Motorhome TV Advice Wanted

[Freestyle]

I am wanting to buy a TV for my van but am having difficulty finding a 15 to 17 inch flat screen with DVD and Freeview. I would be very glad of some advice. I was told that if I bought one form Currys which had a 12v transformer that it would work off he battery but :Blush: no go!
Thanks in advance
Freestyle

 

[Tony Hunt]

you probably need to get an inverter and plug into 240v like that when your running off your leisure batteries.

 

[Digger Driver]

Funny you should ask this!
I have a 15 inch Plasma with freeview, DVD and HD ready from comet!
Link Removed

Wired to my batteries and it works like a charm!
I had a 20 inch plasma in my last van i bought from Asda wired the same and that was OK too!

 

[New Rover]

Digger, I have an 85A battery so what would the viewing time be on that for the 15" TV. I would just plug it in to my 240v socket I take it. Thanks in advance for any info.
John.

 

[BJ]

Digger, I have an 85A battery so what would the viewing time be on that for the 15" TV. I would just plug it in to my 240v socket I take it. Thanks in advance for any info.
John.

There would be no point plugging it into a 240 volt socket unless you are on EHU. You need to plug it in to an inverter which is then plugged into the 12 volt socket.

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[Exustrek]

You'll need either a voltage regulator or an inverter to utilise your 12v supply.

Typical LCD will draw 4amps per hour via an inverter.

Bryan

 

[Thepips]

If the TV has an external power adapter then have a look at the output voltage and amperage. If it's 12v then personally I'd use a voltage regulator. If it's over 12v then I'd use a laptop power adapter. Multiply amps by volt to get watts and make sure the regulator or adapter is powerful enough.
As a rough guide (very rough) double the amperage and divide into the amp/hour rating of the battery to work out how long the battery will last. e.g. a 4 amp current draw will effectively flatten a 85 a/h battery is 10 hours.

Regards
Doug

 

[New Rover]

Biker Jeff, I must admit to a very senior moment there. "Just plug it into a 240v socket".
Thanks to you all for your advice. I will get there in the end.

 

[Freestyle]

Freestyle

Thanks for all your help re. the T.V. I will certainly take a look at that one in Comet. Glad to know that the 12 volt models work. I think I must have had a bad connection somewhere then! :Blush:

 

[oddspots]

Satellite & Freeview?

We have a 15" TV in our van with built in Freeview, but at 50% of the sites we visit we cannot get a signal. Would getting a satellite system help this? Where reception is good it is great & we can get all the Channels.

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[pappajohn]

We have a 15" TV in our van with built in Freeview, but at 50% of the sites we visit we cannot get a signal. Would getting a satellite system help this? Where reception is good it is great & we can get all the Channels.

hi oddspots,

if you have one of those saucer type aerials on the roof............bin it, they are useless to say the least.:Angry:
invest in a directional aerial (maxview or similar):thumb:
the omni-directionals only work well if you are close to the transmitter.
dont forget the digital changeover as the saucer type wont recieve this signal.
best of all buy a dish.:thumb:....used mine for the first time last night........middle of the yorks moors, found the satellite (hundreds of channels) and a perfect picture was to be had in around 5 mins. it will get quicker as i get used to setting it.

john.

 

[Tony Hunt]

You will get satellite reception anywhere in this country and Ireland plus throughout France & Holland and halfway across germany, its also possible down into spain but the further you go away from the footprint the bigger the dish you need. If you get a sky box and dish never tell em you take it abroad just do it.

 

[Sundowners]

Will a digital freeview work on a dish?????
Nigel

 

[Tony Hunt]

No that needs an ordinary ariel and if you go away you wont get freeview. Think sky offer a pay once only card that gives you a few basic channels but not ITV BBC1 etc.
a satellite dish and box is the easiest to set up when you arrive on a different campsite. Once your locked on the satellite its ready to watch. It can be done quite cheaply with a portable set up and a basic sky card. If you travel widely around the country with an terrestrial ariel type tv you have to tune the Tv in to each different area you visit like meridian or London, Anglia etc.

 

[Digger Driver]

Digger, I have an 85A battery so what would the viewing time be on that for the 15" TV. I would just plug it in to my 240v socket I take it. Thanks in advance for any info.
John.

Well i have 3 batteries on mine and get a good 48 hours before the batteries are flat!
If its a 12 volt TV (Check the output voltage on the transformer) either buy a second lead or cut the existing one and hard wire it straight to the battery!
This voltage regulator nonsense is a load of tosh!
It was rumour spread by people who sell voltage regulators!
I worked for one of the biggest In car entertainment companies in London! (some of my work was in What Car HiFi magazine)
I have a BTEC in Telecom Engineering and have worked with electronics since i was 11 and the only time i have had use for a regulated 12 volt supply was to stop radio inteference on Ham Radios and CBs!
I know a lot of TV engineers and none of them have ever herd of a TV blowing up because it was given 13.8 volt instead of 12!
Its another gimmick that preys on people who scare easy and have too much money!
If you use an inline 12 volt fuse thats your regulator!
If you use a 240 volt inverter it will suck your battery dry in a few of hours!

