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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Verizon 4G LTE hotspot
Check what DNS servers you have listed on your computer. I just setup a 3rd gen iPad. After 2.5 hours on the phone with Verizon and Apple yesterday, a trip to Apple store this morning, another 2 hours on the phone with Apple and Verizon and a trip to the Verizon store this afternoon, I still had a hot spot that worked with an iPod Touch and iPhone but not my two laptops. The Verizon store discovered the computer would not connect to there secure networks in the store either. On my drive back home I was not happy and trying to decide what was different between what worked and what didn't. DNS server came to mind, I did a Google search to see what DNS servers Verizon liked and added a few that were suggested and it all started working. I don't know why Verizon is fussy what DNS servers you use but it seems to be, unless I'm missing something else and just put a bandaid on the problem.
Now why 3 Apple reps and 5 or 6 Verizon reps didn't think to suggest DNS I don't know. All these devices worked with my home secured WiFi hub before and after the DNS change.
Jim...
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JimBollman
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05/21/12 07:45pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Allstays camp & RV App
I have several of the Allstay apps and like them. They update it all the time and if you send them a correction or addition they respond and it shows up in the next update.
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JimBollman
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05/12/12 06:47pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Handy Hints, Gadgets, Products & Gizmos
I bought my shade tarp at Harbor Freight. Mine is smaller, don't remember the cost but I would not have bought it if it was much (I'm cheap). I think mine is around 8'X10'.
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JimBollman
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05/10/12 06:07pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Steps and stealth camping
I pull the step inside.
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JimBollman
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04/24/12 05:33pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: getting leveled, is there a "best way"?
My first approximation is will the door stay where I put it when I open it. If it slowly opens or closes it is close. I then check the bubble in the frig or a short level I keep in a drawer on top of the cabinet. I have four 2X8 boards with tapered ends that are in the rear storage cabinet. If I am really in the rough I dig out my reserves that I keep in the front wheel well (4 more 2X8s) if I am camping in unknown areas.
My wife and I don't need perfectly level living space so as long as it is close enough for the frig and we don't roll out of bed it is ok.
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JimBollman
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04/21/12 06:07pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Reading light
I haven't used my reading light since I switched to eBooks, plus I don't disturb my wife when I read in the middle of the night.
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JimBollman
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04/18/12 05:25pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Anti cavitation additive for 7.3 PSD
I bought a packet of strips and checked a couple of times and it always measured good. I finally just dumped in a bottle of additive a couple of years ago and then last year flushed the whole system and put fresh antifreeze in, so I should probably start testing again. Before I bought a packet of strips I stopped in at Ford and asked in the service department and they handed me a few strips. The strips do have expiration dates but I don't know what the failure mode is. The ones Ford gave me were from the package the garage was using and were out of date.
Jim...
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JimBollman
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04/10/12 04:02pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Thinking about dumping the landline
The wall wart on the Home Phone Connect is 12 volts DC so I just looked through my junk box of cords and wall warts till I found the same connector and put a lighter plug on the cord (making sure I had the polarity correct). You could do the same thing at any place that sells adapters(Radio Shack, Best Buy ...), mine just happen to be free since I had the parts (don't throw much away). Might even find it all put together for some other application.
I have had people tell me I should be careful because battery chargers but out around 13.5 volts when we are plugged in at a camp grounds but we used it all last Summer, probably 7 weeks total all together and had no trouble.
Jim...
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JimBollman
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04/10/12 03:55pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Handy Hints, Gadgets, Products & Gizmos
Since we are on a citronella thread, I picked up one of the Coleman citronella candles in a can last year since it packs so small in our small slide in camper. A bit pricy for how long they last but it fits. I then bought one of the cheap bucket citronella candles (probably 3-4 times the wax for a couple of dollars) and now every so often, before a trip, I put a few spoon fulls of cheap wax in the Coleman can before a trip and it melts smooth the first time we use it.
http://r1.coleman.com/ProductImages/Regular/828a120t_500.jpg
Jim...
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JimBollman
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04/09/12 05:55pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: How to find free Kindle books
I have used eReaderIQ and Baen for several years, I have so many eBooks stacked up and add more every week, not sure I will ever catch up. I like eReaderIQ because they send me a list of the top 25 rated free books each day. I don't have to remember to go check.
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JimBollman
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04/07/12 05:53pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Thinking about dumping the landline
I switched our landline to Verizon Home Phone Connect. It lets you connect all the phones in your house to a box that uses the cell phone system. Costs us $25/month with all the taxes, free long distance, caller ID, voice mail, etc. It has a battery backup so it even works during power failures. With a 2 year contract the equipment was free. I think there was a $35 startup fee. We used it for 10 days on a temporary number to be sure we were happy (they give you 2 weeks to cancel) and then had our old number transfered. We have used it for over a year now and are still happy. We even take it on trips and plug it in at night with a small phone so we can get our messages and have our home numer to return calls. Even made up a 12 volt cord for the camper.
Jim...
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JimBollman
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04/05/12 07:13pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Camping in the bed of my pick-up ?
You're camping in the back of a truck, so where else would it belong. Just a minimalist approach.
Jim...
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JimBollman
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03/30/12 06:19pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Camping in the bed of my pick-up ?
