# Which telly



## davebbenelli (Sep 27, 2005)

Hiya. we're almost ready to hit the road for our 1st (Shakedown) trip- find out what we've forgotten to pack- Have we really learned how it all works? etc. Then after a couple of UK outings we would like to tour Europe. (los of short trips rather than one long one) We're not great telly lovers...But wouldn't mind having something worth watching if there's not much else going on in the evenings. I haven't got a clue about Tv in motorhomes and would like some advice or even just views from you professionals. 
Should I go 240 volt. and rely on telly only at a hook up? Or 12 volt and be more independant? Am I gonna need satellite to get anything worth watching. And would that sat system be any use on the continent? At present my Lunar Roadstar has a 'mushroom' shaped aerial on top and a co-ax socket next to a 240v outlet, so I'm guessing it only had terrestial capability before
Is there a sensible set up available that doesn't cost more than the van? Basic info is best folks - suits my intellect.
Many thanks
Dave


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

"Should I go 240 volt. and rely on telly only at a hook up? Or 12 volt and be more independant?"
Mains TV, moderate size max, with 150W fanless inverter to hand.

"Am I gonna need satellite to get anything worth watching. And would that sat system be any use on the continent?"
No you don't NEED satellite, but terrestrial only OK in UK.

"At present my Lunar Roadstar has a 'mushroom' shaped aerial on top"
You won't put up with that terrestrial aerial for long 

As to satellite setups, the world is your oyster (no pun intended). Read of the options on MHF.

Dave


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## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

davebbenelli said:


> At present my Lunar Roadstar has a 'mushroom' shaped aerial on top and a co-ax socket next to a 240v outlet, so I'm guessing it only had terrestial capability before


That actually is a mushroom. Look for damp in roof 8)


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## GerryD (Sep 20, 2007)

There are plenty of 12V TVs around and many of them with Freeview built in. Don't buy too big, we have a 10" screen, perfect when you are no more than 6foot away. Remember, bigger screen means bigger picture errors and bigger current drain.


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## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

GerryD said:


> Don't buy too big, we have a 10" screen, perfect when you are no more than 6foot away


Us too. It's a camping TV, which is either mains or 12V dc, and is designed to work on the variable 12V supply you get in motorhomes. Expensive, though.

Our old van had a mushroom, but our latest has the Status 530, which is directional, and a bit better. It still won't help when you're camped in a dip, though, which is where the satellite comes into its own.

On satellite, you'll need a dish and a receiver / decoder. You can buy a kit from Maplin and Lidl and Aldi for around £50 - £70, which has got everything you need (apart from the telly), but reception is limited by the size of the dish and how accurately you can set it up. Going up from that, you can have manual wind-up dishes and fully automatic dishes, and you can spend heading up to £2000 on it if you want.

There's much, much more you might want to know (e.g. what you need to watch Eastenders in the south of France, but thast's for a later date or a forum search, maybe.

Gerald


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## Telbell (May 1, 2005)

Depends on how important watching telly is- reading between the lines it seems it isnt all that important & it's a "if there's nowt else to do" pastime.

In which case I wouldn't be bothered with satellite.

Pete and Dave are in effect saying (I think) you'd be better off with a directional (status 530-type) aerial than the one you have- and I agree

Enjoy!!


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## dbh1961 (Apr 13, 2007)

As already mentioned, it depends how much you want to spend

Your existing aerial will be of little use, especially abroad.:

1)It works by picking up every signal it can, but the downside is that it can't focus on one particular signal.
2) French TV uses a different signal system, so you'd need a more expensive TV to convert it.

If you just want something to watch occasionally, and don't want to spend a fortune, why not get a few DVDs? A DVD player and a few discs will be cheaper than a new aerial or a sat TV setup.

You don't even need to buy a TV - just get a DVD player with a screen.

Or a cheap laptop.

Lots of options really - only you can decdie which to pick.


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

"Pete"

Ah. I see you've discovered yet another of G's _nom-de-plumes_. It's so he doesn't get it in the neck over his waffle, you know ;-)

Dave


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## davebbenelli (Sep 27, 2005)

*Which Telly*

Thank you all for your replies, must check when I get home if the mushroom is organic!! I've taken note on all your comments and the idea of sticking with a dvd player and a few choice films seems ideal. Now I can start to 'gen up' on those and see whats available. Maybe my laptop screen would be big enough? Food for thought, which is exactly what I needed. Many thanks-Dave


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## andyman (Aug 31, 2006)

Argos LCD tv for £79


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## charliebarnwell (Aug 16, 2006)

If you already have a laptop why not get one of these:

ebay item number: 180217438476

will even do the tv system used in France. I think you will need the status 530 though!

