It's been a while since I've been here as we were not able to go boondocking due to health, work and family issues. Other changes include we became me and I retired. Starting 1/1/17 the trip will not be a week or two, it is for good. I point the nose south and will attend two rallies in Quartzsite then who knows.

That's right, this is not a drill. Time for the the rig to prove itself worthy of its design. I bet it can.

I had help getting the three 250w panels on the roof after I mounted the feet. It took a deep breath to start putting holes in the roof, once started I ended up putting 49 holes in it all together.

Currently they are ran in series through a modified PVC conduit fitting that will accommodate the 1/0 welding wire when I go parallel. That was a 1/2 inch hole to drill and required several deep breaths.

The three 157 pound, 225 Ah Lifeline AGM batteries are in a custom box where one of the  dinette seats use to be. This placed the batteries over a axle where it doesn't affect the tongue weight. They are wired in parallel with 1/0 cables using a 16 on crimper to put the terminal ends on.

The controller is on the wall behind the batteries making for a very short run between them. The Tripp-lite 1250fc inverter is in the storage bay below the controller.

You can see the Blue sea switches for the controller and inverter, there are two more for the trailer supply line and solar feed from the panels. The fusing is Blue sea terminal fuse blocks. A 60a for each the controller and house supply. 200 amp for the inverter. (inverter is not connected in this photo.)

Also I had the air conditioner removed from the roof and the axles flipped. This gave me more room up top for the panels, more clearance below for rougher roads. The A/C was traded straight up for a fantastic fan and it is indeed fantastic.

I also had a new awning fabric and a power jack installed. The nice thing about pulling the battery off the tongue is now I can try to mount a 800w inverter generator up there in case of emergencies. It was on sale at Home Depot for $158 and I couldn't pass it up.

Getting rid of the dinette seats means a loss of seating and storage. A cushion fits on the battery box if needed and the open floor space will allow me to use more comfortable seating as in my anti-grav chair or a rolling office chair. It also gives me a large area to put things while I travel instead of filling the walk way. The bare area of floor shows how much area the dinette took up.

There is still more to be done but it will have to be done on the road as I am out of time. I had to start packing and making the changes in banking, address, insurances, etc. I hope to have the packing up of my stuff done this weekend and then it's on to packing up the trailer.

I got a Amazon Prime membership for the free two day shipping, it has been a godsend getting things here in time. Certainly worth it seeing that two fuses was going to cost a extra $50 to get here on time.

I did get a storage unit for things that I am not ready to get rid of yet. My RC airplane collection did not sell and I am glad. I had a birth defect corrected in my left eye and I will be able to see them again. The unit became even more important when I noticed tools growing feet. In one day they were packed up and safe. My first order of business on the road will be to sort them out and reduce.

Looking forward to departure I have been watching the forecast for a few reasons. First of course is safe driving. Second is if it will be too cold to operate the propane refrigerator. They don't like temperatures under 20 F. I may end up dewinterizing the lines and buying my food once I get to where it is warm enough for both.

8 days and counting.

Radio Nomad Episode 2 Vance Hollister

Wilson Sleek signal booster

Now that I have all four carriers it is time to optimize the signal I get. I know that up in the mountains will be a challenge but even here at home it can be a pain getting a decent signal. The towers are either distant or shielded by buildings and high power lines. There is also a lot of congestion due to a large neighborhood and three expressways near us. On their own the devices function but can be slow at times, occasionally getting knocked off completely even though it shows a signal.

Enter the Wilson Sleek cradle booster that was $109 including shipping on ebay. It is a refurbished, discontinued model that covers the same bands as the newer more expensive WeBoost units.

It showed up right before rush hour so I was able to test it in the worst of times. The improvements were not huge but it did improve things.

On TMO it gave full bars, lowered the dBm and kept the device online through rush hour. Switch it to 4G and it will even stream.

The Verizon 3G got a full signal, a lower dBm and it's speed double from pitiful to not so pitiful.

On Sprint it says it doesn't cover the high speed band 41 but I have seen the dBm change as I pulled the device from the cradle. It is either boosting it or the mere connect to the antenna is. It does boost the other two LTE bands as well as 3G and while the signal doesn't look like much, it is usable with just one bar.

On Cricket it lowered my dBm, raised the signal but being capped, the speed never goes above 8 Mbps.

So for $109 it really does improve your signal. it wont take a pitiful signal and turn it into full speed, nor will it create a signal where there is none. It is just being able to use a weak signal that matters, especially up in the mountains.

The improvement during off peak hours was wonderful. Streaming became easy on all of the devices.

Next is to find a directional antenna to improve things even more.

Unlimited Verizon 3G hotspot for $5 a month.

The last feather in my multi carrier cap was Verizon, the carrier with the best coverage and highest rates. I was drooling over unlimited grandfather unlimited Verizon plans on ebay when I happened along several sellers on flashed hotspots that cost $5 a month for unlimited Verizon but 3G only. For me 3G is fine as it is what Verizon has in the mountains where were camp.


