Hill_Country

YouTube TV has been our primary use network for several years, both in the S&B and RV. All our TV's are either smart or have Roku sticks that work just about the same way. We also get Prime with our Amazon membership and Paramont+ with Walmart +. We have Tmo Home Internet boxes in both the S&B and RV (each with 4 TV's). It is half the price and three times the speed of the cable internet we had. It has worked without fail in the coach while on the road - both minor and interstate highways so we listen to Pandora rather than SeriousXM while traveling. In the last year, we've only twice been unable to get a good enough signal to stream - the range from the towers is unbelievable - so we have a roaming Starlink subscription that we can activate if needed. We tried the Spectrum streaming briefly, as it has about the same channel lineup as YouTubeTV, but found that it would only work if connected to the Spectrum system and that wasn't available while traveling. That and YouTubeTV are the only networks we've used that provide our local channels but we do have an OTA antenna on the house and coach so we can get them that way if we want. Sometimes it is nice to get the local weather. We're not as big of TV watchers as this may sound, but we like to watch what we want to watch and sometimes even with hundreds of channels available we have to hunt to find something worth watching. So just to cover all the bases because my wife is a Brit, we have a VPN line so we can get the BBC and ITV iPlayers which have the few programs not available on BritBox. The key to all this is a good internet connection, though, and we've been very impressed and happy with Tmo HI.

I think the patient has been on life support for some time, now, with just an occasional twitch on one board or another.

Had the same problem as the OP with our priior 5er - lots of ruined food. Tried all sorts of fans and gadgets and couldn't make the thing work. Added 300 amps of Li, a 3kw inverter and a residential fridge and never looked back. All in was still cheaper than a POS gas fridge. The residential fridge was great and the Li batteries even better. Look into the batteries on Amazon. Prices have plummeted.

I find it difficult to believe that management isn't aware of this thread. What else are they neglecting? I'm guessing that a plot of membership numbers would follow the number of RV sales each year. If that is true, Escapees is in trouble.

I'd take Magnum off the list. My - less than one year old - Magnum recently gave up. Can't get parts or factory service on it. Word is that Magnum's new owners are getting out of the RV/boat business. I went with Victron. Excellent reputation and I love the expand-ability. The replacement is 3000 KVA (about 2000 watts??) and easily runs all the inverted circuits on this big coach.

If this forum ever served a purpose - and I think that we all agree that it did - then it could absolutely again be worthwhile. Not the way it is going, but the way it was. There is still a need for both the conversation and the information exchange. Good evidence of this is the manufactures' forum that I've begun following. It has a great group of friendly, knowledgeable people. It is well moderated - there is little snark in the postings. I think the success of that forum is measured not so much by the number of hits, but by the fact that it gets as many posts from non-owners as it does owners. Just a good group of people who share their interest in RV'ing. Perhaps a better question to ask is does Escapees serve a purpose? If so, then this forum could not just support the club, but very much enhance it. Frankly, the way this forum has gone downhill has me looking at clubs other than Escapees.

Yes, the tech has become dated, but FULLTIMEWANABE hit the nail right on the head - the tone of this forum doesn't encourage participation. I'm active on several other forums and, in fact, was a sysop long before there was a public internet, and have observed that it is the administrator - or the lack of an administrator - that sets the tone for a forum. Its the administrator/moderator who gently keeps everyone polite and friendly. Bottom line is that this forum has, and is, suffering from a severe lack of attention. Escapees might as well turn out the lights and save the cost of domain registration if they're not going to take care of this forum. A good forum is almost a living, breathing, being with a personality and this forum is on life support.

Costco will take the tires back, no questions asked. Also check the Escapees discount. Discount Tires (and many others) will price match and often beat a price. I just had a mobile tire service install 22.5 inch steer tires and Centramatics on my class A - cost $40 per tire (these are 160# truck tires) plus a $95 service call (and I saved that much by not having to drive across town). Don't feed the idiots.

I'm not real clear on what the problem is, but if the spring hangers need reinforcement you might look into the Morryde X-factor brace. https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/MORryde/MR33WR.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google | Dynamic - Search Ads&adgroupid=60357936130&campaignid=1672411816&creative=418475254248&device=c&devicemodel=&feeditemid=&keyword=&loc_interest_ms=&loc_physical_ms=9028094&matchtype=&network=g&placement=&position=&gclid=CjwKCAjwue6hBhBVEiwA9YTx8D8WGTFGU_vbffV6OXOJGqg1rBo7w1SX3J3zg9r0weYx0bI8ZVFEABoCz-UQAvD_BwE This is a very simple installation and is very effective.

