Putt

[Putts]

I currently own two Ural motorcycles, and they are huge fun..

Dude! My best friend in the world, who intends to travel with me in his own RV, has a Ural. Here's Paul as skipper, with another buddy Bob as monkey.

Putts, I have spent the last 2 hours reading this thread and now you owe me a beer!

You bet. No problem.

Man what a lot of work and talent and forward-thinking engineering. My brain hurt just reading this!

Mine too.

..and oh yeah.

Beer.

Brother from another mother, sounds like.

For the exhaust fans in Putt's Pooper, I would recommend that you use the offset, centrifugal blower style,

Ya know, I looked but couldn't find any small enough. Now that you gave me the right key words...

50mm x 50mm x 15mm...that'll fit. Sick

Then, I would build up a small resistor speed reducer, on an SPDT switch for hi-lo and middle-off to raise and lower the speed, air volume, and noise.

Or too control the gentle breeze across my butt.

You mentioned Ham radio...

All duly noted. I should note that I'm not a HAM yet and only intend to get the license and radios so Paul and I can be in solid radio contact with each other over modest distances, mainly for safety purposes. What I'd really dig is to be able to computer network over a VHF (that's the shorter wavelength stuff for handhelds, right?) from a handheld so my iPad could connect to Putt's computer network while I'm away from Putt on my motorcycle. That way I could see surveillance cameras at a distance without cellphone service.

Edit: oh and on RFI, I'll put the radios in the drivers area. What with the aluminum construction and essentially separate faraday cages of the cabin area and above dash aluminum box the radios are in, things should be fairly well shielded.

BTW I looked at purchasing a TW200......so I resisted the purchase...somehow.

You're an adult now, make better decisions!  

 

[Putts]

What Awg cable should I run from the roof combiner to the batteries? About a 10' run. An Amazon link would be great.

Whoops, I meant to the charge controller.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Yeah thats it!

Make sure to get one with ball bearings, and if possible try to find an 18volt version, or maybe 24 volt...those will usually run very quietly on 12-13v or so, and last practically forever running at lower speed.

About the VHF handheld data link...its possible, but man there will be a lot of interfacing involved. A much better solution is to use plug-and-play amateur ATV transmitters. You would supply a composite video signal from the security camera or video switcher to the input of the transmitter.

There are a variety of models, most will be assembled or complete, and many use standard NTSC format on an unused old UHF broadcast and/or cable TV channel. This means that an NTSC battery operated portable tv would be able to receive the signal...and depending on terrain, power levels, and antenna, you can get from 1 mile to about 10 miles range. It's pretty much line-of-sight, so a big hill, or thick forest, in the way, will block the signal.

Its not digital, its analog, which means zero security, but what criminal goes out in the boonies with an old analog tv looking for broadcast signals? None. Zero. Zip. Nada. Aint happnin.

Another RVer nearby might possibly stumble on the signal during a tv channel scan, but thats also doubtful.

Here are a couple of examples:

http://www.hamtv.com/videolynx.html#VM70X

http://northcountryradio.com/Kitpages/atv12mk2.htm

On any of these basic units, you can add an amplifier. Of course, this takes DC current, but we can assume that your system wont be taxed much by running a transmitter and amplifier for a few hours at a time, and only when away from the van. You can always use an LVD, low voltage disconnect on the power input, in case for any reason you did not return in a few hours after dark and wanted to save those pricey batteries!

There are lots of omni-directional UHF antennas that would work, mounted on a 20 foot RV flag pole, and could give you some adequate range in the area. You wont be covering hundreds of square miles with the signal, but maybe a dozen square miles is enough. Youtube has a lot of related content, just use "ATV transmitter" as the search phrase.

The consumer level tv transmitters you see on ebay and elsewhere might also work, but have a very limited range.

You would probably need to scour ebay for an NTSC compatible portable tv. they are still available..and of course a lot of this would be experimental.

I would also look into buying a wireless car alarm with pager...to tip you off that you need to turn on the tv!

Much of this will need to be cobbled together, but hey, it looks like you enjoy working with your hands and mind...so have fun!

 

[tx2sturgis]

Dude! My best friend in the world, who intends to travel with me in his own RV, has a Ural. Here's Paul as skipper, with another buddy Bob as monkey.

Edit: oh and on RFI, I'll put the radios in the drivers area. What with the aluminum construction and essentially separate faraday cages of the cabin area and above dash aluminum box the radios are in, things should be fairly well shielded.

I dont recognize Paul, but the Ural world is a small one...so maybe I have met him or seen his postings somewhere.

On the shielding...well you can always hope. The problem is that the RFI actually propagates throughout and along the aluminum cage, since it has no drain, no actual ground, no shunt to the earth. And there is no 'air-gap'...

