--- In motorhome-list@yahoogroups.com, "dave harrison"
<chippard@t...> wrote:

Hi All,
I note that Savapiont are selling a 17" LCD Flat screen

Monitor

complete with speakers for £289.99! Does anyone know where I can

get a tv

tuner to put to it? It may work out cheaper than a full tv.
Regards,
Dave C.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Yes Maplin Electronics do a range of tuners from around £60 - £120, I
bought the £80 one. They were also doing a 17" monitor for £200 so I
bought that as well. The set up works fine, and with a decent set of
surround sound speakers it's like being at the movies. Be carefull
though some monitor (LG ones spring to mind)do not work with these
tuners due to the refresh rate. The tuner can also take a PC input,
so at the push of a button you can flick from TV to PC, quite a
flexible set up for only £280.

Mark

Hi All,
Now that the dark nights are with us a little light entertainment
would be nice, Blaster Bates produced a set of after dinner speeches the are
very amusing, I heard them once, but can't seem to find them anymore! Has
anyone got therm so I can copy?
Regards,
Dave C.

Hi All,
I note that Savapiont are selling a 17" LCD Flat screen Monitor
complete with speakers for £289.99! Does anyone know where I can get a tv
tuner to put to it? It may work out cheaper than a full tv.
Regards,
Dave C.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi
I also would appreciate anyone else in this group has any links to solar panels info , replies without sarcasm most appreciated.
Lawrence (without a poncheon for flock wallpaper)

Carol,

The trouble with the Sprinter LWB (Morello is MWB) is that it is 3.5 ft
longer than the Fiat Morello, which sorts of defeats the object of almost
getting it in car parking spaces in town, etc.

Basically if I wanted something approaching 22ft long, it wouldn't be a
panel van :-)

As to providing your own base vehicle, that is indeed what I am looking at.
The first online quote I received saved me over £6k on the Murvi Merc Feb 03
prices.

Dave

Dave whilst at Shepton Mallet, I spoke to their guy there on the stand, and
asked why they didn't do it on the long wheel base version we have seen, he
says because we aren't asked..... They did quote apparently for it once.
From what I understood, you can buy your own vehicle (ie import from Ireland
where they were a lot cheaper at one time) and they will convert it, it
doesn't even have to be a new van.

Carol

I've been without my computer for a couple of days - been down in Taunton
getting an alarm fitted - so am struggling to read thru about 200 emails. If
you are waiting for a reply, sorry, but I'll try and get thru them asap.

The drive back from Taunton yesterday evening was thru some of the worst
conditions I have ever experienced. I averaged about 20mph overall. I have
driven thru tropical storms in Africa, but nothing like that. In the dips
the water was coming up out of the drains in 3ft high fountains. Rubbish was
being flushed off of the fields and out of the ditches. Visibility was so
poor that 20mph seemed positively un-nerving at times. And it wasn't just
me. There wasn't a single incidence of motorists queuing up behind or
busting a gut to get past me. Even when I deliberately slowed on dual
carriageways to let them pass, they stayed back behind me. I think they were
grateful to follow the big white rear end and the festoon of lights. I felt
like a pathfinder.

I was absolutely bushed when I eventually reached Bristol and very glad to
leave Metikos in the care of the Van Bitz alarm in one of the dodgiest areas
of Bristol. Hithertoo I've slept in it to keep the scrotes at bay.

All the little bits and pieces - gas adaptors, alarm, changing lights fore
and aft, telly, etc. not least finding out what is needed and what can be
left at home - are sorted and I'll be off on my travels before very long.

One thing.

Met a seasoned full timer at Van Bitz. Lady from Windermere with her fifth
van, a new Bessacarr. She was there to get an Alpine radio/nav system
fitted. She had previously bought a RAC tracker system at the show inYork in
the belief that it was a navigation system. She honestly believed that she
only had to phone the RAC for them to tell her where she was and give
instructions to get her to her destination. She admitted to just blundering
around the UK until she more or less reached her destination. She is off to
Orkney in December as she does most years, but she is taking the ferry from
Aberdeen this year. She usually goes to Wick or somewhere, but the snowfalls
seem to be getting worse in the Highlands and she got stuck last year. It
wasn't too bad, she said, provided you've plenty of gas to keep warm. But
you can't run out of fresh water. :-))

Ernie Bull
Bristol

--- In motorhome-list@yahoogroups.com, Alan Cocks <aec@c...> wrote:

In article <74.341803bb.2cc3e8dc@a...>, Chrislyn2602@a... writes

We have a good offer from Sea France (129 pounds) (going late on

Sunday

night and returning late the following Saturday night) ...but

have any

of you been over this time of year (ie second week in November)

and

could tell us how far down it would be necessary to go to get

reasonable

weather/places that are still open etc.

