Boat antenna and digital TV signal?

[bblack]

I see the TV commercials about the required signal change coming. The commercial says that as long as you have cable nothing will change. I think to myself "who doesn't have cable?" Well ,I guess I don't when I'm away from the dock. I'm assuming that antenna on top of my boat won't recieve a digital signal. Anybody have a plan other than a satelite? or am I wrong on this?

 

[Dave S]

You don't have to change the Glomex (or equivalent) antenna. It will receive the signals just fine. Your on board TV is another matter. It either needs a convertor or the TV needs to be swapped out for a new TV that will receive the HDTV signals.

Oh and if you find a 12 volt convertor box, let me know where you find it. I haven't been able to locate one. It seems the convertor market has only addressed the 110 Volt AC stuff so far.

 

[delliott00]

I had a motorola HDTV tuner on my last boat. It was 110V powered, but if you look at the AC power supply, it was just a 12v source. A $0.99 connector, 12v cig adapter, and an inline fuse from Radio Shack and it was a 12V HDTV tuner. Same with the 15" LCD TV that Sea Ray installed (Zenith), they are 12V also.

Check the back of the tuners, the power plug input will tell you what the DC voltage is. If its 12v, if you can strip wires you can convert it. They don't run on 110V AC, thats just a DC supply.

Most, but not all, electronics are DC -- even if they plug into a 110V AC. And DC is easy to step up or down. The exception would be things with a motor, heating elements, amplification, or incandescant lighting -- most of those will require higher voltage in order to keep the current down.

-Dave