Tailgate question- Powering a tv

Mar 3, 2008
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Tailgating this year in the junction and looking for advice/tips on how to power a tv. have extra satellite dish/box but need to know how to power it all away from a car and without a loud (or expensive) generator. Thanks in advance
 

mjh94

Redshirt
Mar 3, 2008
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get a 125 amp hour deep cycle


to figure your run time, total up your wattage (tv, box, etc) divide total wattage by 10, then divide that number into your amp hours on your battery. so on a 100% charge, running 100 watts, it would be 12.5 if you battery had 125 amp hours.

your inverter needs to have capacity for the wattage you're using. simple as that.
 

MaverickAG

Redshirt
Feb 8, 2005
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however, being poor, I bought the two cheapest car batteries possible, hooked them up in parallel and ran them through an inverter. I used a small solar charger to charge them prior to gameday. Whole setup probably cost like $75-$100.
 

MaverickAG

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Feb 8, 2005
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But then again, I was powering a small 25" TV, satellite receiver, and maybe a crock pot. Not some 52" DLP, hot tub, and convection oven setup that others may have.
 

croomandwhite

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Aug 30, 2006
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We are wanting to have a tv for the first time this year, but are not sure what the best way to get reception is. All we want to be able to get is the local channels so we can watch the afternoon games (i.e, we are not going to do directv). What is the best way to do this? Can we just buy a satellite from BestBuy, etc. and plug it up to the tv and start getting reception? Thanks in advance.
 

ArlngtnDawg

Redshirt
Oct 28, 2003
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croomandwhite said:
We are wanting to have a tv for the first time this year, but are not sure what the best way to get reception is. All we want to be able to get is the local channels so we can watch the afternoon games (i.e, we are not going to do directv). What is the best way to do this? Can we just buy a satellite from BestBuy, etc. and plug it up to the tv and start getting reception? Thanks in advance.
why would you buy a satellite if you are not going to use satellite? Are you referring to an antenna? You can probably pick up HD locals with an OTA antenna.
 

MaverickAG

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Feb 8, 2005
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The small one we had probably pulled between 130-150 watts, about the same as our ****** TV which was just as energy inefficient. You could probably run a 42" + LCD for the same amount of power now. The longest we ever ran the setup was eight hours. Don't remember everything we had running but the setup works really well.
 

redlobsterdawg

Redshirt
Mar 3, 2008
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arrives at the tailgate, you do not even realize it is there. We have tailgated in the Junction for the past 3 years and have not had any complaints. When we first started looking for a generator for our tailgate, we were shocked when we came across this one for so cheap. We bought it on a whim, kind of half expecting it to last us about a year, but this thing has gone beyond any expectation we ever had. You can read the reviews on the website, 95% of them are very positive. </p>
 

MaverickAG

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Feb 8, 2005
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I used a DirecTV dish that I literally pulled from a trash bin. I ordered a cheap tripod and signal finder from ebay and used a box and subscription from my parents house on the Coast.

That being said, if don't want to look like a sophomore in college, OTA HD is a good option but only for local stations.

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx
http://www.hdtvantennalabs.com/location/

Plug in the Starkville's zip code and they will tell you what style antenna would be best and what channels you can expect to pick up.

For cable stations, DirecTV works well, especially if you already have a subscription or know someone who does. If you have multiple boxes, just bring one with you. No phone line required.
 

AssEndDawg

Freshman
Aug 1, 2007
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the Honda generators are the way to go but they aren't cheap. Any "cheap" generator is going to make a lot of noise.
 

lawdawg02

Redshirt
Jan 23, 2007
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will pick up WCBI in HD, which will get you the SECNetwork games and the CBS games. That's all we used last year. There were a couple of other channels, and one may have had football on, but I'm not sure.</p>
 

AgDawg

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May 24, 2006
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So I am assuming you would need a battery charger to recharge? I don't know jack about batteries but is there a special charger for a marine battery or would you use a standard charger?