Top Ethical Companies
George Marshall April 13 2009 11:44:42 AM
Unfortunately I didn't find IBM on the list.- Comments [0]
Hella Plug to Cigarette Lighter Plug
George Marshall March 18 2009 11:34:58 PM
I made a hella plug to cigarette lighter adapter so if we can use any of our adapters while we're out camping:- Comments [0]
License Plates for Camper
George Marshall March 18 2009 11:18:24 PM
I had to find a solution on how to put license plates on the camper. The problem is that the place where they intended for the license plates to go didn't have any holes.Normally I would just drill some holes and call it good but, I am planning on putting a jerry can holder in the back and it may interfere with where the plates are. I wouldn't want to put holes in the tailgate and later have to relocate it to the jerry can holder.
My solution was to buy a pair of those magnetic license plate holders that the dealers use for temporary dealer plates.
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Birthday Gift Idea
George Marshall March 10 2009 04:28:07 PM
If anyone is short on ideas of what to get me for my birthday: http://www.gibbstech.co.uk/- Comments [0]
Brake controller for 4runner
George Marshall March 10 2009 03:15:15 PM
I previously had a Tekonsha Envoy brake controller in the Suburban. After I installed it in the 4runner I noticed that it wouldn't properly level so I called up customer service and they said it was broken. Tekonsha appears to have a pretty good warranty, 5 year. So they are sending a new one. Since they were only going to send a new one after I sent in the old one I decided to get an upgraded model and when the replacement arrived I would ebay it. The replacement I went with was the Tekonsha P3. It has a self-leveling feature so I should have to worry about that part of it again. The wiring harness provided with the 4runner is actually an '03 wiring harness per the tekonsha wiring chart. Other than figuring that out, it went in fine.The bracket holding it in was bit long and since space is already tight between my leg and the plastic piece in front of my right knee that I was mounting it to, I decided to cut down the bracket a little bit (where I placed the yellow lines). I could have gone with the other style of bracket where you can release the controller but it caused the controller to hang down even lower.
Here's the end results after some filing and touch up with a black permanent marker:
I added double sided foam tape to help it stay in place while screwing in the mount.
The final installation. I have my leg in the driving position to give you a perspective of what kind of clearance you have:
Overall a nice unit and easy to install.
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new 4Runner
George Marshall March 10 2009 02:59:26 PM
We recently bought a new 4runner (new to us, it's an '04). The plan is to use this as our tow vehicle for the camper we bought. The tape on the windshield is because when we bought it there was a huge crack in it and this is the new windshield with the caulk still drying on it.- Comments [0]
We made it on Google Maps!
George Marshall March 6 2009 11:48:24 PM
My neighbor was cruising the street view of google maps and caught a pic of us on it in the Suburban- Comments [0]
Add Solar Panels to the Camper
George Marshall March 3 2009 08:40:40 AM
I decided to add a pair of solar panels to the camper. Listening to a generator run is not my idea of peace in the great outdoors. First I was off to determine how large of panels I needed. How many watts? Based on what the Kimberley Kamper manufacturer stated, 2 50 watt panels would be sufficient for my energy needs.I went with a pair of 50 watt BP Solar Panels, BP350J. Here is one of them from the back with the junction box opened:
And this is the front of them. They are enclosed in an aluminum frame. They seem pretty popular for this type of configuration and they are dimensionally the right size for what I intend to do with them and where I plan to mount/store them. The plan is to take the pair and hinge them together along the long sides and fold them up like a briefcase. When I am ready to use them I can just unfold them out in the field
One of the first things I did was to determine the optimal angle the panels need to set to get the most sun exposure. In the course of trying to determine how long of a stand was needed to support the panels I sought out to figure the optimal angle of the panel to face the sun. Based on this web page the panels need to be able to tilt from 27.5° in spring and autumn all the way up to 74° in the winter. This is based on a range of latitudes from as low as 30° (as far south as the Houston area) to a latitude of 50° (as far north as Winnipeg). I figured if I made a telescopic stand that would be able to move the entire length as calculated based on these latitudes my panels could be adjusted at any angle within the latitudes of 30° and 50° (which is essentially the entire lower 48) anytime of the year (spring, winter etc)
So based on those angles of 27.5° to 74° and a length of 33" on the solar panels I could figure the length of my telescopic poles to support them upright to be:
SIN74*33= 31" for winter
SIN27.5*33= 15.25" for summer
I fabricated the legs out of some telescopic tent poles that the hardware store had. They were cut down to size and fastened to the solar panel frames using angled aluminium stock.
I then took the solar panels put them back to back and mounted a piano hinge down the length of it.
The junction boxes on the back were connected together.
I then punch out the other 1/2" knockout for the solar controller:
I connected the panels to 30 ft of uv protected cable which plugged into the hella plug and then to the outlet on the outsider of the camper. I will post more pics later.
Here are main pieces:
| Item | Qty | Description | Cost |
| 110050 | 2 | BP350J, BP 50 watt solar panels | $275.00 |
| WB24-0010 | 1 | cable assembly | 37.50 |
| WB22-0003 | 1 | Modular Interconnect | 12.50 |
| 510040 | 1 | SK-12 Regulator | 79.00 |
| 1-1/2"X30" | 1 | Continuous Hinge | 8.49 |
| 0200001 | 2 | Telescopic rods | 9.99 |
| total | $707.47 |
When I was looking at generators, the Honda EU1000i was over $800.
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Erie Airport’s economic impact
George Marshall February 9 2009 03:51:24 PM
A study released by the Colorado Department of Transportation put the combined economic impact of Vance Brand, Boulder Municipal, Rocky Mountain Metropolitan and Erie Municipal airports at nearly $483 million in 2008.Here is the article.
http://www.bcbr.com/article.asp?id=98548
- Comments [0]