RV Television

[Kr4ftw3rk]

Any thoughts, recommendations or advice on 12 volt/120 volt? Antenna, dvd and streaming devices or casting from your phone?

[booster]

Originally Posted by Kr4ftw3rk

Any thoughts, recommendations or advice on 12 volt/120 volt? Antenna, dvd and streaming devices or casting from your phone?

This has been discussed quite a bit lately, along with using 12v stuff in general.


Here is a link to one of them on laptops, but there are also others on using 120v TVs and DVDs.


http://www.classbforum.com/forums/f2...-12v-7982.html


Bottom iine for us, after doing a bunch of testing was that staying native 12v was not necessary to save power as the 12v adapters and power conditioners used as much power as a small inverter and were limited to mostly running one thing. Add to this most stuff is moving up to higher DC voltage which makes finding 12v stuff harder and means more adapters.


We have switched out most of our stuff now, TV, DVD, laptop etc as they needed replacement for 120v versions and have a couple of small 120w Samlex PSW inverters to turn on for that kind of thing. One is in the audio cabinet and one is hooked to an outlet strip for other 110v uses. Now we can just use whatever we want in off the shelf 110v versions which are available everywhere.

[GeorgeRa]

In our van we decided to use projector in lieu of LCD TV. With technological advances in projection TVs with Texas Instruments imaging device DMD and LED light source they became very efficient. My unit is permanently mounted on the ceiling with 35” screen also mounted on the ceiling. When not in use the screen retracts back. Both front seats have swivels and a table so we can enjoy evenings with movies.

For us a simple circular antenna is glued to the window, not the best but sufficient.

To power we use a very efficient Morningstar 300W inverter which has 2 outlets, one on the galley with the adjacent switch and one next to the projector.

We don’t use projector very often, and if we do it is for local news if we have reception or for DVD.

[Kr4ftw3rk]

Booster

Thank you for the informative link. I really liked what you did with the Samplex and Tessan and the 'portableness' of the Samplex. Will be looking into that.

Was frowning on 12 volt TV/Monitor but wasn't sure about using 120. Looks like I'll be looking for a small 22" 120 now.

GeorgeRa

Hadn't thought about projection... nice set up. Had been looking at the different indoor antennas and the ClearStream Eclipse antenna was one of the choices I had been looking at.

Also had been thinking about using a small outdoor antenna attached to a pvc pipe which would could be mounted to the outside of the RV.



Thnx again guys....

[Marley]

I solved my problem by not buying a new 12v one after the last one died. Makes it less like home but that is way I like it.

[Kr4ftw3rk]

Thank you Marley,

But being a sports fan there are times when a tv comes in handy.

Re Boosters idea with the 120w Samlex inverter (don't know why I kept referring to it as a Samplex) I was wondering if the lower wattage is a good idea compared to perhaps a 300w or higher. I guess it depends on whats going to be connected.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Kr4ftw3rk

Thank you Marley,

But being a sports fan there are times when a tv comes in handy.

Re Boosters idea with the 120w Samlex inverter (don't know why I kept referring to it as a Samplex) I was wondering if the lower wattage is a good idea compared to perhaps a 300w or higher. I guess it depends on whats going to be connected.

You can get the higher powered ones and still have similarly low no load power use, although I haven't ever tested where they fall compared to rated. I would expect the major brands to be well within specs, no name ones maybe not.


We chose the Samlex because it was large enough to do what we needed, but very small in footprint so fit very well in the areas we wanted to use it. Also very quiet. The larger output units also tend to be considerably larger. If size had not been an issue we would probably have gone in the 200-300 watt area. We have a Magnum MS2000 inverter/charger that can run the entire van on 110v, so plenty of power for stuff if we need it. The Magnum just has too high power waste at 1.4 amps no load.

[Kr4ftw3rk]

Booster

Was looking at the 300w unit Samlex also has. It does have a slightly larger footprint [6.1 x 9.69 x 2.58] but I think it'll do.

[Scottnelson@srmg-link.com]

Seems 2 me the problems w/ generators - and they r very problematic - rests w/ us consumers. onan w/ continue selling us what we deserve and we deserve better: quiet, reliable, economical, user friendly. until then, we will continue 2 be stuck w/ yesterday's technology. but, this also applies 2 the RV industry in general. 2 bad. we can land on the moon but we can't drive 20 miles w/out an RV issue of some. sort or another.

[enterpryzman]

I installed a 24" that has built in DVD player just last week in my RT 200 P, works perfectly

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by enterpryzman

I installed a 24" that has built in DVD player just last week in my RT 200 P, works perfectly

Welcome to the forum enterpryzman!

That's exactly what I did. I have everything running on 12 volts. In 4 trips and over 17,000 miles, we've never turned on the inverter.

[phuocsandiego]

I jupst use an off the shelf TCL 32" 1080p TV with the Roku interface. I don't have a use for DVD's/Blu-rays since I ripped all my movies to a portable USB drive. The TCL has a built-in media player that can play movies directly off the drive. It also has plenty of connectivity for YouTube, Netflix or casting from my phone. It doesn't draw much... about 30 watts when running. I use it with my Yeti 400 or my genny when I have it on for AC, etc. I'm super happy with it and it feels like a large screen in my RV.

[Kr4ftw3rk]

Originally Posted by enterpryzman

I installed a 24" that has built in DVD player just last week in my RT 200 P, works perfectly

Nice, using a built in DVD player eliminates the mess of extra cables hanging around associated with an external dvd player.

Originally Posted by phuocsandiego

I jupst use an off the shelf TCL 32" 1080p TV with the Roku interface. I don't have a use for DVD's/Blu-rays since I ripped all my movies to a portable USB drive. The TCL has a built-in media player that can play movies directly off the drive. It also has plenty of connectivity for YouTube, Netflix or casting from my phone. It doesn't draw much... about 30 watts when running. I use it with my Yeti 400 or my genny when I have it on for AC, etc. I'm super happy with it and it feels like a large screen in my RV.

Will have to look into the TCL. Thumbdrive with movies sounds like a winner. Thank you.

[Davydd]

I'm not installing a TV in my next camper van. I am however, going to have an over the air antenna and cable set up so I can access TV through iPad Pros at three locations. We watch very little TV while on the road and I don't know if I will need this.

[Bud]

Originally Posted by Davydd

I'm not installing a TV in my next camper van. I am however, going to have an over the air antenna and cable set up so I can access TV through iPad Pros at three locations. We watch very little TV while on the road and I don't know if I will need this.

David, many of us grew up when there was only 'broadcast' TV, "over the air antenna" then "cable". My B came with a 'monitor' with a built in 'tuner'. Seems like your iPad Pros are TVs plus......... Ok, maybe I should say can be TV's?

Bud

[Bud]

Forgot to mention, imagine someone wakes up from a coma, 1960, looked around some and then asked What is TV?

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Bud

David, many of us grew up when there was only 'broadcast' TV, "over the air antenna" then "cable". My B came with a 'monitor' with a built in 'tuner'. Seems like your iPad Pros are TVs plus......... Ok, maybe I should say can be TV's?

Bud

Many of us grew up when there was NO 'broadcast' TV to watch. I never watched cable TV until I was an adult. My first color TV was in 1982 to ameliorate my teenage kids for enduring our move and building a house.