Here is another great video, Johnny Cash - I've been everywhere

Look at the pictures and listen to the words.

Final OverTheTop bed spread selection

Well boys and girls I can tell you it was lots and lots and lots and lots of work, making this bedspread selection. I have been looking for quite a long while now and I've not been  able to find anything that looked really great enough for OverTheTop. This selection however seems to fit the mark. I especially like the little circle or bull's-eye design on the pillows. The whole set is really great with the wallpaper, the flooring and also matches up great with the glass wall tiles. It also keeps the colors nice and light on the inside. The problem with looking at bedspreads is that the picture in the magazine or on the website, look way different than the actual bedspread in real life.  

I really like the design on these pillows. 

I hope that this meets with your approval. 

And many thanks for the Macy's young 

lady helping with the selection.

Doing the lords work this Sunday Part 2

First we took out the old soil, then we installed a new sloped bottom   ( which was missing ) this will allow the excess water to drain out, through 4 - 6 weep holes. Next we will install water proofing, then more drainage rock and finally the planter soil, sprinklers and new plants. We are now about 50% done. so far this project is 2 x as big as the second planter box was added at the last minute & we are using 4 x more materials due to the missing bottom,  2,000+ pounds in concrete materials.

A great little camping trailer

I found this great little trailer on line, its made and sold in Australia

 for only a meager sum of $54,450 if I remember correctly. 

So for those of you who think my trailer is OverTheTop 

here is an even more expensive example that would be nice to own.

This week has been busy at work & now the rain therefore

 I am not making much progress with my project.

Standard inclusions • Heavy duty off road chassis construction • Independent coil suspension with gas shocks • AT-35 all-terrain coupling • ‘Cooper’ ATR (all-terrain tyres) • 10” electric brakes • 2 x 20ltr jerry cans • 2 x 4kg gas bottle holders • Fibre composite, high gloss body with “Exodus” decals • Huge forward and side storage boxes • Screened windows and security door • Roll out shade awning • Ground sheets under awning • Canvas skirt under camper side • External slide out kitchen unit • Internal sink & cook top • 80ltr ‘upright’ fridge (built in) • 115Ltr water tanks • 200Ah deep cycle battery system • Battery charger (multi stage) • 128W solar power system • Interior/exterior lighting package • Double bed with side storage and shelving • Roll out storage compartments under bed • Single bunk/day lounge (double bunk optional) • Internal roll out table • Clothes hanging locker and storage compartments • Interior finish, speckled with timber trimmings

    The Kingston is priced at $54,450. Please contact Ian at Exodus Campers for more details.

The grounded cruise liner Costa Concordia is illuminated with lights

The grounded cruise liner Costa Concordia is illuminated with lights outside the harbor on the island of Giglio, Italy. The 950-foot ship with 4,000 people aboard struck a rock and capsized Jan. 13.

I found these views of a ship, from an angle you never see,
if you click on the text above it will take you to the USA link.

Coffee with Dr. Ho

We are enjoying the sunshine this afternoon at Starbucks.

Doing the lords work this Sunday

      Today and yesterday I was helping some friends with the repairs of a flower planter at a church. This planter leaked water inside the building and needed to be fixed. It turned out the bottom was not level and it was dug out about 6" below the weep holes. This allowed the water to collect and leak into the building. When we finish the work in the next 2 weekends, I will show you how to solve the problem.

     The work was a little rough going as we had to break out some concrete with the jackhammer. The concrete appeared to be extra hard. Finally success, we were able to break out the old concrete so we can level out a drainage bed and water proof the building wall next weekend.

As you can see the front was about 6" higher and allowed water to collect.

This is the view from the outside of the flower box.

Exterior LED Lights I saw at Lowes

I was almost tempted to buy one and test it out, but decided to hold off for now. This picture is great, it comes from my iPhone and I sent it at 470 kb. I had an option to send it at 1.5 mb but do not see the need, click on the picture and see how great it looks in large format. If you look on the tag, you will see that it comes with a vertical & horizontal cover plate.

