bigbillsd

Yes, like most things, they can be used for bad or good, just depends on the person using them. If my car gets taken, I will be glad if I can go get it back right away.

Yes, quite a few of my neighbors have asked me if I just bought a new one while they were walking by the house. Not bad for a 16 yo motorhome. -Bill I was up on a ladder this morning putting on the last decal I think it needs and while up there its was still amazed how nice the paint job looked even way up by the rear camera. -Bill

I am finishing up 3 blog posts about getting my 06 Allegro Bus in Mexico. The paint job was superb. Here is a link to the First Post Second one is out there too. The third and last post on the paint job will be there by this weekend. -Bill

Yeah, there is but its not useful for tracking. Lifewire has a good article about it. It appears to be a bluetooth app to find a local tracker, one within its bluetooth range. So if your RV is stolen, you are out of luck unless you have an Apple device. -Bill After thinking about it for a minute, it would be an app the thieves would use to find the tracker you hid in your RV after he has stolen it.

I was going to have my bus painted in Senora Mexico and thought it would be a great idea to have a gps tracker (or three) in it. I did a lot of research and settled on a couple that would work in Mexico. One was an expensive asset tracker that VHB taped down on the roof with a small solar panel that kept it charged up. It was $200 and $15 a month. That unit works as good as I expected. Second device was adding a $30 antenna to my existing CerboGX device. That worked good also, and was more "real time" than the Asset Tracker (AT location updates every 10 minutes if moving, 3 hours when stopped) One caveat to the Cerbo GPS antenna solution is you need full time Internet connection. The Cerbo has no subscription, except you need cell service on a hotspot or something. Lastly, and most importantly for this post, I read about Apple Air Tags. A single one costs $29 on Amazon. On a whim I bought one, set it up on my iPhone and taped it under a cup holder in my bus. Surprisingly that little device's location updated quite often while it was down in Mexico for 6 weeks getting painted. After bringing the bus home I bought a 4 pack of the air tags for $100 on amazon and now have one in each car, my backpack and on my bicycle. You must have an Apple device for them to be useful, and a phone would be the most useful if the item you tracked was taken. The Air Tag is about the size of a US Quarter and approx 3 quarters thick. The battery is user replaceable with regular CR2032 if needed. The phone app, Apples "Find My" also keeps track of your other Apple devices like iPad etc. It shows the battery state of charge for each device on that screen. My first Air Tag still shows a full charge after 11 weeks of use. I am still glad I have that Asset Tracker on the roof and will continue to pay the monthly till we no longer need it. But those Air Tag's are fairly amazing bits of technology for keeping track of "things". -Bill Painting Blog Post

Just activated the AT&T 100 GB $55 prepaid plan on my pepwave. Works very well, also picked up the T-Mobile 100 GB postpaid plan a few months back for the Pepwave. It works great if near a big town, their coverage still is pretty poor outside of towns, even when using the 600 Mhz B71 with a compatible antenna. My ATT Mobley SIM in it is still doing well, bought the others in case they turn it off or something.

Since we are in the Southwest the heat is our issue so we bought a piece of 4" thick foam close to the size of the opening. (its much larger than a vent opening) Cut it to a bit oversize so it holds itself up in the opening and wrapped it in some fabric my wife likes. Pop it in when we want to block the light or heat. (or cold) Been using it for a year and the only thing i have noticed is the fabric on the top side is fading a bit from the sun. Works like a charm and no need to modify anything. -Bill

As I said, Crown states we would get 750 cycles at 80% DOD. I will probably never get mine down that low, but it piece of mind knowing that if I had to I could keep doing it every day for more than two years. And yes, if brought them only down to 50% DOD i would double the number of charge cycles it can handle. -Bill

And for true deep cycles like my Crown CR260 batteries. Factory said 750 cycles @ 80% draw down. Bill

I am looking to replace our original pleated D/N shades. Has anyone dealt with United Shade out of Elkhart In? I found a reseller in Mesa AZ called Blind Chalet, but the Yelp reviews of them were staggeringly awful. I am curious about the D/N roller shade quality, not looking for powered. Anyone purchase those, did they last? I keep reading about MCD and there are plenty of folks on both sides of that fence. Any other manufacturers of D/N non powered shades you can recommend.

JFYI. I purchased my Magnum Inverter from ImarineUSA Magnum Inverters They were the best price last year, with the free shipping and their prices look like they are less now. Amazing. -Bill

Here is the transcript from AT&T about the Connected Car plan Today Reference Number: 740660286660610894 DATE/TIME: 2018-03-03 16:11:11 Your chat transcript: PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE - All replies are automatically deleted. Steve : Hello! How may I help you today? Steve : Thank you for visiting AT&T. I hope you're having a wonderful day. Who do I have the pleasure of chatting with? Bill : I am trying to sign up for the connected car plan but the website says my car will work but I cannot get past that. Steve : sure Let me help you with that Bill Steve : ok and Are you logged in your account right now? Steve : or you are a new att customer ? Bill : no I am trying to help a friend, he doesn't use att yet Steve : oh got it Steve : and tell me you want to buy it out of your account Steve : an create a new account ? Bill : Nope, I am going to walk him thu buying one. Steve : ok so he will create a new account perfect Bill : I signed up last year online. But the site seems kind of broken after you get to the part where it says your car will work. Bill : there is no link to get past it. Steve : let me check what is happening ok Bill : tks. Steve : sure Steve : Steve : I was checking the information and right now the ZTE Mobley device is out of stock online Bill that's why you can go to the next page Bill : Ok. But the plan is still available? Steve : yes the plan is still available Steve : you can go to the store and get it there since is not available online Bill : when will the mobley be back in stock? Steve : withing 1 or 2 weeks Bill Bill : tks Steve : sure Steve : You have an amazing day

I talked to a guy last month @ Quartzite that had just gotten his mobley from them. Its still available according to AT&T today, i just checked with AT&T and the connected car plan is still a valid plan to sign up for. But, they said the mobley is out of stock online so you have to sign up at a store as the site won't got past the point where it says it will work for your vehicle. .

Go to the AT&T site and sign up for the Connect Car Plan. $22 with taxes a month for unlimited data. Minimum of 23 GB, but I get 80GB per month on it and for some reason it never slowed down for me, even in cities. To power it up in your RV (if you do not have an ODBII port) you can purchase a 120v adapter here: AC Adapter for AT&T ZTE Mobley or a 12v adapter: 12v Car Plug Adapter for AT&T ZTE Mobley LTE Hotspot And now there is a USB adapter for it, which might preclude needing the others, but I don't know if it works. Is sold by the same guy I bought the 120v model from last year. USB Adapter for AT&T ZTE Mobley OBD2 LTE Wi-Fi Hotspot The connected car plan (CCP) is the best purchase I have ever made. No buyer remorse and I have had it a year now. I wish I could extend the contract as I am afraid it might go away. We were "on the road" more than 6 months last year. -Bill PS. The CCP is the only AT&T service i had for the first 10 months. Since then I switched my home ISP from Cox to AT&T DSL. They give me $30 off the DSL charge per month.. So my total Home and Hotspot bill is $50 a month. I was paying Cox $78 a month just for the home service last December. Oh, and Dave Bott's video about connecting your devices is spot on. You really should have a firewall between you and any internet connection. I'm an IT guy, you always want a firewall between you and the internet. Even my hotspots go thru them. I normally leave data turned off on my phones until I actually need it for something. -Bill