Managing Your Cellular Phone In Your RV

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Most recreational vehicle owners carry a cellular telephone now a days, or a P.D.A. (Personal Digital Assistant) like a Blackberry or similar device.  Managing these while operating a motor home or pulling a large trailer can be a challenge.  Particularly when dealing with where to store it and how to use it safely.

It seems most dash boards today lack an area or location that would be suitable to store a phone.  Fortunately, there are accessories available that can accomplish this on any vehicle configuration.   Cellular phone and P.D.A. holders come in a variety of installation arrangements such as securing to a vent, screwing to the dash face, or suction cup mounts.  However, there are other considerations when deciding the type of mount best for you.  A secure mount is very important.  The last thing you need while negotiating a winding mountain grade with a heavy vehicle, or vehicle combination, is your phone to go flying across the rig and onto the floor.  The mount also must be within a comfortable reach of the driver.

 

So, what is the best choice to meet these requirements?  Well, in most cases, the placement anywhere on the dash face within a reasonable distance from the driver is not possible without obstructing something else, like a gauge or a control.  In my opinion, there are two choices here; a good quality suction mount or a simple on-the-dash non-skid pad.  A top quality suction cup base, like the German made one shown in the photo, is easy to install on most surfaces such as a window glass, dash top or dash face.  It will hold fast for years through freezing temperatures to scorching hot sunshine, yet can be removed in seconds.  It can be installed on a textured dash top if required, by using the supplied stick-on adaptor.  The second choice, the use of an inexpensive non-skid dash pad, also works well.  It will not only hold a phone but could be used for a variety of items.   These pads, like the one depicted in the photo, do a remarkable job of holding all kinds of items, even during rough road conditions or hard brake applications.

 

Okay, we have secured the communication device within reach of the driver, now how can we use it safely?  Well, if you want to use it while driving, we had better look at both a safe and legal method of doing that.  Safe, being a way to use it and keep both hands free to drive.  And legal, being able to meet current and future laws forbidding the use of non-hands free cellular phones.  These depend on the laws in your current geographic location.  For this purpose there are wired and wireless headsets, stand-alone wireless modules and integrated wireless interfaces.  The wired type of headset is available in many shapes, sizes and configurations and is relatively inexpensive.  It is basically just a unit that plugs into the handset and tethers to a combination microphone/ear piece or more traditional boom microphone headset.  The wireless type uses a technology called Bluetooth.  Bluetooth transmits and receives between your handset and the listening device on frequencies separate to that of your cell service.  This wireless communication between your phone and audio device only operates providing they are with 30 feet or so of each other, and unlike that of your network provider, transmits wirelessly without additional charges.

 

Some people do not like to wear ear pieces or like headgear.  For those people, here are three popular choices.  First, some cellular handsets are capable of operating in a speaker phone mode.  These units can be used absolutely hands free once the initial call has been placed or answered.    The second option is a stand alone rechargeable audio module like the Motorola T505.  These units are built to receive and transmit via Bluetooth to your handset.  They have a built-in microphone and a speaker to allow full hands free operation.  The T505 has an additional feature that will integrate with an FM radio should it be desired.  When used in that mode it selects and announces the FM channel, or frequency to dial to.  Additional audio announcing includes caller I.D. as well in either mode.  This then drives all the incoming audio through the existing vehicle speakers mimicking that of General Motors OnStar system.  It works well.

The final choice is to have a Bluetooth receiver connected to your in-dash radio if the set is capable of such input.  These are relatively easy to install on a radio that allows that option as it is basically a plug-n-play unit.  Many of these installations on an LCD screen equipped radio include such things as touch screen dialing, visual call I.D. and auto contact transferring, to name a few.  These also allow crystal clear communications through your existing in-dash audio system.

