Jan 12
Balloon Beach
It was almost looking like a repeat of previous years — too windy — at this year’s Annual Balloon Festival. High winds yesterday prevented a morning balloon ascension.
However, this morning it was perfect weather. Jan got up early and took the best photos. I was up late (8:30am ish) and took pictures of balloons landing in our “back yard” . . .
Balloons over the channel
Frog over London Bridge
Landings on the Island
Jan 7
Ambient Weather’s WS-2000 System
I just installed an Ambient WS-2000 personal weather station at our park model in Lake Havasu City, AZ. The weather station measures temperature, humidity, wind speed, rain amount, and a bunch of other things. However, what I think makes the WS-2000 exceptional is the ability to add up to 8 temperature/humidity sensors to it. More on this later. Finally, all of the WS-2000’s measurements can be displayed on the Weather Underground or on Ambient’s own site — AmbientWeather.net.
Station on a Stick
Station in the Air
Our WS-2000 is mounted on a 16-foot fiberglass flag pole I bought from Poles and Holders who also sell the pole mounting holders, like the white one above and the black one on the back of our RV:
RV Pole Mount
Our goal is to take the weather station (and pole which collapses to 4 feet) with us in our RV when we travel. Of course, it would be a PITA to put the pole up for just short campground stays, but at least this summer we’ll be staying longer at places.
All the weather information — including any optional sensors — appears on the included LCD display . . .
7-inch LCD Display
. . . and on a web browser, a tablet, or a smartphone:
iPhone Display
This feature is a real boon for RVers as it allows you to monitor temperatures while away from your RV. For example, in addition to the indoor sensor in our park model (and soon to be in our RV), we also have a temperature/humidity sensor in our refrigerator and in the freezer. We plan to put another sensor in our RV’s basement water compartment to alert us if the temp drops to freezing.
In the short movie below, you can see the LCD display cycling through
These addition sensors offer RVers pet protection during hot summers and food protection in the case of refrigerator failure.
Our Freezer Sensor
Dec 25
Box Closed
As promised in my Happy Thanksgiving post, here’s what’s in the box:
Box Open
It’s a portable generator . . .
Boxed Portable Generator
After several campground power outages (one in summer = no AC), we decided to get a small backup generator. This gen is powerful enough to power our park model, except for our washer/dryer and outside AC. However, it will power a small wall AC we have. Also, the gen is “dual fuel” so it can run off either gasoline or propane. Very handy.
Boxed
The box I built, which ended up costing about as much as the portable gen, was designed to reduce generator noise. Did it work? You be the judge . . .
And what’s Christmas without a new season of Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2010 (Part 2).
Of course we all remember the spectacular Girl Fight episode in Part 1 between Haruka and Risako . . .
Ho, Ho, Ho!
Geez Louise, I was feeling my age (70 in January) today.
I replaced our RV’s two engine batteries (12V Interstate 31-MHD) and four house batteries (6V Lifeline GPL-4CT).
Heavy and lots of wires
I thought it would be a 1-hour job. Two-and-one-half hours later I was done. Really done. All tolled I schlepped 768 pounds of lead (removing 384 pounds of old lead and then lifting in 384 pounds of new lead).
Out with the Old
Why?
I tried to start our Newmar last week, and it wouldn’t turn over. A 12V battery should actually be over 12 volts . . .
Good Batteries
However, my engine batteries weren’t even close. Then I remembered that they were probably over 10 years old . . .
Bad Batteries
Since I had to replace the engine batteries, I thought it was also time to replace the four, 7-year-old house batteries.
Heavy and expensive, but this should be the last time.
rvSeniorMoments 