chumbley
New Member
The conversion to digital was enough to finally get me off my butt and do a conversion of the old 13" CRT / VCR (whatever that is) to something from this century. I've been wanting to do this for years, and have been looking and researching alternatives.
My initial goal was to find a set that would fit within the existing opening. But I also wanted widescreen. And frankly, there isn't much non-widescreen out there anymore anyway.
The only set that I've seen that even comes close to that goal is the 15" Toshiba. But it has two major drawbacks. First, it has no HDMI input (say what?). Second, it has no VESA mounting holes (say what?). I looked briefly at some of the 12 volt TV's (Skyworth and others), but even in the 15" size they still wouldn't fit inside the opening. And I could find very little out about the brands. Besides, here in Texas, we aren't on the hook much without the generator anyway, so 12V wasn't that critical.
So I moved on up to larger TV's. The advantage of being patient and waiting to do this (the Admiral calls it procrastination), is that LED backlighting is now available in the smaller TV's. LED backlighting is good because a) it draws less power and b) the sets are MUCH thinner. This allows them to set against the opening and still look pretty decent.
I ended up with an Hauer 19" set. I didn't know much about the brand, but I've been very impressed with the set so far. It had a nice blend of features, including analog audio output so I can easily connect it to the aux input of my stereo. And it doesn't hurt that it's only $179 either!
One of my other goals of this conversion was to gain use of all that space where the clunky old CRT used to live. Space on these boats is premium, and while I loved the simplicity of the LCD installs others have done using simple brackets to mount them to the existing retractable turntable, I wasn't willing to give up the space without a fight.
Here is what I ended up with:
It is mounted with a Peerless PA730 articulating mount, which is bolted to the forward wall of the cabinet opening. Due to the proximity of the pocket for the curtain, I was able to use a through-bolt, so I didn't have to worry about how sturdy it might be. It is plenty solid, as it is bolted not only through the cabinet wall, but also the wall that backs the curtain pocket.
This mount is very stable, and long enough to allow the TV to be viewed from any position. Shorter mount arms would now allow this.
And best of all - I now have a new storage compartment!
I built a shelf that sits above the DVD player and DirecTV unit (more on that later). I used the trim guides from the original slide shelf to front the new shelf, and take advantage of the curved part to help position the TV back into place when stowed. I used part of the TV's standard mounting hardware, the latch from the old TV setup, and a custom hand-crafted aluminum part (a flat hunk of aluminum drilled to allow it to bolt to the bottom of the original TV mounting bracket) to allow the TV to be latched into place, and also to add additional support when stowed. As you can see, the curves on the wood guide the oval part of the TV mount into the center, and allow the latch to engage. It is very stable when latched.
Since the set is so thin (less than 1" at the edges), it sits almost flush to the surrounding wall, and looks pretty good. To me anyway.
I installed a DirecTV satellite dish on my dock, and ran new RG6 along the old cable path to the TV area. Then I installed a DirecTV DVR. While I'm docked and on dock power, the DVR sits and records shows. When I'm away from the dock, I can watch anything I recorded. Sort of like having satellite on the boat! I used an auto-switching HDMI switch to connect the DVR and DVD players. When the DVD is turned on, the HDMI switch automatically changes to the DVD input. When it turns off, it goes back to the DVR. I also have the TV itself connected to the original antenna, and can pull in all of the local HD digital stations with no problem.
My next step is to add a removable VESA bracket, so that I can easily remove the set and move it to the cockpit, and extend wiring up that way as well.
Hope this helps someone, or gives them ideas. Suggestions and comments welcome of course!
My initial goal was to find a set that would fit within the existing opening. But I also wanted widescreen. And frankly, there isn't much non-widescreen out there anymore anyway.
The only set that I've seen that even comes close to that goal is the 15" Toshiba. But it has two major drawbacks. First, it has no HDMI input (say what?). Second, it has no VESA mounting holes (say what?). I looked briefly at some of the 12 volt TV's (Skyworth and others), but even in the 15" size they still wouldn't fit inside the opening. And I could find very little out about the brands. Besides, here in Texas, we aren't on the hook much without the generator anyway, so 12V wasn't that critical.
So I moved on up to larger TV's. The advantage of being patient and waiting to do this (the Admiral calls it procrastination), is that LED backlighting is now available in the smaller TV's. LED backlighting is good because a) it draws less power and b) the sets are MUCH thinner. This allows them to set against the opening and still look pretty decent.
I ended up with an Hauer 19" set. I didn't know much about the brand, but I've been very impressed with the set so far. It had a nice blend of features, including analog audio output so I can easily connect it to the aux input of my stereo. And it doesn't hurt that it's only $179 either!
One of my other goals of this conversion was to gain use of all that space where the clunky old CRT used to live. Space on these boats is premium, and while I loved the simplicity of the LCD installs others have done using simple brackets to mount them to the existing retractable turntable, I wasn't willing to give up the space without a fight.
Here is what I ended up with:
It is mounted with a Peerless PA730 articulating mount, which is bolted to the forward wall of the cabinet opening. Due to the proximity of the pocket for the curtain, I was able to use a through-bolt, so I didn't have to worry about how sturdy it might be. It is plenty solid, as it is bolted not only through the cabinet wall, but also the wall that backs the curtain pocket.
This mount is very stable, and long enough to allow the TV to be viewed from any position. Shorter mount arms would now allow this.
And best of all - I now have a new storage compartment!
I built a shelf that sits above the DVD player and DirecTV unit (more on that later). I used the trim guides from the original slide shelf to front the new shelf, and take advantage of the curved part to help position the TV back into place when stowed. I used part of the TV's standard mounting hardware, the latch from the old TV setup, and a custom hand-crafted aluminum part (a flat hunk of aluminum drilled to allow it to bolt to the bottom of the original TV mounting bracket) to allow the TV to be latched into place, and also to add additional support when stowed. As you can see, the curves on the wood guide the oval part of the TV mount into the center, and allow the latch to engage. It is very stable when latched.
Since the set is so thin (less than 1" at the edges), it sits almost flush to the surrounding wall, and looks pretty good. To me anyway.
I installed a DirecTV satellite dish on my dock, and ran new RG6 along the old cable path to the TV area. Then I installed a DirecTV DVR. While I'm docked and on dock power, the DVR sits and records shows. When I'm away from the dock, I can watch anything I recorded. Sort of like having satellite on the boat! I used an auto-switching HDMI switch to connect the DVR and DVD players. When the DVD is turned on, the HDMI switch automatically changes to the DVD input. When it turns off, it goes back to the DVR. I also have the TV itself connected to the original antenna, and can pull in all of the local HD digital stations with no problem.
My next step is to add a removable VESA bracket, so that I can easily remove the set and move it to the cockpit, and extend wiring up that way as well.
Hope this helps someone, or gives them ideas. Suggestions and comments welcome of course!
