RE Post 27527. What sort of gadgets do people take camping?

Ah, I see. I've read a few times on this forum of people taking laptops and it's always left me wondering. I assume that most people would use thiers for the same thing - ie navigation. I didn't know that technology was so readily available but then again, i definately don't keep anywhere close to up to date on gizmos and gadgets! Thanks!

If you're a paper map man like me, the laptop/gps combo is amazing. It can be relatively cheap and is far from rocket science. Takes all the hassle out of the uncertainty of whether you've taken the right fork in the track. Gives any co pilot something to play with or lets the kids know that no we're not there yet :)

Beatit,

Basically I camp simple because that's what my finances dictate. A tent (or swag if solo), a tarp, gas stove and eskies. I have always loved the thought of a good CT w/kitchen etc but never gone past thinking about it. I've always thoutht it would be too much bother to lug anything more around but the more I think about it the more I realise how much easier a good set up would make camping. Easier = more enjoyable.

Then there's the complete lack of understanding when it comes to anything auto electric, so I'd say there's a few more years of me doing it rough. But the comments from my girlfriend about how comfy other campers look are getting louder and louder! :-)

Cheers

Scoey

It's called evolution Scoey, we all start out that way and finances, age etc eventually requires a more comfortable approach. It is a little more hassle getting ready to leave home but the stays are comfy particularly if doing longer trips. Auto electrics is something that you will learn in the process - trust me. You have all the info you need on this forum to make something work or at least a bunch of opinions to start the thinking process.

Kind regards

Absolutely.

Also , not everyone's other half is as keen on camping as you are.

My wife and I have been camping since we were married , but , there has always been an element of "luxury".

Now are progressing from Tents of various shapes and sizes , the CT brings that little bit extra with a queen size bed , and a decent size kitchen area.

Next step as age progresses , maybe a Van of some description.

Same with us. Talking books are great for shortening monotonous drives.

We exhausted the library's collection of talking books on tape, and now download to iPod. There are lots of titles available, eg from audible.com. Only complaint is that the bookmarks often get lost and you have to find your place in the story again next time.

I found FM transmitter from iPod to car radio pretty ordinary quality, so use car cassette connector instead.

If you have digital camera (we don't), you can get a gizmo to connect it to iPod to store photos. iPod Photo or current model also let you view photos.

Have also used the iPod voice recorder to record sounds in the bush - e.g. lyrebird song.

Some mp3 players come with these things. If you are interested, don't just look at iPod.

Des,

Griffin Road Trip is a better option as an FM transmitter than the iPod transmitter as it is powered by the ciggy plug and also charges the iPod. Therefore it can power a more powerful transmitter and ours never skipped a beat for a month long trip.

iPod photo does not display the digital photos you load via the connector on the road. You can only view photos loaded by iPhoto on your computer/laptop.
However it works really well as a back up for the XD card in the digital camera and we have 5 days worth of songs, hundreds of photos to display on the screen, and still have 20gb left to store photos and files.

Tim

Still trying to get my head around transfering from cassette to mp3. How the heck do you do it? Is there a book in SIMPLE language which would guide me.

I assume you mean you want to record your old cassette tapes to mp3 format?

There are a lot of descriptions on the web: for example, see C-Net

George Skarbek has an excellent book for dowload ($9) that deals clearly with this and other common computer questions: see his web site.

The basic overview is this. You need to plug a lead from the cassette player (e.g. from the headphone socket) to the sound card on your computer. (You can get the appropriate lead from DSE, J&B, etc.) You need software on the computer to record the sound when you play the cassette tape and save the recording as an mp3 file. (There is good free software that will do this; I like Cool Edit.) You can then upload the newly-recorded mp3 files to your mp3 player (they usually come with a cable to connect to the USB port on your computer). Or you can burn the mp3 files onto a CD (using software that came with your CD/DVD burner, e.g. Nero), which you can play in a CD/DVD player that can read mp3s (only fairly recent car CD players).

It's not rocket science, but it is a bid fiddly and time consuming, and requires a fair bit of hard disk space on your computer (often a problem if it's a bit old). You can use digital editing to remove glitches in the sound, but the better the tape you start with, the better the quality of the mp3.

