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RE: Free internet?
Internet costs someone a lot of money. Hub routers are way over $100K each, OC-48's or OC-192 backbone circuits are astronomically expensive. If you don't want to pay for it up front, you have to accept the baggage that someone else attaches to it - which may be as simple as renting a space in their campground or hotel, or wading through invasive advertising.
Edit: There is no question in my mind that the technology to deliver wireless internet virtually ubiquitously (reasonably populated areas, obviously) exists today, has for some time, and is quite expensive to deploy. Freeing up this spectrum may well change that to enable greater access at lower cost. A big issue is the back-channel - it's relatively easy to broadcast unidirectionally to a great many recieving computers, it's far more difficult to get your computer to broadcast back over more than a few hundred yards of distance. So yes - the ability to provide free wireless internet exists today, and the technology will only get better. Is this new spectrum a silver bullet? probably not, but it won't hurt.
BTW, the cost of internet at the tier 1 wholesale level has dropped 1000% or more in the past decade, it's access to that bandwidth that still costs a lot. The "last mile" will get you every time. Anecdote: I provide (my company does, I manage it) the largest private dial-up internet network left in Canada, supports maybe 150,000 users. About five years ago I took the actual cost of "internet" out of the business case analysis, because it had fallen into the rounding errors from the rest of the costs.
Brian
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VintageRacer
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11/14/08 08:56am |
Technology Corner
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RE: a question on interstae 95???
Both. You mostly see service plaza's on toll roads, and exit plaza's on non-toll sections. Both can be good, but I tend to prefer the added selection and possible sites of interest from pulling off the interstate.
Brian
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VintageRacer
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11/14/08 08:45am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: A second Frdge "Outside"?
If you are on shore power why not just plug it in to the shore power? such a waste of energy to charge a battery to run an inverter to run a fridge. But as long as you make sure the battery is well vented and the inverter has ample capacity to run the fridge (say 30% head-room under rated max) and is well cooled, it should work.
Brian
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VintageRacer
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11/14/08 06:30am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Big Three Woes?
you have to remember that just going bankrupt doesn't mean stopping business. Much the opposite, in fact. It usually, at this sort of scale, means that shareholder value is wiped out completely, bond-holder value is wiped out, debts to suppliers is wiped out, contracts with union employees can be nullified or arbitrarily modified, and the company can re-organize into a form that will be viable upon exit from protection. One senior executive of a company that went bankrupt famously described it on national television as "kind of fun".
In all honesty, bankruptcy really sucks for everyone BUT the company, from a lot of points of view. It's kind of a "do-over" card for the company. Unless of course there is no form that the company can reorganize in to, and lenders refuse to refinance the reorganized company and it has to liquidate. Which is what bankruptcy used to mean.
Brian
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VintageRacer
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11/13/08 02:05pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: old TT water system uses an Air compresser???
I had one like that, I used to pressurize it from an external compressor or tire pump. Problem was rust in the steel tank.
Brian
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VintageRacer
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11/13/08 01:57pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Exceeding hitch weight?
Toyota Tundra's are nice trucks but they aren't biased towards towing over their limits like some trucks are. By that I mean the guidelines the manufacturer gives you are on the high side of what the truck can actually do comfortably. With my Dodge I run up the the max without worrying - My buddy won't go higher than about 75% with his Toyota. Mind you, the Toyota is a much nicer riding, far more comfortable truck - and that's the trade-off.
I would say that the hitch rating REQUIRES the WD hitch for it's 890 lb rating - not an option - and that you'd be very unhappy towing that trailer. I can't figure out why you wouldn't just buy a trailer at your destination and have it delivered locally to your site, and you just show up and start living in it. You have no reason to actually tow it at all, from what you've said.
Brian
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VintageRacer
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11/13/08 05:54am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: #$@&^%^& Trailer Tires!
bottle of compressed air or nitrogen from a welding supply shop, and a regulator. Trailer tire, "low" enough to notice and 80 PSI, 12 VDC and FAST are not things that actually go together very well. I carry a little nailgun compressor with a 5 gallon tank and a Honda generator, but then I have them on board anyway since I go car racing.
Gauge on a cheap compressor and accurate are two other things that don't go together, BTW. I use a hand-held digital gauge by Longacre (again a racing tool).
Brian
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VintageRacer
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11/12/08 12:33pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: trailer tongue weight
I will wager that the hitch is installed or at least specified by the upfitter that makes the chassis into a motorhome, so finding a written spec may be near impossible. I would be comfortable with the standard rule of thumb of minimum 10% tongue weight, so I would see a 1,000 lb tongue weight with weight distribution with a 10,000 lb hitch as a reasonable decision. half that with dead weight.
Brian
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VintageRacer
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11/12/08 12:26pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: CampingWorld - not so bad
Michdoc wrote: "Praise should be reserved for the companies and employees that go BEYOND what is considered normal, everyday service."
I agree. The problem, the opportunity, the bane of modern existence is that in this case CampingWorld DID go beyond what is now the norm in a retail environment, and did give better than normal, everyday service. Glad to hear about it. As far as I'm concerned, I LIKE Camping World for the simple fact that they are there, stuff I need and maybe didn't think I needed is there, and I can pick it up and get back on the road. Better than any local RV supply shop by miles. I had to go to four places recently to buy a replacement sidemarker light lens, and two places to buy an anode for my water heater...
