Zulu

1 hour ago, whj469 said:

Cost for box is $60 per month about $5 less them the Hughesnet that we used to use. It is much faster the Hughes.

You are probably talking about the "old" HughesNet, not the new Gen 5 system.

Campground Internet Report 1 . . . some tentative takeaways

I used a Radial Arm Mount for my iMac. My PC is mounted on a desk, but radial mounts can also be attached to walls.

48 minutes ago, Carlos said:

And apparently you're not familiar with the ways of a Real Man(tm).

🦕

12 minutes ago, Carlos said:

I'm a man, so I assume that means shoving t-shirts into a backpack as hard as possible.

Apparently you're not familiar with Marie Kondo: Basic Folding

37 minutes ago, Bigthinkers said:

But could you boondock if you wanted to? Could you go without doing laundry for 5 or 6 days if you had to? A week? Two? People do it all the time, so I'm not sure what the issue is, though I'd quite like to know.

In our case we would need 2 more house batteries to pull it off . . . and, no, there's no room for them.

20 minutes ago, Bigthinkers said:

I have to admit, I didn't expect quite so much push-back on the washer/dryer thing. People DO full-time with washer/dryers, so I'm quite sure I'll be able to figure it out. If it's important to you, you find a way.

Our separate Ariston washer and dryer were in our Best Purchases category. Would not be w/o them. However, we have a 105 gal water tank & a 65 gal gray tank & we never boondock.

1 hour ago, Dutch_12078 said:

I've seen a $50/mo price point mentioned, but I don't know any particulars as to speed, caps, etc.

There's also the reception devices. I heard "pizza box" sized antennas . . .

All this technology is for naught if it costs too much to use. 

4 minutes ago, Carlos said:

On the RO, I really recommend that you look at units which replenish the minerals and alkalinity, like the one I linked above.

Both of our links are to 5-stage RO units. You're spot on about RO units removing needed minerals from water. Do you have a link to one of those "mineral replenisher" cartridges?

3 minutes ago, Bigthinkers said:

I had RO in a house that was on well water, and I really liked it. Thinking about going that direction again.

You can plumb an RV RO system so that the brine (aka RO waste water) flows back into your water holding tank instead of your gray tank.

7 hours ago, Bigthinkers said:

-Plumbed drinking water purifier (we would prefer not to buy bottled water, and we're not sure of the water quality everywhere we'll go)

I suggest you purchase an under-the-sink RO (Reverse Osmosis) unit like this one. The RVWaterFilter store also stocks RO systems, but you'll pay less if you shop around.

RO water is about as high quality as you can get on the road. I also suggest buying clear filter housings as filters can clog up in no time in some campgrounds, like this one we were just at:

For that big of a TV in a small RV, look at ceiling mounts . . . i.e, where the TV folds up into the ceiling,

What do you have for health insurance?

2 hours ago, Mark and Dale Bruss said:

Don't just ask for a city.  Find a campground in the area and use the address of the campground to change your Service Address. 

I use this DISH Locals website to help.

If you're serious about speed testing, perform at least 5 tests and then average.

I'll do multiple tests over multiple days, like this . . .

Here's my RAW DATA.

Finally, I'll also do "real" speed tests using YouTube. I'll test a connection by seeing what "Auto" resolution (144, 240, 480, 720, 1080) YouTube uses for a broadband provider I'm testing.

1 hour ago, docj said:

FWIW trying to measure download speed is a lot more complex than it might seem. The speed measured by Fast.com (designed by Netflix) and Speedtest.net are often a factor of 2 different.

For sure. After numerous HughesNet speed tests, I ditched Ookla's Speedtest because it yielded contradictory results.

I settled on Speedof.me after reading their testing methodology. I've found their results more closely predict browsing behavior than all the other HTML5 speed testers.

17 minutes ago, Art Redmond said:

I was just looking at Dish domes and this is interesting, it has East and West included.

Not quite true. There are 6 DISH sats (110, 119, 129 & 61.5, 72.7, 77), and the Tailgater can only see 4 of them.

Of the Eastern Arc sats (61.5, 72.7, 77), sat 72 is probably the most important, but the Tailgater can't see it.

The Pathway X2 can see all 6 sats.

You'll be able to use any DISH receiver (particularly the Hopper 3) with the following:

• Portable tripod with open-faced dish (~ $300, dish, tripod, cheap sat meter) -- manual setup and aiming. Least expensive.
• Rooftop Winegard Travler ($1300, not installed) -- push button operation. The best unless you're under trees.

You'll only be able to use a single-tuner DISH receiver (Wally, VIP 211, etc) with the following. A single tuner receiver limits what you can/can't watch/record:

• Winegard Pathway X1, X2 -- IMHO the X2 ($450 with a Wally receiver) is your best bet in this category. You can move it around to avoid tree cover and it's pretty much automatic. Plus, it has a large dish under its dome and can acquire all of DISH's sats.
• Tailgater
• Playmaker
• All domes

...

20 minutes ago, WeBeFulltimers said:

I am happy with this method and highly doubt I will go with one of the auto type.

OP is nearing 80. He might want the convenience of an automatic.

2 hours ago, Technomadia said:

By the way.. it is now confirmed. This plan IS retiring on May 21, and existing customers will be grandfathered in.  Above article has been updated. 

Tx for the tip. Using your detailed info, I was able to wade thru Verizon's site and locate the soon-to-retire unlimited plan.

It's confusing because the Unlimited Plan does not appear until you press Shop now. Then you start by selecting the device you want.

In my case, I opted for a USB730L modem instead of a 900L Jetpack which were the only two options (besides BYOD):

After selecting a device, then you select a plan and the Unlimited Plan is now listed. Of course I selected the Unlimited data plan and was able to get it for $65/month with AutoPay:

Plan details (the fine print)

38 minutes ago, Twotoes said:

I no longer go on FaceBook because I found it to be anti-social media rather than social media. This Forum and iRV2 are now like being in Jr High School with all the bickering. Let’s all be adults and say positive posts. Let’s stop with the negitive. 

Being positive for the sake of being positive I call Thumperism. Don't confuse constructive criticism with bickering.

I think some useful info came out here. For example, I thought I was alone in what I saw happening on IRV2, but from comments here, apparently not. Knowing there are others who feel the same can facilitate change.

Not long after I first started posting on RV forums, prior to the 2008 presidential election, RV.net had some of the most hateful posts I have ever read anywhere. Even a moderator was joining in. I wrote to the owners of the RV.net web site and included sample hate posts. As a result, Marcus himself apologized, the Moderator was taken to the wood shed, and hate posts (and posters) pretty much disappeared.

1 hour ago, Kirk W said:

I had that sort of problems also. I was chastised for posting a link to an Escapee thread and later for quoting the Escapees magazine. I was told by one of their moderators that they don't want "another shill for the Escapees."

Is it NLOVNIT by any chance?

1 hour ago, docj said:

Yes, both the OP and the person making post 15 are of the belief that their role on Earth is to educate the RV community. JMO

Yep, that's pretty much what I thought.

The "pontificators" all appear to be new or newer Newmar coach owners. The IRV2 Newmar thread has become a haven for new coach buyers/owners, and some are as arrogant and entitled as the day is long.

I suggested to the IRV2 forum Moderators that they move the thread from where it is (Newmar Owners) to the Technology thread. A Moderator responded saying the thread owner wanted it to stay. Then the Mod suggested I was being disruptive by suggesting that, so I pretty much threw in the towel.

I posted the link here hoping others might respond.