Our RV Adventures

My main job at work today was to get a Wyze camera set up to monitor the parking lot and send an alert if anyone comes onto the property.

About a week ago we had some vandalism on several cars that were parked in the lot overnight.

So we ordered one of the new Wyze Version 2 cameras to install on the front of the office.

Here’s what the picture looks like on SD (Standard Definition).

It looks even better in HD but of course the frame rate slows down.

And here’s what it looks like at night with the only light the ones you see in the distance.

The software lets us draw a box around the area where we want to detect motion. That way we won’t pick up cars going by on the street. And since we’re not worried about vandals in the daytime, I can also set the motion detection to only turn on between certain hours, like in our case, between 8pm and 8am. Pretty neat.

I also got one for the rig when we’re gone. And besides keeping an eye on Karma, it can also be set to pick up smoke alarm sounds and CO alarm sounds. Again, neat.

My new project box came in today and it looks like it’s going to be perfect for my remote dump valves setup

I already mounted the two phone jacks on the cover and then I’ll stick the controllers inside using double-stick tape. I’m also going to install a couple of DPDI switches and a couple of push buttons. That will let me control the system manually from the bay.

Looks like I’ll be able to get power for the system from the water pump circuit right in the water bay. Of course that means that I’ll have to turn the pump on to dump, but that’s not a problem.

This morning I posted a question concerning the Deluxe Screw Assortment asking if they sold empty trays.

“Greg, We do not sell empty trays yet, but we are always open to suggestions from customers. I will discuss this request with our development team.

Steve – VP of Customer Happiness Jackson Palmer”

You’ve got to love a company that has a VP of Customer Happiness.

Thought for the Day: 

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We are now the proud owner (renter?) of a 5’ x 5’ storage unit at the Extra Space Facility in Dickinson, only about15 minutes from here. We’ll take some stuff over Friday morning and also pick up some bins.

When I called earlier today to check out pricing, I also confirmed that they did NOT required insurance like the Public Storage place does. And although I was told that the monthly rent would be $28, but I thought I’d seen it online cheaper. And I was right.

If I booked it online, the monthly charge dropped to $23. That’s $60 a year saved. Nice!

The two actuator remote controllers that I ordered for my remote dump valve system came in today, and I quickly discovered that this idea wasn’t going to work.

I had planned to use this 2 gang outlet box to hold the remote modules with 1/4†phone jacks mounted on the front plate to plug in the actuators. But I found that through I had measured everything, I hadn’t allowed for the extra protrusions. So the modules won’t fit.

So it was back to Amazon to order a larger case, which should be here Friday.

So hopefully I can get it all put together this weekend. I’ve got a handle on how I want to mount the actuators on top of the valves, but I’m still not sure how I’m going to connect the actuator shaft to the dump valve handle. I want something that I can quickly and easily disconnect so I can dump manually if I want. So I’m still chewing on that.

About 5:30 this afternoon I cranked up our Onan generator to be sure it was good to go our visit from  the RV Mobile Lube guy on Friday afternoon. He’ll want to warm it up to change the oil. I was happy to see that it started right up with no problems, and about 45 seconds later the transfer switch kicked over and we were running on the genset.

One thing I’ve noticed before is that the transfer switch is fast enough that the DirecTV /TV combo didn’t even glitch, nor did the front AC. I had turned off the rear AC, because the generator stutters a little with both AC’s running.

Now I’m probably going to hear from readers that I shouldn’t start the generator with the AC running. But that’s you should let the genset come up to speed and stabilize before you put it under load. Which is why my transfer switch has the 45 second delay build in. In fact the only way I know that it has switched over is the voltage dropped from 124VAS to 121VAC, the standard output voltage for my genset.

However, though the switchover to the genset is pretty unnoticeable, the change back to shore power drops out both the DirecTV DVR and the TV. But it doesn’t seem to affect the AC or the coffee pot clock.

But at least we’re ready for the lube guy.

Thought for the Day:

I waited until the price dropped to $1000 before I bought one for my Commodore Amiga.

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