As I write this I am sitting in France (near Saintes in the SW - we
live here) so I can give you up-to-the-minute info. Until 3 hours
ago it was peeing down and had been for 3 days. Forecast for
tomorrow and Sunday is better though.

Forget campsites - get your France Passion book out or your guide to
Aires de Service. We spent last weekend in:-

a)(Saturday night) a car-park. Friends had invited us to a jazz
evening at the local village hall. They asked the mayor if we could
camp in the car-park in front of the church? "Pas de problem!" There
is usually no problem with this in most french villages.

b)(Sunday night) A France Passion site - the Ecomusee de Cognac.
Free camping and a trip round the museum - which was closed although
the owner opened it up for us to look round, gave us a tasting of 4
cognacs and a pineau and then watched as we weaved our way back to
the vans for dinner.

Make sure you have propane (last weekend was below zero at night)
and stay on Aires Communales (these are the small Aires provided by
local "Communes" (councils) in small towns and villages. There is a
lovely Aire on the bannks of the Charente in Cognac for example that
has water, a waste dump and 4 hook-ups - and it (like most of the
Aires Communales) is free. Right opposite the Hennessy distillery.
(Visit, tour, short river trip and tasting - 8 Euros)

Do not confuse Aires Communales with the Aires at Motorway Service
Areas. DO NOT stop overnight at these! You won't get gassed (an
urban myth) but you may have your van broken into. It isn't as
common as people make out but why take the risk? Anyway - the N
roads (equivalent to our "A" roads) are much more scenic and I don't
suppose you are in a great rush.

Arrive in towns in mid-afternoon (France is shut between mid-day and
2pm) find the local Tourist Information or, if that is closed, the
Marie (town hall) and ask where the nearest Aire is. La Rochelle,
for example, has 4 free Aires so you should find a space. Cheap
eating at the restaurants attached to large supermarkets (ALWAYS buy
fuel at supermarkets)or look for the "Relais" with lorries outside
them at lunchtime. Nothing like our transport caffs - the average
french lorry driver is very fussy about his food.

If you have time join France Passion. That gives you free camping on
vineyards and farms free. If you don't have time - look for the
France Passion sign and chance your luck anyway. The vineyard owners
and farmers are happy to welcome you - they are not in the scheme to
make money.

To guarantee (???) - well almost - good weather you will have to go
right down to the Med and probably Spain or Portugal. But if you
want great food, great wine and superb scenery stick to France

giving the feeling of a lot more space.

Michael,

Thanks. I had suspected this but I haven't had the opportunity to be in both
base vehicles with the same conversion layout to check this. The MMM review
earlier this year of the Merc Morello played down this difference, but in a
way that I wondered that dismissed it too readily.

Yes, the Merc Murvi is rear wheel drive. It is preferable, as is the
availability of a difflock and auto transmissions, but not such a swinger
for me as reliability/quality vs price vs space.

Dave

Well, at the very simple level, the Ducato is wider (by 3-4 inches)
and squarer than the sprinter (which tapers considerably to the roof)
giving the feeling of a lot more space.

Obviously the sprinter is going to be more money but I think the
Ducato is as reliable now as the sprinters (and cheaper to buy parts
for) - so is the extra cost worthwhile??

One element which might swing it is that the sprinter is available as
RWD (not sure if this is a Murvi option though) and Ducato is only
FWD.

HTH

Michael

Some of you might like to follow the links off this page:http://www.calormarineshop.co.uk/marine_gas/uk_yachtsman.htm.

Our water brethren would seem to have considerably more expertise at such things than probably anyone in the land-based regime.

I have to say that we have been motorhoming for the last 12 years and never had a problem with mixing Butane and Propane, apart from the fiddly bit swapping the regulators over. Generally only happens twice a year, unless I miscalculate the amount of gas for the current trip.

The gas locker in our 'home (1991 Eldiss Autoquest 320 on a Talbot chassis) comfortably holds a large Propane and two smaller Butane containers, a regulator for each type, spanner and screwdriver all to hand.

I haven't yet found any info on the new system. Anybody with a URL or newsgroup?

cheers,

Pete

--- In motorhome-list@yahoogroups.com, Brian Marsden <bmls05272@b...>
wrote:

I had a look in the CAK catalogue and the page on 'gas tanks and
accessories' about built in gas tanks they show two regulators for
30mB---one for direct connection to gas tank and one for remote

connection

to gas tanks. So it appears to be technically possible to supply

our

appliances with lpg at 30mB but politically/legally unacceptable.

