TV

[Deadhead]

TV Aboard

We normally don't watch TV on the boat. I have a blue ray disc player & a couple of flat screens (salon & berths) that are mostly for movies when we have young guests.

But once the NFL starts I do have a 6' piece of Coax that I stripped about 6" from the end. Removed the shield, braid and plastic to expose the center conductor. I wrap that around my backstay and instant antenna. I get over the air channels in HD.

Not that it is worth watching the Giants this year.

 

[Chief RA]

Deadhead: I would never have realized that the back stay would serve as an antenna! My electronic mind is going crazy with that one as it would probably encompass all of the superstructure metal as the antenna! etc. etc.
This has been a great blurb for us all! Chief

 

[Deadhead]

TV Aboard

Deadhead: I would never have realized that the back stay would serve as an antenna! My electronic mind is going crazy with that one as it would probably encompass all of the superstructure metal as the antenna! etc. etc.
This has been a great blurb for us all! Chief

One of the service techs at Winters Sailing Center in Riverside, NJ told me about it years ago.

 

[Calif. Ted]

I'm gonna try that asap, I was going to add an expensive marine ant this winter, but wasn't looking forward to it.

 

[SeaTR]

Deadhead, VERY cute...it reminds me of the days of coat hangers and aluminum foil being added to rabbit ears on TVs 'long' ago to fine tune those tough to get stations .

thanks for the funny memories ...

 

[cruisingdog]

We normally don't watch TV on the boat. I have a blue ray disc player & a couple of flat screens (salon & berths) that are mostly for movies when we have young guests.

But once the NFL starts I do have a 6' piece of Coax that I stripped about 6" from the end. Removed the shield, braid and plastic to expose the center conductor. I wrap that around my backstay and instant antenna. I get over the air channels in HD.

Not that it is worth watching the Giants this year.

Is your Yacht grounded to the ocean ? Mine isn't so I'm guessing that the backstay antenna wouldn't work that well. Maybe just adding aground wire to the co-ax shield and then dropping a connection to the ocean with a bit of wire would work better ?

 

[jimmcgee]

Is your Yacht grounded to the ocean ? Mine isn't so I'm guessing that the backstay antenna wouldn't work that well. Maybe just adding aground wire to the co-ax shield and then dropping a connection to the ocean with a bit of wire would work better ?

Cruisingdog I think your yacht is grounded to the ocean.

On my Catalina 30 the mast and rigging are tied to a keel bolt as part of the lighting protection system.

I would think that would be true on Deadheads Beneteau too.

 

[Chief RA]

OK, tkansler now is the time for all that low freq, full wavelength antenna length stuff you put on us! I don't know how your going to calculate wavelength on this sucker plus it's a grounded antenna, not a reflective ground plane antenna system! ha Plus, we're back into that lightning protection stuff that nobody knows what will happen! We may have to rewrite all electronic theory before this discussion is done. Chief

 

[Deadhead]

Well, my engineering expertise is limited to move dirt, water & waste so I can't tell ya why it works. But I do know that it does, and it ain't broke . . .

 

[cruisingdog]

Cruisingdog I think your yacht is grounded to the ocean.

On my Catalina 30 the mast and rigging are tied to a keel bolt as part of the lighting protection system.

I would think that would be true on Deadheads Beneteau too.

Couldn't find info on a Catalina 27 but a Catalina 270 does not have the mast grounded. link

 

[Chris Patterson]

Seems to me an ohm meter would tell in an instant..

 

[Ecuoreo]

Some Medium Sized TV (up to 20") use a separated power supply unit. You can read on the PSU box wich is the real voltage the screen is operating. Most of them are 12V DC, then you can use this TV Set both external (110V/230V AC) with the PSU or direct battery power (12V DC).
I use one of these TV models.
I have installed an external TRIAX UFO DIGITAL in a 10' mast at stern.
http://www.triax.com/FindProduct/Pr...ct={B185A06D-AE25-4AD8-8DA4-D23B03A1E3E0}#pdf

Sorry for my english. Spanish is my original languaje.

 

[robertsapp]

There is one issue with 12V TV's when they are wired directly into the ship's power. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned it. The 'brick' that normallly supplies power provides a regulated 12V. When it is installed in a truck and wired directly, the truck's voltage is 13.6V or less. But in our sailboats when we are charging our deep cycle batteries, it is common to have charging voltages as high as 14.6V.

Many users have mentioned that this high voltage is detrimental to LED's in our light fixtures, and I can imagine that it could be bad for other electronic devices. Now I personally have not had any problem with these high charging voltages for any of my TV's or other non-marine devices. But I think this is something to be aware of. And yes, I did wire my TV directly with the appropriate size fuse.

I read somewhere that the best way to deal with this is to install a cheap DC to DC power supply and then run all your personal entertainment devices off that. That way ship's voltage can vary between 10 and 14 volts, but the power supply will maintain a constant 12v output. If I were going to do it, I'd probably feed the power supply from a dedicated breaker, and then run a circuit to power the TV, computer, printer, BluRay player, etc. - anything I wanted to protect from variable voltages.

 

[Chief RA]

Robert: taught electronics ET/A school, Great Lakes, 64-67. Night supervisor of comm branch 66. Chief

 

[Head Sail]

I to like to keep it simple. I use a 15" laptop with a dual tuner at home to record broadcast TV movies. On the boat, I find the 15" laptop screen is adequate for viewing in the relatively confined space. Don't watch much TV when anchored since reception is usually very limited but do watch the movies and fast forward through commercials. Hey, the price is right...free! I like the idea of a mast top antenna. Putting rabbit ears out the portlight tends to bend them pretty quickly.

 

[robertsapp]

Robert: taught electronics ET/A school, Great Lakes, 64-67. Night supervisor of comm branch 66. Chief

I missed you by a considerable margin. I went to ET/A school in Feb of '79. Coldest winter of my life.

Another advantage of using a DC-DC power converter is that it protects all your entertainment electronics and computers from the wild voltage swings that occur if you are in the habit of starting the engine without making sure all your electronics are turned off first.

 

[jimmcgee]

Couldn't find info on a Catalina 27 but a Catalina 270 does not have the mast grounded. link

Huh, I wonder why...

Seems odd they'd do it on some boats but not others. On mine there's a heavy gauge wire that ties the shrouds to a keel bolt.

 

[robertsapp]

Huh, I wonder why...

Seems odd they'd do it on some boats but not others. On mine there's a heavy gauge wire that ties the shrouds to a keel bolt.

There's nothing on our H336 that ties anything to the keel, but I've seen it on larger Hunters. I just assumed there was some size or price point above which the factory was willing to spend the extra money. I've never bothered to do it myself because everything I've read on the subject has convinced me that grounding your mast to the ocean in such a manner actually increases your chance of being hit by lightning, but lowers your risk of damage if you are.

Here's an example of a DC-DC converter:

http://www.powerstream.com/dc12-12-8A-isolated.htm

 

[Calif. Ted]

I wonder if it's a coastal thing, very few boats in s. Calif. are bonded, Lightning is also rare compared to other regions.

 

[cruisingdog]

Seems to me an ohm meter would tell in an instant..

...If you know the resistance of saline/cubic ft and the distance away from your 'earth' point.