Battery Powered TV and DTV Converters

I get questions like this often….

… Now my question, to which I believe I know the answer: I have one of those handy, portable 2.2" LCD TVs that runs off of a few AA batteries. No radio - it is TV only - but has VHF/UHF bands, telescoping antenna, contrast/brightness control, etc. Nice little TV, good to have during storms, power outages, etc, but of course it is analog only. With no apparent way to feed a digital signal into it, is this a soon-to-be doorstop, albeit a little one? I assume that the answer is "yes, it is a soon-to-be doorstop". Have you run across any "second life" uses for something like this? I hate to just junk it (don't worry; I'll make sure it gets in the proper recycling channel), but if there is any other way for me or somebody else to use it, I'd appreciate knowing about that.

Regards,
Tom Harrison Township

The short answer is that you could make this TV work post February 2009 but is most likely not worth the effort or expense. You could attach a wire from DTV converter to the actual VHS antenna. You would need to find a way to power the DTV converter. A hobbyist would look at this as a fun project. Most of us would find it a hassle.

The underlying question is a good one and relates to a similar issue of using radios that have TV bands. Many, like me, use these when "Duke's Hamsters" go in strike and the power goes out to listen to the TV weather and news. These radios will no longer work post February 2009.

While they are still scarce, there are and will be more small digital TV’s that will run on batteries just like Tom’s. The one’s on the market right now, one from Toshiba and Coby are very pricey. Just like all electronic devices they will soon be affordable. Same will hold true for radios with TV bands that will receive the audio form DTV stations.