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rbertalotto

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Posts posted by rbertalotto

  3. Adding portable solar to existing

    in Technical Tips and Tricks

    Posted

    I have a full Bogart system in my travel trailer. Trimetric and chargecontroller with  three 140w panels on the roof. At times I’m camped where panels are shaded. I want to add 100w portable panel that I can better position toward the sun. It comes with its own charge controller. What is the best way to connect this to my existing system?
     

    Attach new controller to battery or run the charge controller through the existing Bogart charge controller?

    iwant the trimetric to still monitor the entire system.

    Thank

  6. Good bye Direct TV satellite service

    in Satellite TV and Radio on the Road

    Posted · Edited by rbertalotto

    Quote

    Ok, so somebody give me an education. If I go to streaming TV online, I walk in and sit down in my chair turn on the Tv and I want to browse a channel guide that shows me my favorite channels (ION, FX, WGN, A&E, SYFY USA, TNT, Animal Planet, FXX, AMC, History Channel and a few more) where do I find this? And what streaming service will get me ALL of those channels and the locals? And what does this cost

    Directv Now has all these channels and local channels and a fantastic program guide. I have 150 channels for $35 a month. I’ve been using it for near two years and love it.

    i also have Amazon Prime Video for movies, documentaries, special tv series and Amazons own series and broadcasts. This is included with a Prime membership. Amazon is voice search. Push the button on the remote and say what you want to watch. It will find it somewhere on the net.

    i also use Pluto TV which is free and ImBD for movies, also free but a commercial every half hour or 45 minutes. 

    There is so much free streaming TV right now that you couldn’t watch it all in a hundred lifetimes!

    if you buy an Amazon Fire Stick or a Roku stick, ( under $50 each and no monthly fee) it includes hundreds of streaming channels pre programmed. Everything from TVfor your cat to the Porsche channel, fishing channels, on and on and on. 

  7. Good bye Direct TV satellite service

    in Satellite TV and Radio on the Road

    Posted

    DirectTV Now has a good program guide. Amazon Prime had an amazing search engine. You are streaming any content you want. You don't need to watch a program at a predetermined time. With most streaming drives you simply say what you want to watch and like magic it appears. Unlike DSB, you are in control of what you watch at what time. For broadcast channel streaming there are dozens of apps to see a schedule of programming.

  14. Good bye Direct TV satellite service

    in Satellite TV and Radio on the Road

    Posted

    Rural America might not have good internet service but this is exactly the region that DISH/DTV legacy satellite TV is losing money. There are simply too few subscribers to carry the infrastructure of satellite service. Cost would need to go up substantially to carry this region into the future. And as thousands of subscribers a month switch to streaming the cost gets spread over fewer and fewer subscribers.

    The only solution is 600mz cellular (extreme long range performance from a cell tower) and low orbit satellite.....Period!

    There is no other option.....

  17. Battle Born Batteries

    in General RV Information

    Posted

    Yes, SOC of 75%.....at first I only had two 140 watt panels and on a cloudy day I would not get batteries back to 100%. One more 140 watt panel made a huge difference. If you have roof room, I always recommend more solar as frdt line of attack. It's cheap and great ROI.

    Be sure, when these batteries expire, LIO will take it's place.

  18. Battle Born Batteries

    in General RV Information

    Posted

    I keep going back and forth on these Battle Born batteries. Currently I have two AGM group 31 Duracell batteries that I bought at Sam's Club for $189 each. I bought these batteries over 4 years ago and they are still going strong.I charge nearly exclusively with 420 watts of solar. I just returned from a 9500 mile trip and the batteries are still working perfectly. I take them down to about 75% every night. I travel January, February and March and then every other weekend. I boondocking 100% at various shooting and motorcycle events. Have not used my generator bin years. To replace them with nearly $2,000 worth of lithium ion batteries doesn't seem to make sense on the surface. Granted if I need two more AGM batteries I won't get them for $189 each like I did during that Sam's Club special. so I'll keep reading great threads like this waiting for my batteries to expire and then hopefully the cost of lithium-ion has come way down.

