Doug S

Exactly Geoff, I think for now I’ll try it with the shore power plug in and see how it goes.

Geoff, Interesting point - Since the inverter is tied to a separate alternator and battery combination it is equivalent to a DC-DC converter in energy loss, and with much lower current and higher voltage to connect to shore power I wouldn’t guess that the efficiency is much different. I checked, and the inverter is rated for continuous duty- it could be a nice surprise.

Hi, I’m aware of the practical and beneficial implications of using DC to DC converters to charge a list of batteries while we’re driving down the road. My 2023 Ford F250 has a built-in 2 kW isolated inverter. It would seem to be very simple to just take the output of that inverter that’s in the rear of the bed and connect it to the shore input power and do the same thing that the DC to DC would do in a much simpler fashion. Typically you could do this with a 14 gauge three wire and initially it could be nothing more than an extension cord but eventually, of course it could be integrated more professionally. Is anyone doing this?

It’s been a great trip so far - this is our first 2 night stay. We have gone up to Glacier and then up to Coleman in Alberta at the base off Highway 40. Close to 100 miles of gravel and very dusty road. Then into Kananaskis Country and up to Banff, where everything is full-we got the last site in the 600 site RV park. The “long weekend” filled Lake Louise so you couldn’t even view the lake. We then connected with 93/95 and are down close to Kimberly in BC. As we entered Kananaskis Country the scenery changed dramatically! Massive mountains- folded and rising 6-7 thousand feet from the floor- more and more glaciers. A really different feel than our section of the Rockies in Colorado and Wyoming. Very “Individual” and massive.

Great shot! We were there at Fish Creek campground on Monday. I think the park is completely full.

Spent the night at Fish Creek Campground in Glacier National Park - Lake McDonald - 91 F yesterday. Heading to Alberta this morning. Can’t go through park on “going to the sun road”. They have a length limit on all vehicles, and Carlotta can’t make the cut. The campground is full, but very quiet. Last weekend before Labor Day. No decisions yet on where to stay. We’ll go to Coleman through Pincher Creek and see what people say. Great maps from multiple sources :https://cms.albertaparks.ca/parks/kananaskis/kananaskis-country/information-facilities/camping/camping-in-kananaskis-country/

Just to add one more data point, I made a frame with some aluminum angles, and mounted the camera itself on a vertical plate. I used a pair of rubber “bands” that mount the display on the rear view mirror. That makes it natural for a rear view. I have had no signal problems with the setup. I could not use the Furrion. I was actually surprised that it was so poor. My next step is to put another camera on the rear of my cap so that I always have a hi quality rear view.

Hi Toni! Yes, it is great-as you know. We keep it in Fort Collins in the winter. We are traveling in Europe right now, but pick it up in early August and home base it in Jackson until early November. We are considering a West Coast trip sometime this winter - from San Diego to at least Oregon. Thanks for re connecting!

We left Pincher Creek and then traveled to Banff and beyond. We took a couple of days and nights in a Toyota Land Cruiser- the early Jeep “knockoff”. The route goes up the spine of the Acadian Rockies.

Thanks - I’ll go after it! I did this route out of Glacier National Park many years ago and it was exceptional.

Hi all, I m looking at doing a trip with my daughter up in Canada, ideally on hiway 40 (Kananaskis Trail) in August. Does anyone here have experience up there? Can you get campsites or boondocks?

Hi, The SOC is calculated, but the voltage should be measured. At no load there shouldn't be any measurable difference between the batteries that are all wired in parallel. I think something is likely wrong with the electronics in the battery with the 12.9 V. The other 2 are pretty close together (.02V). That's quite a bit different than .7 volts. Odd too that this is the battery with much lower charge. Just a guess, but .7V is close to one diode drop, which could mean that this battery has a blown protection diode in it and is therefore the primary soldier and the others are along for the ride until he is discharged.....

NIce photo!

Welcome from #1491 - probably made the same week - in the nursery together! We are in Wyoming an Colorado. I hear the Black Hills are great - Doug

Just a quick comment on this proceeded by "it would need to be measured.", and I believe it's likely that a white Oliver would be cooler than one that was painted or had a darker color...but... The term used to describe the absorbtion or radiation of energy is emissivity. The highest (perfect) absorber or radiator has an emissivity of 1.000.. A perfect reflector has an emissivity of 0.... Close to 40% of the sun's radiated energy is in the visible area of the spectrum, but nearly 50% of the energy is in the infrared. So, while the white is reflective to our eyes, most plastics and normal paints are very dark in the infrared. You'd like a lower emissivity number to both keep heating from the sun to be low and to lose less heat at night. The ideal direction would be something like highly polished aluminum (but not anodized). Shiny white and clean fiberglass is much easier to maintain, and probably much lower cost. And white of the same material would likely have a lower emissivity compared to a color - particularly a darker one.