How much TV do you watch?

[Janncwebb]

Just bought a van and will be fixing it up and living in it. My dad died December 13 and now I am doing a few updates on his house and will be selling it. I get a part of that money and will use it to build my van and live on, probably for the rest of my life. (I'm 66). My normal nightly routine is generally a TV drama or two. (Chicago Med, Fire, and PD, Criminal Minds, etc.) I turned the cable off as soon as he died knowing that I can generally watch my shows online. 

But, now I'm wondering how feasible it will be. I will be doing house batteries, solar, and a just-in-case-plug for shore power. I'll do a pure sine inverter, but I won't be trying to run anything big besides a fridge and possibly a computer. I'll be mostly boon docking as I travel around the US to visit friends and grandchildren. 

Does that give you enough information to say, "Heck, yeah, you can keep watch your shows!" or "Nope. Give it up."

 

[lenny flank]

I do have a USB TV tuner for my laptop to get local stations, which i use mostly for news and weather.

As far as "watching TV", I generally stick with history and science documentaries, which I download from YouTube and watch offline.

The good thing about getting "TV" that way is that it allows access to a whole host of non-American TV--some of the best documentaries are made for British, Japanese and German TV.

 

[C-Cat]

3 options:

Over the air antenna: can be good reception and channel selection depending on where you camp... won't work out in the boonies. Bonus: free

Satellite: Reception everywhere, great selection of channels, live TV, Sports, News. Downsides: dealing with the antenna constantly if not automatic / expensive

Internet TV: Excellent choice for Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, but little options for live TV (CBS online offers one channel) and not good for live sports. Requires an expensive data plan (best to try to get unlimited data), but also has the benefit of being able to use the connection for all other internet stuff.

 

[B and C]

Does that give you enough information to say, "Heck, yeah, you can keep watch your shows!" or "Nope. Give it up."

Yep.  Get yourself a hotspot (there are several threads here) and connect your computer/laptop/phone/tablet to it and watch away.  This would be the same as being in the S&B that you are doing now but instead of cable/DSL, you are using cellular hotspot data.  The Verizon $5 unlimited a month is the best deal anywhere and the thread is veeeery long.  Depending on where you camp, you may want a Weboost to bring in weak cellular signals too.

If you have to have a big screen, there are companies that produce 12VDC TV's for truckers and such.  This is what I use, no inverter (and its' inherent losses either).  You would have to get a Miracast or a Chromecast to plug into the TV to "cast" what you are looking at onto the TV.  Just have plenty of solar and batteries.  Sounds like you already figured out the shore power charging aspect.  There are threads here about that too.  Lots of reading.

 

[mpruet]

If you want live antennaTV, then you might consider getting a DC TV rather than an AC.  That way you can reduce the dependence on your inverter 'cause even the best inverters are not all that efficient and you end up eating up more energy than you need.

Even better would be to use a laptop/pad for streaming TV.

 

[jimindenver]

A lot depends on how much power your TV pulls along with your other gear. Once you know how much power you will need collectively then you can set up your batteries and solar to match. Some TV's take as little as 24 watts, others more especially if they also have a DVD player in them. I gave a 15 inch one away last year that was converted to 12 volt and pulled 65 watts. I have a 7 inch 12 volt that pulls almost nothing and can run off its own battery.

Personally I vary from none to all day if I am not feeling up to much else. I use OTA as well as streaming netflix, youtube and the like.

 

[GeorgiePorgie]

I am just starting to plan my van, but hoping I can download movies and TV shows on Netflix using free WIFI to watch at night. Charging a tablet should be easy. I see electric outlets everywhere and there are always libraries. I'm not sure if libraries block Netflix though. Netflix is $8. a month and you can legally download most shows to watch when no WIFI available.

 

[jimindenver]

Tep, I download from netflix myself and I understand you can from you tube too. Down loads do take up hard drive space which may be a issue on a tablet. Possibly a external HD would be in order.

 

[GeorgiePorgie]

Tep, I download from netflix myself and I understand you can from you tube too.

Where do you download when you are on the road? I am wondering if Walmart, McDonald's, libraries and such stifle downloading somehow.

 

[twotwinpeaks]

Just a note on data usage. I don't have a true "unlimited" plan and I have found that on ATT, Verizon and T-Mobile that watching (and downloading) a single 30-45 minute episode on Netflix uses 500-600 MB (Megabytes). For a typical 10 GB (Gigabyte) hot spot data play that about 20 episodes a month. Now if someone else is providing WiFi then you could be golden downloading.

Others may have better advice .. but this is what I have experienced.

 

[jimindenver]

Where do you download when you are on the road? I am wondering if Walmart, McDonald's, libraries and such stifle downloading somehow.

I have unlimited data on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, unlimited streaming of Binge on services on T-mobile all for $56 a month including my phone. I can not remember the last time I signed into a public WiFi and have not been without signal since I left Denver a year ago.

