Flat screen TV Installation

A few people have asked me for details on how we replaced our old heavy picture-tube type TV with a newer flat screen. It's easier to do it here in the blog than by a series of e-mails so here is how we did it:

Obviously, every situation is different, but you might get some useful ideas.

Click the photos for a larger view.

The first thing we did was have the TV surround and the old TV removed by the techs when we had the rig in the shop for something else!



Next we measured very carefully the inner dimensions of the steel cage that had held the old TV. We then visited every TV retail store in a 40 kilometer radius with our measurements and tape measure in hand to find the one that fit best. This actually took a few trips to fine tune, as it soon became obvious that the wooden cabinetry might have to be modified. This is something that I could do, but would prefer not.



Eventually we found a 28" Toshiba that was designed with a slight lip around the screen, the back slightly recessed all round--about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch. It just fit in the space, the lip keeping it from falling through. Now all we had to do was figure out how to secure it so that it would stand up to the vibration. We purchased a couple of wall mount systems but quickly realised that for several reasons would not be ideal. The main problem was that they would be difficult to attach and secure in our particular setup.





We were also changing some of the other equipment--adding a DVD/VHS recorder and a StarChoice digital recording satellite so there were a lot of cables to be changed or added. Before we procedeed we set up all the equipment on a table in the house, connected everything, measured to ensure that the cables would be log enough.

We then labled each end of every cable...boy, were we glad we did!






A little investigation revealed that the plastic stand attached to the bottom of the TV came off with a couple of screws and inside this plastic stand was a metal bracket that actually carried the weight and which could be very easily removed--in fact it almost fell out.

This metal bracket was used unmodified other than screwing a block of wood to it. This would take the weight and would be secured to the steel base by a couple of wood screws from below. To keep the TV from falling out frontwards we had to devise a bracket that would allow us to secure the back of the TV using the same holes provided for the commercial brackets on the back of the TV.



Scrounging in the workshop revealed a few scraps of mahogany that had once been part of a set of bi-fold closed doors! A little time with tape measures, saws, clamps and glue produced a wooden bracket that could be bolted to the steel frame to provide an attachment point for the back of the TV. How to make that attachment caused a bit of thought and again rummaging about in the shop resulted in a couple of brackets made from a pair of small gate hinges.



The critical part of this was getting the height and horizontal placement of the back support placed exactly right. The wooden cross bracket was held in place temporarily using a couple of C clamps, the hinges attached to the TV and everything adjusted up, down, front, back until the placement was perfect. This was done by Gillian preventing the TV from falling forward while Art reached around through the small access holes on the side making adjustments and pencil marks. This took a little longer to do that write about!




With the C clamps still in place the bracket and steel cage was drilled and steel bolt and fender washers held it firmly in place. Next the TV was removed and the strap hinges removed from the TV and screwed to the wooden bracket at the pencil marks. To check that all was OK, the TV was put back in, and Art reached through the access holes gain to make sure the holes in the hinges lined up with the screw holes in the back of the TV. Good thing we checked--one hinge was a bit low! This only needed a moment in the shop with vise and hammer! Next try was perfect.



Now to attach the cables--wish we had a photo of this procedure but we didn't have a spare hand to operate the camera!

Gillian held the TV tilted forward and a bit sideways while Art reached around and attached the cables. We had previously arranged all the wires in order from left to right which made things a bit easier and a lot faster.


Now the TV was lifted and pushed into place, the back screws put in by once again reaching around the back and when tightened, screws up through the bottom of the steel cage into the wooden block on the bottom bracket ensured nothing was going to move. We also put a bead of silicone seal between the wood and the steel, just thinking it may dampen out a bit of vibration.
We next re-installed the other equipment and tested everything. It all worked!!!


Now to see if the plastic surround and the cherry cabinet would fit with out too much trimming-- It went in perfectly!!! The inside of the front face just touches the front of the TV Screen! We probably could have gotten away without any of the brackets, though I wouldn't want to risk it. After more than 14,000 kilometers, some on very rough roads, the TV is still secure and working well.

(Edit January 2011--another 30,000 kilometers including Akaska'd Top of the World gravel highway all is still secure.



















