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I will be making a group list for golf, biking, zip lining and any other lists we want to put together. Probably after the first of the year, I'll email everyone with more info on dates/times of the group activities. I'll probably be working with a volunteer to help with this. I will probably need more info on what activities everyone wants to do and how often. Some may want to bike or hike daily, etc... As of today there are 66 attendees registered on the website. A total of 36 campers (33 Olivers). And I'm guessing that not everyone that has registered at the campground has registered here on our website. And that's OK. As long as you are registered (and paid here) by April 1, 2018... that's all that matters. After April 1st, the price goes up to $45 per person. The campground said there are about 30 campers registered for the Rally (using the Oliver code) but there are several others registered. My guess is that some people that registered with the campground did not give them the Oliver code. For discounted rates, let reservations know you are with the Oliver Travel Trailers Rally (Group Code 7066) Camping Reservations : (256) 571-5455

As John said, it is a bolt on model. I will have to drill the holes to install it. Oliver tells me that they have theirs delivered with the holes already drilled.

Something to take into account if wiring the EMS for protection from the generator: Some generators (Honda, for instance) use a floating neutral and your EMS may interpret this as an open ground and not allow power to the Ollie. The fix is pretty simple and cheap, a 110 plug with the ground and neutral bonded together to let the EMS know everything is OK. The N-G plug is then plugged into an unused receptacle on the generator. I use it successfully (and safely) even with two Hondas in parallel. Only one generator needs to have the N-G bonded plug. See directions here: http://noshockzone.org/generator-ground-neutral-bonding/

John, The coupler Steve listed is a weld on design that must be drilled and bolted to the aluminum Oliver tongue. It is exactly the same as the stock Oliver coupler, except in 2 5/16" ball size. For anyone doing this mod, I recommend not getting the aluminum ball mount unless you are getting the 2 1/2" size for class 5 hitches. And only then if you are using it with an Oliver and not a heavier trailer. I saw a picture of an aluminum mount snapped off and it started a big discussion with a number of people saying they knew of failures too. Aluminum mounts will snap off if overloaded where steel will deform and hold on. I think aluminum is a poor choice for a drop hitch with their extreme leverage.

The silver faced insulation at the top - you should be able to pull it down easily. From that point, if you choose to hardwire it, you can either use the 12v outlet in the cabinet using a cigarette lighter adapter, or you can tie directly into the 12v using one of the electrical sub panel circuits on the street side of the cabinet. Undo the two bolts at the bottom of the side panel there and it will fall down to reveal the biggest mess of unlabelled wiring you've ever seen in your life. Also access to the breakers and a negative bus bar which you can use for power.

I have a comment on Tracking with a SPOT. I have used one since they first came out many years ago, originally while motorcycling. It is very nice to have a "bread crumb" trail for would-be rescuers to follow if you disappear, for example, ride your bike off into a ravine and become incapacitated. The SPOT device requires a clear shot at the sky, and any terrain or trees that are in the way will result in missed track points, sometimes for up to 30 minutes (using a ten minute setting). If your cry for help does not get received, the bread crumb trail may be the only way rescuers would know where to look. So if you routinely camp in the wilds of the Idaho forests, with steep canyons and constant tree cover, do not expect much out of a SPOT. If you are in wide open terrain, it works very well indeed. For tracking a stolen trailer, it will work up to the time the thief parks it inside a barn, but maybe that bread crumb trail will get the cops close. And its continuous signals will be received again when the trailer is removed from cover. UNTIL THE BATTERIES DIE. Thus I recommend that you power the device from the trailer wiring, and not rely solely on batteries. John Davies Spokane WA

And, canoe12, I think most of us buy spots or transponders, more for the comfort of our family and friends, who worry about us when we are traveling. I have several locks on the trailer. No one has bothered any of them in ten years. Our daughter would like to be able to log in and see where we are. And, the new spot upgrade has an emergency call system. I like that. Personally, I think I might still rather pay up and get a portable sat phone, with an interruptible plan. That would work on the boat and trailer, wherever we go. However,the relatively inexpensive spot is a good start, and will give our daughter a way to track us.

Aubrey/ jrbirdman yes, that was you. Your spot gave me a lot of comfort, being able to see where you were each time I looked throughout the day. Canoe12, on our last trip, 600 nautical miles, we did not notice any variance. The transponder, not a spot, and the plot charter and portable gps seemed to be in very close sync. However, our compass binnacle has a very high added arch. That may have made a difference. Others in the race mounted theirs elsewhere, like hanging from a Bimini arch. The main thought is, keep your spot somewhere with a pretty clear skyshot. Away from metallic interfere. We tried our transponder on the boat below decks,and it still worked. But, we have no metal in between decks. The new Olivers have the reflectix, or some kind of foil, between the hulls, that I suspect could cause interference. Even when we install our spot on the Oliver, I can't help you much. Our insulation is different in our 2008 hulls. I could probably put mine anywhere in a 2008. In newer hulls, you'll have to avoid the aluminum hat. But, easy to check on your phone with the app, before a permanent install. Sherry

I have a real concern about mounting the unit on a compass binacle. Not for how it would effect the unit, but the possible effect on the compass? Have you noticed any deviation? I know we basically rely on the plotter now but old habits die hard. We still take mental notes when running and any deviation would effect the return? I like the idea and price of the Spot at 50% off. But for the annual price of the tracking software one could buy a really good tongue lock. Are the Oliver's a real target and should we all be concerned? It is just that I have not heard of any of them being "borrowed".

