12 Volt TV/DVD

[artbyjody]

One other item.

It saves the channels scanned / last viewed even after being disconnected from any power source. Which to me is a great feature as even the tvs I have at home do not do that. Ref the Polaroid tv from target..as previously discussed

[Trekka]

I'm coming in late on this thread but have a little info and experience. 2-3 yrs ago I bought a 15" Panasonic LCD for about $175. It runs on a 15vDC IP that is 60W powered by 100/110/120vAC source.
It is our soon to be obsolete tv standard, but this was 3 yrs ago and cheap enough if I ruined it. I paid $14 for a full warranty beyond Panasonc's for two reasons. One, it extended the warrenty and specifically added covered damage from water and humidity, and other thangs that are of little concern to those in dirt dwellings, but quite plausible on a boat. It had all the inputs, component, S-Vid, composite, DA. I powered it by plugging it into a little cig lighter AC convertor I bought for maybe $15. Worked great. I then got a little $28 DVD player that uses all of 1 amp, plays all formats (except HD), has component vid and DA out. It plugs into that same little gray cig lighter invertor (2 sockets) and works fine. No complaints.

This year I bought a 19" HDTV with the ATSC (digital) tuner. It wants to see a little more power, 70W and is AC only. It runs on the same little invertor. I have a bigger 800W invertor I could use, but this little one does a fine job, rated at 70W nominal, 100W max, amd 140W surge.

And for those of you who don't have these new ATSC (HD) TV's, you are missing a lot. Most stations are already, have been for awhile, broadcasting digital channels for a long time now. Major stations b'cast multiple digital channels.You may find your PBS station is now 4 digital channels, local network affiliate may have a full screen regional doppler radar 24/7, etc.

And turning off analog may come sooner then Feb '09 in some markets. There is a provision in the ruling that allows a community to do the switch earlier if all the stations in the reception area have already been doing digital transmission and have shaken out their issues. Wilmington, NC is being spoken of as possibley switching off analog this September.

[artbyjody]

Update on the Polaroid 15" from Target that was discussed and I bought. I used an old laptop brick and cut off the DC side. The cord has two ferrites built-in which I advise if you are running the cable from your DC circuit panels to the TV. This was my requirement as the TV is mounted at the Nav station and the cable is adjacent to all the other components like VHF etc..

It runs great, but I think the TV has internal regulators as well. When powered on, and the DC system is powered by the AC/DC Charging System a small effect is seen on the amp meter on the DC side. It definitely draws more than say VHF, 10 Halogen Lights, and all the nav instruments combined. But, as less overall voltage capacity is present - it starts drawing more and more amps on a sliding scale. And also note, that it draws amps even when powered off (the tv by its power button). If you rig it to a cicuit breaker, which is what I do - then you can bypass this use of amps by the tv. It always stores channels etc, so having any power at all to it is not required.

It is definitely a luxury item, and while I didn't measure the exact amps, I did compare - having on what I usually have turned on (stereo, lights, C-80 etc), versus having it on (the tv)- and it draws about as much as what everything I would typically have running combined, plus a bit more.

Just some observations, in case someone hooks it up and doesn't have the meters etc to track what it draws and the likes...

[US27inKS]

Thanks Jody. Very good info. I still haven't got around to wiring mine up to the DC panel. I have limited space on my DC panel so I figured I could wire it in to the anchor light, as I doubt anyone will be watching it under way. If I were in a bluewater boat, and in blue water I may feel differently, but I'm not so I don't. Shutting off the anchor light switch will kill power to it and save my batteries.

[artbyjody]

Originally Posted by US27inKS

Thanks Jody. Very good info. I still haven't got around to wiring mine up to the DC panel. I have limited space on my DC panel so I figured I could wire it in to the anchor light, as I doubt anyone will be watching it under way. If I were in a bluewater boat, and in blue water I may feel differently, but I'm not so I don't. Shutting off the anchor light switch will kill power to it and save my batteries.

Just put in (if you have room) a regular dongle switch with a (I think 5 amp) inline fuse) if you are going to run it off the DC panel and tie it to your anchor light. Personally, I would select some other one like your main cabin lights and use the switch. The reason I say that is that the anchor light is still an integral item that you do not want to have blown because of some TV, and it is possible that the light's rf interference (particularly true of any led and halogen lights), as well as the tvs rf interference could possibly cause some issues with the anchor light and vice versa.

If you do tie directly to the anchor light (or off the main cabin lights), and tv starts acting funny add a 1 amp inline fuse on the negative side closest to the panel - it will basically act just like a ferrite. That is also, why my powercord that I run for the tv, has those ferrites in place at both ends - to minimize any of that rf getting around.


I place on the circuit panel, one for the additional protection (and if it trips its easy to reset), third its a very conscious decision to turn it on as the panel door has to be open) and lastly I have a 40+ circuit DC panel - so I have the room to dedicate it.

[negrini]

Jody, is your TV a plain 4:3 or widescreen (16:9 or so) ?

[artbyjody]

Originally Posted by negrini

Jody, is your TV a plain 4:3 or widescreen (16:9 or so) ?

It does both as far as I know...

Link to click

[badsanta]

I have seen them listed on ebay some with the DVD built in. I bought a 12 volt dvd player on ebay for 60 bucks plays cd, mp3, dvd also bought a fold down TV for a car, Works great. Mounted it upside down and on a bulkhead the out side is hard plastic when I want to watch it I rase the cover (it swivels) turn it 180 degrees and fold closed. The tv is now exposed I reverse it to close and it protects the screen as the hard back is exposed.r

[JoeDiamold]

I used a smaller TV on my boat. Just 15" with a wall mount. It has a built in dvd player and the new ATSC digital tuner. Most of the 12 volt lcd flat panel tv's I found have a built in dvd and the whole unit draws around only 5 amps!

I picked mine up at 12volt-travel.com