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RE: Star Link
I signed up for Starlink. I just purchased 7 acres of land in a rural area that does not have any internet options except for Hughes.Net. DSL only available for people who have it today. Planning on building a house and hoping to move out there by end of the year. So, hoping Starlink will be available here by then. May not be perfect, but will be better than 2-3 bars of cell service with a hotspot.
Starlink is intended for rural areas, so you're on the right track.
Currently, Starlink is available between latitudes 36.9 and 54.8. For example, I was able to sign up for Starlink in CA because I'm at 37 degrees latitude.
Click here to find your latitude.
Click here for a current list of Starlink beta site areas.
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TechWriter
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03/07/21 11:34pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: How to sanitize new RV water system
Addtionally they sell a hand pump you can attach to the city water port. I use the pump winterizing suction as i have no gravity fill on my TT. But i did buy the hand pump. Took me a while to figure out out to use the pump for the antifreeze, bleach.
I bought an extra 12V water pump and use that to pump beach/water solution in a 5 gallon bucket right through water hose. Easy peasy.
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TechWriter
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02/18/21 09:35pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Do you sanitize your black tank?
I don't sanitize, but I'll dump some bleach in both black & gray tanks before I put my RV in storage.
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TechWriter
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02/13/21 09:27pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: easy to use DVR
First off, we are NOT tech savvy . . . Please give me an idea of what I want to buy to enable me to record shows I stream over my new TV.
Well, if your home TV VCR looks like the following . . .
https://www.heirloom.cloud/hubfs/vcr-blinking-12.gif
. . . then you should forget about trying to record streaming programs.
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TechWriter
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01/10/21 12:07pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Washer and dryer suggestions
We had a Splendide combo which worked ok, but after it gave up the ghost, we decided to install an Ariston washer and a dryer.
One of the best RV buys we've ever done. It's faster than a combo unit. However, since the dryer is 110V, not 220V, don't expect it to compete with household dryers. But we're not in a hurry so it doesn't matter.
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TechWriter
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11/21/20 09:59am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: This is why you never buy a house on land you don't own
A state, county or city selling recreational land to private enterprise bothers me.
Amen. Also, I don't like the idea of leasing instead of owning land, unless it's a resident-owned community.
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TechWriter
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11/14/20 08:07am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: HDMI PART 2
$40 for the wireless from Amazon. Doug
I got mine free.
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TechWriter
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11/11/20 03:22pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Reality of RV length restrictions?
State parks...maybe but certainly not federal. Show us where you got that number from.
Federal Park Data 2014
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TechWriter
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11/07/20 06:19pm |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Reality of RV length restrictions?
Our question to full timers is this, what is reality of RV length and places to camp? We're gonna have a 36' fifth wheel and 12' truck...so 50' total.
While the majority of state and federal parks have spots that are at least 40' long, 50' will probably prove challenging.
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TechWriter
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11/07/20 11:49am |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Moving to California!
Final words, go camping at Yosemite this winter. It's loveliest and the best camping I ever had (and easiest to get a reservation at Yosemite and I've been there all seasons.
If you mean camping in a tent, those days have passed for us, and getting our 40-foot RV just up to Indian Flat RV Park in El Portal was hard enough in summer . . . can't imagine doing that in winter.
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TechWriter
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11/05/20 09:46pm |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Health Insurance
For those of you that are full-time or most-of-the-time but not yet old enough for Medicare, how do you handle your health insurance needs.
You domicile in s state that has "portable" health plans. That is, plans with nationwide networks so you can get in-network health care in any state.
Most health plans let you get out-of-network care, but you typically pay dearly.
In most cases, BlueCross offers those portable plans. And these are typically PPO health plans, but not always. For example, in FL, BlueCross offers EPO plans with nationwide coverage.
If you full-time, the most popular states to domicile are TX, SD, and FL because there are no state taxes in any of these states. However, if you're under 65 only FL offers portable health plans, SD and TX do not.
The other states that I'm aware of that offer nationwide health plans are:
- Alaska
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- North Dakota
- Wyoming
BTW, I'm talking about ACA ("Obamacare") health plans offered on state exchanges.
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TechWriter
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11/05/20 06:45pm |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Moving to California!
Thanks for all the replies.
I also posted on Escapees and IRV2. Similar responses on all, but each web site had its own "flavor".
To answer/respond to some of your questions/comments:
Good luck
I received several comments like this, particularly Texans, one of the favorite full-timer states. However, I'm switching to part-timing and I wouldn't want to have a home (or home base) in Texas.
Why? My reasons are based on our 3-month 2017 journey through TX and my long-time friend who has lived in Austin (the 'Blueberry in the tomato soup') for several decades.
- TX health care consistently ranks near the bottom in multiple state-by-state comparison studies. My "brush" with TX health care was when I went for treatment in a health center near Corpus Christi. When I asked if they took Medicare, they said they didn't take "Federal" insurance. Right.
- With the exception of Austin, we don't care for TX politics. Enough said.
- Petrochemical Industry. There seemed to be refineries and chemical plants everywhere we traveled. Next to a beautiful county park in Quintana and the overwhelming stink in Beaumont.
Have you previously lived in a community managed by an HOA?
Have you examined the HOA’s books? How much in reserve?
Yes, we've had park model in AZ for several years. Yes, that's a good idea to check the books of our new HOA community.
However, after looking at multiple places in multiple states, we settled on Idle Wheels in CA because:
- It's a resident-owned 55+ park. The park residents, like me, elect a board that sets the rules and HOA fees, currently at $90/month compared to $719/month in our previous HOA.
- Idle Wheels appears to be very fiscally responsible. In 1990 park members formed a corporation and bought the park with a $1.2 million mortgage . . . and paid it off 8 years later.