As a final touch to fill in the gaps left above and below the TV screen I made up fillers out of scrap wood and covered them with black vinyl. The bottom 2 pieces are just a press fit--very snug and don't move. The upper one is secured with velcro for now but I will replace that with a couple of brass screws when we get home.

There are small spaces left top and bottom for air circulation.






Afterword

In May 2009 we attended the Spring Rally of the Vancouver Islanders chapter of FMCA at Sandown Harness Racing track in Sidney BC, just north of Victoria.

Here we discovered that fellow members in an identical rig to ours had found a different way.

They used the identical TV but mounted it by a swing arm bolted to the steel frame, secured by a velcro strap on the top. This has both advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, making or changing connections is very easy--the weight of the TV is supported by the arm and there is room behind for storage. Our friends added a shelf for videos, dvds ect. and also mounted the TV a bit higher than ours. This made space below for their satellite reciever. This idea we like very much.

The major drawback of this system is that the TV is outside of the stock wooden cabinet, which need to be modified. Fortunately Wayne is quite a good craftsman and was able to match the original cherry finish for a very professional appearance.

Now Art is seriously contemplating the same move. Maybe that will motivate him to clean up his shop! (January 2011--still not done!)

Spanish lessons, Sailfest, Crocodiles and El Manglar

(click on pictures to enlarge)

Some time ago several of the local ex-pats began Spanish lessons taught by a young lady who lives in a small village south of Zihuatanejo. They met her through her brother-in-law Luis, whom we have all known for a few years–he rents kayaks on the beach.

Iracima is a student at the local university studying Tourism, taking English lessons here in Zihuat and lately also studying computer repair. She is about an hour away by bus and comes in twice a week for her English and computer classes in the late afternoon, teaching Spanish classes in the morning. In her spare time she teaches introductory English to children in her village who are interested. Her dream is to have a language school there.


The Spanish classes are held here in the RV Park on Saturdays, or in the restaurant on Wednesdays when the restaurant is closed. (Yes that’s right, when it is closed–there are no walls let alone doors on the restaurant.) She charges 50 pesos ($5.00 Canadian) per person per one hour lesson. A few weeks ago we decided to ask her if she would take the two of us for a somewhat more advanced class. She agreed and we now have homework! Her English is very good and she is eager to become proficient so after our Spanish lessons we spend half an hour or so helping her with some of the subtleties of English. Sometimes she is accompanied by her friend Fanny who assists or just listens in. (Surprisingly, Fanny is a common nickname in Mexico.) Our Spanish is slowly improving -- having our mistakes corrected immediately is helping, though Gillian is a bit surprised at how attentive Art is in class! Last Saturday after class we took Iracima (headband) and Fanny to a local beach restaurant for lunch and English/Spanish practice; they had to order from the English menu while we ordered in Spanish from the Spanish menu. Happily, we all got what we meant to order!

Saturday (February 7th) we got the day off as Sailfest is in full swing and the other students are very involved with that so they cancelled their classes. We realised that it wouldn’t be worth her while to make the trip for just the two of us so we cancelled as well. Gillian made up for it somewhat by reading a local newspaper, while Art went back to the camera shop to explain that the repairs to the camera had only lasted a month or so! The camera should be ready by Thursday evening; fortunately we have a spare. The technician had warned us the first time we took it in that it needed a new lens assembly but he could do a temporary repair. Hopefully he can do the same again. Art may go in on Monday to see if it is worth ordering the new parts here.

Sailfest is an annual fundraising week to raise money to support several schools for the very poor. Surrounding the town there are areas of unofficial residences commonly called “shanty towns” in English, populated for the most part by very poor people, many of them indigenous peoples, who have come to town looking for work, of which there is not a lot. Since the barrios are unofficial, the kids don’t qualify for government funded schools or even medical care! If you want to learn more here are the pertinent web sites:

http://www.losninos.us/index.html http://www.porlosninos.info/

http://www.zihuasailfest.com

Wednesday evening we attended the opening fund-raiser and launch of the “Sounds of Zihua 2009" CD. We already have the 2007 and 2008 CD’s and loved the music so the decision to attend this evening was no contest! Some of our favourite local artists compile a new CD every year and donate the proceeds to the cause; Jimi Mamou, Josie Kuhn and others. (Jimi has been part of the rock and blues scene for 40 years or more–-if you are into music google Jimi Mamou and Jimmy Mamou). That's Jimi on the right.





