12v boat tv

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catalac08

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need to upgrade our tv to maintain continuity of soaps viewings when on boat for SWMBO. Sad I know but who am I to comment on addictions!
continuity and constancy of signal strength is my problem - I use a small portable aerial and a 12vsignal booster which is fine in some conditions but hopeless in others.
Looking for pointers as to a better aerial/booster system and whether LCD tv's have a built in aearial and what to look for in an LCD tv
 
Bought an LCD TV two years ago from Asda, the well known electrical shop. It had a main transformer and so worked on 12 volts on the boat perfectly. I Found a TV aerial for a Caravan which is like similar for the house, with a proper reflector, dipole and lead in elements, but with suction cups so it can be stuck to the side of the wheelhouse, and it is excellent.
Last year also invested in Freeview box, which also runs on a mains transformer, and so again actually uses 12 volts, and generally the signal is fine, except on one occasion when the aerial had to go up the signal halyard to get a stable picture on digital format.
After all the investment much of the programme content was of poor quality
 
We only have a small 8" TV onboard, if this size interests you I will suggest the nikkai portable 12v digital/analogue television from maplin

click for link

For portable aerials I have had best results from a magic wand aerial



click for links.
 
Glomex at masthead, in line 12v powered booster, works fine for me in most places. Get Freeview digital signals etc, etc no problem. (Mine used with Laptop USB dongle - Hauppauge Win-TV HVR 900, which has now been superseded... includes ability to record and schedule recordings etc)
 
Just spent two days getting new 12 volt TV and it was a nightmare!!!! There are some 15" widescreen tvs BUT they are 15:9 not 16:9 as they use computer LCDs so people's faces are stretched a bit vertically. It you ain't bovvered that's fine but I took mine back and got a Matsui 15" 4x3 with a built in DVD player 'cos the one without the dvd player and the one without Freeview were 240 volt not 12 volt! Lightweight and only about 2.5 amps - great picture AND freeview. Available at Currys.
 
I have the same problem SWMBO -wise, and my solution was to get a coax switch (antenna switch) of ebay for £5 which was connected to my VHF mast aerial. I then switch between the radio & TV. Disadvantage is that you cannot use both at once. My NASA radio has a PL259 socket, and just had to make up a few leads. Bits not very expensive.
 
I've have recently been given the maplin 10.5" analogue/digital tv that runs on 12 volts. Works very well so far picking up digital on the supplied external mount aerial. Not to sure about the 8 day programe guide but the summer holiday may find it useful if we have the same weather as last year !!
 
I just bought one of these:-

http://www.12vtv.co.uk/pro_detail.asp?id=155

From John Lewis, It has a built in DVD and can be made multi-region by using a simple code. It comes with a 12v connector and a wall bracket so the boat can be tilted without fear of it moving. It also has slots for the digital cards used in digital cameras so you can watch a slide show from you camera.
 
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