Mount Gizmos

camperkilgore wrote:
To Gdetrailer:

I took your advice about the newer radio for the truck. I checked into them, and decided to get an Alpine model. It has xm built in, bluetooth, and usb on front panel. Hands free phone operation too(if we can figure out how to use it).

The xm model will be nice as it will enable me to remove the little Audiovox xm and it's associated wires from my dash thus reducing clutter.

Bluetooth will also eliminate another wire.

And if I can figure a way to get good audio books on usb sticks, that feature will be nice.

My old radio's volume knob is getting flakey anyway. After 15 years I guess a new radio is in order. The truck is an '03 model.

My phone is a Galaxy S5, and I found a way to charge it wirelessly. It's a thing added inside it that allows inductive charging, and I will get a car mount that inductively charges the phone. That'll eliminate attaching the wire to the phone for charging. Simpler. (if it works).

Now your thinking outside the RV box!

As far as Audio books goes, you should be able to use your cell phone VIA the BlueTooth connection to your stereo to play the books. When a call comes in it will override the audio of your books playing from the cell phone or if playing a different source on the radio the cellphone calls can over ride those also.

Depending on the capability of the radio it may even be able to control or operate the apps on your phone through the radio display.

The BT connection should automatically reconnect when you start the vehicle or get back into the vehicle.

Less wires, less clutter and gives you a single interface point on your dash.

myredracer wrote:
RAM Mounts has a large selection of quality ball mounts and various components for mounting cellphones, tablets and other electronic gizmos in vehicles. I used them to make a custom mount for our Garmin GPS so it hangs below the top of the dash in a location that has good visibility. The biggest problem is how you attach a mount to your dash.

Thanks for that link, and I see they have just about anything you could possibly need to mount just about anything.

To Gdetrailer:

I took your advice about the newer radio for the truck. I checked into them, and decided to get an Alpine model. It has xm built in, bluetooth, and usb on front panel. Hands free phone operation too(if we can figure out how to use it).

The xm model will be nice as it will enable me to remove the little Audiovox xm and it's associated wires from my dash thus reducing clutter.

Bluetooth will also eliminate another wire.

And if I can figure a way to get good audio books on usb sticks, that feature will be nice.

My old radio's volume knob is getting flakey anyway. After 15 years I guess a new radio is in order. The truck is an '03 model.

My phone is a Galaxy S5, and I found a way to charge it wirelessly. It's a thing added inside it that allows inductive charging, and I will get a car mount that inductively charges the phone. That'll eliminate attaching the wire to the phone for charging. Simpler. (if it works).

"Usually they expire, but I have found that you can copy the folder to a different location and the copy will not go away."

That is a bit unethical since you've agreed to not do that as terms of usage of the audiobooks from the library.

Personally I think the whole idea of a limited number of copies being "checked out" at one time is silly. It's a digital file for crying out loud. OTOH authors write books for a living so I guess there has to be some way to get them paid for their efforts.

camperkilgore wrote:
Regarding audio books from our public library: It seems that of the many books that are downloadable, very few are actually available. We have to wait for books to become available, because they are already "checked out", so to speak.

It's true that many audio books have a waiting period, but I just checked my library (Hennepin county) and found that 12,858 audio books were available now. A person should be able to find something to listen to from that selection.

camperkilgore wrote:
Can the downloads be kept for a long time, or do they expire?

Usually they expire, but I have found that you can copy the folder to a different location and the copy will not go away.

^^^^^^Well, that is one person's opinion, not shared by me.

GPS is super and you can have mine when you pry it from my cold dead fingers. Trying to move across 2 lanes of busy traffic because you're in the wrong lane, and had no idea, is pretty darned stressful. The GPS lets you know well in advance how the Exit/Entrance lanes are set up, no paper map will do that.

The TPMS would have saved me from being in the middle of nowhere with a disintegrating tire, perhaps even warned me of the blowout of the previous tire. I don't need to monitor the screen though, it has audible warnings that work very well.

I can do without the cell phones though, don't use them while driving and don't care for them too much in general. I have an MP3 player that I can use for books, but do find it a bit distracting to use while towing, so I don't use it.

camperkilgore wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:


Sometimes traveling light is the better way..

Yep, I have been strongly considering abandoning the rv life, and just stay in hotels when we travel. Maybe even flying and renting a car.

It's much simpler.

Yeah,

With the "need" for two cellphones, GPS, TPMS, tablet and more, I wouldn't blame you if you did :B

But seriously, you don't "need" to abandon RV life, you can simplify by removing the extra "stuff"..

Less data, less pressure, don't sweat things like tire pressures, often times a tire is going to blowout without any warning.. Slow leaks often can be caught when stopping for fuel, eating or rest stops just by being observant.

Sometimes having too much info is just as bad as having not enough info.

RVing should be a bit more relaxing, all that extra information can overload you and make you more tense.. Instant Tech can often put more pressure on yourself than needed.

