TV help needed

[lauramumof3]

yes yes i know i know

we have a tv which in general is only used in emergencies ie when the kids are bouncing from sofa to sofa or its too dark or wet to play outside thats when we let them have a dvd on (after we have played card/board games -and argued and had tears over whos lossed etc etc!) anyway..................... we like to sit and watch sometimes with them and we all have trouble seeing the picture its a small LCD telly with a dvd built in nice tv with good sound but if your in the wrong place you just see a black screen which is very annoying.............!
any ideas??
have thought about getting a second hand old telly/dvd we would need a digi box i know.
what do you have?
thankyou and please no comments about not needing the tv as ive said its only really winter/rubbish weather settling down viewing

 

[Parksy]

Hi Laura
Without knowing the layout of your caravan it's hard to say, you may be able to re-site the tv for a better view perhaps.
You don't need to make excuses to watch tv, it's your caravan, your holiday and your decision about what you do when you are in your own caravan.
I make absolutely no apology when I say that we watch tv in our caravan whenever we feel like it. I'm careful to make sure that the sound doesn't carry to annoy those in neighbouring caravans but apart from that if somebody tried to tell me what to do in my own caravan either in person or via the internet I'd tell them to take a running jump!

 

[nickmac73]

hi,
i'm guessing this is for your van and if you like a bit of tv entertainement good for you, i know i do..
we got a white 22" bush from argos for just under a £100 with freeview and dvd built in then got a freesat box for £40...there was a dish 'best of list' in the pc magazine...i'd choose one of those...connect the appropriate co-ax cables between these and bingo...you can also purchase meters to find your best signal though your freesat box will tell you also....thats if you want tv of course...
otherwise get a new tv with dvd and watch a good movie...22" around £100.....

 

[Sproket]

We had the same problem till i did this .........

I fitted this the other year for mounting the tv on,
1 under shelf tv mount
http://i831.photobucket.com/albums/zz237/Sproket_01/undershelftvmount001.jpg2 under shelf tv mount
http://i831.photobucket.com/albums/zz237/Sproket_01/undershelftvmount007.jpg3 under shelf tv mount
http://i831.photobucket.com/albums/zz237/Sproket_01/undershelftvmount012.jpg4 under shelf tv mount
http://i831.photobucket.com/albums/zz237/Sproket_01/undershelftvmount013.jpgyou can get the perfect angle now to watch tv.

The TV is now fastened on by a Quick_Release_LCD_TV_Wall_Mounting_Bracket
It take longer to put it back in the box than to mount/dismount it, these photos are when i first put it up.

 

[lauramumof3]

ta fellas made me feel better!!
its a bailey ranger 5 berth got a little flip down tv stand with sockets next to the wardrobe with the fire/heater under it.
Is mounting better then? would we mount under the overhead lockers then? still novices really..........

 

[lauramumof3]

oh yes i see the photos now! good idea never thought about that! i like the tv we have dont really want to replace it as it was a decent one and i have a thing about sound- some tvs give off that high pitched noise the type of noise to deter unruley kids and cats hahaha well i can hear it from some tvs drives me mad. I will tell my husband about that anyway thankyou.

 

[Martin24]

Our three (8, 10, 12) play games or do creative stuff and the TV stays at home

 

[Parksy]

Our three (8, 10, 12) play games or do creative stuff and the TV stays at home

Each to their own Martin

Most people including young families that I know who have tourers take the tv, i-pod, computer games etc.
Children can learn to be creative and play games using a computer and things like Kindle are replacing paper copies of books.
Electronic books are much more environmentally friendly than hard copies and they need far less space and weigh less.
A computer game takes up less space and weighs much less than a compendium of games and many more games can be stored on a tiny multi media card or usb flash drive smaller than a cigarette lighter than in series of cardboard boxes.
We have a lcd tv with Freeview that stays with the caravan, it runs off 12v and uses very little power. My i-pod means that I don't have to lug boxes of cd's around and the i-pod can be played over the caravan stereo with no moving parts, yet more environmentally friendly electronics because the i-pod uses far less battery power than the cd player.
It's great that children get away from the home routine in the caravan, most of the kids on the rallies that we attend have to be more or less forced to stay in whatever the weather because they love to play outside, but there is definitely a place for environmentally friendly 21st century electronic technology in touring caravans for those who want to embrace it.

 

[hunny1]

We used to have the same problem with a Wharfedale LCD telly/cd. After a bit of research we changed the tv to one with a greater viewing angle which is fine now.

Hunny

 

[Martin24]

Our three (8, 10, 12) play games or do creative stuff and the TV stays at home

Each to their own Martin

Most people including young families that I know who have tourers take the tv, i-pod, computer games etc.
Children can learn to be creative and play games using a computer and things like Kindle are replacing paper copies of books.
Electronic books are much more environmentally friendly than hard copies and they need far less space and weigh less.
A computer game takes up less space and weighs much less than a compendium of games and many more games can be stored on a tiny multi media card or usb flash drive smaller than a cigarette lighter than in series of cardboard boxes.
We have a lcd tv with Freeview that stays with the caravan, it runs off 12v and uses very little power. My i-pod means that I don't have to lug boxes of cd's around and the i-pod can be played over the caravan stereo with no moving parts, yet more environmentally friendly electronics because the i-pod uses far less battery power than the cd player.
It's great that children get away from the home routine in the caravan, most of the kids on the rallies that we attend have to be more or less forced to stay in whatever the weather because they love to play outside, but there is definitely a place for environmentally friendly 21st century electronic technology in touring caravans for those who want to embrace it.

And probably always on an EHU! The charging of three ipods in the car isn't at all viable, and as for the DS's etc as well........... Don't worry I'm just as grumpy at home and wouldn't have a television at home either given the choice, which of course is something I don't have in house full of females!

 

[Parksy]

And probably always on an EHU!

As you probably know I'm mainly on solar power with an 80watt roof mounted panel although I never turn my nose up at a cheap ehu if there's one available

There's only the two of us and we have two 110 amp/hour leisure batteries, one on the caravan and the other at home on the C-TEK.
I swap the batteries over every six weeks or so because my caravan is stored under cover so no solar charge is available in storage.
The reason that I use an i-pod with a 12v transmitter is so that I can use it on the stereo, the electronic device uses a fraction of my available 12v compared to the cd player.
It's possible to use small reasonably inexpensive solar chargers for things like i-pods, mobile phones etc although I just use the 12v sockets for charging because there's just us and no youngsters.

 

[Martin24]

I do of course charge my Ipod up in the car!!!! Just the peeps that can't!!!

 

[lauramumof3]

as i said i didnt want comments about what you think i should be doing! my kids are 3,6,8 so a bit younger and probably a little how shall i put it-"bouncier" especially the just turned 3 year old lad who absolutly loves being outside he hates being in but sometimes as i said outsides either not an option or he needs to be settled down for half an hour.
anyway more importantly it is a wharfedale lcd/dvd !
hunny, what did you get in the end?

 

[Southy1]

Hi
Never be afraid to admit you have a TV. I had 14 blokes in my old Bailey Pageant watching Rugby one day, beer and wine a plenty and a superb unplanned day. One of the best social days I have ever had in a caravan! Cramped but who cares. Had a Barbeque after the match, everyone chipped in with something and we had 33 round the fire. Perfect!!

I have a 19" Meos TV with built in DVD in the lounge, works brilliantly and very easy to watch. Never had a problem. We also have a smaller one in the bedroom (15") which does have a slight issue when watched from the wrong angle. I think the screan size does make a difference.

 

[lauramumof3]

perhaps its too small then? we will maybe have to see about getting a new one.