Digital TV

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willantis

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My Bav 37 came with a 12v TV which has worked well. However, we are now digital and "something needs to be done" to keep the crew happy after sailing. New 12 volt TV's seem either to be very cheap but with a poor reputation for reliability and picture quality, or very expensive, when compared to domestic sets. I seem to have 3 options. a. buy a domestic TV and only be able to use it in a marina with 240v plugged in shore-power. b. As per a. but add an inverter. BUT will a TV work off an inverter? c. Pay a lot for a 12v TV. Can anyone advise please?
 
Only 1 way to find out if a particular TV / Inverter will work and that's try it. If it's a more expensive pure sinewave inverter then 99.9% sure it will work if it's a cheapie approximated or modified sine wave output then you may not be so fortunate.
 
Before you spend any money take a 240v set top box and test at the boat for reception. You probably won't get digital working while out boating though.
 
Thanks for both bits of advice. I have been quite surprised that chandlers have seen the digital change-over as an opportunity, or are we the only folk with on-board telly?
 
We have an Avtex 19 with built in digital. 12v and awesome picture, but digital coverage is patchy apart from inland which is about as much use as a chocolate teapot.
 
Last year I bought a flat screen TV from Argos with incorporated freesat and (mains 240v; ~£120) plugged it in my ordinary ~£70 inverter (bought from Maplins 4 years ago) and connected it on an aerial (caravan type); works very well, all channels, excellent reception all around the Solent area.
 
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC said:
Last year I bought a flat screen TV from Argos with incorporated freesat and (mains 240v; ~£120) plugged it in my ordinary ~£70 inverter (bought from Maplins 4 years ago) and connected it on an aerial (caravan type); works very well, all channels, excellent reception all around the Solent area.
Click to expand...

Is that freesat or freewview, just to be clear?
 
Most Freeview/Freesat boxes are 5v. Just run off a voltage regulator with a high enough current.
 
I have a flat screen freeview tv that came from Tesco, has a 12v input & I run it off that even when on shore power, works fine even in most anchorages, aerial is a mast top glomax I think. My reception improved when signal went to digital.
 
After someone linked on here a while back I bought a 19" kogan LED television at the beginning of the year and have been very pleased. Real world measurements are around 1.9A and 200mA standby (unusual to go so low on standby, my older 11" TV stayed around 2A on standby as well as turned on!). I plug the Kogan straight into the boat's supply, no messing with inverters, they are not necessary for this set.

I have the TV and boats radio attached to a Triax UFO aerial up the mast, I get a stunning picture most of the time, but can lose the odd channel at low water on a miserable day.

If 19" is too large, my 11" TV came from maplin, really handy size to stow. That's not mine, but I might consider selling it at a similar price, though it is handy in my study for watching Question Time on Thursdays, so I might be loathed to part with it :rolleyes:
 
10 posts and no Steve telling us off for not sailing for the same reasons he does, amazing! :p
 
My iPad has become the main tool for onboard entertainment.

Music, radio, videos, audiobooks, Navionics, Weather - loads of stuff.

If you have 3G or wifi, then the app "TV Catch Up" is great. All the main channels and more - live streamed to the iPad.

OK not a huge screen, but a few subtle pieces of Velcro around the boat and can be 'hung' in lots of places.

TVs are not for me on a boat, but this is a great compromise if it works for the crew and family.

3G sometimes isn't that cheap (though prob cheaper than you think), so we have ripped quite a few DVDs to the iPad and there is always something to entertain the kids and the adults who want something.

I realise this is not the question you were asking so apologies, but it works as a solution for us.
 
lustyd said:
Before you spend any money take a 240v set top box and test at the boat for reception. You probably won't get digital working while out boating though.
Click to expand...

Wot he said and -
'twould help if you said where you are and what sort of boat you have. (update your profile - without giving any "secrets" away) It helps.....
If you can't get FreeView where you are moored (and more likely where you are going to cruise), then - as I do - try FreeSat because the kit
  • doesn't take a lot more power,
  • Isn't more or less convenient to rig a satellite dish than it is for a FreeView aerial.
  • A dish is always pointing in the same direction, whereas an aerial has to pointed to the nearest transmitter (and where the blazes is that??).
 
I should clarify that when I said reception isn't as good it's because digital is on or off. You'll get a great picture when you get one but it will annoyingly cut out, or you may not be able to tune it at all. It needs an aerial pointing straight at the transmitter which is hard to achieve on a boat.

I'll admit I never tried the caravan type aerials but ordinary household ones never seem to work.

With analogue, the picture would start fuzzy so at least you knew you had it tuned and then could play with the aerial to improve matters.
 
DogWatch said:
After someone linked on here a while back I bought a 19" kogan LED television at the beginning of the year and have been very pleased. Real world measurements are around 1.9A and 200mA standby (unusual to go so low on standby, my older 11" TV stayed around 2A on standby as well as turned on!). I plug the Kogan straight into the boat's supply, no messing with inverters, they are not necessary for this set.
Click to expand...

We recently got ourselves one of these, seems to work well so far. The picture quality isn't amazing, but then we're not too fussy and it gets the job done. The built-in speakers are pathetic, though. In our case we have it hooked up to the boat's audio system so it's not an issue. We have it hooked up to a Glomex mast top ufo style aerial with a signal booster. Has worked well so far in the Solent.
Can't complain for less than £120 including the 12v socket adapter.
 
willantis said:
My Bav 37 came with a 12v TV which has worked well. However, we are now digital and "something needs to be done" to keep the crew happy after sailing. New 12 volt TV's seem either to be very cheap but with a poor reputation for reliability and picture quality, or very expensive, when compared to domestic sets. I seem to have 3 options. a. buy a domestic TV and only be able to use it in a marina with 240v plugged in shore-power. b. As per a. but add an inverter. BUT will a TV work off an inverter? c. Pay a lot for a 12v TV. Can anyone advise please?
Click to expand...

Our last TV, 10" CRT 12v, drew more power than the 19" lcd we now have powered by £25 350W modified sine wave inverter. Current draw is minimal. We use Status omni directional aerial which works fine for digital reception.
 
Since you have not filled in your Profile, I and others do not know your area of operation, so this may not be pertinent.(For the store mentioned)

Comet do a mains LED with built in Didital that works off 240vac or 12v dc, for about £200 gives good picture.

Used mine on both systems, the ac off a 125 W iverter from Screwfixok (Not a pure Sine wave) and I never use when the engine is running when on dc,

Argos also do a lcd version as well for around that price.

I hope this is useful.
Gordon
 
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