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Forum
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RE: Looking for Plug in Voltage meter/monitor
Harbor Freight sells the Kill-a-Watt for less than Camping World charges for a simple analog volt meter
It's a digital volt meter, amp meter, watt meter, what hour meter, Volt-Amp meter and a few other funcitons all in one package Also measures frequency
Frequency and voltage apply to incoming power.. The other measurements are for stuff plugged into the Kill-a-watt only so it does not even cost you an outlet since it has metered pass through.
It is about a thousand dollars worth of meter in a 30 dollar MSRP pacakage and less at a discount store such as Harbor Freight
This listing is not the Kill-a-watt but a related (Competing) product it's 25 bucks Harbor Freight Link
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wa8yxm
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12/21/09 10:38am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Convertng "Watts" to "Amps" question
One suggestion: when you are trying to figure amp needs it's kind of helpful if you add in a bit for "Wiggle Room"
And division by 100 is about 100 times easier than division by 120
So I just use watts/100 for the 120vac stuff and watts/10 for 12 volt
Yes. it's not accurate, but it gives me a safety margin I kind of like.
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wa8yxm
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12/21/09 10:36am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Under the Blue light
The blue light is an advertising gimmick It serves absolutely no technical purpose save to let the owner know that the antenna has power.
The real function of the light is to say "here lies a person with a Datastorm Internet System"
They stopped making them standard some years ago.. Though you can still order a blue-led retrofit if you wish.
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wa8yxm
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12/21/09 10:28am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: tracking devices in coaches with outstanding loans
Must have been a dumb thief, all he had to do was remove the fuse dedicated to OnStar.
Kind of redundant statement there "Dump Thief" don't you think?
Yes, I never said thieves were smart. If they were they'd be in a different line of work.
And as for the next post after yours where the person said they can see it now.. stopped dead in traffic.
When we do a co-op stop on a hot car.. On-Star/Guard directs us to the car, and stands by. Once I have a trooper in position he lets me know when it's safe to kill the car and I give the word to the monitor. he pushes the button and the car stops and the doors lock.. Then when I give the next word the doors unlock and the troopers remove the thieves to the department's "hospitality suite" (AKA lock-up) where they await transfer to the city or county slammer and the Judge in the morning.
Hey.. I love it when a plan comes together
And the plan is for the thief to come together with the prison cell.
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wa8yxm
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12/21/09 10:26am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: No sound on computer!!
Start, Control panel, Device manager, Hardware (In that order) look for a yellow circle with an exclamation point in it and tell us what it's attached to
Make no changes
The other option is to go to volume control and make sure ALL MUTE is not checked
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wa8yxm
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12/21/09 10:19am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Radio Antenna Connection
In a worst case I can custom make adapters, (which is very much likely what I would do rather than wait for UPS in this case) but... Well... I see they have one for you.
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wa8yxm
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12/21/09 10:18am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Satellite Dish Adjustment
There are two things that make it easier
The Align-A-Site is careied at many RV places. it's about 150 dollars. You dial in the suggested settings to the align-a-site and then you can do a site survey by looking through its viewfnider.. you see a tree.. don't put your antenna where you are standing.. You see sky.. Good spot. Then hook it to the antenna and if the compass still works (No guarantee there) when the compass needle and bubbles all line up. You should have signal.
The other thing is a battery operated portable TV and some coax
That "Sattelite finder" meter you wasted 20 bucks on is a piece of junk and should be trashed. it is next to useless
use the Sat receiver, feed it to the outside TV feed, plug in the portable and watch the screen on the portable. Dish Network software is nearly as good as a professional device (BIRD DOG) DirecTV's is not nearly as good but still beats the bytes off the sat-finder meters.
Now, if you want a Bird Dog (And there are lower cost imitators) can help too. but frankly.. I don't recommend since the sat-receiver software is free.
How good are those sat-finder meters (the 20 dollar or there about version) I helped a camper here with his Sat TV the other day.. He said he had a strong signal but no channels.
Sure enough. His sat finder meter showed a very strong (90's) signal, but his direc TV receiver showed zero's across the transponder list.
