Cabinet and entertainment upgrades

So i knew when i bought this TT i was gonna need to change the cabinet over the dining booth.  the corner held a small tv, and i wanted a bigger flat screen to go on the back wall.  So last week i didnt have work everyday, so i started.  after removing the old cabinet, i started measuring up for the new one.

The first consideration was the tv.  I bought my son a 24" with a built-in dvd and while installing his i noticed the power brick was 12v output, so i decided to get the same one for the TT and get a new 12v plug so i can run it off the battery.  works flawlessly. 
To mount the tv i had to put in some blocking.  i was going to mount a piece of oak across 2 studs, but it seems the studs on this wall run horiz from the 2 outside studs.  so i had to cut a small piece of wall to slide in a block.  i put a couple pocket screws to the horiz stud then bolted the bracket all the way thru the wall.  on the back side i used a couple plastic bolt head covers so it looks like 2 plastic caps. 

The audio was horrible in this thing.  It had the usual Jensen radio and 2 speakers.  Threw that all away and bought a pair of polk audio speakers and a pioneer car stereo.   

I wanted the new cabinet to be not as deep, less chance of hitting a head that way, but i wanted to have something to keep board games in, so i measured some and figured it up.  The cabinet itself is 1/4" oak plywood with 3/4x3/4 strips to frame it, and the face frame is just oak 1x.  The one panel i thought was kind of big and didnt look great, so i changed it out with a piece of marker board.  Now i can make notes while camping.  While i was at it, i didnt like leaning over the table to use the radio, so i moved it to the end right by the door.  Now its much easier to use and it sounds 400x better than the old one.  Plus now i can stream bluetooth from my ipad.  as far as shutting it off, i put in a switch i had laying around so i can shut it off like it was in a car with an ignition switch.  seems to work pretty well. 

Nice job.

Yes, nice job.
One thing I might add.  It's great that you can dump the power brick and just run the TV off 12V DC. Just check and make sure the TV is totally off when you hit the off button.  Most new TV's don't shut completely off and will still drain the battery when they look like they are off.  You might want to add a switch to make sure the 12V is cut to it when you are not using it.

Strangely enough, when we added extra doors to our cabinets (both solid and glass fronted) we contacted the manufacturer (Starcraft) and they supplied them for $17 and $27 respectively, which I though was very cheap and of course are a match for the existing doors.

I unplugged the 12v cord and will do the same while not using it, but i was thinking about hooking it up to a switch but i have to reach in the cab to turn on the antenna power anyway, so i will probably leave it for now.  The tv seems to have a memory so it doesnt loose the channels.

Well, after a season of camping i found a few things out.
The first thing is i camp with out power about half of the time, and charging phones and tablets is hard to do when there is no 12v plugs in the trailer. 
Second is the cabinet i built is not wide enough for board games and stuff.  Needed about 1" more width.
The huge wasted space where he marker board is was just dumb, and i wanted a shelf next to the tv. 
I ended up hooking the 12v supply for the tv to a switch along with the stereo so they can be shut all the way off.  That part worked very well.

So just tonight i went out and removed the tv and cabinet.  I decided i wanted a spot to put phones and plug them in, and i wanted it by the stereo so i can grab them from the door.  I am re-using the face frame and just modifying it, so that part was easy.

I made the side panel tonight and made the rest of the "box".  Have a few things to finish up tomorrow then i have to wait for some stuff to show up and make one new door.