Visit our Popular Forums

73shark · 10-13-2014, 07:14 PM

My imagination run wild with that one.

lewster · 10-13-2014, 08:25 PM

Must have been auto correct gone wild!!!!!

jerhofer · 10-21-2014, 08:48 PM

Peak colors were predicted for this past weekend on the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC. We headed that way Sunday morning. About two hours out we stopped at a rest stop and ended up showing the AI to the first of five couples over the next two days. My wife said I need to shorten my tour as they were slowing us down. Having been in sales for most of my career, it is hard to kick old habits.

We entered the Parkway near Boone, NC and, over the next two days, drove to the southernmost point at Cherokee, NC. If we could have a do over, we would have split the trip up into three days. The colors were spectacular especially around Asheville and south. However, "spectacular" is a relative term. The colors here don't have the intensity of colors we used to experience in Indiana and Michigan. But the mountains do make up for some of that lack of color. Our route south of Asheville took us over the highest point on the Parkway.

On the advice of one of the people we showed the coach to, we exited the Parkway for lunch and traveled on 276 down to Brevard, NC. Along the way we passed two attractions that we checked out on the way back. One was Looking Glass Falls. Very, very pretty.

The other attraction was Sliding Rock. As the name implies, one can slide down the rocks on a layer of water. And, in spite of it being autumn, one man was doing exactly that. Brrr!! That water had to be cold.

Soon to be six months old Miss Piper posed for a photo there as well.

On the way back home this morning, we hiked a trail to an overlook at the Lake James State Park.

Driving through some rain yesterday evening meant the AI needed a thorough washing after we arrived home. Looks like new again. We had a great time and the puppy did well. If she did not get sick after traversing all of those corners, she should be good to go for just about anything. No issues on the AI and we came back with some ideas to make the next trip better. One of those ideas we are considering is to replace all of the bedding with two sleeping bags. Anyone tried this?

weirdstuff · 10-21-2014, 10:11 PM

Love your photos!!! The rig looks great, as does the puppy!

A sleeping bag would be too confining and too hot for me, but that's just me. No reason not to give that a try.

PSchw · 10-22-2014, 11:43 AM

We use 2 sleeping bags. They are easy to store and you can buy the lighter once. You can use one on the bottom and use the other one as cover or each use it as a bag.
We also us a cover under the sleeping bag so Max ( 60lbs bullypei) can sleep between us.
Works well for us.

Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

toskeysam · 10-22-2014, 11:48 AM

We use two sleeping bags also. One thing I did add was a thin foam pad. Before the pad, every time I tried to rollover the sleeping bag would just wind around with me.....hate that. I also leave the small folding seat (Ottoman) up. That makes it so much easier to get out of bed for those middle of the night trips to the head.

Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

PSchw · 10-22-2014, 11:52 AM

Yes the rollover in the bag is a pain. Still looking for a good cover as the dog likes to nipple on foam.
Leaving the side benched up is a great idea I do it if I am alone I need to see how my wife would like it.

Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

jerhofer · 10-22-2014, 12:45 PM

In doing some research on sleeping bags I discovered this website and a YouTube video. Pricey but they sure sound like a good solution. Like many of you here, I would opt for two single bags. I do like the idea of letting one of the seats unfolded. Maybe both if it would work.

RVSuperbag.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm6gWwcJOt0

One of our blinds would not stay up and it happened to be the one next to the puppy's seat. I took a look at it this morning and compared it to the others. It appeared the string tension was less on this one. Got out my trusty Phillips screwdriver, loosened the lower mount, pulled some more string through and re-tightened it. Voila, the blind now stays up. Piper will be pleased the next time we travel.

Next issue is the TV. I have not pulled the trigger with DirecTV to activate the Tracvision. How successful has anyone been with using a ground antenna to pick up local TV stations? And which particular one has worked for you?

jerhofer · 10-22-2014, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weirdstuff

Love your photos!!! The rig looks great, as does the puppy!

A sleeping bag would be too confining and too hot for me, but that's just me. No reason not to give that a try.

Thanks. While I like the way it looks in black, I would have preferred the color to be silver for easier maintenance. I can put up with the color as the pricing and the condition on this coach made me not so choosy on the color.

I do like black and have had a number of black cars over the years. A couple weeks ago, I first polished the vehicle and then applied some carnauba wax for protection. Took me a couple days but it sure made it look good. I am looking for a place to store it but for now it is sitting in my driveway. That wax will offer some protection from the elements for the next six months.

migriffin · 10-22-2014, 04:02 PM

jerhofer, I bought an RV Superbag and used it one night before putting it in storage. The one thing that I found is that while it looked really nice on the bed and was simple to use, if one person moved it moved and woke up the other person. You can sleep with it open and it would be better, but too much draft would get in. I decided if I was going to try the Superbag again, I'd get two separate ones. We settled on sheets and a feather duvet. They are relatively easy to put on and squish down easily. We also have 2" memory foam that was made to perfectly fit on top of the bed. All of this fits in the large back cabinet of our 22' AI.

