I have an in car DVD player with twin screens that clamp onto the headrests. You know the sort of thing! Keeps the kids entertained on long journeys. Who says family interaction is dead ! :)
Anyway, reading a recent Auto Express, they tested in car TV receivers, basically these just plug into the AV socket of the DVD player and hey presto you have Freeview TV channels. Reception is through a magnetic aerial mount on roof.
Now it is probably Sunday morning syndrome, feel the need to look at gadgets as I am bored waiting for the footie to start. However, having said that, has anyone any experience of these sort of products? Here is an example that did well in the AE test
tinyurl.com/2b4n2t
However I am sure the test was not driving from one end of the country to the other, just wondering if anyone has tried something like this, does it work or is the picture constantly losing signal, searching for signal etc?
|
Might just be OK where you can see the transmitter (eg Emley Moor from M1 or Winter Hill from M6). Probably acceptable in a caravan or truck where you can fiddle about for best reception and provided the signal was reasonably strong.
OTOH I'm half a mile from the M1, about 50 feet higher between J15A and 16. Freeview needed a high gain wideband aerial mouted high on the chimney, still lose the weakest mux in foggy weather. Down on the M1 I don't think you'd have a hope unless/until there's a line of sight to Sandy Heath.
AE or somebody else with a better understanding of aerials and proapgation will be along in a mo - but my guess would be that your kids would see rather a lot of blue screen. I also doubt the digital telly spec included a requirement to operate mobile so you'd probably loose the lot every time you moved between x/mitter areas.
|
That's a surefire recipe for car sickness.
Teach the kids to play 'eye spy'. My grandaughter had us all puzzled recently with SDH. After we had all given up she said, "Silver door handle".
|
What did we do in the old days to amuse the kids on very much longer journey times (with a top speed of 80mph if you were very lucky) before DVDs or even Radios became standard?
I recall a one and a half day journey from Edinburgh to Dover - Mum, Dad, sis & I in a mini - no radio (this was the early 60s). Yet we survived the journey with all our marbles and never a cross word between us.
Eye spy - lasted hours, Count the number of ERF lorries, count the number of houses with red roofs- Mum even had aspelling game for us.
Personally, I think if I heard the strains of Eastenders or Strictly Come Dancing (or anything featuring Bruce Forsyth, Sharon Osbourne or Carol Vorderman) while I'm driving would likely want to end it all!!
Edited by grumpyscot on 25/02/2008 at 06:48
|
|
I think it incredible that these distracting Xmas tree bright devices are legal in cars, especially those pop out front of car small screen DVD players. Still today's over protected kids might get bored if they ever have to start entertaining themselves...................
|
|
We had some shocking sing-along tapes for the kids when they were smaller for long drives through France, and once they were bigger we played I-spy and I packed my trunk. Nothing would bring me to put DVD/TV in the car. If you really have to, buy a couple of Gameboys/equiv.
|
Gameboys... but disable the sound.
|
|
Buy 'em a few books - you know, those oblong, often brightly coloured things you still see occasionally lined up on shop shelves. ;-)
|
'Buy 'em a few books...'
hah! I still remember the ticking off my brother, sister and I received back in the mid 70's. We were on a three week tour of Europe in a splitscreen VW dormobile - somewhere in the Rhine valley my mum turns round to see the three of us with our heads down reading; cue for rant " we bring you all this way with this fabulous scenery and all you do is read!" whoops, you can't win sometimes :)
|
'Buy 'em a few books...' all this way with this fabulous scenery and all you do is read!" whoops you can't win sometimes :)
I would have been just the same normd. Children don't see the point in views. Everything looks new and interesting to them and they care more for forms of action than harmonious appearances etc.
I still remember my parents admiring sunsets and trying to point them out to us children. I would think, yeah, yeah, another sunset, seen one you've seen them all more or less. I was more interested in probing the undergrowth for unusual wildlife.
Edited by Lud on 25/02/2008 at 15:27
|
|
|
|
Surefire winner for Eye Spy in the car.
Something begining with B.
I'll post the answer later
|
How about: Backseatdriver?
|
It's difficult enough getting a strong enough signal on such products when used in a fixed environment, never mind on the move in a vehicle...:-)
To give you an example, the current digital (Freeview) transmission strength from Winter Hill, which serves my area, is just 1.87 per cent of the present main analogue signal level.
You would presumably also have to keep tuning channels on such a device as you come across each new transmitter on the journey.
|
Try 'Mini punch' or 'Beetle bash'. Double points for a 'Yellow Mini punch' or 'Yellow Beetle bash'. Triple points for an 'Old Mini punch'. Cut out the assaults and it keeps the kids amused. Driver has the best advantage of course with critical car positioning being the secret to a good score.
Used to drive my crew mate scatty!
|
Being Somerset people, we used to play 'pub cricket', scoring by pub names. Can't remember the rules now, though.
Does anyone else remember?
|
Being Somerset people we used to play 'pub cricket' scoring by pub names. Can't remember the rules now though. Does anyone else remember?
Runs were calculated on the number of legs in the pub's name, eg four for The Bull and two for the King Henry. When you got to the Five Bells or The Old Ball you were out!!
Umpire Mum's decision on The Cricketers (or was six the max?)!!!
Edited by Bromptonaut on 25/02/2008 at 21:51
|
>>Surefire winner for Eye Spy in the car.
>>Something begining with B.
>>I'll post the answer later
I give up, Nsar. Put us out of our misery and tell us what begins with B.
|
Number plate Scrabble. Think of a word using all the letters on a passing number plate in the correct order, bonus score for proper names, double bonus if the letters form an actual word.
Prevents terminal boredom for an hour or so.
|
|
|