Surely

this makes a case for retro-fitting to be permitted.
Regards
Brian M

I had gas tank fitted by mth some months ago, too wet to go outside
at the moment to see what what pressure the regulator is BUT things
take longer to heat up on the cooker, trauma water heater & blown air
heating all appears to be ok. Last week i put some more gas in tank,
24 litres which is about 12kg, cost £6.47 which is a lot cheaper than
refilling a calor type 6kg bottle
bertie

excellent
--- pilotepete@btinternet.com wrote:

We were recommended to a site called Font Neuf,
complete with swimming pool (the temperatures were
in excess of 35*C, but it was full so we went off
to another municipal ten miles away, to a small town
named Monteux to get our bearings or at least to try
and adjust to the temperatures. At any rate, this
was well shaded and we could nip into the
Supermacardo on the bikes cool off.
The fridge was now pathetic and we had to through
away the originally frozen food. In Heath Robinson
fashion, I attached a 12v fan used to demist the
front windows, to the outside vents hanging from
electrical wires and blew the air through to
circulate the air and overnight we were eventually
able to make some ice. This was after we were now
experiencing great thirsts even though we carried
water bottles. In desperation I removed the air
filter from the vent then we were able to keep the
fridge cool during the daytime while on the mains as
this allowed better circulation. Of course, the gas
system had packed up too. The twelve volt system
while running did not do much so as we had ice packs
and water bottles that we had frozen overnight, that
was sufficient to keep us going during the daytime
visits in the van. As we had a thermo bag we were
able to take cold sips most of the day. I do
remember one article in MMM when the writer said
that he had an extra fan fitted behind the fridge.
Visiting in this sort of heat must include air
conditioned buildings and the only ones we found
were supermarkets. We took the camper 15 miles to
Avignon and found trees to keep the worst of the sun
off the bodywork. The choice was in a motor home
parking area without shade or on the side of the
road with shade. One of the other concerns is
security and despite having a Van Bitz alarm, there
was a lot of preparation wiring up the expensive
toys before we could leave it as there is the risk
of a quick snatch. On this occasion, there was no
incident but I did feel most uncomfortable thinking
about sprinting back to the van for a mile or two if
the alarm went off in this sort of heat. The return
journey included a visit to the Camarge an area of
flat wasteland that is in part swamp. Not only was
this taking in the culture of the wild bird life but
also wild horses.
The great advantage of the roads around here is that
there is little traffic as you only see one or two
vehicles over ten miles. There is plenty of culture
to take on board providing you can live with the
heat. It was so intense that if we visited one day
we would rest the next and if we could use a
swimming pool in the evening after the rabble had
gone back to eat and the sun was loosing its
strength. At home we walk three miles every morning
but so far we had not walked at all. We met a
couple who informed us that there had been no rain
for two months. We know now from the news that
there were close on 15,000 deaths directly related
to the hot weather.
The week before we set out the GPS Navigator packed
up with no speech. The dealer got me a new one
within a few days. Unfortunately, the dealer did
not get the software to go with it. So navigation
was by map and eyeball but having a real navigator
was quite acceptable as there was a running
pedagogic commentary to go with it. The main roads
were on but found that most of the time we were
running parallel to other roads, apparently across
the fields so the costly Navigator was not much use
on this occasion. I do switch it between the tourer
bike and any vehicle especially when on my own which
has been really useful as it talks to you and very
useful in difficult circumstances. Further, you can
be directed to fuel stations or local places of
interest.
Strategy for dealing with the very hot weather was
to become easier when we booked into our original
target site which not only had a swimming pool but
also a restaurant and some national cultural
entertainment. We were only twelve miles from
Monteux our previous camp site but what it lacked in
shade was made up for with facilities to keep cool.
From here we visited Senanque Abbey down in a deep
valley where lavender was grown. We joined a party
with a guide and experienced the austerity of the
Cistercian monks in their cells. The woodwork tools
they used were quite comprehensive and having
quietness on their agenda which must have been
helpful to contemplate the higher things in life ??
There must be a message here as it seems to me that
we have much noise entering into our minds which in
turn must shut out more spiritual matters.
PROVENCE 2003 PART 3
After four days mixing it with the Dutch and their
energetic and noisy kids, we moved on 30 miles to
Malaucene, another campsite with a swimming pool but
also with a fair smattering of Dutch kids. We were
lucky to have what we thought was an exclusive shady
site sheltered from the pool but only one hundred
yards walk with a bar adjacent. After one quiet
peaceful night on site, a young Dutch couple arrived
with a tent and a young two year old. After a bit
of moving around we were both accommodated and as it
turned out there was little to worry about and
little disturbance as we operated in different time
zones.
This was the peak period of heat and without
starting the engine it was recording 42 Centigrade
on the engine temperature gauge. By this time, we
had perfected the system for frozen water bottles to
carry with us while we explored the town and visited
the Supermarcado.
We decided to tackle Mont Ventoux, which is part of
the Tour de France track. We used the camper and at
about half way, the views were spectacular. There
were plenty of cyclists and motor cyclists going
both directions and the climb was precipitous from
time to time. En route we stopped at Suzette. Just
short of the summit of 1900 metres, was a stretch of
road of about 300 yards that was new but looked more
or less than the width of one vehicle and no passing
places. Neither was there a barrier on my right
which was almost perpendicular, downwards. It was
so steep I could not look just in case the road
disappeared in front of me. When I had negotiated
this without meeting another vehicle, I was so
grateful to be able to turn onto a flat piece of
ground, used by all those that had the nerve to
brave this section. Thjs was for parking and
viewing the vista from about 6000 ft. To say I was
shaking with stress was an understatement. It was
at least twenty minutes before I could look and
appreciate the scenery and this was after putting
bricks in front of the wheel just in case it rolled
away on the flat surface! After a while a coach
drove up as if it did it every few hours and then I
felt like a bit of a whimp.
The camera was wielded after a twenty minute climb
on foot to the viewing platform, which must have
been another few hundred feet. There was even a
little chapel built there in commemoration of dead
cyclists or was the chapel built for all those that
had tried to ascend en route to heaven and died with
fright in anticipation of going back down? The
return journey down the other side was much easier
and we visited Sault on the return journey to
Malaucene and the seclusion of a good stiff drink.

