Can the TV's in our boats receive digital broadcasts?

D

Dave S

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TECHNICAL Contributor
Oct 3, 2006
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Upstate South Carolina
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I am sure some of the older boats with the original factory supplied TVs will have issues but what about some of the newer ones? Does the television in my 2006 260DA have a digital tuner or will it be obsolete and have to be replaced when the switchover to digital happens in 2009? How can one tell if their TV is equipped with a digital tuner?

:smt017 :smt017
 
Dave - Our TV's (the flip-downs) have analog tuners. When the switch to digital (which will inevitably be pushed back again) happens, users of analog sets will require a digital "black box" to make the conversion. The VHF Glomex antenna will also have to go to pull down broadcast signals. No matter - you'll be cruising on your '09 290 SS with twin 496's :smt043
 
It has nothing to do with the screen. Any screen will show whatever is delivered to it. It's going to be the antenna and tuner that's going to cost the bucks, especially early on.
The really important issue in the whole switch over is going to be radio frequencies. Right now with analog transmition, they are required to have a little more space between bands, but when everything goes digital, every little bit of space is going to be occupied. Shouldn't affect marine VHF but it will affect a lot of other things. I know in my industry, wireless mics are going to get hit hard as they operate in the cracks right now and all of the space is already spoken for when the switch happens.
 
The TV

The TV must have a digital tuner. If you get a channel like channel 2 its analog. If you get a channel like 2-1 its digital. The new TV’s have both tuners built in. If you don’t have a digital tuner you will need a new TV or a converter box, expected to be hard to find at the start but will cost under $100 for a 120V one.

Now on to the Antenna.

What you have now will work fine. I don’t car if your antenna was built in 1952 or if you are using rabbit ears, it will work fine. The issue, the only issue is will you get a strong enough signal for a picture. Given you don’t have the ability to change your location the best thing you can do to improve reception is to increase your antenna height. Wait for the change over the see.


Note: Most areas the digital signal is already there in the air now. If you have a digital tuner on your TV you can see high definition on the free airways now.

All that is left to do is turn the analog signal off. The current date for this to happen is February 17, 2009. It will happen, however the date may change, but at some point it will happen.
 
Not only is the signal in the air now, but all cable TV operators are required to carry the digital signal for the local stations if they have it. In my area, every local station is already providing digital signals. Since I just replaced my TVs in my 370 with 19" flat screens, when I plug them in to the dockside cable, I get all the local stations in HD. It's awesome, and for the most part free.

The Glomex is crap and doesn't pull in the local analogs stations never mind the digitals. However, the beauty of digital over the air is that when you get the signal, it's on - period. Except for occasional pixelization (that blockyness you sometimes see), the picture has no interference or snow and the sound is awesome.

The only reason we don't have digital now like the rest of the world is financial, not technical. If consumers truly understood what was involved, we would have forced the broadcasters to do it long ago.
 
Presentation said:
The TV

The TV must have a digital tuner. If you get a channel like channel 2 its analog. If you get a channel like 2-1 its digital. The new TV’s have both tuners built in. If you don’t have a digital tuner you will need a new TV or a converter box, expected to be hard to find at the start but will cost under $100 for a 120V one.
Click to expand...

So let me see if I understand this correctly. My current setup in my 260DA is likely analog (since I don't recall any channels like 2-1)? My TV is DC powered so will DC converters be available? But ultimately, is there any other way I know for sure if my TV is digital or analog? :smt101

I can see this is going to be a big problem if they have to be replaced especially on the ceiling drop downs like I have in mine which are built into a specifically sized recess as well . I am not sure you can even get an exact replacement to fit in there unless the original manufacturer makes one. :huh:

And lastly is Sea Ray now putting digital TV's in their new models? If so does anyone know when they switched over?
 
Red Stripe said:
No matter - you'll be cruising on your '09 290 SS with twin 496's :smt043
Click to expand...

I thought I would try the dual 496s in 260DA first.............either that or put some lead bricks where the TV set was to help my 350MAG plane better. :smt043 :smt043
 
I already took care of the 15" TV in the galley on our 340. I installed a digital tuner and I get all of the local digital channels with the standard antenna. I was also able to split it and feed a 27" LCD. No reception issues here.

I gave up my NFL season tickets this year (the Vikings are unwatchable), so the boat will be my Sunday living room.
 
Dave S: Presentation is correct and let me add... your TV is probably not capable of receiving digital signals unless it was built after Jan. 2006. One quick way to find out is to hook up an antenna - cheap rabbit ears are perfect- to the antenna hook up, then go into the menu on you TV remote lookig under "chanels" or "scan for locals". This is where the 2.1 thing comes in. Also flat screens may not be a good indicator of a digital tuner present, but widescreens less than 2 years old are...Do not wait until 2009 to replace your TV, HD locals are free and the signal quality(in range) is better than cable and satellite...
 
wsg said:
...., HD locals are free and the signal quality(in range) is better than cable and satellite...
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree and have this now.

Something else, you get more channels.

Our local channel 2 still broadcasts its analog signal on 2.

Then they broadcast a high definition signal on 2-1. I can switch back and forth to see the difference. There is a big difference. If the show is a current running show that is also made in high definition then you can see the fine detail.

However, like in the old Ronco advertisements……..but wait, there’s more!

We picked up channel 2-2. Channel 2-2 is weather 24/7. It always had the 5 day forecast on the bottom then various things like current live radar and such on the rest of the screen.


That’s correct, we gained channels.

The local PBS splits there signal 5 ways. So 38 is analog then we have 38-1, 38-2, 38-3, 38-4, 38-5. Often they don’t have enough programming to fill them but most of the tiem 38-1 is the same as 38, then normally somewhere is a old military war documentary, one is normally something I care nothing about like quilt making, and I’ve seen locally produced content as well.
 
Just add the converter box - the glomax antennas work better for digital than analog - at least on my friends Larson. Most small screens don't have a built in digital tuner built-in.
 
Ok, who knows where I can find 12v digital tuners
 
A client in this industry - said hold tight. They will less than $50 as we get closer to 2009.
 
I will be checking with my dealer tomorrow to try and get some answers on things like which boats have digital TV's and which don't and what Sea Ray will do (if anything) to assist customers who have analog sets.

I'll let everyone know if I get any usefull information.
 
Try ebay for digital tv tuners. I have one made by a company called Hisense. It works quite well and is a little smaller than a standard AV component.

They can be had for $50-70. You could add a cheap inverter to make them 12v.
 
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