RT roll-up TV cabinet - Flat screen conversion/other

[Mat Mobile]

Just wondering if people would like to share how they "upgraded" or changed their old style roll-up tv cabinets made for old-style "tube tvs".

Mine is missing and I would like to install a small flat screen but it just doesn't make sense.

[hbn7hj]

I think most everyone has removed the pull out mount then mounted a flat screen TV on the aft face of the cabinet. The extending and locking mount I have has tripled in price. Others have used a non locking mount with bungee cords as a retainer.

Choose a mount that will let you view from the front seats if you choose.

The biggest problem is the narrow field of view of many of the small, flat screen, TVs. My 15" Vizio has a narrow vertical field of view and had to be angled down, more than the mount was able, to make it work. Buy the best flat screen TV you can find. It would be best for it to work directly on 12 volts. A voltage stabilizer will probably be necessary as they quit at 11.4 volts. Should you use an inverter they don't like low voltage either.

You have several problems to solve: mount, viewing angle, low voltage, and antenna. The older Roadtreks may have an embedded antenna which works but isn't the best.

[mkguitar]

can't help with your mounting- I have a PW.

the TV I bought at costco for under $130 is a 21" samsung which runs native on 12 volt...for home use it comes with a brick type ac/dc adapter.
so a winner for power consumption as it doesn;t need an inverter and the parasitic losses converting dc to ac.

it also has a Media Player which will play most digital video formats- I put movies etc on a thumb drive and plug into the USB port.

the channel autoscan is easy to use ( I use TV Towers app to point the antenna)

this tv is also lightweight- on the PW the TV is mounted on a swinging door so can be pointed forwards. I made a bracket with some steel strapping from home depot cost about $3.

you may be able to look at mounting arms for computer monitors...the tv mount lugs on TV's are pretty standardized

here's a link to some pics maybe that'll give you an idea for your van:

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...VxLS11aFNDb2pn

mike

[GeorgeRa]

Slightly different approach for watching TV in an RV, which we chose, is LED projector in lieu of a flat screen. Our 35” light weight screen is mounted at the ceiling rails, pull down to open push back to close. The LG PA77U projector is mounted on the same ceiling rails so we can adjust its location. Power can be adjusted from about 65-130W, for us sufficient image brightness is at the lower power range. We can still see the image in full sunshine camp but it is obviously better towards the evening, we tend to watch it late evening anyway.

I am amazed with my new gadget - a smartphone which can project an image up to 70” (Motorola advertising dream which it would be OK on the dark side of our Moon) but it is perfect for 20-30” projection and it consumes a whopping 4W. The projection mates to the back side of the phone as an accessory. It is using Texas Instrument Digital Mirror Device (DMD) with RGB LED light source. It is amazing how well it works.

The projection technology progressed rapidly from the Red, Green, Blue 3 CRTs just a few years ago to smartphones.

See the picture of my projector during the installation.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gv6GbIpaV4

[peppster66]

My roll up door was still there when I bought my used 1997 Roadtrek, and I kind of like it, so I decided to keep it when I installed the new flat screen tv. I chose to mount my tv using a swing arm, so we can watch it from the front or the rear, my wife likes to have a show on when shes cooking, so its perfect to be far enough back, she can see it, and not be in the way of her cooking in the kitchen. The tv I bought from a large truck stop in the U.S., it was made for truckers, so, its heavy duty with a built in c.d. player, and can also take the digital sticks. It wasnt very expensive, and has lasted qiute well for all the traveling we do, Ill add some pics, so you can see how we do it,,,, take care,,,,

[Mat Mobile]

Thanks guys! Interesting ideas.

peppster, I did a similar thing in my old van and was really happy with it: