TV Equipment

A

ALTYGEZZER555

VIP Member
Messages
44
Location
Altrincham
Vehicle
T6 Ocean 150
Hi I'm new to camper-vanning and wish to ask for guidance on setting up and acquiring what I shall need to get TV reception on my travels.
I have a fairly new 12v 20" portable free-view tv. I have looked at aerial's on-line but not sure what to look out for to get the best reception.
I have a Cali Ocean with a rear fitted bike rack and wonder if a mast and attachments fitted to that (when setting up on sites) is an available option?
Any assistance and advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
If you need TV I’d be inclined to stream over the Internet via a tablet computer. Probably as cheap, certainly less faff and hardware.
 
Hi I'm new to camper-vanning and wish to ask for guidance on setting up and acquiring what I shall need to get TV reception on my travels.
I have a fairly new 12v 20" portable free-view tv. I have looked at aerial's on-line but not sure what to look out for to get the best reception.
I have a Cali Ocean with a rear fitted bike rack and wonder if a mast and attachments fitted to that (when setting up on sites) is an available option?
Any assistance and advice would be greatly appreciated.


I bought a clamp for the awning rail and standard log periodic aerial. The feed from the aerial connects to a lead with an F type fitting that runs from the front passenger seat /kitchen cupboard to the rear left corner cupboard and exits via the rear light cluster wiring and mounts just below the left gas strut.
About 2 mins to mount aerial to mast and van, connect up and locate transmitter.
NB you must find out whether aerial is in horizontal or vertical orientation.
Plenty of apps give transmitter info in locality. Alternatively look at any nearby houses for this info.

Aerial lives with chairs in tailgate and mast (£12 B&Q) fits in the through load between the kitchen table and seat unless you have the optional storage box in this location.
Would also store in the upper bed but must lie in the centre area.

You may need an aerial amp for poor signal areas as well but in 3 years this has not failed.
Having said that streaming would be easier if you only want BBC, ITV hub etc but will depend on data speed where you are

0F0B0BCF-F7E5-4BBB-BA58-0D03A3BDF71F.jpeg
 
I have one of these - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B007JPOX8O?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
it seems to work well inside the van, unless you are in the middle of nowhere, but for the size gets good signal, and apparently its magnetic, so it turns the van body work into an aerial as well depending where you put it.
I have one very similar to yours. Had it for about 6 years. If I recall it cost me around £35 at the time that’s 3 times the price of yours but it does have a 5 metre cable and weighs 400 grams so not lightweight.
Obviously doesn’t work everywhere and have spent ages trying to pick up a good signal. At the time it had the best reviews.

image.jpg
 
We watch TV on an iPad. Either streamed services such as iPlayer/Netflix/Amazon if there’s good quality Wi-Fi or 4g available. (We have an unlimited data SIM)
Or if not, we use an August receiver and aerial for broadcast TV which has worked very well.
We also download a few films before a trip in case none of the above is possible (which has quite often been the case).
Note that some campsites have a TV point on each pitch, so worth carrying a long co-ax lead in the van.

38E3227B-3C84-4D24-9E7E-B4AF385E75CF.png

066C47C7-DE64-4B1D-948A-6B05E60CC6F3.png
 
I use IPTV

Far less faff and watch all the channels in the world

Use my iPad and need atleast 2mbs download speed to watch live tv
 
If you need TV I’d be inclined to stream over the Internet via a tablet computer. Probably as cheap, certainly less faff and hardware.
Spot on. I went down the TV route, aerial, (Tony Hancock for those who remember his tv aerial sketch). TV, cable, Arial, remote control, constantly re tuning etc. Then used a phone, then hotspotted a tablet from the phone. Netflix, Disney, iplayer etc. minimum storage. As long as you have enough data, this certainly is the way to go. You can also read your books, newspapers, check your maps et al via the tablet.
 
Where do you store a 20 inch TV in a California?

By way of an update here is what the TV soft shell case (with a stiffened face to protect the TV screen) looks like in the drawer and the storage cubes (IKEA) that fit underneath and support the tv case at the correct height to allow the drawer to close.
Couple of days of clothes, socks, underwear etc can be stuffed into the cubes.

287C2D44-D773-41F8-A502-143FCA22267F.jpegFFEC5A1F-C7A8-457E-9B0A-EB5B74C10778.jpeg3E5C7827-8A6E-4AEB-A1D7-178E488E1C79.jpeg
 
I bought a clamp for the awning rail and standard log periodic aerial. The feed from the aerial connects to a lead with an F type fitting that runs from the front passenger seat /kitchen cupboard to the rear left corner cupboard and exits via the rear light cluster wiring and mounts just below the left gas strut.
About 2 mins to mount aerial to mast and van, connect up and locate transmitter.
NB you must find out whether aerial is in horizontal or vertical orientation.
Plenty of apps give transmitter info in locality. Alternatively look at any nearby houses for this info.

Aerial lives with chairs in tailgate and mast (£12 B&Q) fits in the through load between the kitchen table and seat unless you have the optional storage box in this location.
Would also store in the upper bed but must lie in the centre area.

You may need an aerial amp for poor signal areas as well but in 3 years this has not failed.
Having said that streaming would be easier if you only want BBC, ITV hub etc but will depend on data speed where you are

View attachment 102667
I thank you for your very detailed response and I will go down that route to see if it works for me. The pic helps too!
 
I have one very similar to yours. Had it for about 6 years. If I recall it cost me around £35 at the time that’s 3 times the price of yours but it does have a 5 metre cable and weighs 400 grams so not lightweight.
Obviously doesn’t work everywhere and have spent ages trying to pick up a good signal. At the time it had the best reviews.

View attachment 102678
Cheers for that advice and the pics that explain everything.
 
We watch TV on an iPad. Either streamed services such as iPlayer/Netflix/Amazon if there’s good quality Wi-Fi or 4g available. (We have an unlimited data SIM)
Or if not, we use an August receiver and aerial for broadcast TV which has worked very well.
We also download a few films before a trip in case none of the above is possible (which has quite often been the case).
Note that some campsites have a TV point on each pitch, so worth carrying a long co-ax lead in the van.

View attachment 102691

View attachment 102692
Brill thanks so much. You went a long way to show the way you get what is needed. I will follow this through and can't thank you enough.
 
We use a small August portable TV. Some sites have a TV aerial socket on the bollard, so we just use a length of co-ax cable to connect to it. On sites with no TV provision, we use an Avtex aerial that sticks to the outside window of the van, then feed the cable through the passenger door. The aerial is powered off the 12v socket behind the passenger seat.

This is the aerial we use:


Costs about £40. Works well in most areas, we can get up to 120 digital tv channels. Even worked in the Welsh mountains and the Outer Hebrides.
 
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