At the do, while seated with friends from the RV park, someone noticed at a nearby table another resident of the park and long time friend; “There’s Julia! What, she’s too good to sit with us?!” As Art turned to look his jaw dropped as he “recognised” another person sitting at her table. He said to Gillian, “remember someone said that I had a double down here? Look who’s sitting across from Julia!


Face-on the resemblance was close, but in profile it was scary! Julia was there as the official photographer and later took a couple of pictures. You be the judge. Which one is Art?

To add to the strangeness of this, it turned out that he and Julia were in the Canadian Navy at the same base at the same time and had many common acquaintances, some 30 years ago!


Friday was the Chili Cook Off and silent auction, held in one of the many pedestrian streets in Centro. There were about 7 versions, you got to sample 5 for 100 pesos (less than $10.00) and to vote for your favourite you dropped a bean in the cup in front of the pot. We both agreed on our favourite but it wasn’t the winner–perhaps it was the Indian spices. The chef (blue shirt) who is originally from Middlesborough, owns Pangea, a local restaurant that specialises in Thai and Indian dishes!



In the silent auction Gillian was out-bid on the gourmet meals (she was seconds too late in putting in a last minute bid) but was successful in getting Art a new jean shirt.

Watching the goings on from across the street was a family that owns a small shop selling snack foods, sandwiches, soft drinks etc. Their young daughter was holding something small and furry; on inspection it was an eleven day old Chihauhau puppy! They did no business while we were there but were very supportive of the affair by allowing people to take their chairs and tables out into the street!






While there we also ran into our friend Minerva, who owns the “Zihua Pancake House–the Only Pancake House with a Liquor Lounge!”, with her young daughter Lara with her friend. Lara is 4 years old and completely bilingual. We have known her since she was born! In previous years Lara was a bit intimidated by Trekker’s boisterousness but is now quite fond of him, though Tia is her favourite.





Crocodiles!

The mangrove (el manglar) estuary that runs alongside the El Manglar Restaurant and RV Park is a protected wildlife sanctuary populated by crocodiles, turtles, iguanas, squirrels, fish and many different kinds of birds including several varieties of heron, wood ducks, grackles, king fishers and egrets. The noise during the early evening and occasionally through the night is something that has to be heard to be believed. The herons and wood ducks sometimes sound like arguments between prehistoric monsters!

We had always thought that the estuary was naturally populated with crocodiles, but the other day on the Zihauatnejo web site and message board, there was a statement by a long term Zihuat resident, and owner of the web site, that the crocks had abandoned the estuary many many years ago and were reintroduced by the manager of the restaurant and hotel on the other side of the estuary so as to add to the “eco-tourism” appeal of his establishment. He also had monkeys in cages, a parrot on a perch, a coatimundi on a chain as well as baby crocodiles in tubs!

The crocodile population soon out-grew the small estuary and began leaving for the ocean in the evenings in search of food, returning in the morning. The tourists were not surprisingly a little alarmed, but this was the state of affairs when we first arrived 5 years ago. There have been many attempts to fence off the mouth of the estuary but the fences don’t hold them in for long. There will soon be a corner knocked down and each year the heavy summer water flow washes away the fence completely so it has to be rebuilt in the fall.

When crocodiles get too big they are taken out and transported by truck to Playa Linda just north of Ixtapa where there is a very large estuary with a thriving crocodile population. This year they apparently took out 4 large crocs. We got a picture of one and later saw another trussed up on the sand. Unfortunately the care taken is not always what it should be, animals are frequently treated quite casually here. Tamakun, the local “Crocodile man" is appointed by the government to trap and move them and frequently has an injured crocodile living with him at home while it recuperates! The unfortunate part is that in order to make any reasonable money he has to make a tourist spectacle of it, posing for pictures etc. This poor unfortunate croc was kept trussed up for most of the day in front of the aforementioned restaurant (NOT El Manglar!) on the other side of the estuary before being dragged across the sand to the waiting truck.