Brian
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VintageRacer
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11/12/08 11:00am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Adding an LCD TV
32" is heavy - I would be suspicious of any cabinetry in an RV (they are supposed to be built at least sort of light-weight) having the strength to support a TV like that on an arm. I'd put it on, or in, something if I could, or attach it to a wall or a specially reinforced cabinet of some sort.
Brian
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VintageRacer
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11/12/08 09:02am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Engine ticking
Not to be a pessimist, but my 2000 5.7 litre Chev engine, at well under 50K miles started to tick on startup, then to tick badly on startup, and it was the old intake manifold putting antifreeze in the oil and ruining a couple of lifters routine.
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VintageRacer
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11/11/08 01:27pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 11 - 11 - 11 Rememberance Day
No, it is not, in this thread. Which I now abandon as a truly wasted effort. I honour those of all nations, winners or losers, who made the honest and valiant sacrifice of their lives. You want to preach, or make this day an "Americans only" effort, be my guest. you just don't see the point I tried to make, and in the process devalued my honest effort.
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VintageRacer
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11/11/08 12:03pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: 11 - 11 - 11 Rememberance Day
Well. I post a nice note asking people to remember not only the worthy veterans of the US Forces, but also people - members of Armed Forces and civilians world-wide who gave their lives in defense of an ideal - and what do I get? A bunch of political sniveling, posturing, whining about "winning and losing", "mistakes".
You should be bloody well ashamed of yourselves. Put that aside for a day, put the reasons why people had to fight and die aside, put it all aside bar remembering and honouring the sacrifice. Yesterday and tomorrow would be good days to discuss history and if the world would be a better place in the Union hand won the War Between the States.
My apologies to those I may have offended in this post, or obviously my first post.
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VintageRacer
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11/11/08 11:17am |
Around the Campfire
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RE: How to find an NGK BPR 4 ES ???
FWIW, the sharp tip of a platinum plug creates a strong, more stable and more consistent spark than an old fashioned blunt cut electrode, so that it lasts many times longer, mis-fires less, and is used to support more extreme combustion regimes inside of modern higher compression computer controlled lean burning engines that are otherwise prone to misfire. Not only that, they cost more...
Brian
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VintageRacer
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11/11/08 07:55am |
Tech Issues
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RE: superchip or hypertec ?
If the "chip" can modify fueling parameters, why couldn't it modify for economy as the prime consideration at the expense of power? If it's 650 ft lbs stock and 450 ft lbs is enough for the application at hand, shut it down a bit. Or does an educated right foot accomplish all that there is to gain in that respect? Don't know much about diesels as you can tell. Gas engines I know how to gain economy!
Brian
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VintageRacer
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11/11/08 07:41am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Unexpected Weight Imbalance -- Problem?
I'm not an A-classer so maybe I'm missing something obvious. Trying to learn since a motorhome may show up in future. I'm hearing about Gross Axle Weight ratings being exceeded, and no mention of Gross Vehicle Weight Ratings. My experience has been that the GVWR is usually a fair bit less than the sum of the front and rear gross axle weight ratings. Also that the rear gross axle weight rating is often exactly the sum of the tire ratings, so that if you are close or over on the axle weight rating, you are probably close or over on the tire ratings as well. Is that not the case with Class A's?
Thanks for explanations...
Brian
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VintageRacer
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11/11/08 07:36am |
Class A Motorhomes
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11 - 11 - 11 Rememberance Day
This topic has been moved to another forum.
You can read it here: 22089783
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VintageRacer
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11/11/08 07:10am |
General RVing Issues
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11 - 11 - 11 Rememberance Day
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the Armistice that symbolically ended the First World War was signed. The date was declared a national holiday in many allied nations to commemorate those members of the armed forces who were killed during war. Called Armistice Day in many countries, it was known as National Day in Poland (also a public holiday) called Polish Independence Day. After World War II, the name of the holiday was changed to Veterans Day in the United States and to Remembrance Day in the British Commonwealth of Nations. Armistice Day remains an official holiday in France. It is also an official holiday in Belgium, known also as the Day of Peace in the Flanders Fields.
Join me in remembering the passed veterans of all nations who fought and sacrificed to do their duty
Thank you
Brian
Royal Canadian Artillery
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VintageRacer
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11/11/08 07:10am |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Canadians paying at pump via credit card
I have never been asked for a zip code when I use a canadian card. Maybe the software recognizes the bank code. I know that at a couple of local stations you can't use US cards at the pump, only pre-pay inside, so they can certainly recognize where you are from.
Brian
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VintageRacer
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11/11/08 07:03am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Dodge 2500 5th wheel towing
I went to the link for Dodge tow ratings, and found a funny variance with GVWR on the 2500 trucks. My truck, an ST with Hemi and five speed, has a GVWR of 8800 lbs. Same truck with a CTD has a GVWR of 9,000 lbs. But the SLT or Laramie versions have a GVWR of only 8510 lbs, either engine. Any insight to why?
Has a big effect on payload of the CTD version - only 2187 lbs vs 3119 for my truck. 2187 minus 200 for fuel, 150 times 3 for passengers, and 200 for hitch and stuff leaves 1337, at 20% pin weight that is a 6700 lb fifth wheel trailer.
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VintageRacer
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11/10/08 08:09am |
Towing
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