I re-aimed, this time to the PROPER satellite, and again the meter showed 90's... and so did the receiver.
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wa8yxm
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12/21/09 10:14am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Wingman DTV Add On
First.. I'm not sure you will get a signal in QZ.. I'm not sure there is one to get
I put the wingman on my Sensar, just about doubled my signal strength when properly pointed.
Another member here did the independent lab testing (Yes, he has a lab) and his figures were.. About Double the signal when properly pointed. 3.x DB gain
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wa8yxm
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12/21/09 10:09am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Any plumbers or electricians here
Pain to drain a house water heater
I just hook up the 1" clear hose with the 3/4 inch female garden hose end to the tap on the heater. put the other end in the floor drain, open the tap and stand back. when the flow starts I lever open the TPR valve to let air in and it drains.
As to the cause of the tripping breakers there are two suspects,, IN the following order
1: Short, most likely the heat element,
2: Short, least likely the wires to the heater, and the heater end is most suspect here
3: Tired old breaker tripping at 5 amps instead of 30
And that covers it.. I'd check the heater first.
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wa8yxm
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12/21/09 10:06am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Shore Power plugged into inverter
Well..What happens if you forget to shut off the breaker.... You may well kill someone. This is why I never suggest that kind of a hook up. I really hate to have to go to work and ... Well.. That is related to what I used to do (Emergency Dispatcher)
This is the proper way and note there are 3 methods (actually 4 depending on your inverter) I will assume a stand alone inverter (no power pass through auto switch like I have on mine)
Inverter-----Transfer switch
--Transfer switch--Sub panel---Outlets you wish to have inverter power when parked
Shore power--Transfer switch
Now the 3 methods
Automatic transfer switch.. Feed shore power (mains) from a breaker on your main breaker panel to the GENERATOR input on the xfr switch, feed inverter to MAINS in, Load to sub panel breakers there feed the outlet(s) to receive power
Manual switch.. (I have one of those for one circuit) has six screws
All grounds (Green/bare wire) are common
White wires go to the three screws on one side
Black on the other
Top or bottom screws get the feed from the main breaker panel
Other end gets the feed from the inverter
Center screws to the sub panel
Poor-man's transfer
You will need, two outlets, one "normal" color one red or orange, NOTE you may need a 20 or 30 amp outlet and matching plug depending on what you are powering
"Normal" color gets fed by the main breaker box breaker
Red/Orange from the breaker
The plug, and attached pig-tail feeds the sub panel
And it is truly that easy
In your case I recommend the manual switch, 50-100 dollars at local electrical supply house
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wa8yxm
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12/21/09 10:02am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Nylon Plug on Hot Water Heater
wa8yxm,
How do you flush the tank with all that stuff attached to the it?
With the ball valve open I have a 1/2 inch line that my flush wand will fit into nicely.. Or I can just open the inlet valve and let it flush itself. You may need a slightly longer than normal flush wand.
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wa8yxm
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12/21/09 09:55am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Can I charge batteries that are connected in parallel?
Though you have 2 batteries in parallel.. What you need to understand is the meaning of the word Battery "A collection of cells"
So two six volt batteries wired in series = 1 12 volt battery (Which is why I say there are no six volt batteries in RV's just 12 volts that come in 2 pieces)
Two (or more) 12 volt batteries in parallel = one BIG 12 volt battery.
For most all purposes you think of whatever you have as a single 12 volt battery, Size VERY VERY LARGE, and you got it.
The exceptions are cleaning and carting (removing and carrying to the recyclers)
You clean all connections
And no need to give yourself a hernia carrying all the batteries at one time.
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wa8yxm
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12/21/09 09:54am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Camp Ground Polarity
The biggest danger if polarity is reversed is a shock hazard on some hardware
I have plugged in to a reversed outlet one time.. How do I know.. Well.. one of the add-ons in my house on wheels is a Prosine 2.0 and it said "Reverse Polarity Warning" on the display (kind of a dead or to be honest a live, giveaway)
If you follow the rules however, odds are you will never notice.. If you use some kind of "Cheater" to get more than 30 amps at a 30 amp site... you may pop breakers.
