While not a necessity on holiday, a TV can be useful if the weather takes a turn for the worse and you’re stuck indoors for a while. But what TV do you need and how can you make sure you get a decent picture? Read on for all the answers!
What TV can I use on my touring caravan?
Sadly, you can’t take the TV from the spare bedroom for your touring caravan! TV sets from home require a 240V electricity supply and while they could in theory be used with electricity hook up, the wattage would be too high and you would probably cause a shortage on the site.
As we recommend for appliances, 12V is the best for a touring caravan and our Alphatronics televisions are available (in store only). These specialist 12V sets use only 11 watts (your TV at home will use anywhere between 50 and 200). They have a built in DVD and CD player and can be used for Freeview and Freesat.
What to do to get the best signal for your TV
If your caravan is a fairly new model, it will probably have a TV aerial as standard and may even have a signal finder. For older models, you will need an indoor or an outdoor mobile TV aerial, which should be positioned as high as possible with a permanent TV bracket or on a jockey wheel attached to a pole (check out our masts and clamps for everything you need). The strength of signal you pick up will depend on the direction of the aerial. Look at other caravans on the site to see the general direction and then to be more precise, you can use a Maxview Digital TV Signal Finder. To really get the best signal strength, a variable signal booster can help.
What about satellite TV?
Although you’ll need a receiver such as a Sky box or Freesat box, plus a satellite dish, satellite viewing will give you the best signal and is the best way to watch TV, particularly in areas with poor terrestrial signal.
Do I need a TV licence?
If you have a TV licence at home, it will cover you for watching TV in your touring caravan. this is not true of static caravan however, and you should check prevalent rules on the TV licencing website.
BEC Ingoldmells helping you to get the best TV signal on holiday
If you need any further advice, or are looking for the equipment you need to watch TV in your caravan, email us, call us on 01754 871152 or pop in to one of our shops where our sales team will be happy to help.