By the way! I have run two TV's i bought from standard retailers in two different vans using horrendous combinations of battery power (i use heavy construction bateries) just to see if i could!
You could say i'm a test pilot on this!
Nothing has blown up yet!

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[Lindy-C]

There are some larger 12v TVs Link Removed if you don't want to go down the inverter route.

 

[Digger Driver]

There are some larger 12v TVs Link Removed if you don't want to go down the inverter route.

Sorry Lindy but this subject bugs me!
I will bet anyone i can go into any TV retailer and find a 12 volt TV!
If the TV comes with an external transformer the transformer will reduce the voltage from 240 AC to 12 volt DC!
Go to Asda now and look at the display models if you don't believe me!
There are no special components in the back of the TV you pay an extra £100 for at the caravan shop!
Its a con!
My first 12 volt TV was a 20 inch flat screen i bought in Asda for £250!
Its still in the van and it still works!

Saying that!
If the TV has a built in transformer you can still take the back off and bypass the transformer!

 

[Terry]

Hi read the attachments all will become clear :thumb:I am with D/D on this,been running a couple of different tvs for the last 5 yrs plus without problem :thumbresently got a Grundig with DVD player-no freeview as I run a seperate on digi box (12v) from Asda Called Duraband for 17 squids,freeview is not available all over the country yet thats why the tv runs on both signals but when it is I may get a freeview built in The old omni areils should come back in when F/V is rolled out across the country & the signal cranked up.I have a Status 530 and it has never failed to get a pic even at loch lomond where the warden bet me a fiver I was waisting time trying to get one :thumb: he never paid up Also Paul my mate who sorted this out for me on my first m/h & does all things electrical (tv s compters games consols dvd s alarms satalites etc)for me.Thats why after 10 yrs on a computer I still / know do nothing except whay I want to do as he does it all and I am not allowed to touch anything that runs electric through it except plug it in & turn it on & off:thumb: A few yrs ago I ran an add on ebay with this info on for free sending it out above 3,500 times but the people who sell tv s etc kept complaining that I was not selling anything :thumb: they ended up pulling my account-but I set up another then decided I had done my bit to help educate people about 12v tvs so stopped before I lost that one :thumb:
terry

 

[oddspots]

Confused

I'm really confused now. Have I got this right that the Digital Freeview TV we are using now, won't work with a dish? Maybe I've interpreted the post wrong. I was going to ask which dish you would recommend, but need to get my facts right first. Absolutely clueless as you will hve gathered!!

 

[Terry]

Hi are you getting confused between ariels :thumb: if so we are talking about flying saucer type ,witch I never problem with & the directional type (status 530/535) which you can turn for best signal which I have now :thumb: If you are on about sat dishes/systems then you can get freeview with them.Everyone seams to like the crank up type but they are about 350 ish, too rich for me :thumb: see clear as mud :thumb:
terry

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[Terry]

Sorry Lindy but this subject bugs me!
I will bet anyone i can go into any TV retailer and find a 12 volt TV!
If the TV comes with an external transformer the transformer will reduce the voltage from 240 AC to 12 volt DC!
Go to Asda now and look at the display models if you don't believe me!
There are no special components in the back of the TV you pay an extra £100 for at the caravan shop!
Its a con!
My first 12 volt TV was a 20 inch flat screen i bought in Asda for £250!
Its still in the van and it still works!

Saying that!
If the TV has a built in transformer you can still take the back off and bypass the transformer!

Hi DD as you see I am very much in suport of your therory but some (goodmans was one)only transform down to 19 v so it is better to check on the back that it says 12v another instance the ONN from Asda 15 in had the four pin plug (harder to convert) yet the 17 ins had the easy to convert two pin type so better to keep it simple and buy the right model which is about 90%on the market :thumb:
terry

 

[oddspots]

Aldi Offer

At Aldi tomorrow their is a Tevion Portable Satellite System for £59.99,
Stores up to 4,500 programmes, Last programme memory, Automatic Scanning, 10 pre-programmed channels, 14 day electronic programme guide, 800 page text, Paper/Satellite locator, Satellite bleeper, Multi Language screen menu, 8 x multi function timer, child lock.
Would you recommend this for our motorhome ?

 

[Terry]

Hi I bought a similar one from maplin but it took me about 20 mins to get a signal then my mate moved it 2 ft and it took another 20 mins did my head in so took it back :Blush: but there are people that can set them up in a couple of mins:thumb: and swear by them :thumb: just not for me I find swiveling the status 530 areil bad enough
terry

 

[pappajohn]

aldi offer

i have a similar dish/reciever by porty.
it works ok but the dish appears to be a bit cheap and nasty and i dont like any of the mounting options available (clamps and suckers) so i used a domestic 70cm dish on a pole.

personally i'd go for something a little more upmarket for prolonged use so i bought a maxview crankup dish and a maxview reciever.
never looked back, well worth the £425 +£80 for the reciever.

john.