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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: laptop as hdtv
That works, the native resolution of a WXGA laptop screen is adequate for 720 line HD, although the screen is kind of small. Optimum viewing distance may be in the range of 20 to 40 inches.
I've used laptops as alternative DVD players this way since the last century, first SD, then HD. It's not the same as sitting across the room from a big screen, but it is better than nothing, if you have glasses that focus at the right distance.
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tatest
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03/16/10 01:07am |
Technology Corner
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RE: NEW BROWSER NEEDED
I have Safari, Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox installed. I've tried Opera on the PC, and use it on a different platform.
I currently prefer to use FireFox, even after 10+ years of using Internet Explorer, probably because it behaves most like the collection of Mozilla browsers I started with on Unix platforms when the World Wide Web was an academic experiment. Microsoft started there too, but diverged.
What you prefer will depend on your experience and your expectations. If the only thing you have ever used is Internet Explorer, you may find it difficult to get comfortable with anything else.
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tatest
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03/16/10 12:52am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Florida: better in April or May?
I don't remember a lot of differences between April and May...
...to beat the crowds coming out of the north in June.
The big difference is $$$, prices lower in May.
Crowds in June ??? Florida CGs are ghost towns in June, July and august. I live here, I know...
My rent didn't change with season. It was always exactly my housing allowance :). My comment was about climate, until you took it out of context so that you could contradict what I said.
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tatest
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03/16/10 12:33am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: 2002 Coachmen Mirada vs. 1999 Fleetwood Flair
Too late, but I would have gone for the 2002 Mirada to get the F-53 chassis, even though I think Fleetwood does better on the coach. The Flair is also a notch higher in trim and fittings, the Fleetwood Fiesta/Terra competes with Mirada.
But the chassis is the thing. One of our club members has a 1990 vintage Southwind Storm on a 454 P-series chassis, and that has to be about the squirreliest thing on the road.
Later W-16 or W-18 Workhorse chassis, I have fewer reservations, but in many cases RVs built on the GM P-30 were too much more than what the chassis was engineered to carry.
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tatest
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03/16/10 12:10am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Newwmar Wire Skit
Call Newmar with the serial number. Wiring is custom-built for each coach based on equipment and options (one of the things I learned on the tour that discouraged me) but the guy who wired it should have made a record of what he did.
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tatest
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03/16/10 12:01am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Antifreeze
I tried once, during one of my dewinterize, re-winterize next week, cycles.
I put an empty bottle with a funnel in it, under each of my low-point drains in turn. I managed to collect 1 1/2 pints of antifreeze from the lines, by draining. Considering what I paid for the stuff, that's about 60 cents worth, hardly worth the effort to crawl under the RV to place the bottle.
I did use what I collected, to run into one of my P-traps, when I rewinterized a week later.
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tatest
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03/15/10 10:56pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Some dimensions please...
My model 29B is 29'8" bumper to bumper (ladder sticks out further), 190" wheelbase. With my air springs inflated to the pressure I prefer, the bottom of the rear bumper is 26" from my driveway, but that is not the lowest point in the rear of the motorhome, there is bodywork and hitch below the bumper.
Don't consider this wheelbase to be standard or even typical for a type C motorhome this length. When I was looking, I found 29' C's with wheelbase from 190 to 208 inches, and you may find a 27-footer on an unstretched 178" chassis, or something 200 inches or more, depending on what the manufacturer was trying to do with the floorplan. The short wheelbase for the length was a factor in my choice of this model, it gives me a little tighter turning circle, and most of the time I can park at the edge of a parking lot, stick that big overhang over the curb, and park in the same space as a 1 to 2-ton farm truck. But I have to be extra careful with rear end swing in tight turns, and my C may be less stable at speed than one with another foot or two of wheelbase.
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tatest
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03/15/10 09:55pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Mercedes -vs- Cummins -vs- Cat
Daimler's current product in North America under the M-B brand, in the 400 HP range, is the MBE 4000.
Daimler also offers the DD13 in that power range.
Globally, Daimler makes an 11-liter diesel that gets rated as high as 400 HP in medium-duty road applications, but not currently marketed here, you see it as a M-B engine in South America and Asia. This engine showed up in the North America market as the Detroit Series 55, but Detroit pulled the plug after having too much trouble with the quality of components they were getting from the M-B plant in Brazil.
The link to the MB 400 HP is for a 12.8 liter engine! The Caterpillar 400 HP is 9.3 liters and the Cummins 8.9 liters. BIG difference.
And who offers the MB4000 in an RV?
You said M-B didn't market a 400 HP engine. You didn't qualify this with "under 10 liters" and "somebody is currently using it in a RV."