Any short conductor that's radiating, like the few feet of wire on the roof going to the panels, is all it takes to radiate the noise. Then your antenna on the roof near the front, over the cab, has a front row seat to the interference.

You have to kill it at the source. One way is to twist the parallel conductors going into and out of everything. (you will see this in cat-5 cable) This reduces common-mode RFI and EMI. Its the same reason old phone lines used 'twisted pair' wires. Another way is to use RFI supression beads, snap-on chokes, and toroids.

This is gonna get really technical and other reader's eyes will glaze over...and its supposed to be about the stepvan so I will just wait to see how it goes....

Anyway, good luck sir!

 

[Putts]

Make sure to get one with ball bearings, and if possible try to find an 18volt version, or maybe 24 volt...those will usually run very quietly on 12-13v or so, and last practically forever running at lower speed.

Gotcha.

Great ideas about broadcasting a TV signal and stuff, but wouldn't a wireless car alarm pager need cellphone connection or be limited 2GHz range limitations?

About the VHF handheld data link...its possible, but man there will be a lot of interfacing involved.

Okay. Know anything about all that interfacing? Gotta link to get me started? That seems to me the killer solution. Hell, maybe using RRL I can leave Putt at a storage place and fly back to the US and still get alarms and have a look around.  Might be able to do that with wifi if the storage place has it...which would be a must. I'll put surveillance cameras on the inside too.

Crazy talk....I know.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Many if not most of the home security systems use internet and an app on your phone to do just that but they all need internet at both ends. The direct ATV broadcasting is only for short line-of-sight use.

There IS an easy and cheap alternative, super easy to install. I use it for one of my cameras here at home, but it does require internet and an unused smartphone you might have in a drawer, gathering dust.

The app is called Manything. (for Monitor anything)

You download the app to your old unused smartphone, and your current smartphone.

Once signed up and connected, you remotely monitor whatever the old smartphone, working as the security camera, is looking at. You can mount it on a tripod, velcro it to a wall, whatever. It will need a charger plugged in full time, so it needs to have live AC or DC, 24/7.

It also records audio, and you can set it up to save a week or two of video.

Here's the downside...you knew this was coming, right?

For anything over the basic service, there is a monthly fee...but its not expensive. I think mine is about $4 a month, to save video for one week, and I can monitor that camera from anywhere I have wifi or cellular data on my main phone.

Its free to try...and I like it.

No affiliation, just passing along some info.

https://manything.com/

 

[Putts]

Sweet! I'll have plenty of old smartphones by then. May go with a full on system eventually, but that's a great partial step.

 

[Bud Smiley]

For cameras, I'd go with:

Milestone XProtect Essential (camera management software; free for up to 8 cameras)
Mini-PC or laptop to run Milestone and store video (I'd use SSDs over normal HDDs exclusively in a vehicle for reliability)
Gigabit switch (PoE if you want; in a vehicle it's easy enough to run power that this is optional but convenient)
Router to connect to external gateway so you can access the network remotely
Exterior IP cameras (get Hikvision or something reputable)

This keeps you in control of it all and doesn't rely on "the cloud" or anybody's services.

You can skip the switch if you don't use PoE but it's still nice so you can keep the camera traffic off the router backplane.

This is all assuming you are going to have a decent network setup in the step van anyway.

 

[tx2sturgis]

This keeps you in control of it all and doesn't rely on "the cloud" or anybody's services.


This is all assuming you are going to have a decent network setup in the step van anyway.

One advantage of security video stored in the cloud is recovery of that video if all the hardware is stolen...

In the event of vehicle theft, or complete looting of the contents, you still have something to show the police.

Just sayin...

 

[Putts]

...so maybe I have met him or seen his postings somewhere.

Paul's a total luddite. I'll send him a text and it may be days before he even looks at it. The only place you would have seen him before is in pix I've posted. Want to waste a half hour? My "Hank's Montana "That Guy" Tour" tour over at ADV is probably my best ride report. Hank was Paul's bulldog. RIP.

On the shielding...well you can always hope.

Talk about that guy.

You have to kill it at the source. One way is to twist the parallel conductors going into and out of everything.

Sweet. I'll take that zip cord I got, clamp lengths in the vice, and spin it up with a drill before install.

This is gonna get really technical and other reader's eyes will glaze over...and its supposed to be about the stepvan so I will just wait to see how it goes....

I (sadly at times) understood every word you said, and, you bet your butt it's all been about the step van so far.





Oh, I don't know if I can do this, but I do give people permission to stray a bit off topic as we chat. To some extent this thread is about me getting to know you guys as well. A short stub of sidetrack is fine by me.

