Is there a low-price battery-powered digital TV for emergency/blackout use?

[jpak]

to replace the good old analog one that has served me well for many years?????

:shrug:

[Statistical]

1. Good Question. I don't think I have seen any portable digital TV (n/t)

[cbayer]

2. You can buy a 12 volt television that is HDTV ready.

That would plug into a car battery or golf car battery with a little ingenuity. I am not sure how much they cost, but I know they are available in marine stores.

:hi:

[greguganus]

3. You could get a small wattage gen. if you have the room, ventilation, etc. n/t

[MineralMan]

4. Here's one:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2855063

[jpak]

7. Looks interesting - thanks

:hi:

But I wish they didn't cost $200

:(

[MineralMan]

9. Yeah. Well, it won't be long before cheaper ones are available.

I'd guess that there will be some 7" ones for under $100 within a year.

[Bonhomme Richard]

16. Amazon has one for 109.

[LiberalHeart]

5. Dunno, but I wonder about those battery-operated radios that broadcast TV audio.

Will they still be able to get that audio?

[jpak]

8. Nope - the analog TV audio apparently goes away too

:thumbsdown:

[LiberalHeart]

11. Bummer. I got my radio recently to pick up news coverage when we lose power.

I'm in tornado alley, and the news folks always tell us to take our battery-operated radios into the basement during storms and stay posted on what's going on.

[jpak]

13. Maybe emergency TV broadcasts should be both analog and digital

would make sense???

[Statistical]

19. The reason for the change is because....

the FCC is relocating all the channels into a smaller space and selling off the unused frequencies.

They can't keep broadcasting in analog because in the future those frequencies will be used by something else.

Sadly the FCC already sold the first of the frequency blocks for $20 billion this summer.
The new "owners" have paid the govt and except those frequencies to be clear so they can begin using them.

[LiberalHeart]

21. Maybe when they sell them, they should say the airwaves revert to public announcements in emergency.

[Statistical]

23. That would have been a good idea but the sales are already final.

Nothing will change now. The only "good" news is eventually DTV or radios that pick up DTV signals will be cheap.

[guitar man]

12. here's what DTV answers says

Once full-power TV stations stop transmitting analog signals after February 17, 2009, your portable FM radio will no longer be able to receive audio from these TV stations. However, low-power and translator stations are not required to go digital by February 2009, so you may be able to continue receiving analog audio programming from those types of stations if there are any in your area.

http://www.dtvanswers.com/dtv_faqs.html

[Vickers]

6. Excellent question.

My little emergency TV with a 3" screen is about to be useless (I live in Florida, so power outages during storms are quite common).

About the only equivalent thing I've seen is a 7" screen on something like this.

[amerikat]

10. Try this link to radio shack

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3324197&tab=techSpecs

[jpak]

14. Thanks - it says it uses a rechargeable Li battery with a 2.5 hour battery life

Could charge it from a small PV panel...

:shrug:

[amerikat]

18. I may have a small PV panel for you.

I'll have to check the voltage.

[amerikat]

22. I have a 15 volt 4 watt PV panel that you can have if you need it.

It's an EPV Solar thin film aSi. Glass substrate, no frame.

[DJ13]

15. Obama Urges DTV Delay as Time, Money Runs Out

http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/01/obama-urges-dtv.html
Obama Urges DTV Delay as Time, Money Runs Out | Epicenter from Wired.com

[originalpckelly]

17. I have a CD player with TV audio built-in...

now that function is useless, these bastards. At least it has a weather radio in it! But those don't seem to get the best reception.

[backscatter712]

20. Get one of those portable DVD players.

A lot of them have TV tuners built into them. Some of the newer ones handle the new digital HDTV signals.