Thursday, January 31, 2013

A new reader makes a suggestion

A new reader of this blog made a suggestion recently and I have to admit it sounds like fun. Here is a excerpt from his email. See what you think.

"..... boy that's a fire-cracker little blog you've created...[plus now I know where I can stow my extra SEWER hose]...whew... I was tired of carrying it up in the cab with me and Gus... keep up the good work...might be good to include tips for finding cheap spots to buy booze,or economical titty bars for the motor-home crowd, oh and maybe some pictures of 5th wheeling calendar babes would spice it up a little...just a thought."

Wellllllll now, I thought that was just a dandy suggestion. If I can get Betty on board, this next summer ought to be a blast. She can put on that thong, and I will get some pictures in scenic locations.  I know Sam's Clubs in certain states sells premium liquors at great prices, so that part is covered.  Then all I need to do is stock up on liquor, find the right campers and turn on some music, right? Bingo! THE BAR IS OPEN! The rest is just research, really, just research.

Be watching for the "2014 RV Babes" calendar coming soon to a RV dealer near you! If it doesn't show up check the hospital for an unconscious white guy with a big old number 10 iron skillet imprint on his head.

We hope to see you on the road!

Monday, January 28, 2013

Searching for the right device.

As technology advances at warp speeds we mere humans struggle to keep up.  Some of us struggle more than others. Not too long ago our daughter convinced us to get iPads.  We did, and we really like the feel and responsiveness of the screen. However, if you don't really love Apple you may want to think twice.  Apple makes quality products but they are expensive.  Also they seem to go out of their way to make non-Apple products and software next to impossible to use.  That gets irritating.

I wanted to make the most of my iPad by also using it as a big screen GPS. I searched the App Store tirelessly and found several apps that would allow me to do just that, but I had to have a built in GPS chip set before I could install the app. Since I had the "WiFi only" iPad rather than the 3G version (which costs about $100 extra) there was no GPS chip set built in.  I considered the Dual Electronics external GPS receiver ($100 on Amazon) which pairs with the iPad via Bluetooth, but since it was not a built in GPS receiver I still wasn't allowed to download the app.

I was stumped and frustrated.  It was along about that time that I read a review on RV net written by the Geeks on Tour.  They had tried out a Nexus 7 tablet doing exactly what I had been puzzling over. The Nexus comes equipped with a built in GPS receiver and chip set in both the "WiFi only" and 3G versions.  The device costs $199 for the 16 gigabyte version and $249 for the 32 gigabyte version.  For around $10 Google Play offers a GPS app from CoPilot Live which downloads maps directly onto your device.  I downloaded all of the US and Canada maps which took about an hour and 1.5 gigabytes of memory.  The GPS receiver then shows your location on the map and there is no need for a data connection in order to have the map data continually streamed to your device.  The maps are already there!

So, what I wound up with is a 7 inch tablet that I can use to browse the web, take care of banking business, store books, movies and generally do everything else tablets can do, but it also serves as a large screen GPS with voice guidance.  I ordered a protective skin and windshield mount from Amazon for less than $25.  Scrolling across the screen is not as smooth as the iPad, but so far I am pretty happy. For the price I am VERY happy. I rarely use a laptop anymore, so now I have only one device to keep up with.  Instead of books to read, a laptop, a tablet and a GPS, its just a tablet.  How cool is that?

An added benefit of CoPilot Live is the ability to program the height of your RV into it. Then, when routing a trip, it takes you around low clearance bridges.  You can also set it to avoid propane restricted tunnels.  We don't have many of either of those issues to deal with in the Texas panhandle, but our future travel plans appear to include a lot of the east coast and it is an issue there.

We hope to see you down the road!






Getting ready for a trip to Tucson

We are planning a trip in February to sunny Tucson but that is a subject for another post at a later date.  For now I had a weekend project in mind, and although it was a windy day, the temperature was a very pleasant 70 degrees.  Something not to be wasted in January. The project involved fixing a problem that was created when the previous owner of our KZ 5th wheel replaced the rear bumper.    
  


The modification he did was a great idea.  The new bumper was heavy duty 4x4 steel tubing and a receiver trailer hitch.  Now a trailer could be towed behind the 5th wheel allowing us to bring along ATVs or we could add a platform to carry a generator or whatever.
The problem was this: many RV bumpers are large enough to also serve as a place to store the sewer hose that travels with the RV.  That is made possible by the thin walls of those types of bumpers.


This new bumper with thicker steel walls could no longer hold the sewer hose, so it was stored in the basement of the trailer until we needed to empty the holding tanks.  Not a great alternative.  Even though both ends were capped I didn't like it in there and besides we needed the space for other things. 

I wanted to add an outside storage tube, but they cost close to $60 plus shipping and installation. They are made of white ABS plastic, have screw on caps, and look nice if you are into big white pipes hanging onto the outside of your RV where they can be seen.  My thought was to put it under the trailer, out of sight, so appearance was not so important.  This was all about functionality, not looks.


My solution was to make my own storage tube using a 5 foot piece of 5 inch galvanized steel duct which costs about $6.  I also bought two brackets ($7 each) to attach it to the chassis of the trailer, but that was not really necessary.  There are other less expensive ways to attach it.  I used a couple of pieces of scrap slotted angle iron I had on hand and drilled holes in the chassis to attach the slotted angle iron with bolts. Then I attached the brackets to that. You could use perforated metal plumbing strap, baling wire or whatever works for you.  This photo is a little deceptive.  Nothing I added extends any lower than the existing pipes or axles, so there is no chance of anything dragging.
I sloped the tube so anything draining out of the hose would go out the back end and away from where I would be working. The back end was closed off with a couple layers of duct tape, leaving the bottom 1/4 inch open for drainage.  At the front end I drilled a couple of holes and inserted a piece of wire through them to keep the hose in place while driving.  I was careful to place the seam of the duct on top so the hose would not slide over any sharp edges when being taken in or out.  Also, the ends of the duct are different.  One end is crimped and has a sharp edge.  The other end is not crimped and has a rolled edge which is not sharp.  I used the rolled edge end for the end I will access the hose through.
I picked up my parts at an air conditioning supply house, but Lowe's and Home Depot also have pretty good HVAC departments.  It took me a about 3 hours to figure out where and how to attach everything and actually do the work. Next time I think I could do it in about an hour.

Oh yeah, two more things, if you decide to try this yourself, wear gloves when working with the duct and be sure to secure your connections by using lock washers, locking nuts, Loc-Tite thread locking compound, or all of the above.  You don't want the whole thing to fall off while going down the highway.

I hope to see you on the road soon!