UKDUDE · 10-22-2014, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerhofer

Next issue is the TV. I have not pulled the trigger with DirecTV to activate the Tracvision. How successful has anyone been with using a ground antenna to pick up local TV stations? And which particular one has worked for you?

So the standard Omnidirectional antenna was replaced by a Tracvision dome? Do you already have DirecTV at home? I'd be interested to know the charges for the service.

jerhofer · 10-22-2014, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UKDUDE

So the standard Omnidirectional antenna was replaced by a Tracvision dome? Do you already have DirecTV at home? I'd be interested to know the charges for the service.

I haven't talked to DirecTV yet but here is a brochure I found online.

http://directvauto.com/DirecTV-Auto-Brochure.pdf

According to this brochure, if I was an existing customer, the charge would be $6.00 per month. It would be like adding an additional receiver. Unfortunately, I have DISH network which is not compatible with this unit. I was afraid of this as there is a DirecTV receiver in the overhead cabinet above the cab.

Jeff64 · 10-22-2014, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UKDUDE

So the standard Omnidirectional antenna was replaced by a Tracvision dome? Do you already have DirecTV at home? I'd be interested to know the charges for the service.

I do have Direc TV at home. The six dollars is correct. I went with the DVR unit and I think it totals ten or eleven dollars per mo.

UKDUDE · 10-23-2014, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerhofer

I haven't talked to DirecTV yet but here is a brochure I found online.

http://directvauto.com/DirecTV-Auto-Brochure.pdf

According to this brochure, if I was an existing customer, the charge would be $6.00 per month. It would be like adding an additional receiver. Unfortunately, I have DISH network which is not compatible with this unit. I was afraid of this as there is a DirecTV receiver in the overhead cabinet above the cab.

Thank you Jerhofer and Jeff64, that seems like a great deal. I may well go for it.
Peter

MILATV · 10-26-2014, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerhofer

I like the way it looks in black, I would have preferred the color to be silver for easier maintenance.

I've had black cars in the past; and after my last Black/Black Cadi XLR I swore I would never own another black car due to both cleaning & internal temps after parked.

My Van is Silver and while I love the easy cleanup - I am jealous every time I see a nice clean Airstream or Sprinter in Black. They just look so amazingly beautiful!

- Nice vacation pics btw; thanks for sharing!

jerhofer · 10-30-2014, 08:58 PM

I decided to try an over the air antenna to pick up local stations. After doing some reading, I settled on the Winegard Flatwave antenna. It arrived today. I taped it to the side window behind the driver's seat, hooked it up to the TV and plugged in the amplifier. The Autosearch on the TV picked up 28 channels. Local, PBS, etc.

I live about 40 miles north of Charlotte but am not sure where the transmitters are located. The AI was sitting next to 20' tall evergreens that were less than a foot away from the side of the coach. Based on all of that, I was very pleased with the reception. When not in use, I am storing it in the overhead cabinet behind the TV.

As you can see in the bottom photo, I did have professional installation help.

73shark · 10-30-2014, 09:15 PM

What happened to the installed antenna/ampl?

jerhofer · 10-30-2014, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73shark

What happened to the installed antenna/ampl?

It was replaced with the Trac Vision A7.

Boxster1971 · 10-31-2014, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerhofer

I decided to try an over the air antenna to pick up local stations. After doing some reading, I settled on the Winegard Flatwave antenna. It arrived today. I taped it to the side window behind the driver's seat, hooked it up to the TV and plugged in the amplifier. The Autosearch on the TV picked up 28 channels. Local, PBS, etc.

I live about 40 miles north of Charlotte but am not sure where the transmitters are located. The AI was sitting next to 20' tall evergreens that were less than a foot away from the side of the coach. Based on all of that, I was very pleased with the reception. When not in use, I am storing it in the overhead cabinet behind the TV.

....

I've done the same test successfully using a similar transparent antenna called Wall-Tenna.
http://www.walltenna.com/

- - Mike
2013 Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

jerhofer · 11-04-2014, 09:27 PM

We camped at a very nice county park near Charleston, SC this past weekend. The antenna worked well and picked up 15 stations. However some of them were marginal and the picture would come and go.

Yesterday I called Directv and I can get a plan for $19.95 a month which, oddly enough, does not include even one receiver. It is $6.00 more to add the receiver. I asked the guy if anyone ever buys the basic plan without adding the receiver just so they can say they have Directv even though they could not watch anything! Marketing in this manner makes me want to just say no!

The other kicker is that you can only receive local stations in your local market area. So even if I do subscribe to Directv, I will still need the other antenna for local stations anytime we travel. Since it is much easier to access the inputs on the rear TV, I would hook up the antenna there.