Well we have the tent and pretty much all of our bits and pieces are assembled and ready for our foray into "grey nomad world" in January.I know this seems to defeat the purpose of camping etc but what do you guys do as far as TV reception goes? we recently acquired a small TV and thought it would be ideal to take with us as there are a few programs we like to watch as well as keeping up with current affairs etc. so how does it work? do we need some kind of antenna or does an indoor one suffice?
Thanks to you all for your advice re where to stay while awaiting the Spirit of Tassie departure.We are booked at the big 4 at Chelsea for our stay prior to boarding.
Can'twait!
Happywanderer said
08:34 PM Nov 12, 2011
Not sure if I can help you sue e, still haven't sorted out my own tv yet. Just wondered, if you are tenting just where do you intend plugging it into the power. You would have to book into powered sites I presume. Most nomads have an outside aerial up high off their vans for good reception.
Dave83 said
09:39 PM Nov 12, 2011
A brand that I see a lot of in tv antennas for campers etc is Winegard. I don't know anything about their performance, but they seem to be popular. Perhaps google that to get an idea of what could work?
Otherwise, whether you need a specialised antenna or not really depends on a lot of things, especially your distance from the tv station's transmitter. Your indoor antenna might work near major towns, but I suspect you'll have trouble by the time you get out of the city limits of most places.
pauline said
09:40 PM Nov 12, 2011
That is what I was thinking Marg also, if you are in a tent where would you plug in??????????????
blaze said
09:42 PM Nov 12, 2011
Our tv is 12 volt HW, so just hook to the car battery. You will need an antenna and maybe a extendable tent pole to mount it on, Stick the pole in the ground with 3 guy ropes, mount the antenna, plug the lead into the tv, tune the, tune the station. hey presto tv in a tent. cheers blaze
Sheba said
11:09 PM Nov 12, 2011
You beat me to it Blaze. I only ever free-camp, so never have 240 power.
I have a 12V tv, that I can plug into the house [Solar] battery.
Lots of reasonably priced ones around these days. Kogan brand seems to be popular for on the road users.
Cheers,
Sheba.
-- Edited by Sheba on Saturday 12th of November 2011 11:10:16 PM
justjo said
01:13 AM Nov 13, 2011
I have a 12v called vivid and worked perfectly whilst I was travelling along with the wineguard aerial. Draws very little power.
Jo
sue e said
06:38 AM Nov 13, 2011
We will be staying in powered sites as hubby needs it for his CPAP machine.We will be all electric so no probs with gas bottles.We may get more adventurous as we become more experienced.Have been reading about power packs and am thinking that may be good for the short stay type trips in the future. the one I read about is "projecta 900a jumpstarter and power supply". Anyone had any experince with these?We would love to have a day or 2 in the Bunya Mountains which is not far from home but there are no powered sites there so thinking this would be good just to run the CPAP machine. we would just use camp facilities then.
lyn-n-ken said
06:40 AM Nov 13, 2011
hi we have a kingray get the best reception wherever we go , its the most unlikley looking but gee it works great. has an extention pole. people at parks ask us about it all the time as they are not getting a good reception. even had people next to us once with a brand new van and built in fancy antenna our reception was way better then theirs, so they went and bought a dish and we still got better. been staying at our daughters in wyongah and we put it up and we get more channels than their fixed antenna. good luck with your travels and you should take anything you want/need when you travel be it tv of whatever you will soon know what to hang on to. hubby would cease to exsist without the telly. but then i have my PC.:) lyn
Dougwe said
07:00 AM Nov 13, 2011
Hi Sue e, I have a Saturn antenna you do need some sort of antenna, the Saturn has a built in booster. They are a little on the expensive side and I havn't used it a lot just yet. You can have a few probs with digital tv with pixelation etc if in a poor reception area. I have a tv with built in dvd player so I just take dvd's for when no or poor reception, I can't stand it when the reception is poor now we have digital tv, just hate pixelation.
jimricho said
07:32 AM Nov 13, 2011
sue e wrote:
We will be staying in powered sites as hubby needs it for his CPAP machine.We will be all electric so no probs with gas bottles.We may get more adventurous as we become more experienced.Have been reading about power packs and am thinking that may be good for the short stay type trips in the future. the one I read about is "projecta 900a jumpstarter and power supply". Anyone had any experince with these?We would love to have a day or 2 in the Bunya Mountains which is not far from home but there are no powered sites there so thinking this would be good just to run the CPAP machine. we would just use camp facilities then.
