New owners

[Silverbee]

We just today purchased a 2007 Safari 20ft. in North Carolina. We pick up next week. Does anyone have any experience in mounting a flat screen tv? How to do it, best mount to buy, tv size, etc. Any input would be appreciated. We look forward to some new life experiences-just us, no kids.

[njoysrvin]

we live in Concord , NC and placed a flat screen tv in our 2005 Safari that we also bought in NC. We live at the sppedway and would be happy to have you come and see how we installed the tv and set up system. Ken and Deborah

[myoung]

Welcome to the wonderful world of aluminum.

With a 20-foot trailer you might want to consider adding electronic equipment that does double or triple duty. For example, we use our laptop computer for DVD movies, email, internet, music, radio, and audio-video conferencing with friends and family. If we wanted TV we would just add a tuner box and then we would have the ability to record TV for later viewing and for skipping over commercials.

Our computer is a nearly 3-year-old 17-inch Apple PowerBook G4. That screen size is fine for viewing in the small confines of a trailer. The newer laptops from Apple and even the stupendous iMac which comes in screen sizes up to 24 inches all come with built-in cameras for free A/V conversations over the internet whenever you are in range of a broadband connection.

In short, given the rapid convergence in the digital realm I would suggest a new computer rather than a single-purpose TV.

Enjoy your travels.

[5cats]

Welcome Silverbee, and may I compliment you on your trailer selection !

Our own new 20' SE has yet to arrive -- two weeks from now -- so we're keen to follow your experiences, especially the whole taking delivery process and your impressions of fit and finish once you get familiar with it.

We went ahead and ordered the 19" monitor/dvd option from the factory with ours (expensive, I know!) but when it shows up I'll be happy to look at it closely and take pictures, if it's not too late by then. Since you're looking at an non-factory solution, you might consider the earlier poster's suggestion about multitasking a laptop vice a dedicated screen.

Oh, what color scheme do you have? We've gone with Beach Club...
Cheers,
-jd.

[Silverbee]

5Cats:
Thanks for the response. Our Safari SE was at the dealer-Interior is "Kiwi". We go to pick up on the 14th-walk-through, etc. Especially like the panoramic window, power lift, stainless interior, shoot, just the whole thing! Thanks for the offer of pictures-will look forward to that. We are signed up to receive email.

[Andrew Selking]

We just picked up a new 25ft SE two weeks ago . We also like the view out the back window it is great. I did find in the wall were the tv mounts two sets of wires that run from the tv up to the radio. One set is for audio to run your sound through the radio and the other set is for you to add a DVD player. I found these after I had bought some audio cable to run myself but will now use the preinstalled ones.
I am also looking for another towel bar for the bathroom. It only comes with one and could use two. I know I can order one from the dealer but would like to find one at a local store if some one could tell what brand the factory towel bar is?

[5cats]

Silverbee and Andrew: just wondering if you plan on camping this winter? We're curious about your impressions in the cold weather regarding condensation forming on the interior of these SE units.

Cheers,
-jd.

[flyfisher]

Originally Posted by Silverbee

We just today purchased a 2007 Safari 20ft. in North Carolina. We pick up next week. Does anyone have any experience in mounting a flat screen tv? How to do it, best mount to buy, tv size, etc. Any input would be appreciated. We look forward to some new life experiences-just us, no kids.

We had the factory install a bracket on the ousitde wall for us, just above our credenza. So, we can watch the TV from either our dinette or couch. They used an Omni cantilever wall mount that they've apparently customized with an additional aluminum backplate to make it more rigid when mounted on the wall, plus they added velcro straps to hold the mount and TV against the wall when travelling. They also made a wooden box that went aagainst the wall of our trailer where we wanted the TV to be mounted, and the Omni mount is attached to this box. The box itself is tapered so that the TV is actually mounted vertically, considering that the wall is slightly rounded, plus the box is hollow so we can run the wires behind it, keeping them out of view.

As I recall, Airstream charged us something under $300.00 for this, and we bought our own Sharp flat screen TV. Altogether, this was much cheaper than ordering the TV and wall mount as a factory installed option.

