How to mount flat screen ??

One of the things I did a few years ago when I mounted ours in the entertainment center was to add a large board to the panel at the back of the space that bolted all the way through the panel and then mounted the tv holder to the board. I thought this would help disperse the weight of the tv over a larger area. This might give you a better chance of hitting some supports and then still be able to mount the tv where you want it in the space.

I used a mount almost identical to yours.

First I made a support board to fit in all the vertical space allowed, while letting it rest on my shelf at the bottom.

Then I put anchor screws into the wall, and from the back of the board, screws to mount the TV mount, which protrude to the front.

I have a piece of foam on the bottom of the TV, which allows it to slide around as I want, plus provides some shock absorbsion during travel.

The biggest benefit is that now its much easier to see than the original Jensen, and has just over twice the square inches of viewing surface.

I had great success with a stud finder, but like others I put up a decorative large plywood surface, then screwed a smaller piece onto the first piece, and then screwed the mounting metal almost through both pieces. When I mounted the smaller piece I added two cloth straps with opposite Velcro ends. When the TV is right back, the Velcro straps hold it securely in place.

I agree that you will need additional support. That is probably no more than 1/8" thick paneling. If you can locate the studs behind you can attach a piece of hardwood plywood finished to blend in with the rest of the woodwork to attach the mount. If you can remove the edge trim you can probably remove that piece of paneling and see exactly what is behind it.

Forget the wall mount, just put it on its own feet, screw the base to the top of the cabinet, then build a matching box around it if you would like.

If the base is solid why couldn't you anchor to the base?

I'd use one of 2 methods.

1. Gonzo42's advice is good, but I'd use the largest T-nuts I could, installed from the back side of the backing board. You can attach the mount using short screws to match the T-nuts.

2. Build a cabinet enclosing the entire area of the shelf with one or two cabinet doors. You could put the mount on the single door or on the a vertical stile between the two doors using T-nuts. That would allow you cabinet space for other video accessories and/or DVD's, etc. You could add a hole through the stile or through the single door to allow cables from the TV to connect to the outlets inside the cabinet. One slight drawback would be having to open the cabinet door to adjust the antenna position.