A CPAP machine will run quite satisfactorily off a small pure sine wave inverter connected to a 12v battery. Having a jump starter would be a big advantage as you can use this instead of the car battery for the TV and the inverter thus removing the risk of a flat battery next morning. I would suggest going for a starter larger than a 900amp job, preferably 1500 or 1900amp (these jump starter ratings are a piece of deceptive fiction but that's another story, however they do give an indication of the size of the unit)
Supercheap have a 300 watt pure sine wave inverter for a reasonable price as well as 1500amp and 1900amp jumpstarters.
This would free you up for your few days at the Bunya Mountains. (A beautiful spot, you won't want to leave!)
Regarding the antenna, If you check out the "Explorer" antenna at http://www.explorer-rv.com.au/ you may find what you need. The Explorer comes complete with all the bits you need apart from a mast or pole but they supply these too. It packs down to a neat package suitable for campers with limited storage space. Explorer is stocked by many caravan accessory shops.
"lyn-n-ken" speak well of their Kingray so maybe they'll give you more information on it (model, type etc) if you wish to follow up that line of enquiry.
The quality of the TV reception will vary greatly depending on your location at the time. If camping in the Bunya Mountains a "piece of wet string" would work as the TV transmitters for that area are located there.
I very much doubt that a Winegard would suit your specific needs as it's my understanding that these are more suited to fixed installations in caravans or motorhomes.
-- Edited by jimricho on Sunday 13th of November 2011 07:42:44 AM
03_troopy said
08:26 AM Nov 13, 2011
lyn-n-ken wrote:
hi we have a kingray get the best reception wherever we go , its the most unlikley looking but gee it works great. has an extention pole. people at parks ask us about it all the time as they are not getting a good reception. even had people next to us once with a brand new van and built in fancy antenna our reception was way better then theirs, so they went and bought a dish and we still got better. been staying at our daughters in wyongah and we put it up and we get more channels than their fixed antenna. good luck with your travels and you should take anything you want/need when you travel be it tv of whatever you will soon know what to hang on to. hubby would cease to exsist without the telly. but then i have my PC.:) lyn
You don't happen to know the model number of the antenna do you lyn?
Tim Robinson said
08:30 AM Nov 13, 2011
Thanks for the tip Jim
I have just e-mailed Sat TV in Cabolture who are our nearest stockists of Explorer Compact Antenna Systems, for prices. We will be down in North Brisabne area from Wednesday next week on the way to the Gold Coast for the World Rugby Sevens so we can call in and pick up a system if the price is not to heavy.
Once again thanks for the tip
Tim & Stella Miria-Robinson
sue e said
08:35 AM Nov 13, 2011
thanks all! Will follow all that up! We don't watch a lot of tv and when we do it is on the ABC or SBS mostly- unfortunately these seem to be the most difficult channels to access. Thanks for your advice re the power pack jimricho. will certainly follow that up! Lyn how do you get on for the internet when you are travelling? I would like to take our lap top to keep in touch with family while we are away but wasn't sure how this worked. Do many carvan parks have internet?
My hubby would cease to exsist without his CPAP machine- in fact I would too as the snoring is to be heard to be believed.!
-- Edited by sue e on Sunday 13th of November 2011 08:37:40 AM
_wombat_ said
09:07 AM Nov 13, 2011
have you looked into a vast system, no ariel required, but you do need to carry a sat dish
For my part, I rarely watch TV on the road, except maybe for a bit of Rugby. SWMBO however likes to relax with a few favourites & it's important to keep her happy.
