Tag Archives: Jirah

2013_06_22 (Sat) FMCA Day 4

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If it rained overnight we were unaware of it.  We awoke to gray, overcast skies, our 3rd day in a row of such conditions.  As patches of blue started to appear it also started to rain lightly, and the darker gray clouds moving in from the west seemed to suggest more to come.  Blue skies and rain seem to be another one of those “western” things we don’t see too often in Michigan.

Before we went to sleep last night we studied the program offerings for today and did not see much of interest to us.  Nicer weather might have led to some work on the coach, but we decided to take one more stroll through the inside vendors and just hang out waiting for Marty Stuart’s evening concert.

We picked up another LED spotlight bulb from Jirah for the other bedroom reading light.  These are the first bulbs we have found with necks that are long enough to fit in the aircraft-style swivel down lights.  We were given two “Bonus Bucks” coupons by someone at the FMCA booth each good for $5 off the price of anything for sale in the vendor area.  Linda found an FMCA T-shirt for $12 and bought it for $2.  We picked up three roles of Rescue Tape, a non-adhesive tape that can be used to make temporary repairs on almost anything, including fuel lines, hydraulic lines, air lines, and electrical connections.  We also bought a bottle of RV Digest-It from Unique Products, as we were running out of the Thetford Eco-Smart enzyme product.  Their natural formulation products are available nationwide and their product line includes products for treating septic systems.

We also had a good discussion with the factory representative from Winegard antenna.  We had been looking at Winegard’s ANSER and CARRYOUT portable antennas as well as the ViewCube and Tailgater (Dish Network) but decided to defer any decisions until we get home as we need to set up satellite TV there too.

While perusing the vendors we ran into Pat & Vickie Lintner again (from our GLCC chapter) and had a nice long chat.  They have used Direct TV for years, both at home and in their RV, and are quite satisfied with it.  We are leaning towards Dish Network as they appear to be more RV friendly, at least in terms of how they package/price their system, but this is not the prevailing opinion of the RVers we have talked to.

We also stopped at C & C Marketing to talk to Chris Yust about an insurance quote.  At the fall 2010 Gypsy Journal Rally in Celina, OH she was not able to write policies for Michigan residents, but expanded their market to include Michigan in 2011.  We are currently insured with National Interstate of Hawaii (which we are not happy about after Nick & Terry Russell’s very negative experience with them) through Miller Insurance (Cheryl Howarth) out of Oregon (with whom we are quite pleased).  Our insurance renews in September, so it was a good time to get a quote from Chris.

Done with our RV shopping, we decided to go to the grocery store.  Our GPS brought up a list and we selected a nearby Albertson’s, a western chain that we do not have in the Great Lakes region.  As we were leaving the store we noticed a long N-S line of very ominous (not to be confused with omnibus) looking dark clouds.  By the time we got back to our coach it had started raining.  Shortly thereafter the storm blew in full force with 60 MPH winds, torrential horizontal rain, and pea size hail.  We scrambled to close and latch all of the windows, but had two awnings out that we could not put in until the storm let up.  Fortunately they were a small and medium window awing, and not the large patio awning.  I waited until the storm let up a bit, and then went out in the wind, rain, and hail and put the two awnings up.  Hey, it’s all part of the full/extended-time RV experience.  When the weather turns suddenly bad, there is often no place to hide, and no time to get there even if there is.  Linda checked the weather on her smartphone, which revealed a line of very strong storms moving through northeast Wyoming.  We had obviously been hit by one of the severe thunderstorm cells.  We were also under a tornado watch for three hours.

We knew we still had some minor leaks in the coach around windshields and windows.  Most of them reappeared but were manageable.  We also discovered a small drip at the outside front corner of the passenger side front skylight.  We have had a drip there before, and thought it was taken care of when we replaced the dome on the Fan-tastic vent fan, which was crazed and cracked.  I recalled that when replacing the dome it did not seal around the edges of the housing like I thought it should, so it’s possible that water was pooling &/or splashing up under the lip. But that is all speculation until we can inspect it and figure out what’s going on.

Once the storm let up we went looking for our two cats.  Juniper emerged rather quickly, but Jasper was nowhere to be seen.  He likes to hide when he’s uncomfortable with a situation, and his favorite spot in the coach is under the dinette, although it is not a particularly good place for him to be.  We thought we had that area sealed off, but when Juniper started sniffing intently around there we figured that was where he hid.  And sure enough, he had!  At this point we have no idea how he got in there, as we thought we had all points of entry sealed.

The rain and wind eventually quit and I went out to check for damage.  The bus is parked facing due west and the storm came from that direction.  The windshields and front cap were undamaged, and the head of the searchlight was still attached to the base.  Inspection for roof damage would have to wait for safer conditions.

Although we did not do much this afternoon, it was not a relaxing one.  BTW: With the passage of the storm, the temperature at 5:00 PM had dropped to 46 degrees F!

After dinner we went over to the Central Pavilion (indoors) for the Marty Stuart concert, which was moved there from the Morningside Park grandstand (outside) due to the weather.  Because the grounds had become quite muddy we finally used the trams.  In spite of a number of coaches leaving early, and the generally disagreeable weather, the concert was well attended and appreciated by the audience, to the point that the band came back to do an encore and stuck around to sell CDs and sign autographs.  Although we are not fans of country music, Marty and his group were very good, with a high level of musicianship.  They did a range of music from bluegrass to traditional county, contemporary country, and gospel.  They did a mix of vocals with tight harmonies, and intricate instrumentals. Marty performed years ago with Johnny Cash, and has a similar “sound.”  They put a lot of energy into their show and they seemed to genuinely enjoy what they were doing, which was then reflected by the crowd.