 

Of course there are other alternatives to managing your cellular communications while travelling.  You can elect to turn the ringer down and check for messages occasionally throughout the day.  This way the calls could be returned at your convenience from a rest stop or camp later that day.   For this purpose a suitable message could be recorded outlining your return call activities such as “Hi, I’m currently travelling and unable to answer or respond to your call.  Please leave a message and I will call you back later in the day.”  Additionally, you can elect to carry your communication device on your belt, in your pocket or elsewhere within your vehicle if immediate answering is not required or wanted.

 

These are some relatively inexpensive ways that may make your travels safer and more enjoyable.  Additionally, they make your vehicle just a little more customized for your particular needs.

 

 

Just Communicating Some Ideas   -   Lug_Nut    -    Peter Mercer

 

Casino Camping Location Report - Carson City Nevada

A few weeks ago I posted a report on the Reno/Tahoe area and I left out Carson City because we hadn’t finished exploring there.  Now I can tell you about the capital of Nevada, and it’s a great little city to visit. Read more

A Woman’s View — Introduction

Welcome to a new blog: RVing from a Woman’s Perspective. Many of the existing blog entries are designed for men and women, but over the years I’ve found that when women get together, there is a special language for communicating. This is no different within the RV lifestyle.

I envision this blog as a safe place to ask the “stupid” questions, talk about feelings about being on the road, and generally find a community of women for those days when you are traveling or parked by yourselves. This blog is designed for ALL women, whether traveling solo or with a partner or spouse. Read more

Taking Better Photographs, Part 4

First, you might want to check the previous “Taking Better Photographs” Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Although the information may overlap, the suggestions in the first three articles is primarily aimed at the aesthetics of producing better photographs.  Today I’ll cover some of the technical steps you can take to improve your images. By the way, most of the specific terms discussed are covered by earlier articles - I have linked to them when possible.