Don't give up on Tmo, but consider trying the Home Internet service. For the last couple of years I've used the same unlimited VZW hotspot and a 100GB Tmo hotspot. (Our phones are Project Fi, which use the Tmo network, but I generally don't use them for data.) We stream TV almost all day and are heavy internet users. In general, the Tmo hotspot was generally faster than the VZN hotspot and it was rare that neither of them worked acceptably. I tried the Tmo Home Internet box when it first came out and it seemed to work pretty well or not all. I returned the box and just used the hotspots for a couple of years until Tmo came out with a new and improved internet box and it has become our primary internet connection. I downgraded the Tmo hotspot account because the Home Internet account was so very much superior. A couple of weeks ago, we were at White Sands Missile Range, NM - which is about the end of the internet world - mountains on 3 sides and a million miles of nothing on the other side. Bottom line is I got (probably 1G) VZN in the evening and just enough VZN data to text in the morning. Other than this extreme location, the Tmo Home Internet has served us well and actually competes with our 300meg home cable connection. Just like real estate, its location, location, location. Our experience has been that the Tmo Home Internet box wins hands down over the garden variety VZN and Tmo hotspots. *****************

I don't think any vet I've met thinks of themselves as heroes. We did our jobs, came home and went about life. I did nine years in the Army. Did two tours in Germany in missiles, then two more tours in Nam doing "odd" jobs. I was an E6 with five years in grade when Nam was over and Sam made it plain that there would be no more promotions and he'd rather we all just go home. But I think we've all been inspired by the generations that came before us. Those guys were heroes. Let me tell you my story. My Dad, Uncles and even an Aunt all served overseas and all came home - except one, my Mother's cousin. No one ever spoke of him until one day when I was 15 and I asked my great aunt about a photo on her wall and she just choked up and sobbed. When I got home my Mother told me about the Bataan Death March and they never knew what had happened to Bud. No one in the family ever spoke of him as it was just to painful. Fast forward about 50 years and I was looking for a genealogy project and tracked down Bud's records. He died after 9 months in a POW camp in the Philippines and was buried in the camp cemetery. After the war, his remains were moved to the Manila American Cemetery and buried as an Unknown - because the Army couldn't be bothered to find his dental records to identify him. His dental records were pretty easy to find since Bud's older brother was a dentist and had placed some distinctive dental work in his mouth. However, the DoD found this a little embarrassing since it revealed many, many other erroneous identifications. Now, twelve years and four federal lawsuits later, Bud is buried with his parents. The irony of the whole story is that while I initially only asked for Bud's records, I got the records on all WWII deaths and these have lead to something over 300 additional Unknowns being returned to their families for burial. These guys are the real heroes and I am absolutely humbled beyond words when I see their stories. Let's never forget the sacrifices of those who came home and those who didn't.

Thanks for sharing your family member's stories. They deserve to be remembered. And thanks for your service. Welcome home, Brother.

The disposable magazines we had in 'Nam for the straight M16 and M16A1 were pretty shoddy and the feed lips tended to distort with 19 or 20 rounds (if you could even get the 20th round in) and this caused a couple of different types of jamming. The mags came in cloth bandoleers loaded with 20 rounds and were usually reloaded rather than disposed of where I was. You could often tell the bad mags by gently letting the bolt go forward and see if the first round jammed but sometimes it was one of the last rounds that would jam. It was one of those things like keeping the M16 spotlessly clean that the old guys taught the newbies and were never written anywhere. Thanks for your service and welcome home.

I put a bicycle rack with hitch extension on my fiver. I could watch it on my rear camera and was shocked at how much movement there was in the hitch. I put hitch clamps - the square U bolt things - on the hitch and extension and they are now rock solid. No movement and no wallowing out the pin holes. Haven't had any problem with the nuts coming loose, either, but I use split ring lock washers and keep them reasonably tight with w wrench.

I have a pair of Ryobi 2300w gennies converted to run on LP. These units have a carb drain plug that makes it easy to drain if it won't be used for a few days/weeks and I was very diligent about draining the carb bowls. Even so, after the second carb replacement I decided that LP is the way to go. If you have a bulk LP tank or can hook up to the RV LP system it is a no brainer. And if you can't get LP, just fill it with gas and unplug the LP - no conversion needed.