Who's got a TV in their van?

We have a Linsar 15 inch Freeview TV and DVD (model 16LVD5) which is excellent for easy setup of the re-tune needed when moving to a new location.
This fits in the buddy-seat alongside the Portaloo when not in use.
This STH1000 aerial can 'see' through the canvas pop-top. It is a directional aerial so needs to be pointed towards the signal. Either by trial and error or using transmitter info from the web

Quote :

http://www.avtex.co.uk/antenna/sth1000.html

Freeview reception can be difficult or not available in some locations - just the DVD's then.
The satellite based FreeSat sytem with a dish aerial might ensure TV is available anywhere - if you want to spend fiddle time setting up the dish.
osg

Has anyone had success with running 12V TVs off leisure battery (rather than using with electric hook up)?

Yep, our Meos portable DVD/TV player has it's own battery and a 12v (cigarette lighter) lead to connect to leisure battery using one of the 12v (cigarette lighter) sockets that I added a while ago.

We've had no problem with tv on battery,just have to be sensible with usage

Great - thanks. Think I will get one (Sorry Tim and Irishman, I love a bit of telly!) Ideally a 50 inch one running off 12v leisure battery!!

Sunny - did someone install yours for you or did you do it yourself?

gordonmac wrote:

Sunny - did someone install yours for you or did you do it yourself?

      Install it myself?      

No, the good folk at Danbury did it for me, as it entailed cutting holes in the headlining etc. I just let them know what I wanted and they did it all for me.

Abs our amplified booster is very similar to this and we easily pick up 30 freeview channels with it...

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1066452.htm

Have looked at 12V TVs on Amazon -there are different sizes and they use different amounts of energy
ie 19 inch (3 amp 36 watts), 22 inch (1.9 amp 22 watts) 24 inch (3 amp 32 watts).

Does anyone know if leisure battery can cope with this - 22 inch one looks best.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultra-Digital-Freeview-Record-Caravan-Black/dp/B008I0QMJW/ref=pd_sim_sbs_ce_2

The standard fridge is ~45w therefore almost 4A so that will give you an idea of battery life with TV use.

Just looked at the spec of our little Meos unit and found the following:

Internal battery (lasts approx 1hr) charges at 1.2A (15w) when the unit is plugged in but not in use.

It also states that it charges at the lower rate on 0.4A (5w) when it is in use (TV/DVD switched on) which suggests the TV/DVD itself uses 10w.

Admittedly, ours is only a 11.3" unit, but it suits our needs and can be tided away very easily in its 'transport bag'. It also includes a bracket to attach to the rear of a car head rest which means we can use it in either vehicle or in fact anywhere else we want to.

MEOS DVD113B

Thanks Tallulah - looks ideal. They aren't in stock at mo, but think will get one when they are.

I have one mounted to the underside of my storage shelf with a bracket designed for underneath kitchen cabinets which allows me to change the angle of the TV to suit various positions.

I have a Vision Plus 15.6" tv which works on 12v and 240v via the two adapters supplied, we have used it with leisure battery and it works fine.

The reason we put it on the shelf means we can move it forward and sit on the rock and roll bed and watch tv(while stationary or moving) or as below watch in the awning by swivelling it around, and the best bit slide shelf to the back and watch in bed and because it's close you don't need your contact lenses in   And it can be put away while lying in bed.

I have a magnetic digital aerial which goes on the roof and connects in the engine bay to a socket inside the bus, so it's easy to connect up to tv and gets a reasonable amount of digital channels.  We mainly use it for dvd's as it has one built in.

gordonmac the 22" tv your looking at on amazon looks very good value.

This is us watching from the awning.






This is me when I first installed it, very happy. This shows it in the forward position aswell.


This is the bracket I used to mount it B-Tech Mount

It is very usefull on rainy days but we mainly watch dvd's at night.

Thanks Skytiger - Am sold! Have ordered the bracket.

Hi folks. Hope you are all keeping safe and well? Ruby now has nice Cello 12v TV. it has mains adapter for when EHU and cig lighter. What is safe simple way to connect to leisure battery please?

Tony880 wrote:

Hi folks. Hope you are all keeping safe and well?  Ruby now has nice Cello 12v TV. it has mains adapter for when EHU and cig lighter. What is safe simple way to connect to leisure battery please?

I’d fit a 12v socket with an in-line fuse to the leisure battery.

Thanks Tim. Hope you’re keeping safe and sane? How do I connect to leisure battery please? You also commented way back (can’t remember which thread or topic) that you located a 12v socket in RH cupboard of your Rio situated inside and to top right of cupboard. I looked at Ruby (also a Rio) butcant find a socket. Cheers

You won’t have that socket Tony as you have a built in fridge My Kombi had a coolbox fridge originally.

Your leisure battery is under the ack seat. Just use ring terminals on the connections.

The fuse box by the door if you have one did have a spare fuse for tv.

Yes Dennis, but it’s not spare. I have the original 2008 Veba TV/DVD mounted.
The reason I want to connect the Cello TV is firstly to be able to use tv on awning, even off grid.
Secondly. Ruby’s Roof aerial is a tiny wee thing and I have a vision plus up to date one but don’t know how I’d be able to wire it into Ruby’s aerial screw connector on roof. Any ideas?
There’s not a lot of knowledge about this older type tv. I even thought about Vision plus aerial through window to say, Freeview box of some kind with scart /avi output then into input 1 of Veba (red white yellow connections). So much to choose from. I’m jiggered lol