Same picture bigger size

This picture was sent at 460 kb and comes out bigger when you klick on it, normally my regular camera pictures are about 960 + kb. I will keep testing and report back what happens in the future. In the blogger window "as it first appeared" the picture was not bigger. BUTT - with a trick I was able to make it bigger on my desktop machine, so now you see a larger version.


Follow-up
Damn, would you believe it I went to the store Sun the 15th & this bedspread was not in stock !!!
Their excuse, oh - this is a brand new item, why don't they say that in RED on their internet page ??

Another bedspread that everybody likes

I guess I just could not wait till tomorrow to see the picture function. 
This picture was reduced by the phone to exactly 260 kb.
This picture is a phone screenshot I took while surfing the web.


One more note about changing blogger settings, you should write down exactly what you are changing
as I just discovered some changes I did not intend to make, just by clicking around.

Testing new e mail blogging system

       Well I am wondering what will happen? it seams that I have discovered how to  post to the blog with the use of my cell phone. The last time I tried this I did not have very good luck and just gave up. This system works with e mails. I tried setting up the same thing with SMS texts but that somehow  did not work for me ? It did not allow me access.


     Truth be told I did a little editing with my desktop machine after testing the system. Posting by e mail says it will also allow me to send pictures up to 250 kb in size, so maybe I could test that function tomorrow?


     I  have to say looking at the pictures of the rear cargo door carpet, it does not look even 10% as great as when you see the carpet in person. When viewed in person the expression is WOW!! I am slowly getting the hang of how this blogging works.


Sent from iPhone 4s

Just putzing around with the cargo door

Here is my latest install project, while i'm waiting 

to install the e box for which I will need a helper.

I am also thinking about this bedspread pictured below

this should go with the carpet and the rest of the interior

Getting ready for E panel install

    Since this is Over-the-top I have to take extra precaution to make sure that the expensive electric cabinet will stay on the wall forever and forever. I have decided to take a half inch panel that fits inside the rear frame of the cabinets and glue and screw that to the trailer wall. This will also allow me to take the items inside the cabinet & additionally securing them by screwing them into this 1/2" panel if needed. 


      Before I can install this panel I had to take a grinder and grind off the screws that were sticking out through the back of the electric cabinet. This operation involved a little bit of work since my grinding disc was very old and I could not find the new disc that I had purchased but not installed on my grinder. All of the little black marks that you see on the back of the cabinet about 20+, are where I had to grind off the metal screws. 

This work has also given me a chance to try out my new saw

 that I purchased for myself over Christmas. 

Here is the new Rockwell versacut saw for $129

It feels a little like a toy, but cuts really well.

My other saw has 15 amps - but I am also getting old.

I just have to stop being retarded and turn off the laser light when done.

This should make a great little saw to take on the road.

Link to new saw info.

Here is the extra plywood I glued and screwed to the trailer walls,

I will also screw some metal brackets into the top rail

and another board under the cabinet.

At 50 lbs and $1,500 - I never want this sucker to come loose.

Here is the approx. floor plan of the 7 x 16

I made this special for a request from Don on a trailer form that I follow...

I would assume some others may also be interested in the layout.

You may notice that I do not have any table & chairs.

I am more of a sit in bed & watch TV or surf the internet kinda of guy.

Electric panel is now completed 95%.

     As always the final 5% will be the hardest part of the job. As you can see I've added the final link of the wiring for the AC incoming and the AC outgoing wiring. The AC outgoing wiring connects to two lights that will be on a remote-control dimmer switch. 

The wiring is as follows from left to right. 

The first set of wires are for the incoming PV panel wiring. 

The second wire with the large yellow connector is for the outgoing 30 amp DC cabin wiring. 

The third and the fourth wire are for the outgoing lights AC wiring. 

The large yellow connector with the green wiring will be going to the grounding busbar. 

The final smaller red & black connector are for the incoming AC wiring. 

These two sets of red and black plugs allow me to switch between

 the inverter and the incoming AC power. 

You can also see to 5 amp fuse required for the 300 watt inverter.

This picture shows the inside wiring of the outback 80 charge controller. 

The green wire is the battery temperature probe. 

The first two sets of silver lugs are the incoming positive and negative solar panel wiring. 

