Category Archives: Electrical

Entertainment on the road

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For most campers, entertainment while camping is reading a book, sitting around a campfire, hiking some trails. We like that also but we aren’t really camping all the time, we are living on the road. We like our Internet connectivity, TV to watch and shows to stream. How do we do that is what this post is addressing.

Let’s start with a bit of history. Our first trailer had a very small TV with a crank-up Wingard antenna on the roof:

This limited our channels and also only worked when we had shore power. It was not setup for boondocking on 12V power. The Internet was not on any sort of handheld devices yet.

Our next step was to bring our Satellite receiver from home on the road. I would disconnect it and setup a single LNB DirecTV dish at each location. I found a real neat modification that allowed me to make a mount for the dish out of PVC pipe and put the dish upside down on it. Alas I don’t have a picture of it but it was odd looking. Here are representative pictures of the receiver and dish:

This worked very well, as long as we had power. This was all done in our old trailer but things still were similar when we got our new trailer. We started out with the same type of crank up antenna but we had 2 TV’s in the new trailer. It also had a DVD player supplied that fed both TV’s and we could also use the trailer speakers for the audio. They called it surround sound but it really wasn’t.

We lived with that TV setup for a while since we were just taking trips in it from time to time and not full-timing yet. The focus now shifted to the Internet. Our phones now had full blown Internet capability but the laptop, iPad, and other computers did not have access on the road. We need a hotspot (a device that will connect to cell phone towers and provide a local WiFi network). AT&T came through with their ‘Connected Car’ program. We got a Mobley from them:

This unit is designed to create a WiFi hotspot in your vehicle. It plugs into your car’s OBD port (normally down near your pedals). It connects to AT&T towers. With our plan, we could add it as an extra line for $20/month. It provides unlimited data with no caps. AT&T will possibly slow down the data if you surpass 22GB/month, but that is only if the local tower is overwhelmed. But the trailer doesn’t have an OBD port. I got one of these:

This allows me to plug in the device into an 5V USB port. This was a game changer for our Internet access. We could now connect with any network device in the trailer!

Back to TV. When I put on solar over 3 years ago, I replaced the antenna with a King antenna:

This completely replaced the old crank up one and it took up much less space on the roof. So much space, I was able to put an entire solar panel where the old antenna was. We also went back to satellite, this time choosing Dish. We got a Wally receiver and the Tailgater dish:

The reason I went with Dish, and not DirecTV, was the dish needed. Dish is the only one that gives HD (High Definition) content with a small, portable unit. DirecTV requires the same dish (Slimline) that you would use on a home. This one is much easier. Just see if you can see the three satellites in the sky (I use an app), point it to the south and it aims itself. One problem, the receiver uses HDMI and we already have an HDMI device that connects to the TV’s. Airstream uses an HDMI duplicator to send the same image to both TV’s but it only takes one input. Time to put in an HDMI switcher:

This device takes in multiple HDMI inputs and sends them out the output HDMI which is then connected to the HDMI splitter and on to both TVs. It has a remote control and an IR (Infrared) receiver so it can be hidden away.

We ran like this for a few years but needed some upgrades. Many RV Parks have WiFi for their customers but normally it is very poor, both in coverage of the park and bandwidth out to the Internet.

AT&T came up with another device for hotspots. Of course, I had to get it. It is the Netgear Nighthawk M1. I was able to add it to our account for $20/month for unlimited data. This device is amazing! It is fast, easy to connect to and can even extend the parks WiFi. Here it is, notice the connections, they will be mentioned later:

Our TV entertainment now started to include streaming devices. I had a WD TV, Firestick, Roku, Apple TV but I wanted to see it on both TVs. I had to attach them to my HDMI switch.

So I am now stuck with a hodgepodge of devices. The HDMI devices are pretty well consolidated in a cabinet above our seating area in the front. However it makes it difficult to access. There is also the matter of 12V DC power versus 110V AC power. The 12V is easy, just connect to the trailers native power. The 110V requires connected to an RV park, but there is another option.

Our trailer was equipped with an inverter. This is a device that takes battery (12V) power and converts it to 110V AC power so we can run those devices without being hooked up. There are numerous outlets throughout the trailer that are dedicated to the inverter. Both TVs are connected to the inverter outlets. That way, when we are on shore power (hooked up) the power is passed through to the outlets. When we aren’t, we can just push a button and get power to the TVs.

One of the things that I did during quarantine this year was to create new storage drawers in the trailer after removing the bench for our dinette, the link is here. I also created a location for all my electronic devices. I also did some upgrading and adding equipment. I will go over what our current layout is.

