Upstanding citizen
 

On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:27:56 -0400, H*a*r*r*o*l*d wrote:

On 6/12/2014 1:13 PM, Poquito Loco wrote:
On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 12:09:52 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 11:38:06 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 6/12/2014 11:07 AM, wrote:

I am surprised they don't have the antenna connected to the leveling
foot circuit. Pick up the feet and the antenna goes down.



Most of them are manual ... hand cranked.

It sounds like the opportunity to sell another $300 accessory to the
RV crowd. (a motor on that crank)

One broken antenna would pay for it.

I still wonder how many trips a year you would have to take to
amortize the costs of an RV..
My neighbor figured out it would be cheaper to fly 1st class, rent a
nice car and stay in a good hotel for the 3-4 weeks he actually used
it in a year. (based on what he paid to buy, store, maintain and drive
his diesel pusher).
I think he paid close to $180k for it and had to work hard to find a
buyer at $90k 5-6 years later. That alone amortizes out at over $500 a
day if he used it 4 weeks a year. It seemed to be a black hole he
threw money in when he had it. He said it was worse than his boat,

Mine cost me $39K, including the hitch and installation. We use it quite a bit, so I don't feel like
it's been a big waste of money. Of course, I had to have a pickup to move it, but I already had a
pickup.

I agree that the big, diesel motorhomes are made for those who have a bunch of extra money.

Sounds like we are trying to quantify how much our "fun" is worth.
I'm happy doing what I do and that's all that matters to me.

Amen!

I realized something else also. I *enjoy* driving. I'd much rather drive eight hours to get
somewhere than spend four hours doing the same thing by plane. And, I can honestly say I've never
lost my luggage!

Upstanding citizen
 

On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 14:44:13 -0500, Califbill wrote:

F*O*A*D wrote:
On 6/12/14, 12:16 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 6/12/2014 12:09 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 11:38:06 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 6/12/2014 11:07 AM, wrote:

I am surprised they don't have the antenna connected to the leveling
foot circuit. Pick up the feet and the antenna goes down.



Most of them are manual ... hand cranked.

It sounds like the opportunity to sell another $300 accessory to the
RV crowd. (a motor on that crank)

One broken antenna would pay for it.

I still wonder how many trips a year you would have to take to
amortize the costs of an RV..
My neighbor figured out it would be cheaper to fly 1st class, rent a
nice car and stay in a good hotel for the 3-4 weeks he actually used
it in a year. (based on what he paid to buy, store, maintain and drive
his diesel pusher).
I think he paid close to $180k for it and had to work hard to find a
buyer at $90k 5-6 years later. That alone amortizes out at over $500 a
day if he used it 4 weeks a year. It seemed to be a black hole he
threw money in when he had it. He said it was worse than his boat,



I don't think people who are into the RV thing try to justify it from a
financial point of view. They simply enjoy traveling around, seeing
new places, meeting people, all at a pace that they can define.

I never got into the "camping" thing but I'll admit that the few times
we tried it, we had some fun. An RV is a giant step up in terms of
comfort from a tent and sleeping bags.



Ahh, but a tent and a sleeping bag is "camping." A big RV is nothing more
than a towable or driveable motel room.


Actually for long tours is much better than tents and motel rooms. In the
late 1980's I had a sabbatical and took 7 weeks to tour the US with two
teenagers and the wife. Did not have to worry about finding a motel room
where we wanted to stop, ate healthier, and when traveling, the kids could
do hobbies, etc at a table. Cost was probably comparable to motels. I
have a truck camper, but tow my boat to some remote lakes and rivers. I
think a 40' diesel pusher, unless you are living in it full time is pretty
worthless. Lots of Federal and State campgrounds limit out at about 28'.

My trailer's 33', and I've not had a problem anywhere. The biggest motorhome in our group is 34',
and he's not had a problem yet. There was a rumor going around that Virginia was limiting the size,
but that was false. I called the state park folks in Richmond to clarify that one. I quit using the
Virginia state parks 'cause they charge $10/pet/night. They furnish nothing. Hell with 'em.

Upstanding citizen
 

On 6/12/2014 9:49 AM, Poquito Loco wrote:
On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 08:56:15 -0400, H*a*r*r*o*l*d wrote:

On 6/12/2014 8:13 AM, Poquito Loco wrote:
On Wed, 11 Jun 2014 17:16:35 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 6/11/2014 12:43 PM, Poquito Loco wrote:
On Tue, 10 Jun 2014 21:10:29 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 6/10/2014 8:25 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:



If you are withing 20-25 miles of the transmitting tower, this super
duper antenna works splendidly for capturing HD broadcasts:

http://flowtv.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/ill12.png


I just tried an experiment for kicks.