To take the guess work out of the question of what stations should I get & where the transmitters are, I have downloaded the information on TV stations from the 'wanderingtews.com' web site. They have gone to a lot of trouble in downloading the information from the ACMA radio & TV stations handbook, and put the information into a more user friendly fashion. It is regularly updated. A great resource.
Also when driving into a new location I look at how the antennas are set up on the local houses or even the fixed ones in the CP buildings. Indicates the direction of the transmitters & the signal polarisation (Vertical/horizontal or both). Interesting that the individual caravan antennas are usually pointing in just about every direction & are no guide at all.
We have a van mounted Winegard with the wingman attachment & get excellent reception on an el chepo set top box. Winegard is suited to fixed installations.
One of the Saturn range would be my choice if I needed to change & cost was not a factor.
Regarding connecting to the internet there are a number of options and these can be discussed with your local Telstra shop.
For more info on connecting to the internet it may be worthwhile opening a new topic in the "Techies Corner" forum where it won't get buried under new topics as quickly and may draw more (relevant) responses.
_wombat_ said
09:29 AM Nov 13, 2011
Telstra have a USB dongle for $79 with 3gb of download, I would not waste time going to telstra shop unless you have a couple of hours to wait in the que, go to Dick Smith or JB-HI for the same item.
You will need the Telstra one if you travel in the bush has a better coverage than the other units.
I do not have one of these units, a friend of mine purchased one last week.
This is probably the best solution if you have room for a dish. Ariels are only good when in range of TV towers. Satelite is good anyplace and about $500 will pull you up, that includes receiver and sat dish
jimricho said
06:52 AM Nov 14, 2011
Sue has stated "We don't watch a lot of tv and when we do it is on the ABC or SBS mostly". With this in mind and the fact that they are camping in a tent that also has to be packed in their car I would doubt that the satellite dish option would be practical in the circumstances. In fact when I was tent camping and even with my old tent type camper trailer I did not bother with a TV at all.
Most caravan parks have a TV in their camp kitchens and/or their activity areas.
(edit to correct typo only)
-- Edited by jimricho on Monday 14th of November 2011 08:09:38 AM
sue e said
07:57 AM Nov 14, 2011
didn't think of that jimricho! its really just to keep tabs on the world and maybe Doc. Martin , Gardening Australia, on a Saturday night. .Spics n Specs is winding up all together.come to think of it all the shows we like to watchwill be in summer recess while we make our first trip so maybe we won't bother either.
Hylda&Jon said
10:24 AM Nov 14, 2011
I don't think anyone has mentioned to check this site when you know where you're going so you have an idea of where to point that new fangled antennee thingee.
One of my worst memories is of being in a free camp in Tasmania (along with quite a few others) in the early morning, eating our weeties to the song of birds, when a couple in a tent turned on their TV! Loudly! The entire campground arced up, and at two blokes asked them to turn it down/off.
Now we have a tv in the caravan, and use it rarely, and quietly, after that experience.
JRH said
11:31 AM Nov 14, 2011
Gerty Dancer wrote:
One of my worst memories is of being in a free camp in Tasmania (along with quite a few others) in the early morning, eating our weeties to the song of birds, when a couple in a tent turned on their TV! Loudly! The entire campground arced up, and at two blokes asked them to turn it down/off.
Now we have a tv in the caravan, and use it rarely, and quietly, after that experience.
The ones that annoy me are the people who have the TV in the caravan and sit outside to watch it through the door with the volume set at the approriate level for them and to hell with everybody else.
sue e said
04:28 PM Nov 14, 2011
well i reckon i would be a bit PO'd as well. so certainly wont be doing that
jimricho said
07:14 PM Nov 14, 2011
My idea of bliss would be a few days at the beautiful Bunya Mountains without any TV.
