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Crossposting this from IYG. I'd like to get into some FOOTBALL!!! tailgating this year and I'm curious to see how other people have their TV situation set up. Specifically, I have questions about how to power it. I have a 37" Samsung LCD I'd like to use and ideally would like to find a rechargeable generate that will let me power it for ~5-6 hours. I'd also be open to getting a gas generator if that's a better deal. I think I could probably rent one, too, I'd just need to know what appropriate size to get. Also, I'd need a signal. My initial idea was to just get an OTA antenna to catch whatever was on the local networks (I'm in Tempe, AZ, so tailgating for ASU games) but I'd love to hear how everyone else parties. If it matters, I have a 2014 Nissan Xterra that I could potentially run all of this out of as well and just have someone else jump me when the battery died but I don't know how long I can reasonable expect that to last.
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Aug 26, 2014 23:47
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Sevryn posted:Crossposting this from IYG. You are definitely going to want to get a generator. You will want to actually turn it on before purchasing as they can range from really loving loud to only a slight background hum which can easily be drowned out.
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Aug 27, 2014 00:23
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In general, Honda generators tend to be very quiet and small.
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Aug 27, 2014 00:50
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Any thoughts on rechargeable battery generators?
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Aug 27, 2014 01:04
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Sevryn posted:Any thoughts on rechargeable battery generators? I really wouldn't bother. Most of the smaller ones are really only for boosting dead/dying batteries and the larger ones are very expensive and still probably wouldn't last that long.
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Aug 27, 2014 04:28
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Can I convince you to tailgate in a Prius and just install an inverter? You can alternately just install a bunch of batteries like the car stereo guys do to prolong your ability to not drain them. I don't know how much juice a LCD TV uses but a deep cycle marine battery would probably do it. You can test that at home just hook up an inverter to a full charged one and let the tv run. According to the internet a deep cycle battery fully charge and an efficient inverter will get you 15 hours of 35 watt TV powering. This is not even connected to your car so the worse that can happen is someone steals your battery and TV while you are off peeing. Elephanthead fucked around with this message at 15:59 on Aug 27, 2014 |
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Aug 27, 2014 15:54
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A Honda EU1000i generator is the poo poo if you're willing to make the investment (~$800). Small, light, quiet, and will run your TV (and other stuff) for 8 hours on half a gallon of gas. A big deep cycle battery + inverter setup will also work and is cheaper ($150-200) but won't power as much stuff and if for some reason you run out of juice you're SOL (it's much easier to go get more gas for a generator or have a 5gal can handy).
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Aug 27, 2014 16:22
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I've got a 2000W Chinese clone of a Honda generator that I bought at Costco a couple years ago for around $500. It's made by Champion Power Equipment, and it's been rock solid. It's only 2-3 decibels louder than the Honda, and once you stick it at the front of your car and run an extension cord you'll never hear it. I think that they've even introduced a newer model that's quieter and a little cheaper than mine. I've also bought an extra DirecTV dish, and then I just bring the receiver from my guest room with me to the tailgate. I've got one of the fancy new receivers, which means that I can't use one of the awesome auto-aligning dishes. If you're using an older box, I'd pony up for a VuQube (or something similar) so you don't have to dick around with getting the dish lined up for a half hour. I replaced all of the nuts on the dish with wingnuts so that I can disassemble the thing without a wrench for packing up. It sits on a fencepost that I bought from Lowe's, and then that goes into an antenna tripod from Radio Shack. If it's extra windy, I'll sit something heavy on the feet of the tripod. We've had the generator powering a 32" LCD TV, the satellite box and power injector, a speaker, a fan, some lights, and two Crockpots for hours and hours with no issues. It's really awesome.
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Aug 27, 2014 16:33
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Nthing the Honda generator. They're fantastic.
