TXiceman

There is no way to make electric heaters more efficient.  1500 Watts (1500 Watts with 120 volts is 12.5 amps) is equated to 5118 BTUH.  If you are off grid, trying to heat with an electric heater powered form batteries and an inverter is not the best solution.  You need to either use the propane furnace (and batteries) or get a Mr. Buddy catalytic heater.

Happy camping.

Ken

11 hours ago, whj469 said:

Most of the people I know speak poorly of electric vehicles but my son-in-law, a long time Exxon Chemical Engineer, and a Texas Aggie told me 

Well, there you go.  The problem is apparent.  First, he is a Chemical Engineer and second, he is an Aggie Engineer.  Ha ha ha.😁

Ken

AKP, I would not live in your RV through a Montana winter.  It is not built for that kind of cold.  Sure people do it, but it will be a chore.

The heater water hose does nothing to keep the water faucet from freezing.  I would fill the freshwater tank and operate from the tank and refill when the temperature is above freezing.

Another big issue in the winter in these RVs is condensation on the windows and in closets and in the corners.  To help the condensation, you will need to practice good humidity control.  keep a roof vent cracked open, run the vent fan when showering and cooking.  Still the human body expels lots of moisture from the skin and while breathing.  

Good luck,

Ken

Bacteria is not an issue in a black tank, as it is not a septic system.  You dump the tank every week or two.  Just use lots of water and septic safe toilet paper.  If you want, you can use a non-toxic tank chemical.

Ken

You have to keep calling the parks in the area where you want to volunteer.  Check www.volunteer.gov for all of the federal parks.  Each state has a website for their state park lands.  Fill out the online applications and the application goes to an electronic never-never land.  This is where you have to start calling the volunteer coordinators at each site.

Many of the parks have seasonal folks that come back year after year to volunteer for a free campsite.  They already have the season booked a year or two in advance.    If you call, you may find a park looking to fill a position due to a sudden cancellation.

Each park is run differently and has different positions to fill.  Be sure and have them spell out the areas that you will be working.  We have found that over the recent years, the parks are receiving less funding and are short staffed and look for the volunteers to pick up more of the slack.  Some parks require that the volunteers clean the restrooms and showers daily, some have staff to do the major cleaning.

We have a list of a few parks that we will not work in due to the management and/or the workload.  There are Face Books groups on volunteering which you can ask questions about certain parks.  You can also ask here about working in specific parks and get feedback.

Good luck with your hunting.

Ken

1 hour ago, sandsys said:

The seating in the cabs of our our Class C and Class Bs turned to face the living area just as they did in our Class A. We also did fine down into 20 degree nights in the smaller units and had no water leaks over the cab. And ours drove fine as well--but we weren't 30' long with tail wag problems. It appears to me your experiences are not universal so probably should be stated as experiences rather than facts.

Linda

Nope it is fact from 38 years of RVing.  These are problems to watch for.  The longer class C units often have handling issues which can be corrected by aftermarket upgrades. 

I have yet to see a class C that did not have the standard van seats in the front which do not pivot and are a step down from the coach floor.  Some of the smaller Cs and Bs might have a level floor to the cab which would allow for rotating front seats. 

I have seen many class C units with water intrusion in the front overhang from the windows and the cab clearance lights.

Ken

13 hours ago, Chalkie said:

Well the sad part was that his truck was made in Kentucky by UAW employees but it was badged Toyota and therefore a foreign car.

 

The last new car we bought for my wife was a Toyota Camry and it had more US content than Ford or GM.

Ken

We have had both a class A and a class C.  While the class C will seem more van like in driving, you really have to watch your weight on the larger units.  WE had a 31-foot Winnebago Minnie Winnie with no slides.  We did tow a small car when traveling.  Loaded up for a two week trip, no waste water and 1/4 tank of fresh water, the two of us and one small dog, we were within 100 LB of the chassis GVWR.  If you have slides, they will farther reduce your cargo capacity.

Another issue with the class C is the loss of the front part of the unit when parked.  The two seats remain forward facing and are best used for storage of items.  Class C units are more prone to leaks in the cab over area.

On the class A, you will generally have more cargo capacity and when parked, you can turn the two front seats to face the living area.

If we were to go back to a motorized unit, I think that I would look at the smaller class A units for better living area, more storage and generally better drivability.

Class C units are generally 3-season RVs and do not fare well in cold climates.  Any RV you consider that is in the 30 foot range should have two A/C units for hot summers. 

Ken

Additional to the above info, many of the less parks have become trailer parks and not RV parks.  There are many older RVs that are now permanent and have not been moved for years.  With this come added decks, old cars no longer running, refrigerators on the porch, etc.  It seems some are not enforcing the rules equally and letting the long-term renters get away with the trash.

With the kids, you will most likely want to find a place with a playground and possibly a pool.  These places tend to be resorts and are more expensive.

You still have not told us what area you plan to live in.

Ken

Seems to be more reasons to just not go to California.  

Ken

We have found that when we are east of the Mississippi River, a lot of the HD channels are on the eastern arc satellites.  The Traveler is western arc, 110, 119 and 129 satellites.  Could you check with Dish and see if the channels you are looking for are on eastern arc.  

Ken

Where do you plan to live while you are working?  Living in an RV while up north in cold and snow is not fun.  Even the best of the all-season and well insulated RVs can be a real chore to live in and keep warm. 

