Have you found wireless to be fast enough for streaming video? Or do you just down load them first? I do the Net Flix thing and take them with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futar Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 I just ditched my satellite service. I realized I was paying $1,000 a year to watch six channels. I now use the internet to watch what I want on demand. try www.clicker.com The ones I can't get for free can be purchased unless I'm willing to wait. I also watch streaming Netflix. I have DSL at both my places and take the laptop in my MH. If there's no WIFI, I watch a DVD on it. Verizon will be coming out with real wireless 4G service later this year. It will have 9MB download speed. I may ditch my DSL for it and then I can use wireless in a lot of places. There's a lot more to watch on the net than satellite, cable or regular over the air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toycoach Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 I like my TV so is there any signal boosters that will work and help reception on my 1986 Coachman roof mounted. Have not been very successful picking up many channels in any location that I have camped. t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulfstream Greg Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 I like my TV so is there any signal boosters that will work and help reception on my 1986 Coachman roof mounted. Have not been very successful picking up many channels in any location that I have camped. t The Wingard antennas have an amplifier as part of the package. The new ones are optimized for digital TV signals. I think you can also buy a new head that is optimized to replace the older analog heads.Camping world has them foe $120 for the new complete package. http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/winegard-sensar-iv-dtv-hdtv-antenna/50011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Anyone ever tried one of these 'digital-antenna-signal-finders'? Seems they'd be pretty useful in an RV where your location can change from day to day. Less so at home. http://www.adventure...er-p-23208.html Or this and a compass. http://www.fcc.gov/m...gineering/maps/ Do any of you electronics wizards know what the details would be for this:- "May as well use a multi-meter with a diode across the probes on the low voltage scale to do the same thing as this Digital TV Signal Finder." http://www.vetrun.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10265 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Anyone ever tried one of these 'digital-antenna-signal-finders'? Seems they'd be pretty useful in an RV where your location can change from day to day. Less so at home. http://www.adventure...er-p-23208.html Or this and a compass. http://www.fcc.gov/m...gineering/maps/ Do any of you electronics wizards know what the details would be for this:- "May as well use a multi-meter with a diode across the probes on the low voltage scale to do the same thing as this Digital TV Signal Finder." http://www.vetrun.co...ead.php?t=10265 As far as the signal finder you would be just as well off with a TV and turning the antenna. Most of that stuff is very broad banded and will pick up most any thing remotely close to the TV freq.case in point a decent service monitor runs around 12 grand. A diode in near field rf will rectify the rf freq and give you a dc reading so what he is saying is it's not a real good buy. I tried the gov. thing and it was pretty close at my location except for one they said had no signal but works fine for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 It would be faster than indexing the antenna and than sitting through a scan each time though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Most of the stuff will let you input a channel number but you would have to know what a local channel is then turn the antenna until you pick it up. You maybe able to find some thing if you hook the signal finder up to your antenna but it all so maybe some ones cordless phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86rader Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 we've used our laptop to watch movies while boondocking. works well, however pluging our laptop's AC cord into a 400 watt inverter just to make DC seems horribly inefficient. Is it possible to run the house 12vdc straight into the laptop or is it not a high enough voltage? i see that the powercord's built in converter rates the output at something more around 13-14 volts which should be close enough. i'll bet you could run a netbook off the house battery for, well, just about ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 we've used our laptop to watch movies while boondocking. works well, however pluging our laptop's AC cord into a 400 watt inverter just to make DC seems horribly inefficient. Is it possible to run the house 12vdc straight into the laptop or is it not a high enough voltage? i see that the powercord's built in converter rates the output at something more around 13-14 volts which should be close enough. i'll bet you could run a netbook off the house battery for, well, just about ever! Laptops are funny some require as much as 19 volts some 14 but you are right it would run for days on a good battery. The power cords are funky too so that is some thing to be careful about if you are trying to make some thing. They make a small inverter just for laptops there is even one that is round just for a cup holders I think they are in the 90-100 watt range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatspin Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 So i'm looking at this Vizio TV and the power consumption peaks at 35W and the input into the back is 12V (it uses an external power adapter). Is there any reason to avoid making up my own direct to 12V connection and avoiding the energy loss from an inverter? And if I did create a direct 12V line, should I fuse it separately? -andrew Most of the newer 26" or smaller LCD TV's are only 35/60 watts so they should run just fine on a small 150 watt inverter. One with a built in DVD will probably use twice as much. I'm not much of a TV watcher so I use my laptop and a monitor to watch movies monitors are getting cheaper every day usually half the price of a TV. A lot of guys are using TV tuners in their laptops hooked up to an antenna out side. Maybe that would be an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 I wired my Coby TV directly to 12 V. No problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulfstream Greg Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 So i'm looking at this Vizio TV and the power consumption peaks at 35W and the input into the back is 12V (it uses an external power adapter). Is there any reason to avoid making up my own direct to 12V connection and avoiding the energy loss from an inverter? And if I did create a direct 12V line, should I fuse it separately? -andrew A fuse is always a good idea. I think Radio Shack sells a cigarette lighter plug that has a fuse built into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAXXFabrication Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 a 32 inch LED will draw right at 29 watts. I know this is an old post but it seems it keeps getting replys and since someone will look up how much wattage a TV will use, now you know. for a 32 @ least Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big808 Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 i went to an rv show this past weekend and alot of rv were using the jack antenna.anyone using?? http://www.kingcontr...ket_antenna.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 This is the one I installed: Winegard RS2000 Seems to do a good job, don't need to crank it up or forget to crank it down. JOhn Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 ... don't need to crank it up or forget to crank it down. Nice advantages. A shame it has to be mounted up on it's 'tripod' and not flat on the roof. I'm guessing (only) that an aluminum roof would mess up reception. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 Hang a "remove before flight" ribbon from the crank or attach one to the ignition key. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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