PHRED
PHRENDS AND LINKS
The Escapees RV Club
is the leading (not the biggest) RV club in the world. The club's
focus is on being a full support network for RVers, not just
a social group. We're not snobbish, you'll find every type of
RV and owner personality. Millionaires and people on Social Security.
Oldsters and youngsters. Workers and retired. Full-timers, part-timers
and wannabes. Among the club's many features is an effort to
be innovative, not just provide you with manufacturer's hype,
like "attractive decorator fabrics" and similar silliness.
Escapees
RV Club
100 Rainbow Drive
Livingston, TX 77351-9330
Tollfree phone: (888) SKP CLUB
http://www.escapees.com
The
RV Club
is an extremely active club. Members use computers, for the most
part, to keep in touch. As a member, you can subscribe to various
forums. A simple e-mail to a forum results in almost immediate
responses (sometimes in great quantity). I find The RV Club's
on-line system the best way to exchange information. Easy to
use, fast and with the most responsive and helpful members of
any similar group. They're social in person as well with member-organized
get togethers.
RV
Solar Electric (the most
knowledgeable dealer for alternative energy RV applications in
this country) publishes a free annual catalog with a lot of extra
information in it. Their book, "RVers' Guide to Solar
Battery Charging" ($12) has been listed in no less than
the "Whole Earth Catalog" as a "must have."
Their "Systems Installation Guide" ($5 refundable
with purchase) is a must if you want to successfully (not stupidly)
install a solar array on an RV. Buy it even if you buy the products
elsewhere because no other dealer provides this information.
RV
Power Products manufactures,
in my opinion, the best solar regulator you can buy, also at
reasonable cost. Top quality and most highly recommended.
RV
Power Products
1058 Monterey Vista Way
Encinitas, CA 92024
1-800 493-7877
(760) 944-8882
www.rvpowerproducts.com
RV
Consumer Group. Do NOT
buy an RV without first becoming a member. The "package"
includes the books you need plus much more. (See "Sources
and Resources" and "Buying an RV" for details.)
If you buy an RV without the help of the "Group," you
will get screwed. No matter how sharp you think you are,
you're not as sharp as the crooks.
RV
Consumer Group
Box 520
Quilcene, WA 98376
(800) 405-3325
(360) 765-3846
http://www.rv.org/
"Backwoods Solar Electric
Systems"
is another most-highly-regarded source. Steve and Elizabeth Willey
are swell people as well as long-time RVers and familiar with
Escapees. Their free 170-page catalog and planning guide is a
text book crammed with good info. Free quarterly newsletter has
great tips. Full line of products. Also check with them on Do
It Yourself generator and composting toilets (they're experts
on many things).
Backwoods
Solar Electric Systems
1395 Rolling Thunder Ridge
Sandpoint, ID 83864
(208) 263-4290
www.backwoodssolar.com
Workers
on Wheels
is the BEST source for information about working while on the
road. It's a complicated subject and WOW does a superb job of
covering it. Great "links" section also.
"Managing 12
Volts. How to Upgrade, Operate and Troubleshoot 12 Electrical
Systems." By Harold Barre. This is the best book ever
on the 12 volt DC system. Every RVer and anyone else using alternative
energy needs this book. $19.95, 219 pages. From "Summer
Breeze Pubs", it can also be found in Camping World, other
RV stores and Amazon. This is one you buy, not just copy stuff
out of at the library, because it's all good. Most technical
books are soon outdated. This one won't be.
Summer
Breeze Publications
1017 El Camino Real Suite #364
Redwood City, CA 94063-1632
(800) 247-6553
Another must-have
book is "RV Electrical Systems" by Bill and Jan
Moeller. With both AC and DC electrical systems and excellent
12 volt coverage, it is the best source I've seen on 120 volt
AC systems. If it's not covered in this book, you can probably
get along without it. The authors go into extraordinary detail
without getting into engineering "lingo" and tell you
things nobody else does (and those things many authors assume
we already know--that we don't). With this book you won't be
the dumbutt at a rally who miswires something and screws everybody
else up. $19.95, 265 pages, detailed illustrations. In many bookstores,
RV stores and from Amazon.
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