MAX Burner

@Ronbrink: Sweet set-up, Ron! Thanks for sharing... Cheers! 🍻

@Geronimo John - Hey, GJ; FYI, D found these from Amazon. They work out well for our needs. They fit through the street side garage hatch. We use them in the back of the SUV also. Cheers, Brother!

Concur 100% w/ @Rivernerd, but hey, I'm really liking their dog!

@Rivernerd's suggestion is spot-on. Renogy products are top-notch, IMO. Making the 4/0 (pronounced, "FOUR-Ought") and 6AWG (American Wire Gauge) cables for your new 12vDC battery bank is not difficult, if you've got the tools for it and your engineer grandson is experienced in such matters. Cable cutters, a crimper tool, terminals, cable material, and proper heat shrink material are available from Amazon (no surprise there). Custom-fit cables are efficient in terms of the space they'll occupy in the tight quarters of the battery box - plus, they make the array appear neat and tidy. Being the Christmas Season, these tools would be nice stocking stuffers (get a big sock) for your engineer grandson if he doesn't already have them! HO, Ho, ho! Cheers!

Welcome to the Oliver family, @Heather and Eric! Congrats on your "new-to-you" Ollie, we just recently adopted our's as well. Y'all live in a beautiful region and we hope to take Casa Blanca (Hull #226) up there soon! We look forward to hearing about your new OTT adventures... See y'all down the road. Cheers, A & D (Magnus and Oscar, too - WOOF!)

@JWalmsley: Hey, Jason - We're think'n it might be time for another "Oliver Hat"... HO, Ho, ho! Cheers, Brother!

...oh, please! Hurt me! HA! Enjoy!

Totally get y'all's concerns. The key requirement for us was to get the Dishy off the ground and still be able to use it without the OTT. The EZ Pole and mount is robust - 4 nested aluminum tubes. High wind conditions would require striking the colors, lowering the dish to the 6.5-foot position and thus keeping it off the ground. FYI, in snowy conditions, the user can select the snow melt mode (more energy) via the SL app to keep accumulation at check and maintain high signal strength. There are flat mounts available for SL that we've studied - but once its flat-mounted on the roof, you're committed to that application - we wanted flexibility to use SL if we were tent camping, for example. As noted, we're also interested in a 12vDC conversion and shortening the proprietary CAT6 SL cable to save a bit of energy - but that's down the line. We want to log some more trips in the current mode first so we're better able to make an informed decision on what best meets our needs. Guys.... Beware, there are some scary rabbit holes one could fall into when researching the RV-applicable mods for SL kits... Many hours spent crawling through these tunnels. HA!

Thank you. Wall-to-Wall sunshine yesterday in the low 50's after a day of snowing on Saturday... Cheers!

Hey, GJ! Thanks, brother... It's a work in progress for sure. Regarding your questions: 1. The E-Z Pole mast is designed with 4 nested aluminum sections with "twist-to-lock" fittings in each. To unlock, it takes about a 1/4 turn clockwise. Push the top section up first, lock, then 2nd, and 3rd. The pix show the mast at about 2/3 max height, FYI. The mast configuration gives us more use options - for example, we can use the quad-stand at the house should we lose our Xfinity/Comcast service. 2. I measured the speeds today in on the apron at 225mbs download; 28mbs upload. Basically faster than our Xfinity service. However, we've learned through some of the previously mentioned rabbit holes, that speeds vary depending on location. In some highly dense populated areas speeds can be slower, as Starlink "chokes down" speeds - same goes with remote locations. A subscriber can pay extra for guaranteed higher speeds. We've decided to try the basic plan for the time being. 3. The basic Starlink Mobile kit is $600. The Husky tote was $28 at Walmart. The custom fit packaging pieces were $50 from Etsy. The Esty pole adapter cost $15. We're planning to modify the kit (router) from AC to 12vDC. Switching to 12vDC drops power consumption by approximately 18%, FYI. I've already purchased the component parts to make the DC conversion for about $125. Parts needed are a PoI injector, 12-48vDC converter, and a standalone router. Easy peasy. 4. The Starlink Mobile monthly service is $150 - but, service is set up as "pay by the drink". If you're not planning to travel during a particular month, or your rig is in storage mode, you can access you account online and deactivate service. Only the "Mobile" option allows this feature, the "Residential" plan does not. Hope all is well on your side - best regards to June... Cheers!

So, since D works from home and spends quite a bit of time on Zoom, Teams, etc., we decided to get into a Starlink-Mobile kit. The kit will allow her to work from Casa Blanca with Starlink's scorching fast internet connectivity and allow us to travel more often. Today we played around with a proof of concept for using Starlink in our Oliver - there are literally dozens of YouTube vids and deep rabbit holes for ideas of how to integrate Starlink with RVs. Here's how we'll be lugging is around: We're using a 12-gallon plastic Husky tote with custom-fit travel pieces from Etsy to keep components from bouncing around when towing. Its a neat and tidy mobile kit. Next, we didn't want to use the Starlink-supplied "quad stand" so we modified the top of our E-Z Flag Pole to accommodate the "Dishy" mount that would normally be inserted into the stand. We inserted an adapter (a 3D print from Etsy) into the top of the E-Z pole so the Dishy just snaps inside. By drilling-out the upper mostIMG_0441.HEIC flag connector with a step-bit, we're still able to fly the colors. We used the exterior curbside AC outlet for the Starlink router power connection. With the inverter energized, it took about 10 minutes for Starlink to connect to its satellite. Energy consumption varies between 60 and 80 watts according to our Victron Smart Shunt via the Cerbo GX. The solar modules are generating about 180watts at today's low sun angle, which more than makes up for the inverter/Starlink consumption. We'll likely put a through-hull connection using a modified waterproof Furrion capped connection (same one OTT uses for the satellite coax connection). The standard supplied cable is 75' and needs to be shortened anyway - so we'll do that when we install the modified Furrion. More later...

Happy Huskies: Magnus and Oscar are absolutely beside themselves with the light dusting and our first winter wonderland this morning....

Same here... We mounted the sending unit on the FWD bulkhead just below the closet door to the right of the main hatch... Works great!

Happy Turkey Day "Week", Oliver owners! D and I will be staying home this year, too. We'll be deep frying a 12# free range Non-GMO bird on Thursday afternoon and smoking a heavily marinated 18# brisket in the BGE on Friday. Should have plenty of leftovers - so if y'all're in the AO; swing by! Gobble - gobble! HA!

@Steve and MA: Very cool idea! Looks great... Thanks for sharing!