DavidnDerita

We have a Patriot braking system and we are very pleased with it. See my post under the "Blue Ox Patriot v. The Competition for a complete review of the system.

We just bought a Blue Ox Patriot braking system and we just returned from an 800 mile trip. The system functioned exactly as advertised with no problems at all. I am very pleased with the Patriot and I would not hesitate to recommend it to others in the market for that type of auxiliary braking system. Setting up the system is very straight forward and I experienced none of the problems others have had. Because the seat adjustment lever in a Jeep Wrangler extends beyond the edge of the seat, I cut a "pocket" in a piece of plywood and placed it between the patriot and the seat to keep the patriot from pushing the seat all the way back during the setup procedure. I think the addition of the plywood eliminated most of the problems others have had during the setup procedure. So far, setup is successful the first time every time. I also found the Patriot did not discharge the toad battery at all and placing the system in a Wrangler is very easy. Since braking is accomplished electrically instead of using air pressure the application of the tow vehicle brakes is very smooth.

That is my suggestion. I have one so that I don't have to unhook everything just to go get propane. I use a 4 gallon grill bottle and run off that. It is much easier to get that filled than to fill the internal tank. I can run off the bottle for 4-5 days when using the furnace moderately, with the water heater on electric.

We just bought a Soleus Air 40-Pint Dehumidifier CFM-40E, and are very pleased with the performance. It is very quiet, it is a compact unit that fits virtually anywhere, and so far it has proven to be very effective in removing moisture. It was $189.99 at Amazon. Other sites were less expensive, but Amazon has free shipping (for the Christmas holidays only), and that made it the most economical site by quite a bit. We have been amazed at the difference it has made. We are currently in North Georgia where the temperatures range from lows in the high 20's or low to mid 30's and highs in the low to mid 60's. With temp differentials like that we were seeing quite a bit of moisture on the inside windshield and other windows. After running less than 5 hours, the windows were completely dry. Very good machine in my opinion and I have no hesitation in recommending it.

We have a Banks on our 2007 Winnie Adventurer. If you are looking for a Banks system to increase fuel mileage to a level that the fuel savings will pay for the system, then I think you will be disappointed. We had the system installed because we wanted more power, and in that we have not been disappointed. We have seen a modest (about a 1-1.5 mpg) increase in mileage.

We towed a 2001 VW Jetta with a 24' Class C without any problems at all. Our tow dolly was a Master Tow with electric brakes. If I recall correctly the purchase price was around $1300, and that included a spare tire and mount for the spare. The cost for a tow dolly varies widely, from around $700 for a bare bones dolly to one costing well over $3000. I was very satisfied with our Master Tow, and I would not hesitate at all to buy another one if needed. Hope this has given you some useful information.

I have used both Dish and Direct while RVing, and Direct is much easier to acquire than Dish. To receive all the programming for the Dish Network two satellites must be acquired, but with Direct only one satellite must be acquired to receive the programming. I switched from Dish to Direct for that reason. When we upgraded coaches the new one has an in-motion satellite system and it does all the work. I don't have an HD receiver so reception might be quite different for high def systems.

First, make sure that the GPS antenna that came with Streets and Trips is plugged into a USB port and that the antenna is located close to an outside window so that reception is maximized. Open Streets and Trips and click on the GPS task pane located on the menu bar at the top of the page. Once the GPS task pane is open, click the green button that says Start/stop GPS Tracking. (You will also have to accept a disclaimer page that warns against being distracted while driving). Once the antenna has located the satellites a GPS (red dot) symbol will appear on the map section of the page and that is your current location. Hope this helps.

We use a Verizon USB modem and since we have 2 laptops we added a Cradlepoint 1000 wireless cellular router that creates our own network or hot spot. We have never been in a location that we didn't have internet access, although once or twice we had the low speed connection (2-3 times faster than dial-up), but that was in really isolated locations. Normally we connect at actual broadband speeds ranging anywhere from 1.5 mbs to 2.3 mbs, depending on location.

We have a 2007 Adventurer with the GM 8.1 Vortec engine and we wanted more power when towing and when traveling in hilly or mountainous country. We had The Banks Performance system installed about six months ago and the difference in power is really remarkable. Hills that we used to climb in 4th gear at 40-45 mph we now climb 10-15 mph faster and one gear higher. An unanticipated benefit is a 1.0 - 1.5 mpg increase in mileage. Mileage when towing averaged in the neighborhood of 6.8 - 7.6 mpg. Now we routinely average 8.0-8.9 mpg. in hilly (not mountainous) terrain.

We just returned from the Keys and we stayed at Boyd's Key West RV Resort located at mile marker 5. Like others have said, RV sites are rather expensive, but not really bad if you're staying just a week. Parking on the way down through the Keys is very scarce, and so are gas stations that can handle big rigs, so fill up before you head down. Fuel prices are also more expensive. The drive down is absolutely beautiful, so keep the camera handy.