John

[LI Pets]

John, do you have a pic of it?

[Andrew Selking]

Originally Posted by 5cats

Silverbee and Andrew: just wondering if you plan on camping this winter? We're curious about your impressions in the cold weather regarding condensation forming on the interior of these SE units.

Cheers,
-jd.

Yes we plan on camping this winter. It doesn't get that cold in Texas usually just a couple days a year. I do know from past experience with the 59 ambassador we had that if the conditions were right it would sweat a little.
I also grew up in Indiana and you always had condensation in the winter in the house you just learned to deal with it. However with the airstream the windows will not rot from condensation . Aluminum is the best.

[flyfisher]

Originally Posted by Lipets

John, do you have a pic of it?

Bob -

No, I'm sorry but I do not, and I've just put my Airstream to bed for the winter.

John

[5cats]

Originally Posted by Silverbee

5Cats:
Thanks for the response. Our Safari SE was at the dealer-Interior is "Kiwi". We go to pick up on the 14th-walk-through, etc. Especially like the panoramic window, power lift, stainless interior, shoot, just the whole thing! Thanks for the offer of pictures-will look forward to that. We are signed up to receive email.

OK, I'm just dying to hear about your pickup experience. My coach arrives in just a couple of days, another week for our own pickup.

So, did you get your coach? Spare no details!

Cheers,
-jd.

[5cats]

Ok, I just peeked inside my coach, just arrived at the dealer today. I managed two shots of the TV mount.

Left side, closed position:
A good profile of the wood mounting box, constructed of the upper cabinet material.

...and right side, open position:
Once I take delivery I can check out those two covers near the top of the wood box part, maybe get an idea how it's really attached to the wall. Might have a chance this weekend to peek in there...

I also looked inside a newly-arrived david winick model: I wish I took pictures of the TV mount area there! I just recall saying to myself, "elegant" and "nicely done".

Hope this gives you some ideas, anyway.

Cheers,
-jd.

[GlenCoombe]

SilverBee, welcome to the forums. I was just though your neighborhood last week! Please let us know your overall experience with Out of Doors Mart after the conclusion of your buy experience.
The search option on the blue line above will turn up a couple of threads on LCD tv's and mounts....just don't search for TV as you'll get "tow vehicles."
There are a lot of options for mounting and the real problem is in drilling that first hole in a new AS to mount anything.

[LI Pets]

Looks nice, what is the outlet plug on the bottom right with the little U shaped wire?

[5cats]

Originally Posted by Lipets

Looks nice, what is the outlet plug on the bottom right with the little U shaped wire?

First, apologies for linking directly to the larger pics -- my first pictures posted! I've only just now figured out the thumbnails *sigh*.

The little u-loop allows you to hook up a cable box/modem or satellite receiver before it splits to both monitor outlets (there's another on setup toward the "foot" of the bed, no mount, just cable jack). If you have your own device to plug in, just unhook the loop and one jack becomes input, the other output (on to the monitors).

Hope that makes sense.

Cheers,
-jd.

[LI Pets]

Yep, works for me, thanks

[Minnie's Mate]

Originally Posted by flyfisher

We had the factory install a bracket on the ousitde wall for us, just above our credenza. So, we can watch the TV from either our dinette or couch. They used an Omni cantilever wall mount that they've apparently customized with an additional aluminum backplate to make it more rigid when mounted on the wall, plus they added velcro straps to hold the mount and TV against the wall when travelling. They also made a wooden box that went aagainst the wall of our trailer where we wanted the TV to be mounted, and the Omni mount is attached to this box. The box itself is tapered so that the TV is actually mounted vertically, considering that the wall is slightly rounded, plus the box is hollow so we can run the wires behind it, keeping them out of view.

As I recall, Airstream charged us something under $300.00 for this, and we bought our own Sharp flat screen TV. Altogether, this was much cheaper than ordering the TV and wall mount as a factory installed option.

John

If you go this route, just remember that the velcro straps probably won't fit around your TV if you have speakers on the sides or if you go with a larger TV than the one that Airstream sells...we had to buy the parts ala carte and the straps were a waste of money.