BTW: The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Field Day event started at 2 PM EDT today, and runs for 24 hours.  We did not bring our HF equipment, and we have been too preoccupied to even turn on the 2 M handi-talkie.  I did wear my 2011 ARRL Field Day shirt, however, in recognition of event.

Yesterday was also my dad’s birthday but I didn’t have a chance to call him, so I did that today.  He turned 88.

 

2013_06_20 (Thu) FMCA Day 2

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Again today there were no early morning seminars that caught our eyes.  The indoor vendors opened at 9:00 AM, so we headed over to scope them out and buy a few small things we knew we needed.  Jirah LEDs appeared to have a bulb with an elongated neck that might work in our aircraft style swivel downlights, so I bought one to try for $15.  I also picked up some nylon straps from Coil-N-Wrap that are used to separate the shore power cord from an adapter or extension cord.  Linda picked up an onion keeper, tomato keeper, and a set of stacking measuring spoons held together with magnets from RV SpaceSavers.  Where would we be in this world without magnets?

We stopped at Lawrence RV Accessories and talked to Tom, the owner/president of Progressive Industries (PI).  We have a PI EMS-50 that I installed last year.  It works very well but has developed a buzz.  Tom suggested using the bypass switch to clean the contactor contacts by switching it on and off quickly several times before the 2-minute time delay expires.  If that doesn’t clear it up, he said they would replace it.  PI is well known for their excellent products and warranty policy; they basically stand behind their products for as long as you own them.  Our unit has a remote display that is installed in the bay near the unit.  I purchased a kit with a second remote and switch.  The switch will go in the bay and the 2nd remote will go in the house panel.

We stopped by the Zip Dee Awnings booth and had a good chat with the owner/president.  We got some personal instruction on how to deploy our patio awning in full and caravan (partial) positions and he also gave us printed instructions to take with us.  A stop at the nearby Magnum booth allowed me to clarify a few things about our inverter and they suggested dialing the charge rate back to 80% if it is currently set higher.

We also had a good chat with the guy from the Aqua-Hot factory.  He confirmed what Lloyd Degerald told us yesterday; fuel is the issue and annual maintenance is the key, especially the fuel filter, which needs to be 10 micron, and the nozzle replacement.  I described our Parker Fuel Polishing Module (FPM) installation, which caused him some concern; specifically that it not apply pressure to the pump or restrict the return flow.  I assured him that the FPM, as installed, doesn’t do either of those things.  He confirmed that our older model 100-S unit can use regular coolant and requires ~ 16 gallons, plus whatever is needed to fill all the lines and heat exchangers.  He also confirmed that on this unit there will be bleeder valves at the heat exchangers as these are usually high points, and that bleeding the loops is best done there if they are accessible.  (They often are not very accessible, and our coach is no exception).  The system can be bled by applying air pressure to the tank (through the radiator cap), but that is not the preferred method.  We learned in the seminar the day before that the unit has a mixing valve that should regulate the outlet temperature at ~110 degrees F.  The mixing valve is adjustable, but is under the unit and very difficult to access.  Finally, the expansion tank for our unit should be 5 quarts.  I do not know the exact size of ours, but I am sure it is much smaller than 5 quarts.  Making space for a larger one will require the water pump to be relocated, but that is something I am considering doing anyway.  We also found out that all of the manuals are available online at their website for no charge.

We stopped briefly at the WiFiRanger booth, but decided to come back as the owner (Kelly Hogan, Mr. WiFiRanger) was doing a seminar at 11:00 AM on RV Internet Connectivity.  We went to the seminar and it was excellent.  It was not specifically about WiFiRanger products, although they obviously sell products designed to address the topic.  We returned to the booth and chatted with one of the employees (Evan), but ended up going to Kelly’s trailer (man cave) later for a more personal consultation and demonstration.  He also had a variety of free beer.

At this point, we may just buy the WiFiRanger Mobile (WFR-M) and forego the WiFiRanger Go (WFR-GO).  The WFR-M mounts outside the coach with a cable going inside the rig for power (and data in some configurations).  It communicates with an external Wi-Fi station and regenerates a local/private WiFi network while providing router functionality.  The WFR-GO is also a wireless router but it also has wired ports, a special port for the WFR-M, and a USB port for tethering a cellular device, such as our Verizon 4G/LTE MiFi Jetpack 5510L.  The WRF-GO allows you to seamlessly integrate these devices, but effectively replaces the router functionality of both the WFR-M and the MiFi device.  This means you have paid for three routers but are only using one of them.  The penalty for not have the WFR-GO is that you have to switch your devices (phones, tablets, computers, etc.) to whichever WiFi network you are using.  We can probably live with that.

While wandering the CAM-PLEX grounds we found Jr. Showman’s bus conversion and had a nice, long chat with him.  We gave him a copy of the February 2013 issue of Bus Conversion Magazine, which features our coach.  We then walked over to check out the Windmill RV Park, where we will be staying between the rallies.

After dinner we headed over to the Morningside Park grandstand for the opening ceremonies and concert by The Birminghams.  I swore I had never heard of this group, but many of their songs were quite familiar to me from my youth, and they gave a very nice concert.  Three of the five musicians were original group members.  We finally made contact with Louise &Craig from our FMCA Freethinkers Associate Chapter.  They sat with us, and we had a nice long chat afterwards.  We agreed to meet for lunch the next day.

On the walk back to our coach we watched a thunderstorm develop off in the distance.  The storm to the southeast was particularly impressive; one of those iconic western thunderstorms that is isolated in an otherwise clear sky and thus completely visible.  The light really is different in the West, and the views are expansive.  The prevailing winds at our site suggested that it was moving southeast, away from us, and the overnight forecast was for a 20% chance of rain.