- Idle Wheels appears to be Innovative. The community bought land and invested in a large solar array that has reduced electricity cost to park members (currently 18 cents/KWh compared to PG&E's 25 cents/KWh).
- Laid Back. Just one example . . . a new home owner in the park wanted increased regulations on pet dogs and an architectural committee to regulate things such as house colors. The Idle Wheels board turned him down on both issues. I like these people already.
Say hello to all kinds of taxes and state regulations.
Many of these types of comments . . . and there's really no arguing with them. The cost of living in CA is significantly more than the state we're leaving -- AZ.
However, from our 6-year experience in AZ, the writing is on the wall. For example, the recent park model buyers in the AZ campground we're leaving have been affluent Californians & Nevadans and park model prices have skyrocketed. The HOA fees in our park have increased 107% from 2014.
And if you think Californians moving to AZ (and TX) are going to leave their politics and regulations behind, then check the results of this latest election in AZ.
For one, you are near Yosemite (or recently renamed, Yose Miyt.). And don't have to pay extra for RV storage.
Good luck and I wish you well..
Yes! Yosemite is an hour up the road.
Yes! RV storage is free.
Tx!
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TechWriter
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11/05/20 04:09pm |
Full-time RVing
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Moving to California!
To a resident-owned 55+ mobile home park.
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TechWriter
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11/04/20 09:42am |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Champion #100263 - 3400 Dual Fuel elect Start?
I run my Champion 4375 on propane and haven't noticed excessive propane use. It's a good generator. I use mine for park model backup power.
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TechWriter
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10/17/20 05:48pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: weak Cell Signal
What do you do when you are in areas with weak (one or two Bars) cell Signal?
Check out www.rvmobileinternet.com.
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TechWriter
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10/11/20 05:55pm |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Water Filtration System
The main drawback of RO systems is waste water. An RO filter will "reject" a lot of water. However, I just plumb the RO waste water back into my RV's water tank.
this is feasible perhaps since you are only "treating" a small amount of water at the sink. IIRC the OP wants to treat all water, a much more difficult task.
bumpy
I addressed that . . .
The system I and other RVers have are under-the-sink RO units for drinking water. I've only heard from a few RVers who have "whole RV" RO systems in which ALL water going into the RV passes through an RO system. The latter is wasteful, slowwwwwwwwwww, and hardly suited to RVing, much less boondocking.
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TechWriter
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10/01/20 11:45am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Water Filtration System
The main drawback of RO systems is waste water. An RO filter will "reject" a lot of water. However, I just plumb the RO waste water back into my RV's water tank.
That's exactly what I was thinking. I'm just not sure if that will cause more damage in the long run. Running all of the waste through the system repeatedly. Causing the maintenance/replacement cycles to be more frequent.
recirculating waste (dirty) water back into the feed water system would make that water dirtier and dirtier wouldn't it? what does that do for efficiency.
bumpy
RO 101
The system I and other RVers have are under-the-sink RO units for drinking water. I've only heard from a few RVers who have "whole RV" RO systems in which ALL water going into the RV passes through an RO system. The latter is wasteful, slowwwwwwwwwww, and hardly suited to RVing, much less boondocking.
Anyway, about RO "waste" water, also called brine. First, before water from outside your RV hits an RO filter membrane, it first goes through one or more pre-filters -- typically, a sediment and a carbon block filter.
When an RO system filters water, it lowers the TDS (Total Dissolved Solid) levels. For example, my Arizona water has these TDS levels:
724 ppm - "Fresh" water (no filtering)
697 ppm - RO waste water (brine)
24 ppm - RO treated water (the stuff you drink)
Since I plumb my RO waste water back into my water tank, the tank would eventually reach a point where the RO filter wouldn't work anymore without flushing new water into the tank.
However, if you're concerned about RO waste water fouling your water tank, just put a diverter on the waste water line: one setting to water tank, one setting to the ground or another holding tank.
I've been running an under-the-sink RO unit for several years. While I don't boondock, the system works great. When not connected to an external water source, my RV's water pump forces water from the water tank through the RO membrane.
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TechWriter
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09/30/20 05:35pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Water Filtration System
I'd like to be able to clean any incoming water to the freshwater tank, as well as recycle gray water if possible.
You won't (or shouldn't) be able to filter water from any source. There are too many pollutants for an amateur water filtration system.
Recycling gray water may be possible, but if you get it wrong . . .
From the research I've done, there are two solutions that are very similar: reverse osmosis or ultraviolet light. Both incorporate or require a pre-filter.
I use both in my RV's water filtration system. However, I don't boondock.
UV kills viruses and other pathogens, anything with DNA. RO filters out dissolved solids (harmful and non-harmful) like harmful metals.
RO requires higher pressure. UV requires a lot more power.
My RO works fine at 40 psi. My UV system is not a power hog. NSF-certified systems use more power.
My understanding is that RO is the most effective, but least efficient.
The main drawback of RO systems is waste water. An RO filter will "reject" a lot of water. However, I just plumb the RO waste water back into my RV's water tank.
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TechWriter
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09/29/20 06:51pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Need New TV
I have never replaced a tv in an RV. Any reason that a standard tv will not work?
If your new TV doesn't have a QAM tuner (sometimes called a "digital tuner"), then you won't be able to see TV programs coming from campgrounds with digital cable.
All new TVs must have OTA digital tuners (ATSC), but they aren't required to have QAM tuners.
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TechWriter
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09/29/20 11:55am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Options to Winegard Trav'ler
What Dish receiver are you using?
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TechWriter
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09/25/20 01:05pm |
Technology Corner
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