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What Tv ?


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Hi all, i will guess this has been asked before some where, but i would like your thoughts on which is the best TV for the boat. I have a Freeman 25, the sockets aboard are 12v cig sockets. Taking in to account im getting on a bit and the ole eyes aren't what they used to be and the same for the ears :-) so require something that i can view comfortably.

The technical side. So what aerial would i need, as in just an aerial on a cable, drilled and fitted type, or A N Other?

Power consumption is obviously an issue for all of us on a boat, it will be run strictly from leisure battery, so what is the amp draw of most TV's.

Any advise would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance  

Mark

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Hi Mark I suggest the largest flat screen tv you can fit that is a ordinary 240 volt domestic tv and not  cheap make then run it of a coke can inverter or already fitted inverter this way you get more for your money getting a 12volt tv reduces your choice and quality, then run it of a Ballard aerial these are not necessarily better than a conventual one but they are small and inconspicuous and dont get blown of direction and snag on anything when you dismantle it to pack away. John

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I would recommend using a pure sine wave inverter rather than a cheap coke-can inverter. Modified sine wave inverters aren't good longer-term for sensitive electronics. 

If you get a 12v TV, make sure it's one that is designed to work on boats and motorhomes. It it's designed to work with a power brick, it's a bad idea to just connect it to your boat as your boat isn't 12v. You might think it is, but it's 14.4v when charging and any other voltage at other times and a 12v TV with a power brick is expecting 12v constant, not the fluctuating power of your boat. Long story short, it will damage your TV. 

 

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Think this has been discussed before. I use a 24" cello which is designed to run off 12v with dvd and usb, and a small magnetic omnidirectional aerial on the (grp) radar arch 😉. Perfectly adequate. Also note the stand fixings on the back are computer monitor standard so easy to replace with a heavier stand, swing out wall mount or similar.

The cello we have is designed for boats, TVs, caravans etc.

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Whichever tv you decide on, make sure before hand you can view it ok from any angle, our first one was pretty poor if you got more than 40 odd degrees from centre.  The current one is a 'Smart' Sharp and we are well pleased with it.  It's 240v through a pure signwave inverter

Griff

 

BA NBN 1048.JPG

BA NBN 1049.JPG

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On 30/08/2021 at 17:33, Helian said:

Think this has been discussed before. I use a 24" cello which is designed to run off 12v with dvd and usb, and a small magnetic omnidirectional aerial on the (grp) radar arch 😉. Perfectly adequate. Also note the stand fixings on the back are computer monitor standard so easy to replace with a heavier stand, swing out wall mount or similar.

The cello we have is designed for boats, TVs, caravans etc.

Thanks for this, will the cello still require an inverter?

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Even better still, pack the tv back into its box, pour yourself a large glass of whatever tickels your fancy. Sit back and look out the window. Your never see a repeat or suffer bad reception and watching the world go by is truly wonderful and calming. 😉

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1 hour ago, andyg said:

Even better still, pack the tv back into its box, pour yourself a large glass of whatever tickels your fancy. Sit back and look out the window. Your never see a repeat or suffer bad reception and watching the world go by is truly wonderful and calming. 😉

It does get dark sometimes on the Broads you know!

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We've also had a Cello for quite a few  trouble free years. Ours not only has a dvd player it also has a timer/ record facility. Meaning I could still go out to dinner on Saturday nights and not miss Strictly. Having bought  a Cello for the boat I liked it so much I replaced our kitchen t.v. with another Cello but a little larger.  That of course works on mains but we've always used it on the boat on 12v and never found it to be a problem for  the batteries.

 

 

Carole

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CELLO also do a solar powered model in 2 screen sizes, I think. We have a 22 inch one, solar panel sits on the roof and charges the internal battery during daylight hours and saves using the boats domestic batteries. It can also be charged whilst under way by the domestic batteries or, if you can get hooked up, from the mains. Very pleased with ours so far.

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I had a similar decision to make for my Freeman 27, and once I considered my options I went for a Cello Traveller 24". It was around £199 from Amazon, has loads of connections if you want them so you can stick a USB stick in it and record and pause TV, use it with Apple TV, Amazon Fire stick, it has a DVD player built in and work on mains and 12V. You don't need all that stuff of course and using it as a basic TV it's great. Anyway, I'm very happy with it. It's miles better than a cumbersome satellite aerial set up I used in the past.

I got an  aerial from Norwich camping and Leisure for £39 ( Amazon sell them too)

https://www.norwichcamping.co.uk/shop/product/avtex-20db-digital-tv-antenna-4249/

which is easy to stick up either inside or out and is small enough to not be a nuisance. I plug it into the same 12V socket via a splitter and everything works fine. I get over 100 channels of crap to entertain me when I'm aboard including Netflix, Amazon Prime and just about any other thing I want via either a Fire Stick anywhere or - if I'm on shore power - Apple TV.

The current draw of both isn't much. I can't recall how much but at the time I was worried and when I calculated it, it was about 6 amps or so.

I'd buy the same set up again 

 

 


 

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  • 3 weeks later...

We have a Toshiba with a 24 inch screen. Gives a great picture, good sound and runs nicely on the inverter. I'd go for. Cello, on the basis that it is made in the U.K., but I will run this one until it dies first and we have another identical one at home, so Cello won't be getting my cash any time soon.

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53 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

I recently purchased a Cello 24" Good picture but poor sound quality. I have had to buy an external speakeer to get reasonable sound. Apart from that, I'm happy with it.

MM beat me to it. Phoenix mentions his hearing isn't great so I would recommend he listens to a Cello before he buys one.

Could be that it wouldn't be a problem for him, but on the Cello I listened to it wasn't just the volume - speech was mostly unintelligible.

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Yes, as grendel says, it's common. I have found this sound an issue on every modern TV I've owned. IMO none of them, not even just the smaller ones of a 24" size, are physically able to take speakers capable of a good sound. The Cello isn't the worst offender I've heard and actually I listen to it quite happily on board where space is limited. Buy from Amazon and return if unhappy.

I have also found Cello customer service to be very good. They answer the phone quickly and speak to you like a human being. I had an issue with my 12V connector and they solved it by delivering a new connector pretty much the next day with one phone call.

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