Noel wrote:
Did a search but not a lot came up. (Could be me). We have two old 2003 CRT TVs in front and bedroom. Front is not in a cabinet. Has plastic trim on the bottom and a steel cage and tray holding it in place. (As I have been told. Not looked, yet). Bedroom TV is screwed into a frame at the bottom and everything is inside a finished cabinet,with no door.
We have a 2011 Winegard Trav'ler SK003 which does not, I think, receive HD signal. So that means I can buy two LCD/LED TVs that are not HD. But if they come with HD...they will work just fine. Is that right?
Probably 720 x 480 is good. And a 60 Hz refresh rate.
I read on this forum about sound and sound bar tips; viewing angle and the three tuners needed. Also an audio out would be good. Smart TV would be overkill for us Luddites.
For the bedroom TV in existing cabinet (opening is 22.5" wide and 19.5" tall): I have asked around and looked at pics on RV forums and it seems a hardwood plank a bit wider can be attached with a piano hinge and the TV can be bolted to the plank with a wall mount or similar. It will open upward so stuff can be stored behind the TV. Maybe a small hydraulic arm would help. A quality latch or magnets will secure TV when driving. So far, so good ?
Front TV needs a good handyman or cabinet person to do this for me. I am not good at woodworking. After cabinet is constructed and mounted....the same procedure as for the bedroom TV will be used. Sound reasonable ?
I need to replace the old 2003 DirecTV receiver up front and also get a new receiver for the bedroom which does not have one now. I will probably go to a local RV service center and have a lot of this done including cable upgrades if needed and maybe I even need a new cable for the new receiver going into the bedroom. (The bedroom TV now gets only the same picture as does the front TV)
Vizeo and Samsung brands mentioned many times. I am leaning towards Best Buy's Insignia brand as they have excellent 160 degree viewing angles. Plus a 5 year service contract will cost me $40.
As you might deduce, I am not the best in consumer electronics or carpentry....so go easy on me when you reply.
Thanks
1) You are correct, the Winegard SK-2003 is SD only and cannot be upgraded to HD without replacing the entire mount (on the same base ring and using the same cabling).
2) You still want to get the best TV you can afford with 1080 so you get that awesome OTA TV picture while suffering with satellite SD. Get as big a TV as possible as the SD picture will still be in the 4:3 (nearly square) format leaving large black bars on each side of the TV which are unusable.
3) If you have any plans to update your Winegard in the near future then I would recommend getting an HD receiver which will work perfectly with your current SD antenna but allow for a future upgrade when you just can't take SD any longer! H24 would be my recommendation. The H25 will not work without some modification and neither will the Genie (HR44).
4) You will not need any interior cabling upgrades unless there is no coax cable running to the 2nd TV, but it sounds like there is. Even if you have RG59, that will be fine inside.
5) Walk to one side of the TV you plan to buy. Generally you should be looking for a TV with a 178 degree viewing angle for the best possible viewing experience.
6) The service contract is just an insurance policy and the insurance company is betting against having to pay off. $40 to cover a $200 TV with the 1st year or 2 actually being covered by the manufacturer? Is that really a good bet? You decide.
We have Visio TV's and I can not recommend them highly enough. We actually got rid of a perfectly good TV and replaced it with our 2nd Vizio.
7)You will be tempted by the price of a 780 Insignia but don't fall for it. Get a 1080 with a 120Hz refresh rate on your bigger, most used TV. The OTA picture will be simply awesome.
