Posted on 15/07/2020 13:33
Hi all,
We are thinking of getting a TV in our caravan but have a few questions first.
The caravan is a 2016 Sterling Ecccles 640 which has its own ariel. Is it as simple as buying a TV and plugging it in, then when on site extending the roof mounted ariel and tuning the TV? Will any TV work or does it have to be a TV specific for caravans?
Any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks. Rob
Posted on 15/07/2020 16:23 by ocsid"Then you will want a satellite dish so will need to buy an inverter for the Sky box .... and so it goes on. We used the TV once in 30 years and now take lots of books to read. "
True up to a point, but for those not wanting to limit the use of a TV to just the once in 30 years don't see books as a direct and up to date replacement for some of what TVs can offer.
Modern TVs frequently have built in satellite decoders, though not Sky, there being other options, thus not requiring a "box" or mains powering.
Posted on 16/07/2020 08:27
A couple of points worth considering about TVs specifically designed to work from a 12v battery. Firstly, they werre designed to be portable and as such were more robustly built than a domestic TV. Whether this is true of the latest versions built for caravans like Avtex I don't know. Secondly being specifically design for 12v, they accept a much wider variation of voltage encountered by the charge and discharge cycle. The TVs with the external 12volt transformer are not capable of that and when run off a battery would very often cut out once the 12v dropped off.
As OC highlights running from an inverter is not a very efficient usage of battery power. If you are going to be off grid and want a TV buy one designed to run off 12v.
peedee
Posted on 17/07/2020 11:00
Thanks everyone for the replies. We have only ever been on electric hook up so a normal TV should be fine. What exactly is the 25m cable called that I will need to plug into the bollard when on site? And where will this plug into the caravan? I’ll try and source one from Amazon this weekend.
Thanks again. Rob
JapanRed
Caravanner