To test a 30 amp outlet, you need two things
1 30-15 adapter and one 3-light polarity tester
Wall mart and every Camping WOrld/RV store in the world has the first
And usually the 2nd but every hardware from coast to coast will have that.
(I checked Wally World yesterday by the way.. They did not have what I wanted, but hey. can't win 'em all.. They did have what the OP needs though)
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wa8yxm
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12/21/09 09:50am |
Tech Issues
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RE: ELECTRIC OPTION ON WATER HEATER
There are basically two types of T-stats on water heaters
Adjustable and fixed
now. if yours is fixed, as is the one on my Attwood. you can "Turn it up" by simply going to an authorized attwood parts place (Very likely camping world) and you will find they make, as I recall, 4 different T-stats. How, Hotter, Hottest and TOO HOT (That's the safety stat don't mess with it).. Just go up one grade on the primary stat.
Attwood, at least on modern heaters, only uses one primary and one safety stat. The primary is the same for both gas and electric, recovery is faster on Gas though so much so that if you flip both gas and electric you may well not ever run out of hot on your shower.
NOTE: attwood uses
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wa8yxm
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12/21/09 09:47am |
Tech Issues
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RE: tracking devices in coaches with outstanding loans
It's more than that...it is dangerous. It is apathetic. It is another pebble in the avalanche.
Well. last time I posted one side of On-Star
Now here is the other side:
Got a BOL (Be On Lookout) from another department, What the TV shows mistakenly call an All Pointes Bulletin (APB's go to every law enforcement in the United States and selected departments beyond our borders, BOL's go to one area)
BOL nearly new Cadillac Esclade, Color, License plate, stolen within the hour from address. (Note that save for the make and model I truly don't even recall the other info.
Read it a few times and realized that something was missing
Sent the entering agency On-Star's 1-800 number
Fifteen minutes later they sent me the address where my troopers recovered the stolen car.. Not the fastest recovery I've ever done (That was closer to fifteen seconds) but......... A whole lot faster than we'd have found the care without On-Star.
I think I did mention that feature in the last post.
That is why I support those systems... I believe that every car thief should receive the proper reward... (Prison time) and these systems can not only help the police catch 'em with the car, but provide additional information at the trial that makes the difference between outright theft and simple possession.
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wa8yxm
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12/20/09 01:44pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: need help please!!
If your plan is to "Park it" and, do everything short of take the tires off (if not take the tires off) a Park model is best.. This has no holding tanks of any kind and is 100% reliant on the park for water and sewer.. Think of a mobile home and you really have a good description of a park model.
If you plan on towing it from time to time.. 5th wheels are the easiest to tow.
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wa8yxm
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12/20/09 01:37pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: battery frozen cell what to do
Great point and why the batteries chould be fully charged and then tested to know for sure.
Thank you.. It is something often overlooked I suspect. I have seen it happen. Kind of rare but as I said I have seen it.. ONCE
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wa8yxm
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12/20/09 01:34pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Radio Antenna Connection
Radio shack used to have 'em but since they are more and more "Cell Phone Shack" I don't knwo
A common FM radio uses an "F" type connector..
The connector used for automotive antennas is called a "Motorola" connector
SOME Motorola connectors will fit into an RCA jack, but not, usually, the ones on the radio end of a automotive antenna cable.. Just so you know.
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wa8yxm
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12/20/09 01:26pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: 12 volt distribution panel 1997 Damon Intruder
The 12 volt distribution panel I have have no diodes.
however I'd say at least 30 volt peak inverse and as many amps as you can cram into the space allotted.
If your panel has an intergrated converter. Then post it's make and model
We may wish to recommend an upgrade.
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wa8yxm
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12/20/09 01:23pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: is it illegal
The answer to the question is contained in the contract to the original authorized sale. In short, sometimes yes, Sometimes.
However to give a hard answer .. I would need two things I do not have:
1: A law degree,,,, Two, a copy of said original sales contract.
However I join those who recommend disputing the charge if YOU feel it's wrong.
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wa8yxm
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12/20/09 01:19pm |
Around the Campfire
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