I have a small, single pole antenna that I use on my receiver for FM
reception. It's half of an old rabbit ear antenna.

I hooked it up to my TV and did an autoscan. My house is probably
35-40 miles from the nearest transmitting antenna in Boston and the
single pole antenna is just sitting beside the TV. Autoscan found 7
digital channels.

Here's the antenna:

http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/Eisboch/antenna.jpg


Here's channel 7 in Boston using the single pole antenna:

http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/Eisboch/Channel7.jpg

Here's channel 2 (PBS) in Boston (blur is due to slow camera shutter
speed. HD picture on TV is perfect):

http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/Eisboch/Channel2-2.jpg

Only goes to show that there's nothing magic about the revised and
modernized rabbit ears that are being marketed as "HD Antennas".


What do you use on the Sprinter?


The Sprinter had an antenna that you cranked up but I never used it.
As described in a previous post I had a portable Direct TV dish that we
took with us along with the Direct TV receiver from the house.

We didn't use it often but it was nice if there was something special I
wanted to see or I just got bored silly camping. :-)



I see campers all the time with Direct TV dishes, but we don't use it at home and I wouldn't get it
just for the camper. I've found a place that will put a new Winegard http://tinyurl.com/k87xzo5 on
the trailer for $400, installed. I can live with that.

I hit a frozen tree branch in Baltimore with one of those once. Wasn't
pretty.

I'm assuming you'd not lowered it?

You assumed correctly.

Upstanding citizen
 

On 6/12/2014 11:07 AM, wrote:
On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 09:49:28 -0400, Poquito Loco
wrote:

On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 08:56:15 -0400, H*a*r*r*o*l*d wrote:

On 6/12/2014 8:13 AM, Poquito Loco wrote:
On Wed, 11 Jun 2014 17:16:35 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 6/11/2014 12:43 PM, Poquito Loco wrote:
On Tue, 10 Jun 2014 21:10:29 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 6/10/2014 8:25 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:



If you are withing 20-25 miles of the transmitting tower, this super
duper antenna works splendidly for capturing HD broadcasts:

http://flowtv.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/ill12.png


I just tried an experiment for kicks.

I have a small, single pole antenna that I use on my receiver for FM
reception. It's half of an old rabbit ear antenna.

I hooked it up to my TV and did an autoscan. My house is probably
35-40 miles from the nearest transmitting antenna in Boston and the
single pole antenna is just sitting beside the TV. Autoscan found 7
digital channels.

Here's the antenna:

http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/Eisboch/antenna.jpg


Here's channel 7 in Boston using the single pole antenna:

http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/Eisboch/Channel7.jpg

Here's channel 2 (PBS) in Boston (blur is due to slow camera shutter
speed. HD picture on TV is perfect):

http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/Eisboch/Channel2-2.jpg

Only goes to show that there's nothing magic about the revised and
modernized rabbit ears that are being marketed as "HD Antennas".


What do you use on the Sprinter?


The Sprinter had an antenna that you cranked up but I never used it.
As described in a previous post I had a portable Direct TV dish that we
took with us along with the Direct TV receiver from the house.

We didn't use it often but it was nice if there was something special I
wanted to see or I just got bored silly camping. :-)



I see campers all the time with Direct TV dishes, but we don't use it at home and I wouldn't get it
just for the camper. I've found a place that will put a new Winegard http://tinyurl.com/k87xzo5 on
the trailer for $400, installed. I can live with that.

I hit a frozen tree branch in Baltimore with one of those once. Wasn't
pretty.

I'm assuming you'd not lowered it?

I am surprised they don't have the antenna connected to the leveling
foot circuit. Pick up the feet and the antenna goes down.

The antenna is not motorized.

Upstanding citizen
 

On 6/12/14, 3:44 PM, Califbill wrote:
F*O*A*D wrote:
On 6/12/14, 12:16 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 6/12/2014 12:09 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 11:38:06 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 6/12/2014 11:07 AM, wrote:

I am surprised they don't have the antenna connected to the leveling
foot circuit. Pick up the feet and the antenna goes down.



