Tv When Wild Camping ?? (1 Viewer)

RS SPIKE

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Just checking out new MH today to see how everything works (first time motorhomers).
We plan on doing lots of wild camping but would like to use the TV.
It had tv,freeview,and dvd in it when we brought it,but they are all 240v,what would be the best way to power them when wild camping ?
I only have room for one 85 amp leisure battery and i'm having a 100w solar panel fitted next week.
Buy 12v TV or inverter ??
 

GJH

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The inverter route will, I think, take more power so it depends how much TV you are going to watch because that will determine how much power you will use for each of the two options.

We no longer bother to take a TV with us as we watch very little these days anyway so a 85Ah battery with 80W panel gives us plenty of power and would easily cope with a couple of hours a day using a 12v set.
 
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Vlad The Impaler

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Buy a cheap 300 w inverter we got one from Lidl for £30 ,it will also come in handy for the odd thing you haven't got a 12 v charger for .
Your solar panel will put more in than a few hrs of tv will take out




Vlad

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Apr 18, 2009
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Not long enough!
I find in the places I wildcamp I'm lucky if I can get a signal, it don't bother me but it winds the misses up a treat:giggler:

So if you are serious about your telly then a dish is the only way to go and plenty of low power 12v tellys about(y)
 
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gibbon

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I think I'd be tempted to look for a 12v TV - possibly cheaper than fitting a decent inverter!

That's what I would do(y)
Inverters can be expensive, & a great way to drain your battery very quickly.
Our 12/24 v telly with free view + DVD player was about £120, it's an Akura.

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Jul 5, 2013
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Yep 12V TV would be my recommendation too. Much more efficient. Modern TVs use low voltage DC anyway, so all you will be doing is changing 12V DC to 240V AC then back to 12V (ish) DC again, with energy losses all the way.

BTW with the right modern TV your get freeview and DVD built in
 
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TheBig1

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the best way I've found is use a laptop with a usb tv tuner, connected to an aerial. that way if theres no or poor signal, you can watch DVDs or downloaded videos. charge it up whilst driving using a 12v power supply. plus you can also use it for accessing the internet and FUN in particular
 
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Wildman

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I have an old 240v TV and 240V sat decoder,240V DVD player and use a 150W inverter (about £30) to power them maxload is 4 amps/hour modern TVs could easily use half of that. With only one 85amp/hr battery you will struggle as you only have a total of approx 43 amp/hrs to use. used for TV alone would give you 10 hours and be flat. but don't forget other things run off the LB as well including lights and waterpump, maybe electric step etc.
We have a pair of 110 amp/hr batteries and 160W solar panels for nothing but the TV, that gives us at least 6hrs a night in summer.

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scotjimland

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Also bought a Finlux 19" 12v TV .. cracking set and a great price, £125 .. power used is 20watt , so less than 2A
with free next day delivery, direct from Finlux

Note * It is HD ready, but the inbuilt Freview tuner is only SD , but it is very good.. see picture.

I now use it with a Maxview HD FreeSat Tuner

http://finlux.co.uk/all-tvs/19-inch-12v-travel-tv-dvd-combi-19hbe180b-ncm/invt/19hbe180b-ncm

DSCF1288.JPG
 
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GeebeeJaybee

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We just bought a 22inch 12V Cello TV with built in freeview, DVD and the ability to use a USB stick which means you can put tv programmes / films on the stick to watch if no signal (easier to re-write over than DVD's). It was £165 but very pleased with picture / sound.

Jen
 
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DanielFord

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12v TV every time, when we bought our MH it too had a 240v TV/DVD unit in it, sadly it was very old, and did not rely on a transformer, so it got moved into our bedroom at home, and we purchased a Cello 12v telly, very happy with it, and it uses next to no power.
It is worth noting that many LCD TV's are actually 12v, and have an external 240v-12v transformer, if you have this, you only need to purchase the 12 power lead and you are good to go. Also if the input on your TV is 12v via a transformer, then running an inverter to get 12v to 240v, and then the transformer to bring that back down to 12v is massively inefficient.
 
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Babyell

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Hi I am a complete novice having bought our first MH two days ago... This is going to be the first of many stupid questions..... Do the 12v TV's come with a 3 pin plug so we can simply plug into MH socket or does it have a round car charger? thanks in advance
 
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Jul 5, 2013
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Hi I am a complete novice having bought our first MH two days ago... This is going to be the first of many stupid questions..... Do the 12v TV's come with a 3 pin plug so we can simply plug into MH socket or does it have a round car charger? thanks in advance
Both usually. The 12V car charger one plugs straight into the TV and the 240V one has a transformer which then plugs into the same place on the TV.
 
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Apr 8, 2015
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I seem to be the odd one out, I carry a Honda suitcase generator and just connect the MH to it at the mains inlet.
Very expensive but trouble free and can also be used to charge a flat battery if you ever get one

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Jan 8, 2013
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I wouldn't be without an inverter, they are not expensive. It allows you to buy cheaper/bigger TV's and there always seem to be other reasons for a 240V supply on board (charging the lap top is just one) The inverter sap's about 1 amp over and above the load when its switched on.
I have a switch between it and the battery's and only switch it on while we watch TV.
I have installed a 13A socket by the TV from the inverter only.
 
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Oct 26, 2014
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I seem to be the odd one out, I carry a Honda suitcase generator and just connect the MH to it at the mains inlet.
Very expensive but trouble free and can also be used to charge a flat battery if you ever get one
Ok if your on your own, but I wouldn't want one near me whilst away camping.

Andy

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A 12 volt telly with built-in Freeview and DVD would seem to be an easier answer and less likely to drain your battery - I would have thought adding an inverter can't help the efficiency of the whole setup, stepping up from 12v to 240v only presumably for the telly to step it back down again.

We have a Oyster satellite system, Sky box and 12v TV - all fitted by a previous owner and rather wasted on us, as we prefer not to have the telly on when on holiday. However, for emergency use - "it's raining, the kids are bored and will drive us insane unless we occupy them somehow NOW" - it's handy. We did find with a single (and possibly tired) 80 a/h battery it would drain it fairly quickly, now we've got 2 new 100ah batteries it's fine.
 
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Babyell

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ScotJimland, does the finlux tv have regular holes for a wall bracket or does it need a specific bracket?
 
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