The El Manglar Restaurant consists of a concrete block kitchen building with clay tile roof which is open at the ends. The front, facing into the eating area, is largely open, secured by a row of wooden posts. There is no hot water; dish washing and cleaning is done with cold water and bleach! The cooking is with gas and surprisingly the electric power is sufficient to run the refrigerators and freezers without dimming the lights.










The restaurant floor is painted concrete under a tile roof, open on all sides to the elements. The end against the kitchen is somewhat closed off but open at the top, while the south is protected by the wall of the neighbouring property. The estuary is along the north and west side, crossed by a wooden footbridge to the beach to the west. There is almost continually a breeze from the ocean, everything is surrounded by trees--manglars, (mangrove) coconut palms, royal palms, nut trees among others. The net result is a very cool and comfortable place to sit and relax. A couple of hammocks on the estuary side provide a great place to spend a hot afternoon–a word to Martin, the waiter, (we call him Manuel as in “Fawlty Towers”) will bring a cold beer or freshly squeezed limonada.


Of course we have to mention the food. The restaurant just began opening for breakfast last month and already a great success. They have been open for lunch and dinner for about 5 years, the owner, Memo, talking about doing breakfasts for the last few. This year he contracted with an American woman to design the menu, train a new cook and generally get the breakfast opening up and running. Kimmy is the same lady who did the same thing very successfully with the Zihua Pancake House in centro last year. Breakfast items range from Chilaquiles to poached eggs including fresh squeezed orange juice from oranges grown by the owners parents and coffee grown in the hills above the town. None of the Mexican staff had ever seen let alone heard of poached eggs! There was a lot of learning going on before the first breakfasts hit the tables!



The afternoon and evening menu is also a list of things to tempt the most discerning palate: 27 spiced blackened tuna, calamari so tender even Art will eat it, shrimp tacos–the best in town, tortilla soup, . . .Watching a crocodile cruising slowly by or an iguana crawling through the trees above adds a certain exotic something to the dining experience.

The chef, Rosa, has been here almost since the beginning as has Orelio, the kitchen helper. Martin the afternoon waiter came late last year, while Petra the breakfast cook and Fabiola ("but you can call me Fabulous") the breakfast waitress, are new. You may have noticed that Petra is about as tall as an 8 year old. We don’t know how old she is but she has a 4 year old son who comes up almost to her shoulder!

L to R in the photo: Memo (owner), Martin, Rosa, Orelio, Petra and Fabiola or "China" (pronounced 'cheena'--means Curly)

I should mention that Fabiola's English is excellent; she has a good colloquial vocabulary and excellent pronunciation--entirely self taught from working in restaurants and from TV and movies!

What we have been doing in Zihuat!

Just thought that we should add a bit here to bring you more or less up to date. What have we been doing with our time here? In a word or three, not a lot!

One of the first things we did was get our Mexican cell phones working. We went into a Telcel shop and purchased new SIM cards for our phones. Gillian had a phone we had bought years ago in Mazatlan but the time had long expired so she had to get a new chip and number. Art had his quad band Motorola phone unlocked before we left, so it was a simple task to take out the AT&T chip from the US and install a Telcel chip. Our new phone numbers are only 3 digits apart. Not only that, the area code is the reverse of the local prefix--makes it easy to remember our phone numbers!

When we first arrived Art came down with a cold which slowed him down a little (even more than usual) for a few days. No sooner had he begun feeling better than Gillian began to feel a bit under the weather and soon had a full blown cold herself. It hit her pretty hard; for a few days she wasn't even up to walking the dogs!!! Those of you that know her well will understand how sick she was.

One morning some time later, when Gillian was almost completely recovered, Art was over at one of the neighbours having morning coffee with the guys. As he stood up from his chair he felt a muscle pull in his back. By the end of the day he was extremely sore and could barely walk. Fortunately his physiotherapist was by now much better and was able to attend! He was house bound for several days but soon began to hobble around. It took about three weeks to make a full recovery.