The second set of two silver lugs are the outgoing battery wiring. 

The final far right lug is the green ground wire which goes to the bus bar. 

The round gray object on the left is a DC lightning arrester - for the PV panels. 

Here are the four circuit breakers installed.

 The first breaker is a 15 amp AC breaker for the incoming AC shore power.

 The second breaker is a 15 amp DC breaker for the incoming PV panels.

 The third breaker is a 60 amp DC out from charge controller to battery.

The final breaker is a 30 amp DC outgoing to the sub panel.

This is the completed cabinet that will be installed inside the trailer. 

This cabinet contains all of the AC and the DC wiring for the system. 

All the wiring is connected with the Anderson connectors.

Link to Air Dictate program for the Mac and iPhone

Here is the program for your iPhone, you can download it from itunes or read about it at this link.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/22/avatrons-air-dictate-app-makes-siri-take-notes-on-your-mac/

Here is the 2nd link you needs to install the free client onto your Mac

Remember you need 10.6.8 mac software.

http://avatron.com//page.php?q=i

This program alone is so good 

it will make you want to follow my blog 

for the next 10,000 years. 

Update 2-5-12 !!!

I discovered it also types in other languages if the keyboard for those languages is selected 

and installed. I will do a separate post latter

I also believe it will work with the iPad and the iPad 2 as long as you have the upgrade 5.0 operating software. 

Electric panel is now over 90% done

         I am testing my new air dictate program. This is so super super cool. A few days ago I purchased a upgraded iPhone 4s ( from my old 3Gs )  and found this program that allows me to speak into my iPhone and it shows up typed on my Mac. Since I really hate typing, this program is absolutely fantastic. As I am speaking into my iPhone 4s this program is typing everything into the blogger Window, totally fantastic. The best part is this program only cost $.99 and all you need is a iPhone 5.0 and a Mac 10.6.8. This program is even much better than other programs that cost $100 or more. I can see there're very few mistakes most of them are because I did not speak clearly. 


       I am almost finished wiring my electric panel and therefore have given you some more pictures. On the top of the panel you will notice the special plugs that I purchased from Anderson. This will allow me to easily connect and disconnect the entire electric panel and to remove the entire electrical system from the trailer if needed. The Anderson connectors are little difficult to get used too & to get them connected properly. 

I decided to add an additional ground busbar. Many people seem to believe that mixing a ground bus bar for an AC system along with a DC system will encourage some kind of problems. I am installing my system in such a way that if I go camping or park for long-term at my house or campground, thenI can hook up the entire system to a ground rod or to my electrical bonding system at my house or the RV park etc. 

Here you can see the Anderson power pole connectors. The connectors on the far left side of the MC4 connectors for the incoming solar panel. The Yellow Center Anderson connectors are for the outgoing trailer DC sub panel connection. The wire on the right with the yellow connectors are two numbers six green ground wires, I'm running double ground wires. I am still missing one set of incoming AC wires set it I can disconnect the other inverter system. 

This bottom picture shows the panel approximately 90% completed, mostly if you look at the color of the wires you can tell what they're for. The red wires are the AC or the DC hot wires. The green wire on the ground conductors. The black wires are the negative wires. The white wires are the neutral wires for the AC system that run to the electric outlets. The very bottom bunched up green wire is for the battery temperature sensor. 

The breakers are as follows - left to right.

1.) Incoming AC 15 amp breaker.

2.) Incoming 15 amp DC - PV panels breaker.

3.) Outgoing 60 amp DC breaker - Outback charge controller.

4. Out going 30 amp DC breaker for DC sub panel.

One item that I would still like to complete if I have the available time, is to draw you a complete wiring diagram. I have generally found there is a lack of wiring diagrams for small solar systems going into RVs available on the Internet. Even though my system is very large at 840 Watts,  exactly the same wiring method would apply to a smaller 200 Watt or 400 Watt system. What makes my system sort of a one-of-a-kind is that everything AC and everything DC is all wired inside one panel. 

This is really my trailer....

I have just been fooling with you guys !!!