Most of them are manual ... hand cranked.

It sounds like the opportunity to sell another $300 accessory to the
RV crowd. (a motor on that crank)

One broken antenna would pay for it.

I still wonder how many trips a year you would have to take to
amortize the costs of an RV..
My neighbor figured out it would be cheaper to fly 1st class, rent a
nice car and stay in a good hotel for the 3-4 weeks he actually used
it in a year. (based on what he paid to buy, store, maintain and drive
his diesel pusher).
I think he paid close to $180k for it and had to work hard to find a
buyer at $90k 5-6 years later. That alone amortizes out at over $500 a
day if he used it 4 weeks a year. It seemed to be a black hole he
threw money in when he had it. He said it was worse than his boat,



I don't think people who are into the RV thing try to justify it from a
financial point of view. They simply enjoy traveling around, seeing
new places, meeting people, all at a pace that they can define.

I never got into the "camping" thing but I'll admit that the few times
we tried it, we had some fun. An RV is a giant step up in terms of
comfort from a tent and sleeping bags.



Ahh, but a tent and a sleeping bag is "camping." A big RV is nothing more
than a towable or driveable motel room.


Actually for long tours is much better than tents and motel rooms. In the
late 1980's I had a sabbatical and took 7 weeks to tour the US with two
teenagers and the wife. Did not have to worry about finding a motel room
where we wanted to stop, ate healthier, and when traveling, the kids could
do hobbies, etc at a table. Cost was probably comparable to motels. I
have a truck camper, but tow my boat to some remote lakes and rivers. I
think a 40' diesel pusher, unless you are living in it full time is pretty
worthless. Lots of Federal and State campgrounds limit out at about 28'.


I was talking about "camping," not driving or trailering a large metal
and plastic motel room. You know, tent, sleeping bag, campfire...camping.



--
If right-wing assholes could fly,
rec.boats would be an airport!

Upstanding citizen
 

On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:57:59 -0400, H*a*r*r*o*l*d wrote:

On 6/12/2014 9:49 AM, Poquito Loco wrote:
On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 08:56:15 -0400, H*a*r*r*o*l*d wrote:

On 6/12/2014 8:13 AM, Poquito Loco wrote:
On Wed, 11 Jun 2014 17:16:35 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 6/11/2014 12:43 PM, Poquito Loco wrote:
On Tue, 10 Jun 2014 21:10:29 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 6/10/2014 8:25 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:



If you are withing 20-25 miles of the transmitting tower, this super
duper antenna works splendidly for capturing HD broadcasts:

http://flowtv.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/ill12.png


I just tried an experiment for kicks.

I have a small, single pole antenna that I use on my receiver for FM
reception. It's half of an old rabbit ear antenna.

I hooked it up to my TV and did an autoscan. My house is probably
35-40 miles from the nearest transmitting antenna in Boston and the
single pole antenna is just sitting beside the TV. Autoscan found 7
digital channels.

Here's the antenna:

http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/Eisboch/antenna.jpg


Here's channel 7 in Boston using the single pole antenna:

http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/Eisboch/Channel7.jpg

Here's channel 2 (PBS) in Boston (blur is due to slow camera shutter
speed. HD picture on TV is perfect):

http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/Eisboch/Channel2-2.jpg

Only goes to show that there's nothing magic about the revised and
modernized rabbit ears that are being marketed as "HD Antennas".


What do you use on the Sprinter?


The Sprinter had an antenna that you cranked up but I never used it.
As described in a previous post I had a portable Direct TV dish that we
took with us along with the Direct TV receiver from the house.

We didn't use it often but it was nice if there was something special I
wanted to see or I just got bored silly camping. :-)



I see campers all the time with Direct TV dishes, but we don't use it at home and I wouldn't get it
just for the camper. I've found a place that will put a new Winegard http://tinyurl.com/k87xzo5 on
the trailer for $400, installed. I can live with that.

I hit a frozen tree branch in Baltimore with one of those once. Wasn't
pretty.

I'm assuming you'd not lowered it?

You assumed correctly.

That'll probably be the first thing I forget to check once I get the antenna mounted.

Upstanding citizen
 

On 6/12/2014 5:06 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:44:31 -0400, Poquito Loco
wrote:



I realized something else also. I *enjoy* driving. I'd much rather drive eight hours to get
somewhere than spend four hours doing the same thing by plane. And, I can honestly say I've never
lost my luggage!