Well we have the tent and pretty much all of our bits and pieces are assembled and ready for our foray into "grey nomad world" in January.I know this seems to defeat the purpose of camping etc but what do you guys do as far as TV reception goes? we recently acquired a small TV and thought it would be ideal to take with us as there are a few programs we like to watch as well as keeping up with current affairs etc. so how does it work? do we need some kind of antenna or does an indoor one suffice?
Thanks to you all for your advice re where to stay while awaiting the Spirit of Tassie departure.We are booked at the big 4 at Chelsea for our stay prior to boarding.
Can'twait!
Most nomads have an outside aerial up high off their vans for good reception.
Otherwise, whether you need a specialised antenna or not really depends on a lot of things, especially your distance from the tv station's transmitter. Your indoor antenna might work near major towns, but I suspect you'll have trouble by the time you get out of the city limits of most places.
cheers
blaze
You beat me to it Blaze. I only ever free-camp, so never have 240 power.
I have a 12V tv, that I can plug into the house [Solar] battery.
Lots of reasonably priced ones around these days. Kogan brand seems to be popular for on the road users.
Cheers,
Sheba.
-- Edited by Sheba on Saturday 12th of November 2011 11:10:16 PM
Jo
we have a kingray get the best reception wherever we go , its the most unlikley looking but gee it works great.
has an extention pole. people at parks ask us about it all the time as they are not getting a good reception. even had people next to us once with a brand new van and built in fancy antenna our reception was way better then theirs, so they went and bought a dish and we still got better. been staying at our daughters in wyongah and we put it up and we get more channels than their fixed antenna. good luck with your travels and you should take anything you want/need when you travel be it tv of whatever you will soon know what to hang on to. hubby would cease to exsist without the telly. but then i have my PC.:)
lyn
Hi Sue e, I have a Saturn antenna you do need some sort of antenna, the Saturn has a built in booster. They are a little on the expensive side and I havn't used it a lot just yet. You can have a few probs with digital tv with pixelation etc if in a poor reception area. I have a tv with built in dvd player so I just take dvd's for when no or poor reception, I can't stand it when the reception is poor now we have digital tv, just hate pixelation.
A CPAP machine will run quite satisfactorily off a small pure sine wave inverter connected to a 12v battery. Having a jump starter would be a big advantage as you can use this instead of the car battery for the TV and the inverter thus removing the risk of a flat battery next morning. I would suggest going for a starter larger than a 900amp job, preferably 1500 or 1900amp (these jump starter ratings are a piece of deceptive fiction but that's another story, however they do give an indication of the size of the unit)
Supercheap have a 300 watt pure sine wave inverter for a reasonable price as well as 1500amp and 1900amp jumpstarters.
This would free you up for your few days at the Bunya Mountains. (A beautiful spot, you won't want to leave!)
Regarding the antenna, If you check out the "Explorer" antenna at http://www.explorer-rv.com.au/ you may find what you need. The Explorer comes complete with all the bits you need apart from a mast or pole but they supply these too. It packs down to a neat package suitable for campers with limited storage space. Explorer is stocked by many caravan accessory shops.
"lyn-n-ken" speak well of their Kingray so maybe they'll give you more information on it (model, type etc) if you wish to follow up that line of enquiry.
The quality of the TV reception will vary greatly depending on your location at the time. If camping in the Bunya Mountains a "piece of wet string" would work as the TV transmitters for that area are located there.
I very much doubt that a Winegard would suit your specific needs as it's my understanding that these are more suited to fixed installations in caravans or motorhomes.
-- Edited by jimricho on Sunday 13th of November 2011 07:42:44 AM
You don't happen to know the model number of the antenna do you lyn?
Thanks for the tip Jim
I have just e-mailed Sat TV in Cabolture who are our nearest stockists of Explorer Compact Antenna Systems, for prices. We will be down in North Brisabne area from Wednesday next week on the way to the Gold Coast for the World Rugby Sevens so we can call in and pick up a system if the price is not to heavy.
Once again thanks for the tip
Tim & Stella Miria-Robinson
thanks all! Will follow all that up! We don't watch a lot of tv and when we do it is on the ABC or SBS mostly- unfortunately these seem to be the most difficult channels to access.
