Survey of CRT TV to LCD replacements

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We are full-timers and working professionals in the Seattle area.  We live in an Itasca an 33U 03' Suncruiser.

I am considering moving the boat anchor (TV) from the neck bending position above the drivers area to the space next to the door where we have the recliner.  I moved the recliner out to the storage shed and often sit in it on the weekend outside.  Nice and comfy under the tree.

Anyway, I think that having our TV directly facing us when we sit in the couch would make far more sense for us.  The couch reclines of course and it has the snack tray and so forth.  I also do IT work from my coach and would like to hook one of my PC's up to the HDTV monitor and use if with a wireless keyboard with trackball from across the room on the couch.

I'm thinking a nice cabinet that hides the TV in back and gives us a place to put the shoes and other often used stuff right next to the door.  Perhaps a small TV Stand/Cabinet would fit.

Anyone try this yet?

 
I just bought a little 22" LCD/DVD combo TV but I haven't a clue where to mount it. My old Winnie doesn't have a TV cabinet or anything like that. I have an arm mount that I was using at home for a larger TV and I was thinking of mounting it on the cabinet close to the door where it can be seen from the couch and chairs. I was also going to run my rear view cam into it. Hell, I turn around in every other vehicle to back up anyways. Any pit falls with this, besides being in my way when I come in the door? It does fold up close to the surface it mounts to.

 
We recently installed the 32" Vizio HD LCD TV that we have been using on the dresser of our coach. We removed our bedroom TV in 2004, shortly after buying the coach new, and installing a stack washer and dryer, after which we had Winnebago build us custom doors to match. In the process, we lost the location for the tube TV and have been moving the LCD TV from the bed to the dresser as we go.

Since we don't need the bedroom mirror over the dresser, we decided that this was a great place for the new LCD TV to go. We disassembled the dresser and hutch containing the mirror and were delighted to find that the mirror has a subframe and just unscrewed from the hutch. After measuring, we fitted a piece of 5/8 plywood and routed the back of it to allow the connecting and power wires to pass behind the TV out of sight.

We stained and finished the wood, and then carefully installed it to the hutch frame. Perfect fit!

Next, we wired a Geffen HDMI extender system, the coax from the front AV cabinet (antenna, etc) and a 4 meter long HDMI cable, together with the power cord and a small wire for an IR extension receiver, all in the groove of the wood. The HDMI extender uses 2 CAT5 wires to extend an HDMI signal, and we ran ours to the front AV cabinet so we could watch HD TV from the Satellite (if ever King Dome would get it together for Directv HD), and an infrared extender emitter to allow control of the front satellite receiver from the bedroom (newer winnies already have this, our relic did not). The other HDMI cable runs to the bedroom closet shelf, where we installed a BluRay player and another infrared emitter for control with the closet door shut.

Next, we measured and centered the TV on its mount, in the space, installed the TV and connected the cables.

We installed an electrical outlet under the dresser to power the TV and the HDMI extender and IR receiver system, and mounted each of those systems, carefully routing the wiring and securing them with zip ties.

Voilla! It works. Here are some pictures, and a few shots of the new stainless backsplash we just installed. They're 1" x 4" beveled individual stainless steel tiles, and it took a while to get them in! I also added before and after pics of the headlight upgrade.

http://gallery.me.com/lewismathieu#100054

 
Wow - that's a really slick installation!  I don't think I'll ever catch up to you guys.  I'm still in the planning mode on my roof-top air and a LCD to replace the front CRT  :p
 
There have been several TV conversions posted and I read every one of 'em several times.  The turning point for us was a really bad squeak in the original 70# TV mounting that had to be fixed no matter what and after I got into that, I decided to put a new LCD digital TV in place of the old Sony.  We looked and looked and decided that the largest would be a 32" version and a more compact install would be a 26" version.  I also really wanted to get rid of the "head banger"... that's what I called the old TV since it was so tall, it was 10" or so lower than the cabinets on either side and stuck out several inches.