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Aug 27, 2014 17:35
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Just to offer an alternative to a generator, and not requiring a DIY Battery+inverter in the same price range as the Honda you could get a refurb UPS and battery pack: http://excessups.com/apc-smart-ups-xl-1400va-black-rackmount-3u-su1400rmxlb3u ($299) http://excessups.com/apc-smart-ups-xl-rm-2u-24v-battery-pack-su24r2xlbp ($459) Estimating the draw at ~150W for an LCD, you'd get 5 1/2 hours, more if the LCD actually draws less.  You don't get the benefit of being able to add gas, however.
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Aug 27, 2014 22:48
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I highly recommend a generator, once you have one you think of all kinds of uses for them. my friends and I had great times taking a small one out camping along with this rad little HD projector we had and a big starched white bedsheet, tying it between some trees, and watching old movies out in the woods while cooking on a campfire watching blair witch in a dense forest at night with friends is something everyone should do
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Aug 27, 2014 22:51
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wheez the roux posted:I highly recommend a generator, once you have one you think of all kinds of uses for them. my friends and I had great times taking a small one out camping along with this rad little HD projector we had and a big starched white bedsheet, tying it between some trees, and watching old movies out in the woods while cooking on a campfire that sounds loving awesome
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Aug 27, 2014 22:52
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You could also go the ultra nerd route and use a dish converted for Free to Air use and watch the raw satellite feed.
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Aug 28, 2014 01:19
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DJExile posted:that sounds loving awesome That does sound pretty awesome! I go camping a lot and I even have a hd projector!
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Aug 28, 2014 02:04
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Rectal Placenta posted:You could also go the ultra nerd route and use a dish converted for Free to Air use and watch the raw satellite feed. Can you link me to a good place showing how to do that? Sounds interesting.
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Aug 28, 2014 02:05
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Yeah, for real that sounds rad as poo poo.
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Aug 28, 2014 03:05
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I have yet to find a really good guide for FTA, but the gist of it is that there are a bunch of satellites that broadcast unencrypted channels and feeds. The signals are linear polarized, different from what Directv/Dish Network broadcasts which is circular polarized (wikipedia that poo poo). A lot of stuff is on the Ku band, and in order to receive the signal, you'll need to get a Ku linear LNB. The LNB is the round thing on the end of the dish's arm that receives the signal. Something like this will work: http://www.amazon.com/Avenger-Standard-Single-KSC321-10750/dp/B00AWHTFXE/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1409195711&sr=8-14&keywords=ku+lnb The LNB can be retrofitted onto whatever dish you have lying around/can get for free. You'll also need a receiver specific for FTA that can do blind scans. If you look around you can find them for $40-$50. Once you have all the equipment, you need to aim everything. Here's a list of satellites that can be seen in the US: http://www.ftalist.com/latitudesat.php Most of the feeds I've found are on 72W, 85W, 91W, and 101W. This site is super helpful for aiming: http://www.dishpointer.com/ And here is a good place that posts feeds as they appear: http://www.fridgefta.info/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=65 If you search around for 'FTA' stuff, you can find enough info to figure out how to make everything work. I've gotten tons of crazy stuff like direct video feeds from news helicopters and a rooftop camera in Gaza during all the fighting. Weirdly enough there are a lot of high school football games.
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Aug 28, 2014 04:43
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| # ? Apr 29, 2024 18:23 |
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Generator and the digital rabbit ears should do you fine if you can get the game OTA. As others have said, definitely go gas and as quiet as you can afford, though no small generator will really be that distracting in the cacophony of a busy tailgate. If you have dish, you can get the 'tailgater', which is a dish designed to be moved around and auto-orient itself, which is infinitely easier then setting up a dish every week, which I did for a few years while running a company tailgate. edit: also, get a table or something to set the tv on and one of the canopies to put the tv under -- helps a bunch with the glare of sun and will protect from the odd storm. Neil Armbong fucked around with this message at 04:48 on Aug 28, 2014 |
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Aug 28, 2014 04:46
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