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tatest
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03/14/10 10:44pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Damon, Intruder, tail lights, F53, update
Ford delivers a switch as part of the F-53 dash package; the RV builder does not necessarily use it, but most do.
The F-53 fuse block will include a fuse for chassis lighting needs, so I would find and check that. There should be a fuse or fusible link between battery and light switch, and a fuse after the switch on each light circuit that is switched separately (running lights, headlights, directional signals/brake lights).
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tatest
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03/14/10 10:33pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Satelite tv question from a newbie. Please help.
Physically and functionally, you can do this. Most likely, it is a violation of your contract with the satellite TV provider, because for them it is a violation of their FCC license terms for residential service.
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tatest
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03/14/10 10:06pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: dealing with money
Credit card, keep it paid up so we don't pay interest. For what cash we need, ATM/credit card seems to work everywhere in the world we've been (except that someone in Barcelona managed to pick up the credit card number from an ATM transaction, and sold the number in Mexico where it was being used to buy auto parts).
We lived in a cash-only economy for a couple of years, had no trouble using ATMs to keep enough cash on hand for immediate needs, but never carried more than we could afford to use. The ATM and currency exchange costs were no higher than cost of using traveler's checks, back when we used them.
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tatest
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03/14/10 09:43pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Ultimate RV Trip Destination
Europe, because every time we visit on tours, it goes too fast. RV with unlimited time and budget, I could set my own pace. Likely duration: 10-15 years.
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tatest
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03/14/10 09:34pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Ford V-10 Power Issues
If you didn't get it over 3000 rpm, you saw at most 2/3 of the power. To get full power for acceleration you need to let the Triton V10 get over 5000 before it shifts up to the next gear, so that it falls back to no less than 3800-4000 in that gear. Redline for power on is around 5800 (it can go higher braking).
It is tuned like a little muscle car V8 with two extra cylinders.
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tatest
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03/14/10 09:14pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: propane usage
I get about a week of heat from 8-10 gallons of propane, when the outside temperature is in the 20's at night and high 40's during the day. You get a lot of heat from sunlight in the day.
You are going to need electricity to run the furnace. I don't know if they will have power for you at the track. If you run your RV's 3.6-4KW genset at half load, round the clock, you will go through about 12 gallons of gas per day. If it is a propane fueled genset, you will go through about 15 gallons a day, so a full tank may not last the weekend.
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tatest
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03/14/10 08:31pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Is it okay to camp at a wal-mart? (hello)
It is OK in many cases to park your RV at a Walmart, and stay in it overnight.
It is not usually OK to set up a camp at a Walmart, though I've seen it done, tables and tents out, et al.
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tatest
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03/14/10 08:05pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: RV Storage at home - Am I crazy with these dimensions?
My rental space is 12' wide at the entry. I have about 6 inches clearance, maybe a little less, on the mirrors.
If you are planning to get within 10" on one side, can you get into the spot, or at least finish getting into the spot, with the mirror retracted on the driver's side? You likely won't have space for the mirror to be out, not at 10".
I have to fold in one mirror to get into the service bay at the Ford dealer, his nominal 12' door is not really wide enough. We usually fold the mirror on the passenger side, use a spotter going in. Going back out, someone stands by to flip the mirror back out as soon as it clears the door, so I have it to maneuver in their crowded service area parking lot.
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tatest
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03/14/10 08:00pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: London, Ontario to Fort Wayne, MI
44 miles shorter than what?
I wouldn't get on I-75 at all. Fort Wayne is about 15 blocks west on Fort Street, then three block south on Livernois, from the Ambassador Bridge. Or seven blocks west to Clark, then south to Jefferson, and follow Jefferson until you get there.
Or are you looking for Fort Wayne, Indiana? For that, I would take I-94 to I-69, then south.
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tatest
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03/14/10 01:26am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Texans
I've not been anyplace in Texas where English is not spoken.
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tatest
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03/14/10 01:10am |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Classic rivalry between 2 giants...Ford #1 in sales in USA!
1998? I didn't think Ford, as a corporation, had been number one in sales since the 1920's, and as a brand (against Chevrolet) since the 1950's.
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tatest
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03/14/10 01:06am |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Go RVing-What every RV owner needs to know about RVIA
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Every RV made in the US or Canada will have the tag, and a small portion of what you pay for your RV goes to fund the RVIA Program.
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Not quite true. There are a few RV manufacturers in the U.S. who are not in the program.
I don't know about Canadian manufacturers, who must build to national codes, some of which are inconsistent with RVIA standards.
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tatest
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03/14/10 01:03am |
RV Lifestyle
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