The unit I picked up was a Verizon MiFi 4510 for $84.99 and then also a MiFi 4620 for my mother in law.. They both work well and pick up signal where my Sprint, T-mobile and Cricket devices will not. Verison 3G is faster than Sprint and TMO 3G and in speed test show between 1 and 2 Mbps, easily enough for low res streaming and most other applications.

with each hotspot I received two pages with the info and how to pay for it. 

You can find the flashed hotspots by simply searching Verizon unlimited 3G on ebay. The seller I used seems to be having some issues so I have no one seller to suggest.

I did have to re up the sevice this month and it was pretty simple. I had the option of using a $5 prepaid card or paying the $5 on a credit card that I did for convenience. $10 won't get you two months, it's one month at a time.

Internet on the road

So you my be wondering why I have been posting about all of these cell services. While it would be easiest to find a unlimited AT&T or Verizon plan and be done with it, those plans are expensive and have their own limitations. My plan is to have a little something on each carrier so that if there is a connection to be had, one of the devices will get it. Be the device that gets the signal or be the fastest at any given location and you will be lavished in extra data while we are there. Otherwise you will sit in the drawer until needed.

Now having something on each carrier can be expensive. That's why the services I use are not the all mighty unlimited plans. I call it affordable versatility.

On AT&T I have my Cricket Phone with 10 gigs of high speed and then unlimited 2G afterwards. It's my main phone as AT&T has good service here. Up in the mountains it is 2G in the mornings and TnT all of the time. This plan cost me $65 a month on auto pay with the use of the hotspot.


FreedomPop and Ringplus are my free Sprint solutions. After buying the devices there is no monthly cost. I get a gig of data on each the Freedompop hotspot and RingPlus phone. Sprint is the weakest of the big four but if their signal is best, you can get some blazing speeds out of them.

4gas is my T-Mobile solution and while not free, at $19.71 a month for 5 gigs is a affordable solution for T-Mobile. ( $17 a month for service, the rest in fees)It also includes Binge on for free watching of the services listed, most are pay services though.  T-mobile says they cover the southern half of our boondocking areas, I really hope to get a band 12 4G signal up there.

Up there you may get service from one carrier on one side of the ridge and another on the other side. This also happens at times from one side of a sky scrapper to the other downtown.

Honey also has a Cricket phone so before we hit the road, one of them will be switched to a Verizon account so that we have all four carriers.

So for me it's 17 gigs of data and two phones for $85 a month. At home we get service from all of the carriers so I will combine them to make it possible to kill off the xfinity internet. I thought I needed the unlimited high speed until I started paying attention to how much data I really use. In reality 17 gigs is more than enough for cruising the forums, checking emails, playing pogo games and even occasional streaming of a hockey game.

So that's Jimmys get online anywhere plan. 

4GAS T-Mobile service

4Gas- 4gantennashop.com is a business reseller of T-Mobile services. I am on the $17 for 5 gigs plus unlimited 2G and binge on. They have packages ranging from 5 gigs and up. I did buy a hotspot from them for $89 and had it 5 days later.

The hotspot I choose first was the Rocket aircard because it could be used on the 10 and 20 gig plans if I decided to upgrade. I am swapping it for a ZTE Z915 because it supports the 700 mhz band T-Mobile deployed in Colorado. When I enquired of the swap, the answer was of course we can. Just send back the Rocket when the 915 gets there.

Like with most carriers, T-Mobile has good coverage in Denver and I even have a tower near my house. Where I am really hoping to see a advantage is from the 700 mhz ( band 12) in the mountains. The lower the spectrum, the farther it carries and better penetrates buildings. I hoping to see something better than 2G up there.

You can call and get a real person 24/7. My account managers email is nicholas@4gantennashop.com and I have spoken with the owner twice. All very kind and helpful.

Again I have no connection except as a happy customer.

RingPlus free phone. text and data service.

RingPlus is another carrier like Freedompop where you buy the device, set up the account and pay nothing there after. They are on Sprint so make sure you have service . The deal I have with them was called the Leonardo 4 plan, comes with 1400 mins talk, 1400 text and 1200 Mbs of Data including using the hotspot for free a month. I did have to put $20 into a account in case I went over. Extra gigs are $8 a gig.

Unlike FreedomPop, RingPlus does not have hotspot only plans. I bought a Sprint Prepaid LG Tribute Duo on sale at Best buy for the service. I ran it through the MEID checks and signed up in minutes. You can buy and even lease phones from them if you wish or switch one over from another service.

Besides paid plans, they make their money using music and ads instead of a ring tone while you call someone. Sometimes when you sigh up for a promoted plan, it will have a survey or you will need to link to  social networks. Those promotions are paid for by the company wanting the survey. Each promotion usually only last for days so keep watch for the kind of plan you want. Some are heavier in TnT, others include more data or free use of the hotspot. There is a set of paid and lower tier free plans that are constant.

As for the service. I have had good luck using the phone for calls and text. The signal and data speeds are the same as with my Mingle Hotspot, weak when the signal is, blazing fast when the signal is good. (up to 33 Mbps so far)

So if you need a emergency back up, something to connect when other services may not or just a extra bit of data a month, RingPlus may be for you.

You can check them out at RingPlus.net and I am happy to answer any questions I can but I have no connection except being a happy customer.