Read more

Energy Visionaries: T. Boone Pickens and Shai Agassi

By Bob Difley

Sometimes it takes a certain indefinable caliber of a person, one who not only sees the big picture but have the chutzpa, vision, and means to go after it. Such is the case of T. Boone Pickens, who is changing the energy landscape with his grandiose plans for alternative energy sources, one of which is to build vast wind farms to generate energy from our windiest areas, like Texas. Another is to rally people to his Pickens Plan and the power of numbers to influence the new president and the congress “to make major changes towards cleaner, cheaper and domestic energy resources.” As he says on his Web site,
“America is in a hole and it’s getting deeper every day. We import 70% of our oil at a cost of $700 billion a year - four times the annual cost of the Iraq war.
“I’ve been an oil man all my life, but this is one emergency we can’t drill our way out of. But if we create a new renewable energy network, we can break our addiction to foreign oil.”
And then there is also Shai Agassi, who plans to bring electric cars into the mainstream faster than any major car manufacturer thinks possible. And it looks like he might just pull it off, if it’s any indication of the number and status of the people jumping aboard his bandwagon. In an article in the September issue of Wired Magazine, writer Daniel Roth follows Agassi from his electrifying speech in December 2006 at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy Conference on how to get the world off oil.
At 38 he was the youngest of 60 prominent invitees (Bill Clinton, former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres, and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer among others) and he presented his audacious plan to install a nationwide grid of charging stations for his electric cars, which he would sell cheap and make money off drivers’ electricity usage and from leasing the expensive batteries—instead of selling them along with the car—an idea no one had thought of yet.
His working model figures that the average driver would pay about $1,050 per year for electricity and battery depreciation compared to $3,000, the current driver’s annual average for gasoline at $4 a gallon (15,000 miles at 20 mpg).
Agassi also had the money to back his plan, having sold his software company for $400 million. But he needed somewhere to set up a trial, a small island nation, where a nationwide charging station infrastructure was feasible as a test. Working with an enthusiastic Shimon Peres, Israel seemed like a good choice for his initial set up (maybe not an island, but surrounded by hostile countries on three sides and the Mediterranean Sea on the other). Today the building of the infrastructure is well underway, and another test is in the works in Denmark. Keep an eye on this project, it just might change the way we drive in a much shorter time frame than anyone thought.
The more I look at world changing plans, electric vehicles (EVs) seem to be at the top of my list, though I think we should continue to pursue all modes of fuel and energy generation. The mission and goals that personal transportation in America–if not the world–will embrace in the future, could be labeled the Transportation Triumvirate (TT): (1) Reducing dependence on foreign oil, (2) Reducing use of fossil fuels (America uses a quarter of the world’s oil), and (3) The creation of clean, cheap, and efficient vehicles and fuel (we are far behind the European and Asian miles-per-gallon standards).
EVs fit into this TT plan even better than hybrids and diesels. Here’s how:
• Central energy production for charging batteries (i.e.: power plants, wind farms, and solar arrays) is much more economical than the energy produced by individual vehicles burning their onboard fuel supply.
• Fossil fuels are needed only for central electricity production in coal fueled power plants (which can all be set up to both scrub and sequester CO2 before it reaches the air) and from solar, wind, and other alternative energy sources.
• Pollutants, particulates, and greenhouse gasses of EVs are zero.
• Noise level is next to nothing–more coming from the tires on the road than from the motor.
So what are the negatives, or problems? Two major ones, when once resolved, will push EVs forward like Usain Bolt out of the starting blocks. First is the battery. They are expensive, bulky, heavy, and take too long to charge. But there is a lot of venture capital money flowing into breakthrough battery technology, and improvements are coming quickly. The next generation lithium batteries show much potential and new concepts are in the works to replace batteries with a newer technology. Secondly, charging time is currently in hours instead of minutes, which works for those who commute each day the number of miles that is within the range of the EV’s battery. Drive to work, drive home, plug it in, charge it overnight.
But what about those that do not return home every night, like us RVers. That’s where Agazzi’s charging station infrastructure comes into play. His plan is for charging stations as ubiquitous as gas stations, battery exchange stations (much like swapping barbeque propane tanks), and the development of short term charging solutions. Grid power would benefit also, since most at-home charging would occur overnight when electricity demand is low. Old, spent, batteries would be recycled, so nothing goes into land fills or produces toxic waste.
Grid electricity generation would be the key to it all, and could go in different ways. Solar and wind could supply part of a regional power plant’s needs, reducing both coal use and the distance fuel had to be moved to get to the power plant. Nuclear would have to be considered, plant safety as well as disposal of nuclear waste. New, small scale, regional nuclear power generators are being built in China, without the size or capacity to wreak havoc on the neighborhood in case of accidents or terrorist attacks. But mainly, going to centrally generated electrical power instead of individually fueled vehicles would reduce our need for oil immediately, since power plants do not use oil for generating electricity.

Hey Ranger! Where’s the Cattle Guard?

As you travel rural roads, especially in the West, you may spot a highway sign warning that a cattle guard is located ahead. Drivers from other parts of the country–especially city dwellers–have been known to look around and, after failing to spot anyone, ask “Where’s the cattle guard?”

Perhaps news reports that cattle rustling is on the rise again due to higher beef prices are partly to blame for the confusion, but just for the record, a cattle guard bears no resemblance to either a crossing guard, a security guard - or a cowboy. Those signs are useful, however, since crossing one of those guards after driving for miles on a smooth highway can be a bit of a jolt .

Those of us who live in the West don’t give those devices a second thought, but just in case they’re new to you, here’s the inside scoop–including the word on virtual cattle guards. Read more

CoolRVToyz.com Product Review

We live fulltime in our 30 ft class C motorhome. I learned early on to eliminate *all* unnecessary weight, and that included those big campground directories we used to have. So, I was delighted when asked to review this CD from CoolRVToyz.com. They call it “The Ultimate RV Parks and Campgrounds Directory.” “With more than 50,000 National & State Park Campgrounds, Public & Private Campgrounds, RV Resorts, Military FamCamps, RV Dealers, Camping Supplies, Truck Stops & more …” It is sold online for $49.95. You can download it immediately, or you can order the CD to be mailed to you. Either way, the fee includes 1 year of free updates to the listings.