Hope the length is not too long.


Pilotepete now in the only Nu Venture Chameleon.
Birmingham UK

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears
http://launch.yahoo.com/promos/britneyspears/

As I up my rate of research into deciding on a panel van conversion of the
Murvi Morello genre http://www.murvi.co.uk/morello.html
I once again find myself in turmoil over the base-vehicle choice of Fiat
Ducato vs Mercedes Sprinter. Whilst this is not an invitation for list
members to indulge in venting their long-held biases (I'm as guilty as
anyone) I genuinely would welcome informed comment on the pros & cons of the
two CURRENT base vehicles for a quality motorhome conversion intended for 10
years' use as a multi-purpose leisure vehicle.

Quality, reliability, price (value-for-money vs niggles?) and width seem to
me the main trades.

The Sprinter is due for its next generation in 2006, by the way, but how it
is planned to change I don't know.

I like a large lounge so have already rejected James Cook, Regent, etc. I
did find an interesting Australian site I hadn't come across before:
http://www.trakka.com.au/jabiru.html
http://www.trakka.com.au/torino.html

Dave

Thanks for the info - much appreciated (2nd attempt at sending ....finger
trouble!)
Lynne

Thanks for the info - all useful and much appreciayed
Lynne

I lit my last van entirely with flourescents, and it was very bright
when
they were all on, i'm doing the same with my next van i'm begining to
build
now.. tho i am considering using proper cold cathode tubes.. as they can
be
dimmed easily, then i'll have the low current consumption of
flourescents,
and be able to adjust the light output to suit the mood im in,





What are proper cold cathode tubes and where do you get them?


Jenny (Chemistry Technician with not enough knowledge of Physics) I know
a Teltron tube is a cathode ray tube as I have set these up.

--- In motorhome-list@yahoogroups.com, Alan Cocks <aec@c...> wrote:

In article <bnp2un+5qfa@e...>, antarn2003
<norman.ansell@t...> writes

(If so the inside person has to climb
over to get out)

I *love* Tommy Cooper's old joke:

" I can't get over a woman like you.....

you'll have to get up and make the tea yourself!"

This is EXACTLY why we settled for a fixed bed....I hang on to the
outer edge and just swing my legs out to the wall at the back of the
shower room. Plenty of room for Himself to get out then and make the
tea- after he's switched the heating on! :-))

Hilary

Hi all
Having kept up with threads on new gas regs and also on gas in Norway etc I checked my appliance specifications as a previous poster did. In the blurb on Cascade water heaters I came across some information that may be of interest.

Butane---"Most continental cylinders have a male left hand thread similar to,but not identical with, UK butane.Carver Duomatic butane regulators will satisfactorily fit directly onto continental male threaded cylinders. Other UK regulators may screw on but may not seal properly".

Propane---"cylinders have female left hand threaded connector. This same connector is used in Scandinavian countries , but in Germany and Austria propane is supplied in cylinders with a male connector.Carver Duomatic propane regulators will satisfactorily fit directly into Scandinavian propane cylinders".
Above are taken from Cascade handbook.
A bit late in the day now that Carver have gone and at present I have not been able to locate a source.Does any one know anything about Carver Duomatic regulators?

I had a look in the CAK catalogue and the page on 'gas tanks and accessories' about built in gas tanks they show two regulators for 30mB---one for direct connection to gas tank and one for remote connection to gas tanks. So it appears to be technically possible to supply our appliances with lpg at 30mB but politically/legally unacceptable. Surely this makes a case for retro-fitting to be permitted.
Regards
Brian M

Don't forget to tell them its a twin axle as this makes a big difference.

I had the same, reducing my front pressures from 65 to 43 after calling
Michelin. Much better ride.

Mike