It's much simpler to convert CDs to mp3 format, because the CDs are already in digital form. (iTunes, which is a free download from Apple, is a good program for doing this. It has a simple help file that tells you what to do.) So if you can start with a recording on CD it will be much easier.

Good luck,
Des

I assume you mean you want to record your old cassette tapes to mp3 format?

There are a lot of descriptions on the web: for example, see C-Net

George Skarbek (who used to write for The Age/SMH) has an excellent book for dowload ($9) that deals clearly with this and other common computer questions.

The basic overview is this. You need to plug a lead from the cassette player (e.g. from the headphone socket) to the sound card on your computer. (You can get the appropriate lead from DSE, J&B, etc.) You need software on the computer to record the sound when you play the cassette tape. (There is good free software that will do this; I like Cool Edit.) You can use digital editing to remove glitches in the sound, but the better the tape you start with, the better the quality of the mp3. When you are happy with it, you then save the recording as one or more mp3 files.

You can then upload the newly-recorded mp3 files to your mp3 player (they usually come with a cable to connect to the USB port on your computer). Or you can burn the mp3 files onto a CD (using software that came with your CD/DVD burner, e.g. Nero), which you can play in a CD/DVD player that can read mp3s (only fairly recent car CD players).

It's not rocket science, but it is a bid fiddly and time consuming, and requires a fair bit of hard disk space on your computer (often a problem if it's a bit old).

It's much simpler to convert CDs to mp3 format, because the CDs are already in digital form. So if you can start with a recording on CD it will be much easier. iTunes, which is a free download from Apple, is one of many good programs for doing this. It has a simple help file that tells you what to do.

Good luck,
Des

Hi Willie,

Yep I can definately see the benefit of a few gadgets. I've always been held back by a lack of understanding. I'm very wary of anything I don't understand! Running lots of gadgets from the truck is something where the more you read about it, the more confused you get. I have dual batteries in my 80 series but I have no idea how they work! (They came with it) and the more I ask around the more I get different answers! Anyway that's another problem that I'll tackle some other day!

Cheers

Scoey!

Willie,

Tell us about the NEON LIGHT.
What does it say, or advertise?

Gee Sand Man , I thought you were smarter than that . It says Claude of course .
Cheers

Hi Flappa ,
I have a Glind shower I bought to keep the boss happy too . But how do you get hot and cold water taps to work ??
Cheers ,
Willie .

Its actually very simple.

Here's a link to some pictures of my install (under development)

http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/gallery/flappan?page=2

and if you look here , you will see the install notes from Glind.

http://www.glind.com.au/htm/files/docs/GLIND-marine-notes.pdf

Essentially , what you do is to Tee off the hose AFTER the pump , but BEFORE it goes into the Heat Exchanger.

This hose then runs off to the "Cold" tap.

The hose then continues as normal , through the heat exchanger and to the "hot" tap.

Or , like I did , rig up a "mixer" tap , in my case , a brass garden hose tap.

Left side in is Hot, Right side in is Cold , and out the top is the shower Hose.

If everything is leak free , is just like showering at home , which includes the shower and pump stopping when the taps are turned off.

Also makes adjusting water temp easier then changing Revs, or Heater settings. Makes it FAR easier for the missus and kids.

Thanks Flappa , I went to both sites - had a look at your pictures - you do very neat work - I wish I could get work done like that on my car !
Previously I have just run the water around and back into the bucket until it is warm then turned the engine off , but this system you have made is very good .
Cheer from the boss and I ,
Willie .

Thanks Willie.

I just expanded on an idea that was given to me by Stuart (AT4wd).

The reasoning was simple.

I have a Ti Patrol with climate control. I was finding getting the right temp was a nightmare without having a slide heater. I was doing what you do/did and just run the water through enough times to get it to the right temp. That of course doesn't suit everyone , and quite often the wife and kids wanted the temp changed slightly . . . PITA.

It meant I was on call for everyones shower.

This way , I start the thing up , and can pretty well walk away as they can adjust the temp themselves , and the water stops between showers with the pressure pump.

With the boys , because we also recycle the water out of a tub , they can take as little or as long as they like.

The good thing with this system is , it can operate just like your normal system for a quick wash. the cold water side uses Airhose and connectors , so when its not connected , its sealed off.