I don’t know why, but I was expecting a self-contained directory with it’s own user interface, but instead, it is a compilation of Points of Interest to add to your GPS navigation device or trip planning program. For us that’s even better since we have our GPS mapping software running all the time we’re driving. Loading this data as points of interest (POIs) in that program will make the data very accessible to us. However, if you don’t have such a device or program, this CD won’t do you much good.

My husband, Jim, does most of the planning with our Navigation software, Microsoft Streets and Trips, so I asked him to install the CD on his computer and put it thru some paces.

Installation: When you run the setup program from the CD you are given several choices of what to load and where to put the files. The documentation and support files take 114MB then you choose files for your device or mapping program.

Garmin users have 2 choices. One for the Nuvi 3xx family, which moves the descriptions to the top, and Standard for the Nuvi/StreetPilot/Zumo family GPS devices. Note: You need the latest POI Loader to load the files on your Garmin GPS.

Magellan, TomTom, Navman have individual files and there is a generic file for other GPS devices. There is a choice for Delorme Street Atlas and one for Microsoft Streets and Trips.
I chose the Streets and Trips option for this review.

The included documentation is well written and easy to understand. There is a separate instruction file for each supported GPS device. The process of installing the files on individual devices varies greatly. You will need the manual for your GPS to complete the documentation and successfully load the files.  There are completely different files for the different devices.  .GPX and .GPI files for Garmin, .OV2 and .ASC files for TomTom.  That’s a lot of conversion work already done so you can easily transfer the data to your GPS device.  The listing at left is just a partial listing.

Streets and Trips Files: There are two ways to load the information into Streets and Trips. The setup program gives you a complete map file that can be opened directly which includes all the included Points of Interest. Or, you can use the Import Wizard to import data from the individual files in the CSV folder that is created by setup. I prefer the individual file import. There is less clutter and I get just what I want. The complete file is impressive, though.

The Information: There is a tremendous amount of information included in the files. We did a little spot-checking and found all the parks we had just visited in New England were listed, with the correct contact information.  But, we looked at our home park in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and it showed up in the CoolRVToyz info as ‘Buglewood RV Park.’  We happen to know that it hasn’t gone by that name in many years.  It’s had the name Paradise Island RV Resort since at least 2003.  The phone number listed was also incorrect.

When you click on the link for more info, the link takes you to www.coolrvparks.com, and its listing for the park, not the park’s website. A feature to correct inaccuracies is promised, but not yet implemented.

Many of the POIs on the CD are already included in the Microsoft Streets and Trips program. I expect the same is true for other programs and GPS devices.  And, there were still some missing that we use all the time - like Thousand Trails and Resorts of Distinction.  These are membership parks, and only available to members, so I can see why they wouldn’t be included, but we found a POI file for them on Discovery Owners website and we use it all the time.

Most, if not all of the information on the disk can be found for free on the web, if you want to search - and tweak. If you’re the do-it-yourself type, you’ll enjoy browsing POI-Factory.  The Technology Corner in the RV.net forums is a good place to get information too. Don’t expect everything to be up to date, though. And it will take you many days to get as much as is on the CD.

I recommend downloading the limited free demo version of The Ultimate RV Parks & Campgrounds. Then you can try it for yourself and see how it installs on your GPS!

Chris and Jim Guld
www.GeeksOnTour.com

Internet in Your RV

The Internet has moved from novelty to virtual necessity for many people in recent years. RV satellite internet technology brings this necessity to your RV. For many people, the internet has become a way of life. It is used to keep in touch with family and friends. I use it to pay bills and handle banking transactions. I use it to retrieve information of all types quickly. All of these functions are as important on your RV vacation as when you are sitting at home. RV satellite internet services have made it possible to perform all of them when on the road. Now RVing has taken a turn towards the HI TECH world where you can be camping one minute and then the next, running your office from your fold down table. With the wireless option added to your internet you can now even enjoy a camp fire and surf the web in your lounge chair burning a few marshmallows.