My RVing is more about disconnecting from things, I work with "Technology" and in a manufacturing environment with often unrealistic deadlines and no inventory to work with and expected to make it happen..

So, rather than overload myself with rear view monitors, TPMS, GPS and other technology while driving I let my CoPilot take care of getting me pointed in the correct direction and I pay full attention to the road, traffic and performance of my vehicle.

Gdetrailer wrote:


Sometimes traveling light is the better way..

Yep, I have been strongly considering abandoning the rv life, and just stay in hotels when we travel. Maybe even flying and renting a car.

It's much simpler.

camperkilgore wrote:


For us, audio books are 10 times better than coffee for keeping awake on those long stretches out west. They make us safer.

Audible.com is the service we use for audio books, and the trouble with them is you can't just copy one of their books to a storage device of any kind. They are kind of like Apple. They fix it so you can't do that sort of thing. That's with the membership. Now I think we can buy the books, and that makes it so we can put them on any type of storage device, but that gets really expensive. I haven't found another service with as good a selection of books.

There's a lot of reasons why we looked to electronic devices to "help" us. After experiencing a tire failure that caused a lot of damage to our camper, we decided to invest in the TPMS. I know folks have driven millions of miles without it, but a long time ago we didn't have flimsy expensive rvs and crummy tires that blow up and tear up those flimsy rv's.

Phones don't have to be mounted. But retrieving one from a pocket or under a collection of stuff that we inevitably collect when traveling is a distraction and a dangerous one sometimes. Besides....they have to be charged, so the charging wires have got to be dealt with somehow.

I fully agree that we should all simplify and concentrate on safety. I sometimes want to just get a tent and a little car. But then the larger rv is NICE.

You might "feel safer" listening to "audio books" but in reality, you are more likely to be LESS "safe".

Why?

Simple, listening to a book WILL take away your attention more than music, otherwise you would not be able to follow and remember the plot of the book..

Music songs tends to be short, audio books take a long time.

But if you MUST have audio books, you do have several good options..

BUY A NEW CAR STEREO!!!!

Why?

New car stereos have USB inputs and many also have BlueTooth connectivity.

With USB inputs many of these stereos CAN BE CONNECTED TO THE USB PORT OF YOUR CELLPHONE. You can use the radio to CONTROL YOUR CELLPHONE. You can play back MP3 files, play streaming music, make and take phone calls (hands free) and yes, Audible should work..

For a wireless option you can use the BT connectivity to connect your cell phone to the car stereo. You can also do the same as the USB option, just have to "pair" the cell phone to your stereo. With the BT option, you can simply place the phone ANYWHERE inside the vehicle and use it.. No need to mount it to the dash, the radio will act as the control for the phone.

As far as "Audible" making it hard to copy, well there IS ways around that.. Ever hear of audio recorders? The DO make audio recorders that record to SD cards and Yeah, you could even hook the audio output to your PC or MAC and press RECORD.. Yeah, it will take time and you will need Internet connectivity but it can be done..

Once recorded, put a bunch on a USB flash drive and knock yourself out.. When done, just delete and record more.

TPMS, well that is a sore spot with me, have one that is built in my truck, it is a pain, it is junk and it really is not needed but because some Gov official decided that everyone must pay for mistakes made by one tire Company and one vehicle company that EVERYONE MUST PAY MORE FOR A VEHICLE in the name of "safety".

Sensors go bad, batteries go bad and in my state, if the OEM TPMS system has any malfunction the vehicle inspection is flunked until the system is fixed..

GPS, well, yeah we tried one, slow response, difficult to get it to take to route WE wanted and quite frankly, was a general pain to use.

We prefer to map out our routes BEFORE we leave, with paper maps and online mapping like MapQuest. We get step by step directions with MapQuest printed out with even landmarks. Easy to read, easy to follow and no bright glowing screen in the drivers face.

Drivers now days are suffering from technology overload, way to much junk hung on their dash.. I see it nearly everyday, I can easily spot a distracted driver that is texting, talking or paying too much attention to non essential electronics.. They tend to bob and weave, drifting from lane to lane and often nearly running off the road.. Often they ARE the ones camped out in the PASSING lane, not letting faster traffic go by them..

I see their super bright screens of GPS units, tablets, Video monitors and many other gadgets and those nearly blind me when I am behind them.. I cannot imagine just how blinded they are by all that light while driving at night!

Even have seen drivers watching MOVIES!!

Like I said, perhaps decide on ONE must have item, try it, I would bet that you will not miss all of the extra stuff.

Sometimes traveling light is the better way..

RAM Mounts has a large selection of quality ball mounts and various components for mounting cellphones, tablets and other electronic gizmos in vehicles. I used them to make a custom mount for our Garmin GPS so it hangs below the top of the dash in a location that has good visibility. The biggest problem is how you attach a mount to your dash.