Thanks for your advice re the power pack jimricho. will certainly follow that up!
Lyn how do you get on for the internet when you are travelling? I would like to take our lap top to keep in touch with family while we are away but wasn't sure how this worked. Do many carvan parks have internet?
My hubby would cease to exsist without his CPAP machine- in fact I would too as the snoring is to be heard to be believed.!
-- Edited by sue e on Sunday 13th of November 2011 08:37:40 AM
have you looked into a vast system, no ariel required, but you do need to carry a sat dish
http://www.satplus.com.au/categories/Caravan-and-RV-Products/Caravan-Satellite-TV-Kits/Free-To-Air-Portable-Satellite-TV-Kits/
Hi ..
All the above very good advice in my opinion.
For my part, I rarely watch TV on the road, except maybe for a bit of Rugby. SWMBO however likes to relax with a few favourites & it's important to keep her happy.
To take the guess work out of the question of what stations should I get & where the transmitters are, I have downloaded the information on TV stations from the 'wanderingtews.com' web site. They have gone to a lot of trouble in downloading the information from the ACMA radio & TV stations handbook, and put the information into a more user friendly fashion. It is regularly updated. A great resource.
Also when driving into a new location I look at how the antennas are set up on the local houses or even the fixed ones in the CP buildings. Indicates the direction of the transmitters & the signal polarisation (Vertical/horizontal or both). Interesting that the individual caravan antennas are usually pointing in just about every direction & are no guide at all.
We have a van mounted Winegard with the wingman attachment & get excellent reception on an el chepo set top box. Winegard is suited to fixed installations.
One of the Saturn range would be my choice if I needed to change & cost was not a factor.
Re the laptop....if check the "Techies Corner" forum you'll see some comments about providing power for your laptop from 12v DC. go to http://thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t45528334/inverter/
Regarding connecting to the internet there are a number of options and these can be discussed with your local Telstra shop.
For more info on connecting to the internet it may be worthwhile opening a new topic in the "Techies Corner" forum where it won't get buried under new topics as quickly and may draw more (relevant) responses.
Telstra have a USB dongle for $79 with 3gb of download, I would not waste time going to telstra shop unless you have a couple of hours to wait in the que, go to Dick Smith or JB-HI for the same item.
You will need the Telstra one if you travel in the bush has a better coverage than the other units.
I do not have one of these units, a friend of mine purchased one last week.
or you could try eBay
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320727929886&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en
-- Edited by _wombat_ on Sunday 13th of November 2011 09:46:55 AM
cheers
blaze
As we have a camper trailer we chose this one because it is small.
This is probably the best solution if you have room for a dish. Ariels are only good when in range of TV towers. Satelite is good anyplace and about $500 will pull you up, that includes receiver and sat dish
Sue has stated "We don't watch a lot of tv and when we do it is on the ABC or SBS mostly". With this in mind and the fact that they are camping in a tent that also has to be packed in their car I would doubt that the satellite dish option would be practical in the circumstances. In fact when I was tent camping and even with my old tent type camper trailer I did not bother with a TV at all.
Most caravan parks have a TV in their camp kitchens and/or their activity areas.
(edit to correct typo only)
-- Edited by jimricho on Monday 14th of November 2011 08:09:38 AM
I don't think anyone has mentioned to check this site when you know where you're going so you have an idea of where to point that new fangled antennee thingee.
http://ozcamps.net/test/tvstations2.html
Cheers
Jon
http://ozcamps.net/test/tvstations2.html
One of my worst memories is of being in a free camp in Tasmania (along with quite a few others) in the early morning, eating our weeties to the song of birds, when a couple in a tent turned on their TV! Loudly! The entire campground arced up, and at two blokes asked them to turn it down/off.
Now we have a tv in the caravan, and use it rarely, and quietly, after that experience.
The ones that annoy me are the people who have the TV in the caravan and sit outside to watch it through the door with the volume set at the approriate level for them and to hell with everybody else.