  19. Internet Access: 16 Campgrounds, 3 States

    in Internet Access on the Road

    Posted

    I have all three. AT&t Verizon and T-Mobile. AT&t and T-Mobile are both in United splore units. Verizon is in my Samsung phone. So far 80% of the time I use AT&t. With AT&t DirecTV now does not count against my account. My AT&t account is a Mobly account. The other 20% of the time is made up of Verizon and T-Mobile. Verizon is unlimited streaming on the phone but only 15 g tethered. The T-Mobile account is unlimited for DirecTV now Amazon prime and most other streaming channels. I'm a beta user for T-Mobile and it only cost $30 a month.

     I travel three months a year January February and March from Massachusetts to Phoenix. Spending nearly a month each in Texas New Mexico and Arizona. Last year I went as far as Oakland California. I have not had a night yet when I can't stream video.

     I have three options for better signal. A cell booster with an outside antenna. And yaggie outside antenna on a large 16 foot pole. Or a mimo antenna on that same pole.

      One way or the other with my equipment I'm watching TV at night in my trailer.

  21. Can I really full time on $2,000 a month

    in RVing on a Budget

    Posted

    Quote

    As you said even new ones have issues. 

    BTW, I have a couple friends that bought brand new motorhomes...Had relatively big problems within the first few months...And had to wait weeks to get the MH in for service as the dealership was backed up months. They were told that new MHs  were taken in first. Used MH (especially if bought from a private party and not at the dealership where service is requested) could be waiting months! This wouldn't happen with a truck and trailer as a truck will be serviced within days or hours.....And if the issue is the trailer, you still have the truck for transportation. A trailer without the huge mechanics of a MH would usually have issues with components, frig, stove AC, etc......Usually easily repaired and/or could be done by self or third party service....

    Something to think about....

  22. Honda 2000i or Predator Generators?

    in Beginning RVing

    Posted

    RV_

    Thanks for the kind works on the projects posted on my web site....

    Yes.."Birds of a feather...." It always amazes me on how many hobbies us RV folks share......Seems RVs, Firearms, Motorcycles.....Are shared by a majority of RV folks.....Add hunting, fishing and RC planes......And you got just about all hobby bases covered!

    Thanks again!

     

     

  23. Can I really full time on $2,000 a month

    in RVing on a Budget

    Posted

    I would be extremely concerned about a $40,000 used motorhome. Brand new, most motorhomes have mechanical issues, nevermind a $40,000, roughly ten year old model. I know lots of folks that went the +/- $40K motorhome route and really regret it. Unless you are willing to full time in a small class c, which you might find in good shape for that amount of money, I'd reconsider a motorhome. 

    I recently bought a 2018, brand new, RAM, heavy duty 2500 truck for $37,000 and for $3000 bought a lifetime, unlimited mileage warrantee. Not having to worry about catastrophic vehicle expenses is a tremendous piece of mind. And I'm extremely mechanically inclined.

    Having TWO vehicles to deal with (Motorhome AND toad) would be a deal breaker for me.

    I would really reconsider a Truck/Trailer combination if I was trying to live on $2000 a month with only $25K in the bank. One big repair on a motorhome can easily eat that $25K down real fast!

  24. Honda 2000i or Predator Generators?

    in Beginning RVing

    Posted

    I installed an Easy Start  https://www.microair.net/collections/easystart-soft-starters on my AC and have no problem running it on one Honda 2000i

    But when boondocking for a longer period of time, I run two Honda 2000i. They run quieter and I dont have to think about "Watt Management".....I run them off a remote 5gal gas can and they run for a couple days.

    I also think that running two units puts less stress on them, even with the soft start.

    Here is a review on my web site

    http://rvbprecision.com/rv-projects/micro-air-easy-start-rv-ac.html

    www.rvbprecision.com

     

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