Barny


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## davebbenelli (Sep 27, 2005)

*which telly*

Can't go wrong at that price I guess Andyman. Good thought. Use it and bin it when it packs up.
Dave


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## davebbenelli (Sep 27, 2005)

*which telly*

Thanks Barney. Had a look at that too. Worth a try. 
Thanks Dave


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

If you can run to it then a hard disk player that records and burns a disk from the TV is a good buy. That waya you can store up a load of TV films, series, plays etc and take them with you as DVDs. We bought a DVD player for £19 and it works as well as its ( much) more expensive counterpart at home. A lot smaller too. Alternatively a hard disk player where you store the TV programmes and take them with you to play directly on the TV.

Incidentally we always try the Freeview box and Status 530 aerial when we are in Europe and usually manage to get at least one local programme- enough to keep abreast of the local weather and news anyway. We don't go much for TV when we're away but you can't beat a good DVD on a cold, dark winter night !

G


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## davebbenelli (Sep 27, 2005)

*which telly*

good stuff Grizzly. Thanks. I'm gonna stick to a cheapo lcd tv/dvd combo and a few discs.....maybe home recorded as you suggest. Just off to look for a status 530. 
Dave


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

*Re: which telly*



davebbenelli said:


> good stuff Grizzly. Thanks. I'm gonna stick to a cheapo lcd tv/dvd combo and a few discs.....maybe home recorded as you suggest. Just off to look for a status 530.
> Dave


We collect a lot of our DVDs from the newspapers. Look in your local charity shop. They are not allowed to sell these but very often have a box of them for a donation - ours suggests 50p each. Local library is a good source too- they sell off the hire stock for about £1 per disk.

G


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## charliebarnwell (Aug 16, 2006)

Forgot to mention, these are fantastic you even get to play the old ping pong/space invaders games

ebay number: 250218066597

Barny


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*TV*

Hey,

If you want any TV on the continent in English you will need a sat system. Otherwise you will need a TV with multi-standard tuner, thats PAL & Secam.

Freeview.

90% of places we have stayed, we have been unable to get a signal for normal TV and Freeview has been virtually non existant.

Our system is

Maxview Crank-up £350 Snellyvision
Dreambox £80 ebay
Toshiba 15" LCD TV with Multi-Standard Tuner £120 Jessops online

Total Cost £550

I have linked the twin screen DVD player into the above that our Daughters bought me for my Birthday (clever kids!). Cost Unknown

I would forget Freeview.

Hope this helps?

Trev.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

*Re: TV*



teemyob said:


> If you want any TV on the continent in English you will need a sat system. Otherwise you will need a TV with multi-standard tuner, thats PAL & Secam.
> Freeview.
> 90% of places we have stayed, we have been unable to get a signal for normal TV and Freeview has been virtually non existant.
> .


We've not had this problem Trev. Most of the places we have tried on the continent - in Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France, have had plenty of channels available through the Freeview box. They were all local programmes and so no use to anyone wanting to watch UK TV but the reception was as clear and sharp as anywhere in UK. The polarity of the aerial does matter. We usually try to see what we can get simply out of curiousity. Sometimes -especially in Austria, we've been able to watch English language films which have been subtitled for local audiences.

G


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Re: TV*



Grizzly said:


> teemyob said:
> 
> 
> > If you want any TV on the continent in English you will need a sat system. Otherwise you will need a TV with multi-standard tuner, thats PAL & Secam.
> ...


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Re: TV*



Grizzly said:


> teemyob said:
> 
> 
> > If you want any TV on the continent in English you will need a sat system. Otherwise you will need a TV with multi-standard tuner, thats PAL & Secam.
> ...


Hello Grizzly,

Must be our Antenna then, we could only get Freeview in limited areas, usually in front of Winter Hill or Sutton Coldfield anyone else?.

Trev.


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## bobandjane (Dec 29, 2007)

We have a tv /built in freeveiw status ariel cant remember the last time we used it. A bit like the genny still thats another story you buy all this stuff you dont need. What we do is take the laptop which we use for autoroute wifi when possible and then watching dvds,you dont have to set it up and you can be anywhere spain france germany just the same result prefect.But you still cant beat good company and a bottle of red enjoy bobandjane.


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## 96299 (Sep 15, 2005)

Hi all

Does anyone happen to use one of those avtex jobbies?They seem to have everything built in,inc freeview.Just wondering if they were any good performance wise and do they justify the money.

steve


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