Battery Operated Televisions - Question about digital TV ( read on)?

Question about digital TV ( read on)?

We all know now the television signals are now digital and old fashioned "rabbit ears " won't work anymore, but I have a question about this. I live in South Florida and there is always a chance of being hit by a hurricane . During and after Hurricane Wilma we had no power for over two weeks. We relied on our battery operated TV for the slightest entertainment and news coverage. How will this work during natural disasters such as a hurricane and the like? Since the signal is digital and those battery operated Tv will no longer pick up the signals anymore. How will this now work during disaster times? Does anyone know?

Public Comments

Great question. Right now the only answer is some type of emergency source of 110 v.a.c. power, like a small generator. Sooner or later the manufacturers will come out with 12 v.d.c. digital TVs for RVs, boats, etc., but I haven't seen any yet. One other possibility, technically quite feasible, would be a spare 12 volt car battery powering a small 110 volt inverter--that would provide sufficient power for a small digital TV. It gets worse--all your multiband portable radios that used to tune the audio on channels 2-13 won't do that any more, and so far as I know, no one is marketing digital replacements (a digital TV audio tuner in a portable radio is a major technology leap).
>and old fashioned "rabbit ears " won't work anymore, They still work; there is one working in my house right now! How good of an antenna you need depends on your location. Your choices are: 1. Buy a portable TV with a digital tuner. 2 Connect a converter box between a TV antenna and your old portable TV. The Artic brand converters use a 12 volt external power supply, so they are easily modified to be powered by a car battery. Or you could use any brand of converter with an inverter & a car battery. This works best on TVs that have an external antenna jack or A/V inputs. 3. Depend on a radio, just like people did before the days of portable TVs.