Meanwhile our neighbour Cal had come to the rescue in the news/entertainment area, and offered a connection to his Starchoice dish so we didn't have to fight with our own dish which we were transporting on the roof. The second day we were here we were watching our local (Victoria) television news. We took great pleasure in watching the home weather, it made our little sufferings so much easier to take.


After Art's back was better we had a couple of new arrivals, two couples we had met here in previous years; Keith and Yvonne and their cat Jake, and their friends Brian and Arlene who parked next to us. Brian asked if he could plug his Starchoice receiver into our dish as he had done last year. This was the excuse Art needed to get up on the roof and try to get the dish out of its transport mode and aimed in the right direction. Thanks in part to a fairly expensive do-dad Art that had been unable to resist a few years ago, he was able to be sure that the dish could "see" the satellite in spite of being backed up to a high wall. Scrounging in the scrap pile at the park resulted if a few bits of wood to stabilise the dish. Fortunately it is on the roof so no-one can see the lack of craftsmanship! He then "cheated" and rather than set the dish to the direction and elevation specs using said expensive gadget, he set the gadget to our friend's dish and then adjusted our dish to match! After a few more minutes of fiddling we had a good strong signal and an excellent picture. Cal's dish had given us a signal strength of 50. With ours we had 64! The best signal in the park. . .Until our old friends Dieter and Anna arrived. Dieter had installed an automatic seeking and aligning dish and has a signal strength of 75! Art is jealous! A man and his toys!

Carrying on with the satellite TV stories: We brought with us our newest satellite TV receiver which has recording capability but we had only used it to record once at home. We thought that with the 2 hour time difference from home it would be useful. A few weeks ago some neighbours were going out and asked if we could please record the second episode of their favorite TV program (24). We agreed and Art rummaged around in the parts box to find the splitter and hooked up the second input to the receiver in order to record. (The receiver has a hard drive connected to a second receiver which has its own input.) He programmed the receiver to start recording on the correct channel at the right time and we carried on. As the clock ticked the hour the satellite receiver lost the signal! It was bedtime anyhow so we turned it off and went to bed.

Next day Art began to trouble shoot. He found one suspect cable end so repaired that then tried various combinations to find that each receiver input would work if connected alone. Using the splitter caused enough signal loss to knock out both receivers. More rummaging in the bins found another length of coaxial cable so it's back up on the roof to add this new cable to the dish output. (It has 4, Brian is using one so we still had room for another.) Running a completely separate cable rather than using a splitter cured the problem--we were now able to record. Now all we need is something worth recording! So far all we have recorded is the news when we were going out at news time!

One of the things we had noticed on out trip down was the rapidly deteriorating upholstery on the dinette cushions. The dinette came equipped with seat belts, which made us wonder a little about the culinary abilities of the previous owners. The buckles had been laid on the plywood base under the cushions so as the dogs traveled on these cushions their added weight and friction for 20 hours a day ground away on the fabric. By the time we arrived in Zihuatanejo they were almost completely shredded--we knew they had to be re-upholstered.



Fortunately we knew who to call; we had re-upholstered the dinette and two chairs in our previous motorhome when we were here last year. Gillian stopped by the shop and returned with a few books of fabric samples. In a week or so (Mexican time?) we had decided on a fabric and called Juan to come round to measure and give us an estimate.

In less than a week they had the dinette done and removed the couch to their shop along with two cushions. Art was at a loss without his couch! Where would he have his afternoon nap? The couch took a week, but it was quickly and easily re-installed when they returned with it and it looked great.


We then decided to have the window trim (2) done to match which took another week. The cost? Dinette, couch and cushions, 6500 pesos (about $600.00 Canadian). The window trim was relatively expensive at 1600 pesos, ($150.00). We think they under bid the main job! Juan did however do for no cost a job that Art had planned to do himself, but forgot to bring the glue--stick some black vinyl on the wooden trim that Art had made to fill in the gaps around the new HD flat screen TV.

In any case we are very happy with the quality of the work and the price was far less than what it would have been north of the border.