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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