 

[Putts]

Nice list, Bud, thanks. That video system looks sweet.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Paul's a total luddite. I'll send him a text and it may be days before he even looks at it. The only place you would have seen him before is in pix I've posted. Want to waste a half hour? My "Hank's Montana "That Guy" Tour" tour over at ADV is probably my best ride report. Hank was Paul's bulldog. RIP.


Sweet.  I'll take that zip cord I got, clamp lengths in the vice, and spin it up with a drill before install.


Oh, I don't know if I can do this, but I do give people permission to stray a bit off topic as we chat. To some extent this thread is about me getting to know you guys as well. A short stub of sidetrack is fine by me.

 
If Paul is the luddite, you guys are like Ying and Yang...you got some serious webby skills. I looked over the thread...but man, if I read that whole thing, you will owe me a burger to go with the beer! The Urals are huge fun, although not as capable in the gnarly stuff as those other bikes in the pictures. Everybody laughs at the old guy riding the sidecar until he motors up with 12 hot pizzas and a keg of beer!

Have you seen some of the 'dog rides in sidecar' videos?  It's THE fastest way to meet women....bar none. ;-)

Wire twisting: Yep thats how I do it...they make a fancy tool for that but I'm not doing it 8 hours a day so I dont need no stinking tool, I got a DeWalt and I'm not afeered to use it.

Yeah I always encourage mild, pleasant thread drift on all my articles on other forums. To me, it's a conversational skill.

Another thread drift is this one: I assume you are aware of the upcoming imbalance of the earths rotation?

That will be due to the fact that there will probably be hundreds of thousands of people clustered along the path of totality for the upcoming solar eclipse on August 21.

I will be one of them.

A small group of Uralistas and some 2wheel pilots are planning to meet in Nowhere, Wyoming (actually Lake of the Woods) and do a few days of riding, and a few minutes of retina searing...you are welcome to join us should the stars align for you!

I believe some of the guys going are also active over on ADV, so you probably already know about it.

I assume these pictures are ok to post here, you may have already seen these...a few friends riding Urals at Moab recently:

 

[Bud Smiley]

One advantage of security video stored in the cloud is recovery of that video if all the hardware is stolen...

In the event of vehicle theft, or complete looting of the contents, you still have something to show the police.

Just sayin...

Yup yup. I glossed over that part but I agree.

I mentioned the router so he could either remotely access the cameras or upload the video to a server elsewhere. If there's connectivity to upload to the cloud, there's connectivity to upload to your own server.

While there are apps and services that make it very simple and easy, I expect Putts is looking to keep more control over it.

I'll be laying out the network in my step van relatively soon and I'll post what I end up using for reference.

 

[Gary68]

man putts your making me look lazy,nice work

 

[highdesertranger]

hey Putts I know it was pages ago but that weatherproof box is what I was talking about. I like the 3 or 4 gang boxes they give you more room. they make then out of die cast or plastic. highdesertranger

 

[Putts]

...but man, if I read that whole thing, you will owe me a burger to go with the beer!

Bring it.

]The Urals are huge fun,

For those not familiar:

A sidecar motorcycle rig is the single most anachronistic but useful vehicle on the planet. When you roll on the throttle, the sidecar to your right lags, making you turn right. When you brake, the sidecar want to keep going and pushes you around to the left. When you ride a motorcycle you use something called "counter-steering" to initiate turns. Basically, when you start a left turn on a bike at speed you push the bars to the right to make the bike move under you and make you flop over to the left and turn that way. There's a million words and a thousand hours of You Tubes on the subject.

In a hack (side car rig), you steer it like a car. It actually brings up a subject close to my heart: A motorcycle pilot is the rider and you go for rides. A car pilot is a driver and you go for drives. But what the heck is a hack pilot? I've settled on the term "skipper" as the most appropriate noun. But pilot works; driver may be technically correct; steward works because you're never really quite in control of what the hell is going on. What do you think, Brian?

Have you seen some of the 'dog rides in sidecar' videos?  It's THE fastest way to meet women....bar none. ;-)

Paul is far too sensible to entangle with women...but the Ural and Hank sure as hell attracted them. For the dog loving viewers

I'm pinning my hopes on The Farkle Hut. Seriously folks, did you not see the picture of that thing?

We can take a little sidetrack stub on that one if you want.

Wire twisting...DeWalt and I'm not afeered to use it.

Love that guy. His sabre saw is to die for.

I assume you are aware of the upcoming imbalance of the earths rotation?

Wait! I thought it was all about photons and stuff.

(actually Lake of the Woods) and do a few days of riding, and a few minutes of retina searing...you are welcome to join us should the stars align for you!

