Plastic Surgery

When you take a saw to your dash it is always a little unnerving - there is no turning back. But in order to install a double DIN chassis stereo into the truck it had to be done.  It all seemed to work out. The new stereo provides better connectivity to our iPhones, including Bluetooth, and gives an updated look to our 10 year old truck.

A climate control system problem received a temporary fix so that things are functional enough for the trip. Read on, especially if  re-circulation, blending and vent flow controls are your thing.

Houston, We Have Boost

To some this may look like your average cast iron skillet sitting on the roof of a travel trailer.  But no! This is not just an ordinary misplaced skillet - it is a ground plane, at least until a suitable piece of ferrous metal can be attached to the roof for our cell boost antenna.  The ground plane serves to improve the reception of the antenna. Note to self: Do not tow trailer with temporary ground plane still on the roof.  Remove before flight.

We have a barely adequate signal with Verizon at our residence. The booster is not providing a 'super' boost but it is definitely improving the signal. How much? Read on.

Sizing the Weight Distribution Hitch

As mentioned in an earlier post we selected a travel trailer over a 5th wheel purposing to take a no compromise approach to the hitch setup. Because of the Class V hitch we installed on the truck we can safely tow the trailer without a weight distribution (WD) hitch. But, the trailer tongue rides just a little low when hitched up. This means the trailer weight is not evenly shared between the two trailer axles.  It also means the truck weight is not evenly shared between the front and rear truck axles.  These imbalances are modest, but we hope that a WD hitch will allow us to dial these out.

When we are passed by a semi or tour bus we get a slight sway input but everything remains well under control. Perhaps having a WD hitch with anti-sway features will be able improve this even more.

The problem is that we are running out of time to order a WD hitch, get it delivered and install it without causing a delay to our departure. The hold up is that we need a good idea of the tongue weight of the trailer when loaded for travel in order to choose a hitch with the proper weight handling capacity.  Fortunately, there are only two capacity ranges that might apply to our rig.  If we can determine that the lower capacity hitch is inadequate the choice is made and the order can be placed.  This requires measuring the current tongue weight and taking into consideration some expected additional loads.  The trailer tongue weight might be as much as 1,000 pounds.  We don't have a scale that can safely weight that much (but getting one is probably a good idea).  How can we get a reasonably accurate measurement of the tongue weight with an ordinary bathroom scale?  In fact, an $8 scale from Walmart? The method and results follow:

Staying Connected on the Road

Eventually, once Jan retires, we plan to spend a considerable amount of time on the road in our travel trailer.  RVICS has an expectation that couples will commit to at least 3 work projects per year, so that alone means 3 months of the year we will be on location somewhere in North America living in our travel trailer.

Internet access is very important to us.  We rely on it for so many things and we have ideas for several future endeavors that will require reasonably good internet access.  When on the road we will need to rely on our cellular data plan and Wi-Fi. The problem is that some places may have less than ideal cell coverage.  Also, how can we make use of Walmart's, Starbuck's or Panera's free Wi-Fi from the far corner of the parking lot ?

Installing the EMS-HW30C

Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C Unboxed

The Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C electrical management system provides protection from faulty electrical sources. Low and high voltage conditions and surges can damage trailer appliances and electronic equipment. Some electrical faults can pose a real danger of electrical shock. Going to the trouble and expensive of installing this unit is good insurance given all of the different electrical service hook ups we will encounter in our travels.

Keep reading for more on what this EMS does and its installation.

Setting Up the Raspberry Pi 3 Media Server

Raspberry Pi 3 and Enclosure Ready for Setup

It was not the highest priority task but it was hard to resist working on this fun project once the RPi 3 and Flirc case arrived from Amazon.

Battery Powered Media Center

When we are ‘off the cord’ we will still want be able to watch a movie, documentary or video training course.  We may install a pure sine wave inverter at some point which would convert 12VDC from the trailer batteries (two 6V golf cart batteries connected in series) to 115VAC so that a conventional AC powered system could be used, but we have taken the challenge to create a low power – low voltage media center that can be used without having to be hooked up or require an inverter.  The diagram shows the planned setup.

Outfitting the Rig - The Three T’s

Long To-Do Lists for Truck, Trailer and Tools

Preparation for our trip is focused in three areas, the three T’s:

• Truck
• Trailer
• Tools

Eventually we will need to provision and pack some clothes (the 2 P's), but in the meantime...

Good News: Accepted Into RVICS - Bad News: We Need an RV!

Taking Delivery of Our Arctic Fox Travel Trailer

In February we contacted RVICS for information and then made application to join.  Our thinking was that we might rent some sort of RV if accepted and assigned to a summer project.  Well, it all came to pass.  In mid-April we received word that we were accepted by the RVICS membership committee and were scheduled for a project in Alberta Canada beginning mid-June.

 

When faced with reality the idea of towing a rented travel trailer, with its condition and maintenance history uncertain, more than 4,500 miles or trying to coordinate a rental in Alberta from California wasn’t too appealing, not to mention the costs.  Could we determine the type of RV we should own for the long term, then locate and purchase it in time for the Alberta project?  The photo gives it away.  Keep reading to learn why and how we ended up choosing our Arctic Fox 25R travel trailer.

How We Became Part of the RVICS Ministry

It was a Sunday morning at Temecula Evangelical Free Church in the 1980’s.  After the service I noticed a couple that were first time visitors and I approached to greet them.  They were wearing name tags.  I wasn’t familiar with the organization listed on the tags but their last name ‘Hoatson’ caught my attention.  My great-grandmother's maiden name is Hoatson.  My grandfather’s name is Thomas Hoatson Lindsay and I had memories of going with my grandfather to see his cousin Ray Hoatson, who owned a small service station on Orange Street in Redlands, when we would make the trip to see family in Yucaipa.