Freeview tuners on board-recommendations?

[mickywillis]

Looking at these 2 Freeview boxes:
Philips DTR220
Grundig GUDSTB2000
Reason being that they are both supplied with a 240V AC - 12V DC PSU, which would mean they can be powered of teh boats batteries.
Can anyone advise which may be the better one to buy (price about the same) or can recommend an alternative unit, which is 12 volt DC powered?

 

[steve28]

philips one, it has a bigger buffer which helps in poor signal areas or if the boats swings.
ours has been great

 

[Searush]

Check the power draw. Typically 65W = 5.5Amps on a battery. This will severely deplete your batteries if you sit & watch for several hours like you might at home.

 

[pappaecho]

I have aFrench made with a 30 watt PSU, and which works fine over an extended period of time, and again used a mains transformer and output 12 volts. We had it working on 10 volts on one occasion due to the fridge grabbing all the power. Worked even better when we switch off the fridge!

 

[LittleSister]

My recommendation is don't get one!

 

[mickywillis]

Er, why not??

 

[Billjratt]

If you have a laptop, have you considered a "Hauppage" usb stick? They come in single or dual (watch one ,record the other) tuner versions and the storage is only limited by your PC...
HOWEVER.. don't go cruising without the old analogue telly on board, as terrestial-digital isn't as available as you might think. (as we can attest, unfortunately)

 

[freebird1]

I have one of these fitted.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Car-Digital-DVB-T-...id=p3286.c0.m14

The aerial is a bit daft but works around most of the Solent. I think I only paid about £50 for it including postage. I am pleased with it in every respect except I can't get telextext (or whatever it is now called).

 

[ShipsWoofy]

[ QUOTE ]
My recommendation is don't get one!

[/ QUOTE ] I see you did not answer, so I will ask again

Why not?

 

[Chris_Robb]

I would not necessarily go for one running 12 volts, but rather go and buy a cheap inverted of say 500 watts.

The problem with feeding it from the boats batteries is that it may have to contend with 14 volts if you are on shore power or the engine is running. I am not sure what effect this would have on the digibox, but it will cause your LCD tele to FAIL very quickly. Going the route of buying a 12 volt stabilizer is problematic as they are difficult to find and the only one I could find was not rated to deliver enough amps.

I opted in the end for a standard digital LCD tele, with a 500watt inverter from Maplins. Also don't be tempted to get an integrated DVD player, as the tele are almost always crap, and all you need is a £15.00 one from Tescos.

The problem I have not yet solved is the Aerial. I have not found a suitable one to allow for swinging around. On hols this year in the Solent, I could pick up no signal whatsoever in Bembridge, but in Newtown River, it was great.
Actually we never really watched the bloody thing and bought it for the grand children!

One further thing: You will be drawing in excess of 5 amps. keep your cable runs very short or put in fatter cables - otherwise the voltage at the set will drop below the operating capability. I had to rewire the cigar lighter with decent sized wire.

 

[ShipsWoofy]

my digi telebox uses about an amp on digi and about 800mA on analogue.

5A is crazy nuts for a rainy day draw. I would not personally entertain that at all. Also, taking the voltage up to bring it down is such a waste.

I used to have an 8" maplin LCD jobby bought recently upgraded to an 11" widescreen maplin jobby which amazingly uses around the same power as the little un. I don't mean to be confrontational, but your advice is a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. A simple search will find many televisions designed for camping/in car etc. that using a domestic set on a small boat is just unnecessary.

For a cheap but so far great (AFAIAC) 11" widescreen I went to maplins B stock (ex shop demo) but they are available brand new on EBay.