Unsurprisingly, there's a lot of stuff to buy for a motorhome but not much of it is very exciting.
Hoses, both for water and a separate one for cleaning and "waste disposal", surge suppressors, water pressure regulators (yes, plural, I managed to leave the first one at the camp ground; and no, I'm not going back for a $10 item).
Black water tank cleaning aids/gadgets, 30A to 50A and vice versa adapters for power, chemicals for the holding tanks, kitchen items, special TP, air adapter to blowout the plumbing for winter, solid rubber chock blocks, windshield sun screen material, floor mats for the driving compartment... etc. etc. etc.
On the geek side, cell and wifi signal boosters with associated cabling. We'll also need to find a small flat screen TV sometime in the near future. I've ordered LED versions of type 921 bulbs to replace the 17 incandescent versions located throughout the inside of the RV.
Lock kits to replace every one of the outside storage compartment locks as they came with the CH751 type key locks. This is apparently the most common key used in RVs and Motorhomes.
While I debate whether to buy the really fancy Andersen Levelers to level out the RV when parked at a campsite, I went to the big box hardware store for a 2"x8"x8' board and a replacement Carbon Monoxide detector. The one that came with the RV was supposed to have been replaced in 2011. It was beeping merrily yesterday, which is how it came to my notice.
Got a combo unit that functions both as a carbon monoxide and smoke detector along with the board.
Bringing the 2"x8"x8ft board home, along with 5 gallon bucket
Yesterday, I went to the lot where the RV will be stored when not in use to check out the parking spot assigned to her:
Seems a tight fit but it was quite doable.
She's facing East, so somewhat shielded from the sun part
of the day, anyways.
The monthly storage fee entitles me to 24x7 access, use of a dump station and camera security on premises. Not too bad, having electricity would be better but there's a waiting list for that type of slot at a different storage yard.
Took her to the storage facility today, will pick her up probably on Saturday to practice winterizing her plumbing and removing her batteries for the future longer periods she sits in storage.
12 comments:
Sitting in storage? it's time to hit the road and go south to where it's warmer.
That heading south trip is coming soon George Ferreira, in the meantime though, the neighborhood HOA limits the RV being parked in my driveway to just 72 hours.
So where to next? There seems to be a lot of places in Colorado and, I hear, all of them are crowded during the summer. Which model of cell phone repeater are you looking at?
We're still waiting to see the ten day forecast for Fall Break since that's when Martha can take off with me for a week.
As to cellphone booster, going with the weBoost 4G-S. I get four bars/circles here at the house so will have to find a spot where the signal my phone gets is "weak" and see how it does. More to follow.
Interested to see how well it works. Remember that the magnetic antenna needs a ground plane to work well. Maybe a painted steel plate ~1' square that's grounded and the antenna will stick to it.
Will you throw a tarp over the vehicle while in storage? I guess there will be quite a few things to prepare your RV vor winter storage.
The only ways I could conceivably carry that board on my Vespa would be a) to remove the topcase then lay it on the seat and sit on it leaving 5' or so hanging off the back (aside from wheelies, what could possibly go wrong?), or b) cut it into 4 two foot sections and bungee it on the pillion seat (which defeats the purpose, unless I was planning to build a 2' X 2' box).
RichardM, got the weBoost cellphone booster last night, am planning on first "mounting" the antenna on the tv antenna mast...as the roof is TPO material, sorty of spongy plastic of sorts. The Ubiquiti antenna arrived too but not configured yet, testing of both to be done on Sunday.
SonjaM, I don't know re a RV cover, some folks like them but some others say the wind will just wear spots into the paint where it's loose, or the high winds we get sometimes just catch it and rip it apart. At about $500 a pop, it's something I'm not eager to rush into purchasing. I hope to take the RV out for a spin every two weeks or so when not camping, in order to exercise all its systems both in the RV and in the chassis. We'll see how that works out.
David Masse: Since I ended up cutting up the 8ft board into 8 each 1 foot sections, cutting it in half should have done the trick I suppose. Of course, there was still the five gallon orange bucket inside the tub...
The magnetic mount antenna provided with the weBoost unit does require a ground plane to be effective. I believe that ground plane needs to be at least 1/4 of the wavelength of the radio signal. In a normal vehicle installation, the metal roof works great for this. The ground plane allows the signal to bounce off of it significantly increasing the gain. I read some test somewhere of the weBoost where the base signal without anything was around -110db, with the weBoost but no ground plane -103db and with a ground plane -80db. A significant difference with the addition of a ground plane. I think the lowest 4G frequency is somewhere around 600MHz giving a 1/4 wavelength of around 12.5cm so the metal plate doesn't need to be that large. Something like a 10" disc.
I'm just trying to complicate your install... ;-)
Thanks RichardM, thanks....the antenna mast will have to do.....
The question is - are you having fun yet, because you seem to be enjoying it so far.
Yes I am, Trobairitz, its only time and money right? :)
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