Boondocking / Dry Camping TV's

[Elkhound]

I wanted to pass this on to others that may be looking to replace or upgrade to a LED flat panel TV. If you ever dry camp you know that lack of power affects your experience. I wanted to replace my TV and while looking for models that work on 12v i was amazed to see the cost of those units. I did lots of research and discovered that the 19" and 24" Insignia brand at Best Buy are powered with 12v power adapters. If these sizes work for you, they should after all are you out to enjoy the outdoors or to watch TV? then you just connect them to 12v and you have TV while dry camping without generator running. These units are low power. Rather then wreck the power adapter by cutting the cord I chose to buy new cables with the correct size barrel connector.

Both models are less then $100 on sale, because things always change just confirm they 12v still if this post is older.

Hope this helps others.

[Tom_M1]

Elkhound wrote:
I know this is what was logical to me and confirmed by internet research but my signal is much better when parallel.

Weird!

Quite often TV transmitters are located quite distant from the city they serve. I live in a northwest suburb of Minneapolis and the TV transmitters are located in Shoreview which is a northern suburb of Minneapolis. I point my antenna due east for best reception which would be somewhat parallel to the direction to Minneapolis.

Here's a site for locating TV transmitters: https://www.antennasdirect.com/transmitter-locator.html

[Elkhound]

Tom_M wrote:

Elkhound wrote:
I have a Winegard Sensar w/ wingman but was always wondering the correct way to orientate the antenna. Funny thing is most of posts say to have the blades perpendicular to the line of the signal but mine works best parallel.

Here's a picture that shows a Sensar without the wingman attachment:

I know this is what was logical to me and confirmed by internet research but my signal is much better when parallel.

Weird!

[Tom_M1]

Elkhound wrote:
I have a Winegard Sensar w/ wingman but was always wondering the correct way to orientate the antenna. Funny thing is most of posts say to have the blades perpendicular to the line of the signal but mine works best parallel.

Here's a picture that shows a Sensar without the wingman attachment:

[Elkhound]

darsben1 wrote:
Sceptre, Seiki from Walmart are also hidden 12 volt units

FYI I am pretty sure that the Insigna brand are Toshiba's rebranded. The remote, splash screen and menu are just like my 50" Toshiba at home.

[Elkhound]

Addendum to my post;

I do have the 24" in the main room and the 20" in the bedroom for 2 years now. Reception is good. I have a Winegard Sensar w/ wingman but was always wondering the correct way to orientate the antenna. Funny thing is most of posts say to have the blades perpendicular to the line of the signal but mine works best parallel.

During research and while considering adding the Wingard signal strength meter I found a post where the gentleman said he uses the meter in the TV. I checked and there is a bar menu on the channel page and a more detailed strength meter in the TV's menu area. I now just bring up the detailed meter and turn until I get the strongest signal. That was great info and a find on my TV.

[MrWizard]

The last one I needed, I bought at RADIO shack

[Elkhound]

Naio,

I got mine at Digikey but you can buy them on amazon for less then $6. Just remember to wire the polarity correctly.

[darsben1]

Sceptre, Seiki from Walmart are also hidden 12 volt units

[Chuck_thehammer]

I run my 32 inch flat screen and Driectv receiver off a 400 watt Harbor Fright inverter... with lots of watts to spare..
and its easy on the trailer battery. a couple of rainy days worth.

[1492]

Moved from Forum Technical Support

[Naio]

Elkhound wrote:
I wanted to pass this on to others that may be looking to replace or upgrade to a LED flat panel TV. If you ever dry camp you know that lack of power affects your experience. I wanted to replace my TV and while looking for models that work on 12v i was amazed to see the cost of those units. I did lots of research and discovered that the 19" and 24" Insignia brand at Best Buy are powered with 12v power adapters. If these sizes work for you, they should after all are you out to enjoy the outdoors or to watch TV? then you just connect them to 12v and you have TV while dry camping without generator running. These units are low power. Rather then wreck the power adapter by cutting the cord I chose to buy new cables with the correct size barrel connector.

Both models are less then $100 on sale, because things always change just confirm they 12v still if this post is older.

Hope this helps others.

What a great find! Where did you get the new cables?

[Sandia_Man]

Wish I could but my aging eyes wouldn't enjoy these smaller screen sizes. No issues since we have solar and a 300 watt pure sinewave inverter that runs our 42" HDTV along with our HD satellite with room to spare. Unless AC cooling is needed, we mostly run our generator for convection microwave and my DW and DD's hair appliances. They say it's OK to do your hair when enjoying the great outdoors. We prefer and mostly RV without hookups and utilize our rig's amenities to it's fullest whether plugged in or not. It's the American way after all.