tv in europe

[Christopher_5130774]

Hi

I think I may be a bit thick but I cannot get my head around whether a uk tv (lcd) will operate in the van using the electricity on site in france or italy. Sorry I am a newcomer to caravaning. Can anyone please adevise

Thanks

Chris

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Chris,

There are two issues here:

1. Electricity in Europe - all of Europe (which includes the UK) has a standard mains voltage (230V / 50Hz) which is legally allowed to vary by +5% and -10%.

All modern appliances, such as a TV, will work within these supply tolerances. But you may experience the odd brown out on camp sites if too many people use too much power and slug the site power.

So your UK TV will switch on and operate safely.

2. But what signal will it receive?

If you were expecting to pick up UK analogue or digital (Freeview) services via a roof aerial - then forget it - TV is broadcast on a line of sight basis - and the nearest UK TV transmitters are way over the horizon (with the possible exception of the "Pas de Calais")

If you speak other languages, then can your TV receive those broadcasts? Probably not. The UK uses one PAL standard, France another, etc., and unless you have a multi-standard TV - it just won't display an image.

If you are going to take a UK satellite disk with you - then you'll be outside the primary reception area (the UK) of the satellite, and a larger (than standard) dish is needed.

Robert

 

[taffia]

Hi Chris,

There are two issues here:

1. Electricity in Europe - all of Europe (which includes the UK) has a standard mains voltage (230V / 50Hz) which is legally allowed to vary by +5% and -10%.

All modern appliances, such as a TV, will work within these supply tolerances. But you may experience the odd brown out on camp sites if too many people use too much power and slug the site power.

So your UK TV will switch on and operate safely.

2. But what signal will it receive?

If you were expecting to pick up UK analogue or digital (Freeview) services via a roof aerial - then forget it - TV is broadcast on a line of sight basis - and the nearest UK TV transmitters are way over the horizon (with the possible exception of the "Pas de Calais")

If you speak other languages, then can your TV receive those broadcasts? Probably not. The UK uses one PAL standard, France another, etc., and unless you have a multi-standard TV - it just won't display an image.

If you are going to take a UK satellite disk with you - then you'll be outside the primary reception area (the UK) of the satellite, and a larger (than standard) dish is needed.

Robert

I must take issue with that Rob.

Our mini dish works as far south as pisa,and the costa brava.

Andrew

 

[rob_jax]

I must take issue with that Rob.

Our mini dish works as far south as pisa,and the costa brava.

Andrew

Hi Andrew,

That's a moot point - it all depends on the signal quality you can achieve - you may have a much better quality LNB that others, or be more precise in your setting up - the general advice for people is as they move away from the primary reception area they should use an increasingly larger dish.

I believe that the normal SKY dish is 45cm for most of the UK and 60 cm for parts of Scotland. And the commercial outlets recommend a 90 cm dish for Northern Italy or bigger.

Robert

 

[Le Chant]

I have 2 dishes on my house here in the Loire Valley. One's a 'normal' sized digital dish as brought by me from the UK. The other's a 60cm dish left by the previous owners. There is NO difference in signal strength or output between them. There's no loss in signal strength to the gites either.

I feed off them with two 'Raven' 4-way LNB's. They're 'standard' sized LNB's. I've also used a standard LNB as supplied by BSkyB with no problems at all.

A 45cm dish will work right down into northern Spain, and as far as Italy and Portugal with no problems at all as related to me by guests we've had staying here. These are the standard suitcase kits as supplied by Aldi, Netto et al.

 

[Lutz]

If you intend to travel around a lot within Europe, satellite is really the only alternative. There are several systems of analogue TV around the Continent (UK is PAL-I, France is SECAM, most of the others PAL-B and -G). Digital terrestrial TV doesn't suffer from such a multiplicity and, besides, analogue transmissions have already been shut off in some parts of the Continent, but even so, satellite is a better bet as there are also still areas not covered by digital yet. Even with a sat system, analogue is of limited use to anyone expecting much in the way of a selection of channels in English so digital satellite would be the way to go. Depending on where you are, with a relatively small dish, you'd have to be satisfied with a limited selection of broadcasts in English as the Astra 2 satellite which transmits the vast majority, has a very small footprint which is beamed primarily towards the British Isles and may require an unreasonably large dish when far away. However, if you're happy just to keep up with news in English, BBC World, CNBC and CNN can be picked up just about anywhere (almost anywhere in the World) from a multitude of different satellites.

 

[Alistair_5094954]

Last year we took our 15 inch LCD television with us to the south west coast of France to watch the World cup.Saw all the games - no problem.

Just did an auto tune and picked the local and Spanish stations.

Alistair

 

[Christopher_5130774]

Thank all,

I appreciate all your comments, I only raelly need the tv to play dvds. However now as my better half has been reading the forum I am thinking of buying a satelite suitcase.

Thanks

chris

 

[BJ]

Have a look at this great website about Satellite TV.

http://www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk/

 

[john_374300705]

you can pick up UK tv in normandy which is coming from the channel Islands but a more sensible idea which will provide you with hours of fun (finding the signal) would be a satalite dish

 

[ValA.]

We spent ten days at Le Boucanet, next to a guy who from morning to night was in and out tuning his dish, to watch Look North! He just got it perfect, and then moved on! Have to say it's much better watching the sunsets, the flamingoes, and fine-tuning the barbecue, having conversations with neighbours from France, Spain and Portugal, and walking about in the balmy evenings! Even in a thunderstorm we sat on the beach and watched the awesome lightning out over the sea. Much more interesting than keeping up with the latest news, or soaps.

 

[chrissie2]

I have to say, I absolutely agree with you, Valerie. But if other people want something different, that is fine so long as they don't intrude on my enjoyment, as happened last year. We had a Dutch chap next to us, who spent hours tuning in his system, using some sort of hand-held device that emitted a high-pitched whine. This was so bad that, despite the hot weather, we had to retreat into our caravan. Fortunately, the next morning, when he started again, the neighbour on the other side, also Dutch, told him in no uncertain terms to stop being such a pain.

I've never been very bothered by other people's TVs on site, but this device (are they common?) really was the limit.

 

[Lutz]

I hate those audible signal strength meters, too. I much prefer the visual variety, preferable with a needle indicator.

 

[Christopher_374301222]

Yes your LCD TV will work in the van on the continent. However, some sites are 'Reverse Polarity' and the easiest way to find out is with a voltage check plug. Before you go, simply make yourself a small cable (about 1.5 foot will surfice) or buy one with the 2 blue plugs that are normally found on your caravan mains cables for the UK BUT reverse the Positive and Negative wires in one of them, then mark the cable REVERSE POLARITY.

When you arrive in the continent use the plug first and it should tell you if its reverse polarity or not.

Also, sometimes the sites use continental 2 pin plug systems you will probably need one of these aswell. Again they are about a foot long.

 

[Lutz]

The LCD TV will work whichever way round the polarity is connected. The reverse polarity check has nothing to do with the TV itself but with safety of the electrical system in general.

 

[Christopher_374301222]

The LCD TV will work whichever way round the polarity is connected. The reverse polarity check has nothing to do with the TV itself but with safety of the electrical system in general.

Very True - sorry if I misled anyone. The polarity issue was meant purely as a point of interest from a fellow caravanner who fell foul of that problem onnce in France and ended up mucking about with cables.