That's the week after Bonneville so I'll be back hard at work, but thanks for the invite.

I believe some of the guys going are also active over on ADV, so you probably already know about it.

I really only look at about three threads over there anymore.

I assume these pictures are ok to post here,

Hell yeah. And another note to viewers: the Ural is one of the few hacks that are factory available with two-wheel drive---the hack wheel can be engaged, and it has a reverse gear. Paul rides his around Bozeman all winter long; he heasn't hardly moved nor registered his soccer mom van in the 10 years I've known him. He's full time on a moto or analog bike (bicycle).

While there are apps and services that make it very simple and easy, I expect Putts is looking to keep more control over it.

Dude, my bar is remembering how to play cribbage and backgammon 'til 80. Hopefully, it'll all be dead nuts simple at some level.

I'll be laying out the network in my step van relatively soon and I'll post what I end up using for reference.

Gosh, please do, and please post a linky here so I don't miss it.

man putts your making me look lazy,nice work

If you recall, everything had happened in the past until that last post or two. So real time, you've seen me make a piece of plywood with three un-needed spares. Just keeping it in perspective for you.

I like the 3 or 4 gang boxes they give you more room.  they make then out of die cast or plastic.  

I think I'm going with a 6 outlet die cast---I want one hole for all wires that I have a hatch to inspect for leaks underneath. I'm thinking of just adhering it to the roof with some tape adhesive, using a PVC pipe down into the electronics cabinet and gooping the heck out of it. That way if it hits a big branch it breaks away rather than being the immovable object that tears the roof off. Got any wisdom on that break-away roof bits?

 

[Putts]

Two very specific questions:

Morningstar has come out with a couple of new charge controllers called ProStar...see here. Gonna have two Renology 100W panels and two deep cycle AGM batts at first, will got to four and four as money and time provide. Morningstar seems to have a good rep. Would you guys feel comfortable buying a new product from Morningstar? Should I get the PS-MPPT-25M or PS-MPPT-40M? 

I'd like a recommendation for a 12V AGM deep cycle battery brand/model, please. 

Thanks!

Now a big thanks from me to Almost There! Went and bought one of those Kreg tools to put in the toilet back and it worked like a champ. Yeah baby, that thing is going to get used a LOT! 

Now the big news: I'm going to purchase an amazing security system!

A dog.

This is a BIG deal to me. It will be my first dog. I've been a dad in a house full of kids three times over and in each case we had myriad dogs, cats, hamsters, goldfish, goats, ducks, you name it. I've had responsibility for dogs, but they were always designated as one of the kids or my siblings dog. For the first time I'll be able to say with all the love one musters, "That's a good dog, my good boy."

I will be getting a Schipperke; a Belgian dog bred as a ratter and guard dog for canal barges. My dad's Belgian and I've known of the breed since I was a kid. Here's how the American Kennel Club breed standard describes the Schipperke's temprement:

"The Schipperke is curious, interested in everything around him, and is an
excellent and faithful little watchdog. He is reserved with strangers and ready to protect his
family and property if necessary. He displays a confident and independent personality, reflecting
the breed's original purpose as watchdog and hunter of vermin."

So, an early warning system and no mice, gophers, snakes, or other critter at my campsite.

I've talked to an internet buddy who has one, and I've talked to a Montana breeder about what I intend to do and why I need a watch dog. Both said a Schipperke is the perfect dog for the job.

Here's what they look like:

Less than 20lbs. and about 15 inches tall. A fairly small dog. They're very smart and very independent, and not particularly easy to train because of it; but if you're consistent, firm, and good natured about it they can be trained very well. They're not yappers (thank goodness) but they will absolutely let you know when there's something "out there." 

The lady locally here in Eureka Montana (350 miles away is still considered local when you live here) has two four week old male pups. Males make for the better watch dog.  I've been checking my email every ten minutes to she if she's responded to my "let's do the deal" email.

Cross your fingers for me, you may be seeing pix of my new security system---and life companion  :heart: ---in 4-6 weeks.

 

[rvpopeye]

Morningstar make some good stuff , getting the bigger one will eliminate having to upgrade when you get those extra panels.

That dog looks cool (great pic of jumping over the sheppie)
You will probably have members asking you to park next door to them when in packrat country !
Hope you get him !

 

[Putts]

You will probably have members asking you to park next door to them when in packrat country !

Snow country even...check this little video out for how much of a ratter they are: 

Hope you get him !

Mee too!

 

[highdesertranger]

Putts just a heads up on the battery bank. it's not a good idea to mix batteries of different ages in thee same bank. all the batteries in a bank should be the same age. good luck with the pup hope it works out in your favor. highdesertranger