BillAdams

That's when you hang up and call back again. That's the "Party Line" but it is not the only option available as you have found to be true in the past.

The installer "should" have this hardware but DTV installers have not needed to use it for a year or 2 since the release of the home dishes with SWM built in. They are not going to have a clue how to hook it up in an RV so you might want to check around before you get started to ensure the person doing the work is willing to do the work.

The Genie will also work with a dome if you add the SWM hardware. You just can't receive the DirecTV HD programming via any dome.

Once you get to Texas you can get back up N. to I-40 and it's nearly a straight shot with lots to see along the way. Once you get to Flagstaff you will get off the Interstate and AZ 180 but it's an easy drive with no particular issues.

Both Dish and DirecTV have DVR's but there's not such thing as a DVR for an RV. DirecTV has and HR24 which is a dual tuner DVR or the Genie which has 5 tuners. The Genie requires special DirecTV SWM hardware so you need to ensure your antenna setup is capable of providing that signal.

Please see any of the responses you have received in all the other forums and topics where you have posted this questions. The answers are all the same.

While I don't recommend it, it may be able to be done. If the TV uses and external power converter it should show the input power as 110V and the output power as XX VDC. If this is in the range of 12V then you can likely cut out the power supply and wire it directly to your coach wiring. "In theory" if the TV used 12-14 V is "could" work. If it says anything other than 12V then you are really taking a big chance. Even if it says 12V it means the TV is expecting to see a consistent 12+V power input and your RV will sometimes be providing 12V and sometimes as much as 14V while charging. You first need to look into the TV specs and then you need to decide how important that is compared to installing a small inverter that will provide the correct 120V power to the TV with only a minimal additional loss of battery capacity due to the inverter inefficiency.

What size inverter do you plan to install? You are going to need to be able to power the TV plus any accessories like a satellite receiver or a DVD player. You will likely still be under 100W so a 300-400 watt inverter should be fine. However, these are hard to find in the pure sine wave version (better) but a modified sine wave unit should be OK. I doubt the wiring to the cigaretter(s) is/are big enough to support your inverter so the best course will be to run new bigger wires directly from the battery to your inverter. If this would be a long run then you would want to install the inverter near the battery bank and run A/C wiring from the inverter to the TV location (less voltage/amp loss this way). You will also need to consider how big your house battery bank is and whether this will provide enough power long enough as well as how you are going to recharge the drawn down batteries.

The comment about having the DW learn to drive in case of emergency reminds me that several years back a couple the husband was complaining of shortness of breath 3 hours later was on "the table" having a triple by-pass. They had been parked at an RV rally and at the end of the rally I had to drive their coach to an RV park nearby where she/they would be stuck until he recovered enough to drive. It certainly could have been work (he's fine now) but it sure did limit their options. It would have been a lot better if she could have driven home with him on board.

Yes, women drive! My wife only drives while on the Interstates but will drive for hours if necessary (especially if I need a nap). However, she does not have many in town driving skills and I think she should. A professional driving course would be necessary as I do not want to be the one telling her where to go and doing any critique. She doesn't like to drive the car when I am a passenger....she says I am a terrible back seat driver....I don't agree, but you can see why this might be a slight issue while cruising through town in a 45,000 # vehicle that is 60+ feet long. I usually park the vehicle and she gives excellent directions. This part I do recommend that you practice and get very good at with sign language you both clearly understand (no, not THAT kind of sign language!) Move slowly and never try to out guess the person giving directions. If you disagree, stop and discuss it but don't go off on your own. There is likely something you are not aware of. I mention this from experience and it was only my wife flailing her arms wildly that prevented an accident. Now, I watch and follow directions or stop!.

The same stuff you use on your car. Pick your favorite.

Yes, many do. Search this forum, any other RV forum and the GPS forums and you will find good and bad info about them all. Keep in mind that there is no such thing as an RV GPS. All the GPS units use the same routing and base map information but some claim to adjust this information based upon the users vehicle type input. Some also have some additional RV POI's but these are also available as an add-on to nearly all GPS units.

Have you checked the wiring going into the A/C units? If there's no power it's a breaker. If there is power but not running then you have a more serious issue with the units themselves.

I had not noticed any visible issues prior to my Roadmaster coming apart but thinking back after it happened I do recall that the unit did not operate as smoothly as it had in the past. Sometimes it was a bit harder to get the arms to move in or out and I guess that should have been a clue. To clean, I get access to the arms and clean well with WD-40. However, you don't want to leave WD-40 here as it will attract and hold dirt and grime. Once it's all clean and operating well I then use a dry silicone spray to clean the WD-40 off leaving just the silicone behind. With the Blue Ox, I then re-secure the rubber accordion cover with wire ties and I am good for another year or so. If I am lucky, I will be at a rally with my RV and Blue Ox will do the necessary maintenance for $25.