If the link does not work, try this below...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYYKjLPGrMs&feature=related

Xantrex 20 amp battery charger update

      Well my friends, today is day 2 or maybe even day 3 after I charged the batteries really good for the first time since I got them in the summer time. The first morning after resting all night the meter rear 12.83 volts. This morning with the temperature being ice cold at 40 deg for California weather the reading was 12.76. So I can report back to you that the charger is working great at doing what it is supposed to do. 

My new friend bob advised my to wait to equalize then when my solar is finally connected.

         My current work on the trailer progress is sorta very slow, because as luck would have it - I still have a job, knock on wood. I also seam to be running into a few little health problems so today I will run off to see a doctor or two and see if I can get some sugar pills to help with my problem. I have noticed that a lot of people who write blogs & go on the road with RV's, cars or trailers etc are like me, a little on the worn out side from the grind of daily life and that being on the road seams to be good therapy for them. I hope the same effect will work for me, but at this time I have to get my energy from building or finishing the trailer.

          Yesterday I meet a new friend and it seams we have the almost exact same life story. Funny how it can turn out that you find someone who could almost be a long lost brother and has the same interest, what are the odds of something like that happening to you halfway around the world? I had a really great conversation and hope that we will meet up someday, somewhere, sooner rather then latter. Sorry but you will not find out my life story here, as this is just the trailer blog and for my travels if I ever get done and out of the driveway, besides I don't wanna get too mushy on the internet as I'm not one of those that Andy Warhol says is looking for 15 minutes of fame. I am writing this blog only to give people some great ideas who wanna try something new & get out on the road. Its not like there are lots of books on how to do something like this one can pick up at Lowes ?

       I had one more final thought, my trailer might actually be a good conversation piece for those  million $$$ RV Prevost Bus guys. With the right $10k+ custom paint job, my trailer could be a little guest room, play room or mother in law tow along where during non travel times, guests, kids or others have their own private space. A Prevost trailer tow along. The only problem is that compared to Prevost bus - the trailer is a little on the cheap side. Go and check it out.

http://www.prevosttrader.com/

Xantrex 20 amp battery charger

       Ever so slowly I am carefully making progress. Today I finally connected my new Xantrex 20 amp battery charger, its a little on the small side for 400 amp hour batteries but soon I will be able to tell you if it can handle the load of charging those puppies. The book says they will work, just that it will take much longer. I have a feeling I will also have to do an equalize charge, as I have not properly maintained the batteries as religiously as I should have. 


With the help of my new friend bob who is an expert in all things at least RV solar related "click on his name to see his bolg" I am scared to plug in the d/c stuff without the worries something might blow up - even though I have installed fused and breakers up the wazoo !! D/C wiring is 100% new to me, however I am quite good with ac. So having bobs help watching me is giving me the needed push. Bob will tell you, something I already strongly assumed, which is that 90%+ of all RV solar installers will do the wiring WRONG !! The more you pay - the worse it will get.


Please check his blog , you can't go wrong with bob.


http://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/the-rv-battery-charging-puzzle-2/


My first big bitch about the Xantrex is that the space for the cable connection is way to small and what the hell is up with that stupid magnet wrapped around the ground wire ? For the life of me I can never understand why the hell it is legal to buy an electric appliance without a $3 cord attached ? Everybody in the USA must be a licensed electrician as far as I can tell !!


My second bitch is when you install the wires - those tinny screws holding the plastic covers are good for your glasses, but could they not be a litter bigger to remove those stupid covers how about #6 screws ? Again into my tool box for my eye glasses screwdriver set.


My third bitch is with the battery connectors for your wires to the battery, they are also made for midgets with extra small hands, even my tiny 3" long crescent wrench was way to big, so I had to dig in my tool box for a 1/4" drive and socket set.


If anybody can hear me out there I am 100% sure 99% of all consumers would pay an extra $10 for the wires to be already attached, also saving you 30 minutes reading the stupid book.

Space of 1.5" cubic inch is way to small to make connection.

Whats up with this stupid magnet ?

Charging nicely at 14.92 volts ;-))

I still need to do some work to secure & vent the battery properly prior to liftoff.

I also found this grounding lug that looked a little different.

here is the link where you can find it.