Maybe that is my problem. In that "factory job" Harry thinks I had I
was driving about 50,000 a year (less after I moved here). It is not
my favorite thing to do, particularly mind numbing hours on the
interstate.
Where I live now I am a solid 5-6 hours, just to get out of Florida
and then I am only in Georgia.
We have vacationed in the west for the last 10 years. Driving would
just be ridiculous.



It's just different strokes for different folks. When working I
traveled often and almost always by air. It was work with scheduled
meetings to attend, timetables to meet, etc. Most of that was done
before 9/11 and all the added security measures that were added and also
before airlines started packing seats into airplanes to the max like
they do now.

In my semi-retirement I much rather drive. I enjoy it. It's at my
pace, my timing and my schedule. If I get tired or just feel like
stopping somewhere, I do.

When we had the places in Florida I must have driven down and back a
dozen times or more, often hauling a trailer or driving a RV. I
enjoyed it, especially the areas south of Virginia. I-95 north of
Virginia gets downright horrible.

Upstanding citizen
 

On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 17:06:40 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:44:31 -0400, Poquito Loco
wrote:



I realized something else also. I *enjoy* driving. I'd much rather drive eight hours to get
somewhere than spend four hours doing the same thing by plane. And, I can honestly say I've never
lost my luggage!

Maybe that is my problem. In that "factory job" Harry thinks I had I
was driving about 50,000 a year (less after I moved here). It is not
my favorite thing to do, particularly mind numbing hours on the
interstate.
Where I live now I am a solid 5-6 hours, just to get out of Florida
and then I am only in Georgia.
We have vacationed in the west for the last 10 years. Driving would
just be ridiculous.

I can understand that.

Upstanding citizen
 

On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 17:17:05 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 6/12/2014 5:06 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:44:31 -0400, Poquito Loco
wrote:



I realized something else also. I *enjoy* driving. I'd much rather drive eight hours to get
somewhere than spend four hours doing the same thing by plane. And, I can honestly say I've never
lost my luggage!

Maybe that is my problem. In that "factory job" Harry thinks I had I
was driving about 50,000 a year (less after I moved here). It is not
my favorite thing to do, particularly mind numbing hours on the
interstate.
Where I live now I am a solid 5-6 hours, just to get out of Florida
and then I am only in Georgia.
We have vacationed in the west for the last 10 years. Driving would
just be ridiculous.



It's just different strokes for different folks. When working I
traveled often and almost always by air. It was work with scheduled
meetings to attend, timetables to meet, etc. Most of that was done
before 9/11 and all the added security measures that were added and also
before airlines started packing seats into airplanes to the max like
they do now.

In my semi-retirement I much rather drive. I enjoy it. It's at my
pace, my timing and my schedule. If I get tired or just feel like
stopping somewhere, I do.

When we had the places in Florida I must have driven down and back a
dozen times or more, often hauling a trailer or driving a RV. I
enjoyed it, especially the areas south of Virginia. I-95 north of
Virginia gets downright horrible.

Four round trips to Korea, two to Vietnam, and at least a dozen to Europe have somewhat affected my
attitude towards flying.

Upstanding citizen
 

On 6/12/14, 5:06 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:44:31 -0400, Poquito Loco
wrote:



I realized something else also. I *enjoy* driving. I'd much rather drive eight hours to get
somewhere than spend four hours doing the same thing by plane. And, I can honestly say I've never
lost my luggage!

Maybe that is my problem. In that "factory job" Harry thinks I had I
was driving about 50,000 a year (less after I moved here). It is not
my favorite thing to do, particularly mind numbing hours on the
interstate.
Where I live now I am a solid 5-6 hours, just to get out of Florida
and then I am only in Georgia.
We have vacationed in the west for the last 10 years. Driving would
just be ridiculous.


From here to Virginia Beach or to Connecticut is as far as I will
drive. It's about three and a half hours by car to Virginia Beach and
just under six hours to New Haven, depending upon traffic. I really
prefer taking the train to Philly, New York, New Haven or Boston, and
spending the time reading, looking at the scenery, or taking a nap.

Last two times we visited relatives in Northern Florida, we took an
Amtrak sleeper compartment. Takes just about an hour longer than
driving, and when you get there early in the morning, you've just gotten
up and had breakfast on the train. The trackage, however, is pretty
miserable between DC and Florida.

--
If right-wing assholes could fly,
rec.boats would be an airport!