Smart tv upgrade

My original thought was to replace the main TV with a new modern smart TV with wifi connectivity. This ended up being harder than i thought based on the size of the current original tv. I just couldnt find a reasonably priced replacement that was a good fit. The factory TV measures 26" diagonal and nothing bigger seemed to fit the space well. I went thru the effort with a new 24" roku tv but the length of the factory cables were just a tad too short to reach and i had to fabricate a different piece of plywood to mount it up and left an unsightly gap all around. I opted to just go back with the original TV and a roku streaming stick and all original mounting. This worked well with 1 small issue. The placement of the power cord for the roku stick was too tight with the existing frame and i didnt want to cut up the frame for clearance so i used a 6 in HDMI extension cable to relocate the stick for the clearance i needed. Unfortunately i forgot to take a pic of the extension cable. For power i used the USB port on the side of the tv for the roku stick to eliminate the need of 120v power. While i was in there i replaced the original HDMI and fiber optic cables with new 10ft long ones. The originals were 6ft and didnt leave much slack. This allowed me to re-route those cables around the back of the wall in the cubby to the right of the TV opposed to right thru the middle as they were. IM happy with the install and results and was surprised that with the Roku remote it also controls the home theater volume since its working over the fiber optic cable.

Since i had a spare 24in TV now i mounted it to the back wall of the cabinet in the bedroom area so we can now watch TV in bed like we do at home as we wind down our day. PC had already put in a hole for the power cord underneath that cabinet to plug power cord into the outlet in that cabinet. The 24 in TV is the biggest that will fit in that space. It barely extends past the face of the cabinet

Hi Wildglide,

The 26" Samsung TV in your 2011 looks like the same one I installed in our 2007.  Back in 2007, Phoenix only offered a smaller 3:4 aspect ratio TV up front so we ordered our PC without a TV, then installed a 16:9 widescreen for a lot less money.  If your TV has black raised control buttons that are practically invisible in the lower-right area facing forward, then we likely have the same TV.

Our 26" Samsung TV with the old video/audio RCA jack technology (HDMI not known) and fluorescent back-lit LCD screen, still works well with our original 2007 Executive head unit.  We are pretty much limited to DVDs, unable to play Blu-Rays.  Our TV antenna is the old crank-up Winegard, analog technology.  It takes some doing to point it in the best direction to pick up free TV, then have our main Samsung TV scan and find stations, an involved process that we rarely bother doing.  Campgrounds with simple plug-in cable-TV is an outdated luxury we have not experienced for a long time, hence we primarily depend on DVDs for video entertainment.  If we often extend-stay in campgrounds, just hanging out a lot, that would be great incentive for a very serious upgrade.

Due to confinement against the fabric ceiling, the front TV ran uncomfortably warm so I installed two computer cooling fans controlled by a POT to lower their speed to quiet them down.  They make the TV operate nicely cool.  Power consumption from the over-all entertainment system up front has always been significant, with or without the fans running.  When boondocking, with batteries in good shape, we'll watch TV up front only if the next day involves a lot of driving and/or the destination has shore power.

If I were to buy a replacement front TV today, I would select a frameless 26" to 32" with an external power supply, not 120V direct.  Actual operating voltage is subjective to amps and watts, so upon bringing the TV home, I would immediately experiment with a car battery to determine if the TV will function properly from a 12V power source.  Running directly off the house batteries will save energy compared to 120V through the inverter.  Being lower power compared to our old LCD TV today, will benefit similarly.

Naturally, TVs today are much more techie.  My favorite is screen-sharing a smart phone to the TV to watch anything off the phone, right on the TV.

Here is what we have today, installed back in 2007 or 2008.


Here is our PC-installed head unit with 5 speaker +subwoofer.  The brand is Executive.


Also back in the day, I installed a Toshiba TV/DVD combo by the double bed.  Naturally, it is much easier on the house batteries, so when we boondock, this is our go-to TV.


Our 2007 PC has not kept up with current-day technology in two areas, entertainment and on-board energy without solar or lithium, but we are happy none-the-less.  If or when something dies with the entertainment system, that would be a good reason for a leap-frog upgrade.

Ron, 
If you bought that TV in 2007-08 it will definitely have at least 1 or 2 HDMI ports and most likely 1 USB port. Would be very simple to add a streaming stick of your liking, either Roku or Amazon Fire stick. IM personally a Roku guy so thats my choice. Just be mindful you may need a short HDMI extension cord for clearance and i highly recommend replacing the HDMI and fiber cables with longer ones since you are in there.

I agree!  But I am content with the installed TV, which supports any electronics connecting with HDMI capabilities.

Because of the features available with cellular networks, Starlink, and others, I removed the DVD and repurposed the empty shelf for storage.  The rooftop noise maker, sometimes doubling as a TV antenna, has been retired to the Trash Heap.  We now enjoy relative quiet, as we travel.

I know what you mean about the external rooftop antenna.  The wings like to "slap" the roof with bumps in the road.  I stuck on the wing tips, large thick felt pads used for sliding furniture on hard floors.  That completely solved the irritation.  I also added a signal boosting contraption on the antenna, wondering if it does any good.  For as often as we utilize the antenna, it is hardly worth keeping.  But you know how it can go, the day that I remove it, is the first trip out that I wished I hadn't.