Our first camper (40 years ago) was made by bending some 1/2" conduit in to bows and put some sockets on the inside the bed to slide the bows into when we stopped. Just throw a proper size canvas over the whole thing with the front edge over part of the cab. Close the front corners of the tarp in the truck doors and add a few bungies to hold the rest. We had a roll up mattress to keep us off the cold floor. Only big problem was we had to completely unload the back to setup for sleeping, and if it was raining.......
Jim...
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JimBollman
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03/29/12 07:26pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Mounting my front end box
This what I built. Link
I have used it on several trips and it works well. I carry about 250-300lbs of stuff in it.
Jim...
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JimBollman
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03/29/12 07:15pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Reciever Steps
Here are the steps a friend helped me build a few years back when my wife was having back problems and was having trouble getting in and out of the camper. They are a bit heavy and you do have to remember they are back there (they do drag on some driveways). She is better now so they are stored away till one of us need them again and we have went back to a fold up plastic step.
http://www.jebs-stuff.com/Misc/Step1-sm.JPG
http://www.jebs-stuff.com/Misc/Step2-sm.JPG
The double tube is so it can be mounted at a lower level, if needed, on a future truck.
Jim...
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JimBollman
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03/25/12 05:34pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Handy Hints, Gadgets, Products & Gizmos
So just out of curiosity, when you guys are mixing the sawdust with the wax, how much sawdust to wax do you use? How do you know when enough sawdust is right or too much?
I mixed as much as I could mix in till there was no liquid wax left. Then spoon it into the carton and packed it in as tight as you can with the spoon. A little to much sawdust/coffee grounds/woodchips will not hurt anything, jut makes it a little more crumbly to handle.
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JimBollman
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03/21/12 04:07pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Handy Hints, Gadgets, Products & Gizmos
I have done the egg carton approach. I used a mixture of dried coffee grounds and the cedar chips you can buy for pet cages. Just mix them together in wax and spoon the mess into the egg carton.
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JimBollman
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03/20/12 05:47pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Palomino popups are really cheap. So......
I have a 1998 Palomino 1200. I bought mine used so I don't really know the abuse it got before I bought it. It had some front damage that had caused a leak that rotted out the upper front wood. I repaired this, I thought permanently, but it only lasted a couple of years and I had to do it over. I had a piece of pressure treated cut down to replace it this time but even though I have fitted it with a new seal (not factory) but it still has a tendance to leak a little.
It also had enough a leak in the back that I had to replace the wood in the bottom of the door. All these things may have been from abuse and bad storage before I got it.
Ours has the older lift system that works fine, the new lift system looks ok and doesn't stick out in the camper in as many places. I also think the new system cranks from outside if I remember correctly. If you buy one without AC you can at least put that much on the roof. Not sure I would want to put much more on it. Unless you primarily camp in very hot places you can get by with out AC, lots of ventilation when you open up all the canvas, a roof fan would help. Yes you have to tuck canvas but not a big deal, I have a telescoping mono pod that I keep behind the seat of the truck and use that to push in the canvas. The door opens on mine when it is down and the porta potty is accessible as is the frig. The new ones have a lip that comes down and secures the door when the top is down but you just have to unlatch the back of the roof and push up a little to get the door open.
I carried it on a Ford F150 V6 5speed manual the first year or so that I had it and it did fine in the kind of mountains we have in the east. Not sure it would have been ok in the Rockys. I now carry it on a F250 diesel, it doesn't even know it is back there, even in the Rockys (last Summer).
We really like the camper but not the leaks.
Be happy to answer any questions I can, but the new ones have had some improvements/changes. If you get one I can tell you a few mods I have made to mine.
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JimBollman
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03/13/12 07:16pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: awning question
We have been using our Shademaker Supreme 8' Bag Awning for 4 years. Don't use it all the time because we tend not to stay more than one day in any one place so don't put it up unless we are staying longer or need it for the short stay. No problem normally with the roof supporting it, we have went through some pretty high winds and the only problem is it can be noise. The flapping noise kind of gets directed up and in the window. We do lower it and add extra straps when there is wind forecasted. We normally get by with just the stakes through the loops on the bottom of the legs. Depending on our setup or how bad the wind is we either put extra stakes in the ground or use the chains on the side of the truck to add 1" straps for extra wind security.
We put awning rails on both sides of the camper so we can setup either way. Because we have seen bag awnings get moldy when left on the side of the camper and leak some water into the bag, we remove it and store it inside the camper while on the road. I mounted a couple of ball bungies on the ceiling along the side and tie it to the ceiling when we are setup and don't want the awning on. The same ball bungies lopp over the lift pipes when the top is down and holds the bag to the side so it doesn't slide around, one end up in the bed area the other on top of the back cabinet.
http://www.jebs-stuff.com/Misc/Pickin2008Camp-web.jpg
Jim...
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JimBollman
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03/07/12 06:55pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Keeping stuff from sliding around on the TC floor?
I modified our dinette area for keeping things from sliding around like you are purposing. I use two flat bungee cords and plastic boxes with lids. Used regular heavy round bungees before I discovered the flat ones. Also used a low profile eyelet that attaches with 2 screws to hook into so they were not really in the way. I picked up the flat bungees at Tractor Supply originally, but you see them everywhere now.
Jim...
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JimBollman
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02/23/12 05:01pm |
Truck Campers
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