Let’s talk about what you will need to pull this all off and have fun at the same time. First you will need a fixed/transportable mobile Internet antenna system designed for virtually any satellite VSAT platform. This can be done at a dealership by a tech and installed in 1 day. You will need a PC or a Laptop in your RV so they can set it up to work with your new Sat system. One of the many systems that are designed for internet is the WineGard DirecStar® (DT74), this unit is designed for RV’s and is roof mounted. They would install this on the roof and then run the wires down into a cabinet near a 12v or 110 volt outlet or a source of power. The next thing would be to install the receiver and PC connections. The best way I have found to make this as least invasive as possible to your RV is to make the system wireless, this way you do not have to run wires for the PC connection, and you won’t even see the system unless you open a cabinet to look at it. With this setup you can even walk 300 feet from your RV and have internet on your Laptop, PDA or BlackBerry. So as you can see there a lot of options for Internet, some campgrounds even offer wireless internet for free or for a small fee wile you stay there. Well that is all for now and when you see someone at a camp ground with a laptop and you would like to know what the weather for the week is, just go up and ask, and they will just surf the internet and tell you the 7 day forecast.

This article was brought to you by Good Sam RV Emergency Road Service

Maintaining Your Wastewater Tank

Wastewater tanks are the easiest things to keep clean and smelling like roses. All you have to do is maintain them and they will never be a problem. I will give you a few ways to do this and not have to worry about the smell that creeps up in your RV from time to time. Let’s start with toilet, paper you can use single ply, the cheap stuff that does not clog your tank and then there is the RV toilet paper that cost much more and will do the same job. The next thing is dumping, dumping needs to be done when the tank is full and to perform this you connect the sewer hose to the dump station, then just pull the handle marked Wastewater tank or Black Tank, when the tank is empty, hook a hose to the sewer flush or run a hose into the RV and down the toilet, make sure you are not using your fresh water hose for drinking water, we do not want to contaminate the hose we get drinking water from. When the water coming from the tank is clear you’re done. Make sure to leave about three gallons of water in the tank to keep the enzymes swimming; now you want to add some more tank chemicals/enzymes that you can pick up from any RV dealership.

The tank chemicals/enzymes you add will help in breaking down the toilet paper and the solids. They also help by keeping the smell down and keep your tank clean as a whistle. There are a few other ways to keep your tank clean. One way is to flush your tank then add some Dawn or Joy soap, not that anti-bacterial stuff as that would kill the enzymes you have in the tank , if you did use something like bleach or anti-bacterial soap the enzymes would stop doing their job of breaking down the paper, solids and smell in the tank. Next you can add 2 bags of ice to the tank through the toilet and go for a drive. While you are driving the ice will scrub the tank and clean it of any foul things that have been sticking around in it. Next, proceed to the nearest dump station and Bingo you have a squeaky clean tank. You will hear many ways of dealing with your black water/ wastewater tank but it will be up to you. A few things you might want to get for yourself when you know you have to do the dirty deed are Latex gloves and some cheap eye glasses, they will keep you clean and no splatters will get in your eyes. Next make sure you clean the area up of any spills so that next guy who uses it does not kneel down in a puddle you left behind. Just be courteous, when at the dump station so everyone will be happy to follow after you.

This article was brought to you by Good Sam RV Emergency Road Service

RV Today Archive- Estes Park CO

Looking for a destination high in the Rocky Mountains where you can ride horses, hike and get in tune with nature? Than Estes Park, Colorado, featured in this RV Today Video, is the place for you, with many people saying it is “quintessential Colorado”.

With its close proximity to The Rocky Mountain National Park, the village of Estes Park has been a fan favorite for years. In addition to all the shopping downtown you can also do a little rock climbing next to Mary’s Lake. While you are in the area, you can park your RV at Mary’s Lake Campground and RV Park. A favorite activity in the area is a horseback ride into the beautiful back country at the Aspen Park. Estes Park, Colorado is truly the best place to get away from it all and get in tune with nature.

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