G'day Flappa
Definitely a neat job on that shower. Tell me - does it in any way get around the problem of that super hot burst one gets after the shower is switched off and then back on?
On the issue of carrying a gennie - I have an 80 series cruiser and my Yamaha, in a wooden carry box, sits neatly behind the front seat. I made a small false floor to level up the Cruiser floor and the gennie box then acts as a "table" for other stuff such as a camera bag. When we get the camper trailer it'll go in there.
Cheers from the Moose.

Quote: Tell me - does it in any way get around the problem of that super hot burst one gets after the shower is switched off and then back on?

Sure does , turn the cold on first , then adjust the hot accordingly.

Quote: some of those solar garden lights to put around the tent at night to keep the missus happy.

Have to say , that is one of the single biggest , and BEST ideas I have been put onto.

Place a few around the tent so you dont trip over pegs, ropes etc.

I was first put onto the idea from someone who uses it at Nat Parks to light the way to the loo. Top idea.

They aren't that expensive (mine were about $20 for 4 from Go Lo) that if someone else takes a shine to them , its not such a big lose.

Hi Revhead ,
Thats my wifes name for me !
I'l second what Flappa said - that is a great idea about the solar garden lights .
Willie .

G'day,

been doing this for a while too. I routinely put my solar lights in the recess above the glovebox so they get a good charge through the windscreen while driving to camp. I use a yellow one to mark the tent entrance (for coming back from the thunderbox at night) and white ones elsewhere for a clear path to the tent. Very cheap and they do the job well.

hi revhead, just wondering with your cordless drill do you solder lead to inside drill body. great idea. we have one of those along with lots of other stuff ready for a rainy day.

Gday Jonsal,

The drill has the clip on style battery at the bottom. i opened that up, took out the dead batteries and soldered my cable to the terminals inside the battery pack. the cable exits though a neatly drilled hole in its base.

so the battery pack clips back into the drill as normal and make use of the factory contacts, it just has a cable through the bottom that plugs into the ciggy lighter.

works a treat.

Dear oh Dear Baz , thats just going WAY too far . . .

Cappucinno maker . . . LMAO . . .

Here ya go Graeme our Cappucinno maker ;-)))

Baz.

Ok Baz , you have won me . . .

Where and How much ?

I have one of those Brewed Coffee jugs , works well , and seen those single and twin , coffee perculators (sp) , never seen one of these though.

We got ours from a Italian cafe in Norton street Leichardt the name escapes me, not cheap at $75, but does a great cappucinno, hot chocolate or any other frothy drink.

San Remo

Thats been my opinion all along.

Stuff what anyone else thinks you need "camping" or what they think "camping" involves . . . if it works for you , and it means you CAN go camping . . . I would pack whatever is necessary.

Those big two bowl stainless steel kitchen sinks are a PITA to carry though . . . JUST fits on the roof rack . . . next to the Dishwasher.

hi revhead, thanks for the info on cordless drill. we'll give it a go. cheers sally

LOL .... you can get twist tops now Chrispy. Move into the 21st century :)

Even in your Wine selection . . .

0 0
^
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You can?

"Even in your Wine selection . . . "

I'm SURE they'd have them in "my" wine selection......... :)

Mate , even the top stuff is moving over to twist tops . . . apparently.

But , what would I know , it all tastes the same to me.

Yeah they moved the chateau cardboard stuff to twist tops years ago. You'll be right Chrispy :)))))))))

Thanks guys.... I now feel comfortable that if I lose my trusty b/opener - the wife and I can still survive for a few nights. Flappa - just how expensive IS the GOOD stuff in twisties nowadays? $7 a pop?

Nah , apparently some of the stuff around $40 a bottle , and stuff they call , premium wines ???? is going to , or at the very least , trialing twist lids.

Means not a lot to me though , my idea of a good wine is the "Pink" or "Yellow" at about $10 a bottle (less with a discount voucher ;) ).

haha!!! ......"less with a discount voucher"

I like your style, Flaps old boy.

:)

didnt ford make the red laser? theyre harmless

Get back in your Cube Wolfie, the Hive is calling :)

And a funny hat ;-)))