My 08H came equipped with a 12V Jensen, which could only be viewed from one angle. I recently replaced the anchor with an Insignia 24” Smart TV. In the past I never watched TV, and it’s because the Jensen was not pleasurable to watch. You could not hook u a HDMI device, or stream or cast to the TV.
Replacement of the Jensen was a simple job, and required little/no modification. It was pretty much a drop in installation. There are four wood buttons that conceal the mounting screws for the TV mount on my 08H. Using extreme care, and a sharp pen knife, I was removed them. The four machine bolts screw through the wood shelf and into the metal mounting frame. The Insignia is the same width, even though the Jensen was rated as a 19” TV, and the Insignia is rated as a 25” TV. The display of the Insignia is 720p, the maximum resolution for the class, and there simply isn’t enough room in my RV for anything larger. The Insignia sits higher off the shelf, leaving room for a speaker bar, or wood trim. I have Brian Terwilliger’s Visible and WiFi solution, so there is WiFi in the RV all the time. Additionally, I have a cell booster, so running the TV with everything on isn’t the energy suck I anticipated. The installation seems to draw, about 5A, 12V with the cell booster, Jensen entertainment system, and the television on. It was little enough draw that I wasn’t concerned.
The Insignia has a VESA mounting arrangement, the same size as the Jensen, so it was a case of unscrew the old, and screw in the new. There was a 12V direct plug for the Jensen, so I used some crimp T-Tap connectors to install a female 12V cigarette lighter type connector that I plugged in a 12V 125W AC inverter into. The output for the Jensen ‘Entertainment Center’ only has a composite output for the built in DVD player and the Insignia has a composite input, so connection was a breeze. . I used an earphone mini din to RCA connector for the output from the TV, so I could play the TV over the pretty good speakers in the rear. I added an HDMI cable to the rear of the TV, so that I could hook a DVD Player or my laptop and use the full 720 resolution.
There is a coaxial connector for an external antenna, so with the antenna amplifier on, a necessity, I was able to scan into the TV 39 stations. (Word of warning, I live in northern NJ near the intersection of I80 and I287. Reception is pretty good here). Reception in the wide open spaces depends on available stations. I have a King Antenna head, it works well, but generally, in the evening cell reception is good enough that I will stream something from YouTube, Netflix, Amazon or Disney.
Since I hooked the TV into the rear RV speakers, instead of installing a bar speaker, a piece of wood trim was installed. Everything works as it did, but a little slower, as the TV is essentially a computer and has to boot up. The TV switch turns on the inverter, the TV indicates that it has power, and then it’s turned on with the remote. The Entertainment center needs to be on so the sound comes through the rear coach speakers. Not using the earphone output on the TV and using the built in speakers, or using a USB powered bar speaker would allow you to leave the entertainment system off.
The cost was minimal, and I’ve supplied most of the parts I purchased below.
Insignia NS-24DF310NA21 24-inch… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0874YZVWK…
150W Car Power Inverter Charger… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H7XDDKZ…
StarTech.com 6in Stereo Audio… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000A88L9E…