A true all-season RV is heavy and will require a properly equipped 1-ton diesel dually to haul it.  Then you have to deal with water supply and sewer draining in freezing weather.  

You need to check some of the cold weather camping groups to get a true idea of winter camping in an RV.

Ken

3 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Absolutely, and if that RV arrives being towed by an EV there should be an extra fee for power to recharge the EV batteries. Any park that doesn't charge the EV to fill up should also supply diesel or gasoline to the other RVs who stay. 

I agree.  Pay your own way folks.  All this "green" electric vehicle use is not FREE.

Ken

46 minutes ago, agesilaus said:

 

Winds blow all day out here and can often gust to 40+ mph. But we have an Arctic Fox and they are quite heavy, 9000# in our case. The RV may sway a little but that's all. Forget about putting your awning out tho.

 

Our 5er is 19,000 LB and we are still rocked a bit in windy conditions.

Ken

The first questions are...

What model receiver do you have and next is what antenna are you using?

In the set-up menus you can select both HD and SD or individually.  Make sure this set to BOTH.

Ken

I am retired and choose to not read all of the political rhetoric that you are posting regarding the great Tesla's and their green energy saving.  I will just block reading your post.

Ken

1 hour ago, durangodon said:

The plan I've seen is four parts.

1.  Shut down the manufacture of ICE vehicles

2.  Reduce the production of petroleum so that the price goes up enough to discourage people from buying it

3.  Provide cash incentives for people to buy EV's, solar power, and other efficient systems

4.  Hope everything else takes care of itself

The plan will probably work, but may be the most painful method of accomplishing the goal, especially to mid and lower income folks.

This is all political "pipe-dreams" and no foundation for getting it done.  Sure, a politician can listen to the "Greenie- Wiennies" and say "Oh, this is great.  Let's just ban all internal combustion engines".  After he gets the legislation passed, he is done and has no idea where to go. 

All I can see here is a typical giant "gobberment" cluster screw up.

They need to enroll top scientist, engineers and manufacturers.  Get the cost of the batteries down and figure out a way to recycle the batteries.

I cannot get excited about the rush to EVs without a more definitive plan.  My engineering brain cannot see any road to a organized change.

Ken

I call BS on the article.  Where are they going to get this extra power to charge the cars every day during the peak use hours?  Are they going to only allow charging of EVs during off peak use hours?

Texas for one has issued brown out warning the past couple of years for people to reduce usage.  The have been both summer and winter load shedding and in some cases shutdown of the grid due to excessive demand.

I am sure Tesla will publish anything whether fully truthful or not to make them look like the good green giant.  The EV can grow into something good, but we have to get the infrastructure in place to handle the demand and also get the coal fired and natural gas fired plants replaced with a green energy source.

States in the west are already reducing output from the hydro-electric dams due to reduced water levels.  I guess Tesla has a magic plan to get the power grid up to the required levels and reduce the carbon fueled plants.  But we have yet to see a plan from anyone.

Ken

15 hours ago, Ray,IN said:

Every one I've bought and returned has a very short loop time. I bought a well-known brand and it only had a 3 minute loop-time. Shoot If I were in a crash, by the time I collected my thoughts the crash loop would be overwritten.

Get one with an impact detector that will stop recording after an impact.

Ken

We carry 6 or 7 days on underwear, about 5 days of summer casual and the same for winter.  We each carry a cold weather waterproof coat with a zip out lining, a wind breaker/light jacket, heavy gloves, work gloves, a couple of hats, 2 sun block fishing shirts, 2 pair of hiking shoes (boots) and some more formal things.

For the dress up days, I have 2 pairs of slacks, a sports coat, 2 dress shirts, a couple of neckties, one funeral suit and a pair of black dress shoes.

If we need beyond that, I guess we'll just stay home.

Ken

1 hour ago, durangodon said:

Well, since you asked.  I was abducted by aliens in a Neptune with a giant solar system on the roof and towing a Saturn.  Oh wait, maybe it was just some bad bourbon.

Could not have been bad bourbon...maybe bad Tequela.

Ken

Where are you located in Texas...it is a rather large state?

What year make and model is the trailer?

Ken

Technician license is not that hard to get.  Get with a local ham radio club and there is always an "Elmer" to help you out.  The problem with the HT is as you move around, you will need to find which repeaters are used when they activate a weather alert.  Then you have to program the local repeaters and this is best accomplished with a software package and your computer.  Most HTs now are difficult to program from the front panel.  The best software I have found is from RT Systems.  Another free one is CHIRP, but I am not fond of it.  Most HTs come with a minimal programming software and cable.

You can look up all of the repeaters in an area and get the frequencies, offset and PL tone if required and if the repeater is open or closed.  You can also program the NOAA stations on the radio so you can have access to these stations.

If you are just getting into the UHF and VHF repeaters, I would suggest you save DMR for a later date.  DMR can be a bit of a steep learning curve and will not serve any purpose for weather data.  But do get a radio that is DMR capable.  Lots of people are using the Anytone  HT radios.

Happy chatting.

Ken

The only issue I have heard of was someone set up camp at a Walmart and some nide person threw some eggs on the rig.

One time while parked in a grocery store parking lot and my wife had gone in to pick up a few items, some jerks blasted by me and blasted the truck with paint balls in broad daylight.

You will always be subject to a few morons in society.

Ken

Good information Kirk.  

Thanks,

Ken