AppleTV 12volt

[simonpickard]

Hello all,

I'd like to get an AppleTV 3 on my boat for music / video. Was looking around and found this site which converts it over..
AppleTV in Car

But at $180 I'd rather have a go myself if possible.
I can't imaging it's all that hard to convert over. Does anyone have any experience in this?

Regards,
Simon

[Moonos]

Perhaps there is info on mp3car.com? It's been years since I went there, but it used to have lots of info for stuff like this.

[Pau Hana]

Originally Posted by simonpickard

Hello all,

I'd like to get an AppleTV 3 on my boat for music / video. Was looking around and found this site which converts it over..
AppleTV in Car

But at $180 I'd rather have a go myself if possible.
I can't imaging it's all that hard to convert over. Does anyone have any experience in this?

Regards,
Simon

Looks very straightforward and easy to do:

New Mikegyver's blog

[bstreep]

We tried the 12v route with TV and Apple TV. Gave up and went inverter. TVs and Apple TV just doesn't seem to like the 12v from the boat.

[Helios]

Originally Posted by simonpickard

Does anyone have any experience in this?

The Apple TV uses a 3.6 volt DC power supply. You'll need a Dc to Dc voltage regulator to step down the voltage from your boats 12v to 3.6v. Unlike AC to DC converters DC to DC regulators are usually very inefficient and just dump the extra power as heat. Additionally most consumer electronics are very sensitive to voltage fluctuations and may brown out without a proper DC voltage supply.

I think you'd probably be better off using an inverter.
Check out the ifixit tear down for a better look at the internals of the design.

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Apple...+Teardown/8293

[JK n Smitty]

I know it has less options than Apple TV but the 12 volt power issue is why I am going with Google Chromecast. It can be powered by the USB port on the 12 volt tv. Also, only costs $35.

[amanphoto]

Does apple tv work without wifi? I think you would be better with an ipod with hdmi out to tv.

[Helios]

The Apple TV is a streaming device, so it needs either a wifi or direct ethernet connection. There is only enough storage on the device for the content that is currently being downloaded and consumed.

Yes an iPod, iPad, or Mac Mini with more internal physical storage will likely be a better solution for most cruisers who don't have a reliable internet connection.

[JK n Smitty]

If you are going for a full boat system that will include a wifi antenna you will have a wifi network on your boat. You can then use that network to stream media you have on your laptop, iPad, iPhone etc. to the TV via the Apple TV.

I plan to have multiple options. Something like an Apple TV or Google Chromecast that I can use with the wifi and then some wires for direct connect device for a more power conservation when needed.

[Tim R.]

Just purchased a 12v Supersonic 24" TV for our boat. I will use a dongle Android computer to connect via HDMI, our laptop or our ipad to display video.

The TV comes with an HD tuner so you can pull in local TV if desired.

[Moonos]

I reckon the Apple TV is ideal for a boat entertainment system.

Apart from the obvious streaming video content, you can stream music from your iphone to the stereo. Play, stop, volume control etc from your phone while sitting on the deck.


When friends arrive they too can easily stream music to your stereo once they have access to your wifi. Great for parties!


Check out the ipad "it's playing" app to load heaps of different video format files to your ipad without re-encoding them, and then stream direct to your Apple TV.


Also, you can get an app to stream videos from your mac computer to your Apple TV in the background, and still use the mac computer for another purpose at the same time.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Helios

The Apple TV uses a 3.6 volt DC power supply. You'll need a Dc to Dc voltage regulator to step down the voltage from your boats 12v to 3.6v. Unlike AC to DC converters DC to DC regulators are usually very inefficient and just dump the extra power as heat. Additionally most consumer electronics are very sensitive to voltage fluctuations and may brown out without a proper DC voltage supply.

I think you'd probably be better off using an inverter.
Check out the ifixit tear down for a better look at the internals of the design.

Apple TV 3rd Generation Teardown - iFixit

I think you are mixing up linear regulators with dc dc convertors which are usually switched mode.

Firstly dc dc typically generates about 75-80% efficiency, which some designs over 90%. Linear regulators convert difference in voltage time current in heat, so are not good where their is a wide range in input to output voltage. IN the Apple TV cases around 14 watts would be lost in the conversion , That may or may not be a problem. in a switching design this could be reduced to 1 watt.

of course it means modifying the Apple TV to accept DC, which is tricky, in that regard an inverter is the easiest approach.

dave

[s/v Jedi]

Look what I ordered together with my new AppleTV !! This is not much bigger than the AppleTV (4" x 4" x 1.5"), but will provide a 72" 1080p picture

[goboatingnow]

Clever Jedi Knight!

[Tim R.]

For Audio, I use my ipad or android tablet to stream music to our Sony car stereo via bluetooth. I can do this from anywhere on the boat.