So, I got the old TV out finally... the secret being to take the 8 screws holding the plastic trim in place out, then the four screws holding the wood trim out (inside the cabinets on either side) and then the metal frame for the tv is accessible.  Remove the 5/16" bolts from either side and undo the wires and get two people and tote the monster to the garage.  Then we built foam core board mock ups of the large lcd and a smaller lcd.  We decided on the small lcd because we could make the whole thing kinda "get out of the way", 5" higher and about 5" forward and still use the original trim board as well as the plastic trim after some mods.

We picked a Sanyo 26" LCD.  Consumer Reports gave it a decent rating and it was the lowest price 26" at Wally World.

The hardest part was cutting the metal and then re-attaching the metal base and getting the trim to look acceptable.  I attached some photos that will illustrate the whole ordeal.


If you have questions, let me know.  thanks, Gary.

PS: I would guess that we took out about 100# of stuff
 

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Sorry, but I forgot to mention that I used a piece of 3/4" plywood to mount the LCD and then bolted the plywood to the steel angle pieces in the photos.  It is rock solid.
 
We removed a 30" CRT HDTV from our 2008 Destination and replaced it with a 40" LCD Toshiba:










Hmmm, my clickable thumbnails are displayed as links. :(
 
[quote author=AprilWhine]Hmmm, my clickable thumbnails are displayed as links.[/quote]

Inline images are disabled here, thanks to prior abuse.
 
Taoshum
Great Job! I know what you mean by headbanger. My wife drew blood on the corner of one. But don't you miss the squeaking old one every time you hit a bump singing its tune going down the road? Before I changed my front TV  I would try & sing a song to the rhythm of the squeaks. Art
 
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One word of warning on the newer LCD tv's.  I replaced my front tv with a 22" Vizio VA220E and it does not have an antenna signal strength setting in the menu.  I have to go back and forth to look at the signal strength indicator on the bedroom tv to monitor my antenna changes.  I've just purchased a 22" Insignia from Best Buy that will be replacing the front tv when I next bring the MH home.  I made sure before I left Best Buy that the Insignia had a signal strength setting.
 
I just got one of these given to me, and is exactly what the doctor ordered. It has a spectrum analyzer that scans the entire VHF/ UHF band in about 3 seconds and displays anything it finds. In this mode it makes tuning an antenna a snap! you can move a tuning bar across the display and see what channel is the strongest, change displays to single channel mode, turn on an audible level tone if needed, etc. This thing is actually built for installers but for $190 it's the one answer to dealing with trying to find local DTV channels. 6 years ago I paid $4000 for a similar analyzer that had the same functionality and was the size of a shoebox.
 
Jeff - slick little device, but at about $200 with shipping, it's a little pricey for the casual user.  I've bookmarked that website - lots of goodies to check out.

A slight tangent:

A friend of mine told me several months ago my DirecTV HR20 DVR was a prized possession since it has the ability to receive digital over-the-air TV.  I moved the antenna from the converter box to the HR20 and went through config, and there were the locals.  The big issue is there is no tuning indicator for over-the-air that is easy to access (that I found.)

Having the locals on my DVR is really cool - now I can record, pause, etc.  Don't need the converter box.
 
John Canfield said:
Jeff - slick little device, but at about $200 with shipping, it's a little pricey for the casual user.  I've bookmarked that website - lots of goodies to check out.

A slight tangent:

A friend of mine told me several months ago my DirecTV HR20 DVR was a prized possession since it has the ability to receive digital over-the-air TV.  I moved the antenna from the converter box to the HR20 and went through config, and there were the locals.  The big issue is there is no tuning indicator for over-the-air that is easy to access (that I found.)

Having the locals on my DVR is really cool - now I can record, pause, etc.  Don't need the converter box.
Yeah, pricey for the casual user.. Having said that I did a little test today here at the coach. If I were a traveler and hadn't had one given to me this would be #1 on the list. Man what a time-saver.

HERE is the post I did awhile ago.
 
To Wayne Malone;

I saw an article in the library showing your conversion to HDTV.  I had planned to do the same thing.  Question,  did you have to trim the metal frame where it is curved at the bottom , also did you trim the plastic covering on the bottom.
Thanks Bunky
 

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