I was striving for a setup that required little maintenance, was in one location, allowed a way for all the devices to connect to one location that would not change from place to place. The hotspots that we had created their own WiFi network which we could connect to but you had to connect to each one manually. I knew I needed a router that I could connect the hotspots to. I found one in the Peplink Surf SOHO router (here is the back of it):

This router allows me to connect my Mobley hotspot to the USB connection. I can also connect the Netgear Nighthawk to the WAN (Wide-area network) connection. The software allows me to configure the device to connect to the Netgear via the WAN for Internet connectivity. If that connection would go down, it will automatically switch to the Mobley via the USB. I can also change it if I want to. The router creates its own WiFi network which gives me a specific place to connect all the devices. As you can see the router also has some direct hard-wired connections.

Another function of this router is a capability of WiFi as WAN. This means that I will be able to attach an antenna to the three WiFi connectors and be able to connect to the RV parks WiFi connection (if good enough). This would allow us to use their services if available. Another function that this router has is the capability to be powered with 12V. This means our network is on all the time.

The location for all the equipment is located low in the trailer. An Airstream’s construction basically creates a Faraday cage, a mesh of metal that doesn’t allow electrical signals to pass easily. This degrades the signal of the hotspots and any park WiFi. The solution for the Netgear is to extend the antenna. There are external antenna jacks on the Netgear and I have run cables to the roof and have an antenna mounted outside to the get the cell signals:

For the Mobley, I have placed the device high in the trailer, near a Vista View window so it can get a signal through the glass. It is on the left in this picture:

But what is that device on the right? Until I extend the antennas on the router, I use a separate device to attach to the park WiFi. This device, which is very cost effective on Amazon, will work as a WiFi extender. It connects to any WiFi, such as the park’s, and create a local WiFi network that we can connect our devices to (phone, iPad, laptop) and not use our data plans via the hotspots.

I have two of these devices, one does just 2.4gHz and the other does 2.4gHz and 5gHz. They are extremely affordable and flexible:

I am overall pretty happy with the current setup. I still have a few things to tweak, such as the external WiFi capture, but that will come. If you have any questions about all this, please let me know.

Last projects before getting back on the road

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With the quarantine restrictions being gradually lifted, we can plan on a time to leave! But there were a few more things to do, one of which I could only do with the trailer out on the street. The plan was to move the trailer to the street a day or two before we were to leave. We can sleep out there just as easily.

With the cabinet project, in the previous blog entry, I was given a location to put all my electronics. In my next blog entry, I will discuss the electronics that we use on the road for internet, satellite TV, and DVR capability. I was able to free up a cabinet above our chairs by moving all those electronics to the new location.

In the previous entry, I mentioned about the backup camera on the trailer. Here is a shot from the dash of the truck that shows it in operation:

I have used the backup camera numerous times already. I am very glad that I put it on. As a benefit, I will also get the tire pressures on my truck screen.

One of the things we had in our house, that I really miss in the trailer, is a remotely accessible thermostat, like a Nest. I thought I had issues with our Dometic thermostat a few months ago but it was a loose wire in the AC unit. It appears that MicroAir has a direct replacement thermostat for the Dometics and it does WiFi and Bluetooth! I got one and put it in. It is wonderful! Plus, since we have the cat with us, I can check the settings from wherever I am. I didn’t take a picture of ours but here it is:

MicroAir also makes ‘softstart’ Air Conditioner kit. I have been very interested in those for a while. The appeal is that not only does it start the compressor smoother but purportedly you can run the AC on a single Honda generator. I used to have two generators that put out 30amp in parallel but rarely did we use them, so I sold one.

We tried, once, to use our generator with just the microwave in Montana but it would not power it. I was confused. By figuring out the wattage needs of the microwave, using the old W=V*A formula, it should have worked. I have finally figured out the problem. It turns out to be the same reason we could not even use a 15amp connection in New York during courtesy parking.

It turns out that the battery charger/converter is a huge power hog when it starts up and for a bit thereafter. I now know to turn it off when we want to used the generator. We have the solar so it should work, and I DID put in a switch to turn it off a while back.

Now, armed with this knowledge, I am ready to try it out. But I have to install the kit. This is the one that worked the best on the street. Here are some shots of the AC with the shroud off:

Initially the install seems daunting and a bit dangerous (you are touching capacitors). However, you do it with the power off (110v) and just slowly follow the instructions and it is easy. The the AC did start up when I was done. That was nice. I will test the unit with our generator when we get on the road.

I didn’t film, or take pictures, of the install. Here are some other Airstreamers that have done it:

One extra minor tweak was an installation next to my side of the bed. It is a very powerful magnet that I screwed to the wall:

This part will be very useful. It is great at holding a heavy metal object that you might need quickly in the evening and don’t want to go hunting for it.

Next entry, electronics!