That might be me that Sherry is talking about. I've had the SPOT mounted up high in the closet for a few years now and I love it. Friends and family know where I am at all times and if the trailer moves just a few feet I have it set up to send me an email AND a text message. My Ollie is stored in a metal building so it has no satellite contact but I get a message as soon as I pull it out of there. I've been running it on batteries all this time simply because getting power to that location looked like it would be a PITA. I have been pleasantly surprised that the batteries seem to last forever (several months under daily movement; longer when parked) and I get a message when they need replacement. Mounting it in a hidden place is optimum since thieves know what these devices look like, although really smart thieves will have an RF detector that will find it no matter where you put it. I guess nothing is foolproof, but this little baby is close.

I've got mine mounted on a hinged piece of Lexan in an overhead compartment. The light from that thing is pretty bright at night so I can swing it out of the way and close the overhead. No drilling required - just route the phone cord between the hulls to the overhead compartment.

We were on I40E outside of Kingman, Arizona about 1:30pm this afternoon and saw a west bound Elite with blue stripes. We waved but with the reflection, couldn't see thru the windows :) Then this afternoon, we pulled into the Rancho Sedona RV Park for the Scamp South West Fiberglass RV Rally, and met Jim & Sue in Hull #237... Of course being the nosey guy I am, I asked Jim if I could look at his sewer outlet.. Lol. I wanted to see if they had the sewer compartment fix that I initiated and wow, it looks real nice. Smooth aluminum, no diamond plate, straight access out of the bumper :) All is good :) Reed

Relative to Sherry's post above and what I think was a post from Randy on this subject, just find a spot to your liking preferably up high and between the two hulls. Cut out a section of the reflextix insulation that is about the same size as the Spot. Using double sided tape or Velcro stick it on. Run a USB cord from the Spot to a place you can plug it in (again note Randy's recommendation about the electric connections that are located in the "attic" that are usually used for satellite TV and the like). Run a test to make sure things are working OK. Then if the place you chose to mount it can be seen when opening a cabinet door, I'd replace the section of reflextix over it and hold that in place with "foil" tape in order to better hide the Spot. Bill

It can be done. Currently you would Only hear a DVD sound when played through the TV but broadcast TV would only come from the TVs built in speakers. One possible work around would be using an Apple TV (feeding into the Furion aux input ) that you put on a wifi network from an iPad. iPads work much better than iPhones for picture quality as they have a better video chip. Then you would get Netflix, Hulu , HBO, some free CBS and ABC NEWS ETC. BUT ASSUMING YOU JUST WANT TO HEAR BROADCAST TV... 1. First come out of the optical digital out port on your TV using a optical cable. I suggest a wire world 6 cable or better. 2. Run the other end of the optical cable into a DAC you can buy a small one from CEntrance (the Mini -M8) and there are many other manufacturers. Run the output from the DAC into your Furion Aux input. Set your Furion to Aux when you play the TV to hear the sound from the TV. THIS IS OF COURSE...asssuming your the TV has a optical out but 95% of them do. I hope that helps. When I get my Oliver I'm putting in an amazingly clear audiophile grade HIFi and I'm going to replace the TV with something much better. I am going to use McIntosh Car amplifiers that have great parametric EQ modules so I can tailor the sound to overcome much of the acoustic short comings of the being in a fiberglass bread loaf shape. I will either use Boelender Greabner Neo 10 planar magnetic flat midranges or Scan Speak 12 Midranges, a special flat woofer from SB Acoustics, and super high quality tweeters. Head unit will be the Nakamichi TP -1200 tuner preamplifier. Sadly the speakers face down instead out out towards the listeners ears on the Olivers...not sure why this was done as it is not at all ideal for sound intelligibility which is particularly important to people as they age.

Peter, Lake City is a lovely town. My wife and I will be staying in the area mid-July 2018. We would come sooner in the summer but we really want to make sure the high passes are open and dry. We plan to park our Ollie at one or possibly two places while we make day trips and explore in the Land Cruiser. We visited in 2008 while driving solo, rented a Wrangler in Ouray, and drove half the Alpine Loop, and we came through again with the Ollie last May on our way back from TN. But we really want to spend some time there, a week at least. I know this is off topic, so if you would start a new thread about RV boondocking (free preferred) in the Durango/ Silverton/ Ouray/ Telluride area, I would _greatly_ appreciate some suggestions and tips ftom a local. We like high passes, views, ghost towns and cool old towns like Lake City... Do you have room at your place for a visiting Oliver? I would love to meet you. Thanks, John Davies Spokane WA

We spent September in Colorado camping from 6,000 to 10,000 feet. We’ve also camped during cold weather, low 20’s. No window issues. Mike

Peter and Patty, Lake City, Colorado! My mother’s uncle ran the newspaper there many, many years ago. His last name was Furse. He died before I was born in 1949, but my family traveled from Nebraska to Lake City every summer for many years while I was growing up. We held a family reunion there 30-40 years ago and the fellow who owned the newspaper then invited us to visit and look through many historical documents relating to Mom’s uncle’s tenure at the newspaper. Many fond memories. I’ve camped in my Oliver at 10,400 feet at Cedar Breaks National Monument in Utah and many times at various locations between 5500 and 8500 feet. I’ve never experienced any problems with my windows and have never heard of an Oliver window exploding, cracking, etc. I’ve also camped when the temps have been in the 20’s. No problems with frost. Don