I believe the most important parts are internal so you would not be able to see anything. If you can get a good deal and you are going to be near one of the major RV rallies, Blue Ox and Roadmaster have service available there so they could do an overhaul if necessary.

I first made the move from Roadmaster to Blue Ox when the arm of my Roadmaster pulled apart while we were driving. Luckily, we were not on the Interstate at the time and I could see the van starting to wag behind the coach. I was able to get safely stopped and we were on our way to a rally where Roadmaster repaired (replaced) the unit but I never felt comfortable with the device afterward.

You can name your coach or not but in the end, the name of your coach will be Money Pit and you will have wished you named it that the day you bought it!

I have had both and the Blue Ox tow bar is substantially better. Pick the base plate from either provider that fits your toad but use BO as the tow bar. That is, of course, my personal opinion based upon towing with both units over the course of the last 13 years and 210,000 miles.

Wow, just trying to do a quick count of great things to do between those 2 locations I come up with something like 1,000,000 things to see and do. If you have never visited Niagara Falls, I would take 80 and make that a stop. If you take 70 then stop in Dayton, OH for a visit to the most awesome air/space museum anywhere (2 day event). 70 could then take you to St. Louis to visit the Arch but you would then want to get back to 80 so you can visit the Great Platte River Archway in Kearney, NE. You will want to stop in SLC and Reno, NV (area....lot's to do) and then as you get close to Napa you will be able to visit the Jelly Belly jelly bean factory. Do you have an special interests? You will bypass many, many must sees but you might be able to take another route home. Since you are talking about a 6000+ mile round trip you may also have bitten off more than you can chew. At an average driving day of 300 miles, it's going to take 20 days just to get to Napa and get home. That leaves almost no time to do anything else.

If you are sightseeing in AZ then you are going to want to visit very different parts of AZ than you would if you are just looking to park somewhere and soak up the sun. Some details about what you are looking for would help get you some more usable information.

AZ is a big State! Any additional details?

Agree! You simply cannot see it all (or even much of it) in one trip. Seek out the points of interest that will provide you and the kids with the most memorable experience and be sure they fall within the time allotment for this trip. Hopefully, there will be other trips and you can plan those around your 2nd bests or simply around a completely different route. Before I fell into the full-time travel I wanted to show my wife the entire US in 6 months. It was a terrible idea but we had a great time anyway despite my stupidity. Even if we had never made another trip, it would have been a much better trip if I had slowed things down and visited less sites for longer periods. Luckily, we were able to return to many of the places we had to glance over but that's not always going to be the situation and it's my personal opinion (make note of that statement) that you should see less but see what you see as well as it can be seen. I left too many places with huge regrets that I had not planned enough time. I would rather miss a stop than leave an awesome stop because I had to make my next destination.

If it were me (and it's not!) I would skip Glacier to spend an extra day in Cody and add some time to other sites that I (me personally) consider to be of more value. You will cut about 800 miles of driving out of your trip. Only you can decide how important the Glacier stop is. Yellowstone in July is not the best time as the animals have all fled to the hills and the tourists make getting around very difficult. Allow lots of time while here. 2 days in Mesa Verde will be fine and as mentioned above you will want to visit Mt. Rushmore in the evening to watch the lighting and listen to the per-lighting "ceremony". You will need an afternoon and evening for this and then at least one full day to visit Custer State Park and make the Needles highway drive. You can just drive up to the Crazy Horse carving but don't go in as the view from the road is just about as good as the view from the visitor center. Lots of stuff to see when you get to Moab. Arches is one day and Canyonland is at least another 1/2 day. There are some amazing drives from Moab and things to do so check what's available and what interests you.

While this is a 7-plug connector, the wiring to your tow vehicle will likely have less connections necessary. On my coach, I have the same 7 pin connector but the cable running from the RV to the towed is only 4 wire. You just just what you need to make the necessary connections.

How much do you like your girlfriend? No, that's not sarcasm! Do you like being really close for long periods of time? Do you spend the day in one part of the house and her in another? Do you like being around each other nearly all day everyday? Are you willing and able to make new friends at the longer term destinations and then leave them only to make new ones at the next stop? Are you at least ever so slightly handy when it comes to working on things you would find in an RV as well as so basic engine/transmission "stuff"? If not, add a few extra percentages to your monthly budget. You will likely want to tow a vehicle with you if you buy a motor home or you will want the truck you use to tow a trailer to be comfortable enough for you both to drive to Wal-Mart and sightseeing when necessary. Do you have any special interests or hobbies? If so, are you willing to give them up or are they things you could do, maybe even enhance, while on the road? Have any pets? If so, will they handle the RV OK? If you really plan on 5-7 years on the road you might want to consider the cost of storage for the items you think you "can't" get rid of. Could family use them instead or keep them in case you ever need them again? Just a couple of thoughts from a 17 year full-timer!