 

[twotwinpeaks]

I have unlimited data on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, unlimited streaming of Binge on services on T-mobile all for $56 a month including my phone. I can not remember the last time I signed into a public WiFi and have not been without signal since I left Denver a year ago.

I would really be interested in how you got a truly unlimited AT&T or Verizon data plans. My Verizon "unlimited" throttles if you go over 22GB or Hotspot usage goes over 15GB .. this for 75$ and my AT$T is a 25GB, but throttles after 10GB  Hotspot use and that is 120$. I have T-Mobile HotSpot device with 22GB and it might be worth seeing if it will be able to use Binge ... I do like me some netflix

So I would really be interested in how you got so much for so little .. I'd offer my 1st born for the secret, but at 72 that be a valueless offer. As we used to say in the day, those who care share

 

[jimindenver]

There are threads on each of my devices and plans in the communications section and I will be giving a talk on them and how to find deals at the RTR.

My AT&T is a connected car account that is unlimited for $20 a month. It does slow IF I am on a congested tower after I reach 22 gigs.

My Sprint is a PC's for people unlimited LTE that also slows IF.....

Then again if that tower is ciongested I can force those devices onto another tower with a directional antenna.

My Verizon is a $5 unlimited 3G hotspot that never slows.

My T-mobile is a older business account good for 5 gigs and unlimited streaming for $17.71 a month. It only slows if I use up the 5 gigs on something besides approved streaming.

The AT&T and T-mobile are now grandfathered, I am looking for deals like them to share.

 

[lenny flank]

Where do you download when you are on the road? I am wondering if Walmart, McDonald's, libraries and such stifle downloading somehow.

I usually download stuff from YouTube at places like that. In general, libraries have faster and better connections.

 

[Wanderer]

Just bought a van and will be fixing it up and living in it. My dad died December 13 and now I am doing a few updates on his house and will be selling it. I get a part of that money and will use it to build my van and live on, probably for the rest of my life. (I'm 66). My normal nightly routine is generally a TV drama or two. (Chicago Med, Fire, and PD, Criminal Minds, etc.) I turned the cable off as soon as he died knowing that I can generally watch my shows online. 

But, now I'm wondering how feasible it will be. I will be doing house batteries, solar, and a just-in-case-plug for shore power. I'll do a pure sine inverter, but I won't be trying to run anything big besides a fridge and possibly a computer. I'll be mostly boon docking as I travel around the US to visit friends and grandchildren. 

Does that give you enough information to say, "Heck, yeah, you can keep watch your shows!" or "Nope. Give it up."

As for me, I don't have TV. In my next build/buy I'll probably have a small 20" for computer/TV but not holding out much hope for good programming.

 

[GeorgiePorgie]

As for me, I don't have TV. In my next build/buy I'll probably have a small 20" for computer/TV but not holding out much hope for good programming.

There are LOTS of good programs these days. This is the golden age of television and TV shows are often as good as films. However, that includes mostly mostly cable programing. The traditional networks aren't as good.

It is easy to stream a lot of this stuff for free. It might not be strictly legal for some shows, but no one seems to do much about it. They concentrate on illegal downloads instead.
Personally, I subscribe to Netflix for $8. per month and never run out of stuff to watch, but it does not have all the best programs - just many of them.
I just hope I can figure out a way to watch this stuff in the van (when I get one), without paying for an expensive hotspot. Netflix allows you to download stuff to watch when offline, so, if it is possible with free WIFI, I can try that.

 

[Motrukdriver]

https://www.stream2watch.org/streaming-television&cc=52

I use this to live stream channels I wanna watch.  Example, I watch Cartoon Network most of the time if I'm watching TV.  So click on the Cartoon Network box.  A new screen should appear with a play stream arrow in the middle, click on that.  Then a new screen should appear with a view screen and a source list on the right.  Unless you subscribe you won't get the HD one so I click on one of the channels.  Sometimes they don't all work so try each one till you get one to stream.  I'm doing this now and channel 2 works for me.  Then click on full screen mode and you should be enjoying live streaming cartoons.  The rest of the TV channels work in pretty much the same way.  Have fun.

 

[DuneElliot]

I have 400AH AGM batteries. Watching one 2 hour movie (TV and PS3) using 110v power using a 2000W PSW inverter ate about 20% of my battery capacity. I now tend to watch Netflix or other internet-based shows on my tablet if I want to watch more than a couple of hours. Adjust your settings for Netflix and you can get lower quality at about 0.3GB an hour maximize your data.

I watch YouTube on my phone to save data. Between the hotspot on my phone and my MiFi hotspot I have 30GB high speed data for Netflix.

 

[RVTravel]

Dune, that is an impressive load drop from one movie. It definitely puts battery power limitations into perspective.

 

[John61CT]

It's not hard to get a power-efficient full home-theater style setup. Step one native DC everything, no inverters.

Obviously a 40" screen uses more juice than 20", but personally when watching quality downloaded content with my family, I want more than a little screen inches from my face.

Now with cartoons, kids can do that on their phones, but only from pre-selected libraries, too much nasty stuff out there.