[trackbird]

My wife and I have been camping in a camper we got from her dad earlier this year (I grew up with campers and motor homes, but she hasn't done much camping) and having fun, so we bought a new Winnebago Voyage 2831RB. We love the floor plan and the space, but my truck wishes it was a little lighter. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) The Silverado actually tows it just fine (32' overall, 11.5' tall, 7460 lbs empty), but it doesn't like to run above about 68 mph, or it will start trying to use 3rd gear more often (at like 4k rpm) when we hit a slight grade, etc. The 190 watt solar panel and regulator kit will be here in the next week or so and I'm finding that this may cost more than building cars (once you buy all the stuff you want to go with it). Now I have to sort out why the rear view camera I purchased won't stay paired to the monitor (the camper is pre wired for this particular camera, I set it up and then when we got in the truck it wouldn't work, I have to see if the camera is bad or the wiring in the camper).

I got the car to two autocrosses this year. Otherwise, I only ran about one tank of fuel through it. I'm starting to think I should just sell it, but it was absolutely delightful on the autocross course and I just can't let it go. I'm finding that I'm spending nice nights out camping instead of driving back roads with the top down. I did put new tires on the car this year (street tires) and I think they have 50 miles on them. lol.

Here's the one we bought. This is a combination of dealer photos and stock photos. It's generally correct, but I think one or two pics came off the winnebago site.

https://www.markwahlbergrv.com/New-Inventor...041676?ref=list

Mark Wahlberg RV is right down the road from me.

[trackbird]

The Furrion rear view camera is spectacular overall. The image runs a little on the cool/blue side. But the range will work from the trailer storage lot to the entrance to my neighborhood (it's about 300 yards). It works great on the road with the camper in between the camera and the monitor and it's great to see what's behind you. I set it so I can just see the bumper in the bottom of the image and when I parked yesterday, I backed in and stopped 1.5' from the fence by using the camera. My wife no longer has spotter duty to make sure I don't hit the fence or anything behind me.

As for solar. It's neat. It's great when it's sunny. I'm learning that I'll probably add the other two panels in an effort to get decent output when it's not sunny. 190 watts of solar seems like plenty. And if it's bright out, it is. On overcast days I'm seeing much lower charge rates (still decent, but 1-4 amps, give or take). So I believe I'll be adding panels in the spring...if not sooner. And I'm going to pick up another battery today to double our capacity to 162 amp hours. I want to get the battery now so they are likely to be closer in age and charging characteristics.

Now I just have to sort out the wifi antenna and I think I'm going to add an additional HDTV antenna and a cellular phone repeater/amplifier system. This thing is going to wind up as a mobile NASA command center by the time I'm done. lol.

[CrashTestDummy]

The Furrion rear view camera is spectacular overall. The image runs a little on the cool/blue side. But the range will work from the trailer storage lot to the entrance to my neighborhood (it's about 300 yards). It works great on the road with the camper in between the camera and the monitor and it's great to see what's behind you. I set it so I can just see the bumper in the bottom of the image and when I parked yesterday, I backed in and stopped 1.5' from the fence by using the camera. My wife no longer has spotter duty to make sure I don't hit the fence or anything behind me.

As for solar. It's neat. It's great when it's sunny. I'm learning that I'll probably add the other two panels in an effort to get decent output when it's not sunny. 190 watts of solar seems like plenty. And if it's bright out, it is. On overcast days I'm seeing much lower charge rates (still decent, but 1-4 amps, give or take). So I believe I'll be adding panels in the spring...if not sooner. And I'm going to pick up another battery today to double our capacity to 162 amp hours. I want to get the battery now so they are likely to be closer in age and charging characteristics.

Now I just have to sort out the wifi antenna and I think I'm going to add an additional HDTV antenna and a cellular phone repeater/amplifier system. This thing is going to wind up as a mobile NASA command center by the time I'm done. lol.

I discovered there's a Furrion 'portable' wireless system that I think I could use with our bus. Looks like the rear view camera could be magnetically-stuck to the old camera mount with the camera lens pressed against the camera window, while keeping the 16-hour battery in a rear overhead cabinet for easy access. I'd add two side view cameras, which look like they'll almost fit where our existing side turn signal lights are. There's ~1/4" difference in size, so may have to find some sort of flat piece of ABS plastic sheet to use as a 'mounting bracket' to cover the screw holes/missing paint, but side cameras would sure be helpful.

Keep us posted on the Internet solution. We're looking now as our bus would be a bug-out vehicle during tropical weather, and I'm in IT, so really need a good connection. Sounds like something close to NASA Command Center connectivity would be 'just enough'. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

[trackbird]

While not a RV, we have a small solar panel on the flat spot between the rear wheel wells on the Firebird. It does a nice job of keeping the battery topped off during events, even though we have a 120A alternator. When we first got the car, we'd have trouble starting it when hot, and the panel pretty much eliminated that issue.

The plus is we tell people the car is solar-powered when they see the panel in the back. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool2.gif)

While interesting, we haven't done anything solar on the bus. We don't expect to boondock, although it would be nice to have enough battery/charging capacity to run the house A/Cs while moving. Right now, the common practice is to just run the generator to power the A/Cs. The Chassis A/C failed a long time ago, and a PO removed the compressor from the engine. They usually don't work well anyway, and with 210 raging HP, any pony sucked from the drivetrain is a major loss.

Do you have room for more battery capacity? That would help relieve 'battery anxiety' when boondocking.

I have some room. I ordered another identical Interstate SRM-24 marine/rv battery for it. There's enough room on the tongue for a second battery. In bad news it's all "tongue weight" and I have a good bit of that already. The battery should be arriving at the local dealer in the next few days and I ordered spare battery boxes and new hold down straps (the straps I have are hard to remove, like a helmet that you can't get the chin strap to come apart). I should have the battery installed pretty soon.

We aren't doing much "boondocking", but we lost power at the one of our camp sites for 6 hours or so. I'm also learning that the 12 cubic foot refrigerator we have draws like 2.5 amps to hold the propane solenoid open. An 81 amp hour battery would only run that for 32.4 hours. That's assuming you aren't running the heater or lights, etc. Thus, it's not an abundance of capacity. The second battery should be enough for me to feel like we will be ok for a few days without a power source (between the batteries and the solar...once I add the two additional panels).

Keep us posted on the Internet solution. We're looking now as our bus would be a bug-out vehicle during tropical weather, and I'm in IT, so really need a good connection. Sounds like something close to NASA Command Center connectivity would be 'just enough'. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

I'm currently looking at installing the fixed antenna for the King Wifi unit (it logs into camp ground wifi, or your cell phone and shares it with the stuff in the camper through a wireless router) since I have it. I may upgrade and try their 15db gain directional antenna. More importantly, I'm now looking at cell phone repeaters. I think cellular internet is likely to be the more important option for us in most places. The campground we were at in hocking hills last weekend has wifi (barely reaches our site and not enough to log my phone in, but a 15 db antenna may fix that) and cell service was spotty enough that I'd randomly get a pile of text messages as I walked through the camper. Therefore, I think there's enough signal for a high gain antenna to do the job through a cell repeater. That's now moving up my list.

I'm also looking into a DirectTV dish for the top. I already have the service, so maybe I just need the hardware and I can take that on the road. That would be a huge benefit. I don't love our satellite service some days, though it really works well now that they have the bugs worked out. Having the ability to use it for "TV anywhere" would be a nice improvement. Our service was so bad last weekend that we missed the tornado warning at 2:45 am. My father in law was there with us in his camper and they had a few TV stations and they got the alert. We never did.