HD Tvs and whatnot

Yeah I got a digital flatscreen tv and have it hooked up through the stock cable and stock antenna on the truck and if im in a decent sized city I can get about 30 channels with 15 or so of them being digtal and crystal clear as if I had cable. Kinda sucks though when your out in the boonies or not close enough to the city or a truck parks next to you and blocks the signal. But I was in waterloo IA last night in a packed flying hook and got 42 channels with 25 of them being digital and coming clear as a bell.

 

Generally, the major channels like ABC, CBS, and NBC broadcast an HD signal. Do you know if you're also getting high definition on channels like those?

 

Yeah some of them are HD channels but only a couple and more in the major cities. Cool thing is on the digital and hd channels the tv guide thing that is in my tv shows me whats on and whats on for the rest of the night which is pretty amazing to a minnesota dude.

 

That's good news. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to deal with this. I would prefer an LCD or plasma, but I am concerned about getting it mounted or strapped in well. I don't want to have to take it down and put it up every time I stop and want to watch tv.

That's great about the program guide. If I had that, I wouldn't have to go to TV guide on the internet to see what's going to be on.

 

Yeah I just got some heavy duty picture wire and strung up three loops from the top bunk mounting thing and have half of the wall mount on my tv. I just take it up and down when I park for the night, only takes about 1 minute to put up and take down. That way it doesnt take the abuse from the road.

 

I've spent a couple of hours doing research and it's looking like that might be the only safe option. I'm surprised Ram Mount hasn't come out with something. My laptop stand is Ram Mount and it absorbs shock and vibration.

What is the name of the mount you are using? Did you have to drill any holes? I'm in a company truck so that's out of the question.

This one I'm looking at looks similar to the Ram Mount design. I'm thinking that with the three arms and aluminum design it might absorb road abuse. The bolt holes look like they might align with existing bolts in my tv cabinet. A light 15 -19 inch set I'm thinking might be light enough to work well with this.

Sanus Full Motion Wall Mount

 

I just bought one of the small wall mounts from walmart with a rating of 50 lbs, my 19 inch only weighs 12lbs. Im just using the part of the wall mount that mounts to the tv and heavy duty wire to hook the tv onto. I just have the wire in three loops to support the tv and I have the wire strung through the brace that holds the top bunk on the passenger wall all the way back in the sleeper. This way I can lay down and look straight at the tv. I tried to get it into the factory tv hole but you cant see the picture that high because of it being an lcd tv. So it has to be lower to get the clear picture. Its easy to take down and put up only takes a minute to hook the few wires up and hook it on my wire.

 

heres two pictures of my set-up

 

I see what you mean. That looks like a good solution. Yeah, I would want to have something truly reliable, and road-tested, if I were going to have it permanently mounted. I don't know what I'm going to do. I went ahead and ordered a coupon for the converter box if all else fails. Part of the problem is I have my current tv wired into my home stereo, which is in the truck. It greatly enhances the sound. If it wasn't permanently mounted, I'd have wires all over the place or having to plug them in and out.

 

Well, I finally got it done. I had to do the road-testing myself but it is secure and I think suffers less vibration and shock than a tv sitting in the cabinet.

How it was done: I ordered the laptop stand base (just the base plate that slides under the seat). I also didn't get the bottom support so it bounces up and down a little to absorb shock. Then I went and got a pole (2" diameter, 5' long) and had a plate welded to it so I could bolt it to the laptop stand base. Next I ordered an LCD pole mount (heavy duty steel, able to lock in place, also has quick release latch for easy removal).

I did underestimate the amount of sway at the top of the pole with the tv on there while in motion. But this was easily taken care of with bungee cords, coming from three different directions. One wraps through cubby hole in the front of the cab and down through the cb space. The other two come from one of the top bolts in each cabinet from both sides. I had to remove the bolt to thread the bungee cord through.

It works incredibly well. In the pictures I didn't have the third bungee cord attached yet. But now it bounces around just enough to absorb shock. I know it's hard to believe from looking at the pictures, but I've even been out bobtailing on some pretty rough roads and it is stable.

I have wires running down the pole, across the floor, and through the panels to a dvd player and amplifier. I also have a VGA cable so I can use it as a monitor for my laptop.

If anyone is to attempt this, please follow the instructions above explicitly. Or better yet, send me a PM so I can walk you through it. The total cost of supplies was about $200, not including the tv.