600 miles from home

600 Miles from home

I'm staying in a camp site in Belleplain State Forest in NJ. A very nice campground. No hookups, But there are flush toilets and showers. Twenty dollars a night. Much cheaper than the forty two at the nearest commercial campground.

So far, the only money I've spent directly on the trip is gas and tonights lodging. I'll post a detailed account in a later post.

No exciting adventures today. I did do a cache here in the park. It was an easy find, but the walk was pleasant. I scared up a couple of deer. Just saw the flags.

No ham radio as yet. I still have to finish wiring the truck.

I had hoped to get the kayak in tomorrow, but rain is forecast. I'll just leave early and get to VA.

Recent crisis

Thanks to some detective work by son-in-law, Wes, the crisis turned out to be just a small problem.  The line from the truck to the trailer had never had a fuse installed in the truck.  Installation of the fuse solved the problem.  The odor that I thought was electrical was the heat coming off the refrigerator. 

I was plenty worried.  A real electrical problem could have been very expensive if it was in the truck and very annoying if it was in the new camper.

So, I'm still visiting in CT.

On my way

I made the first day an easy one.  I left after Senior College and only went 130 miles.  Stayed the night in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Southern Maine.

The second day I made it to Connecticut.  The camper tows like a dream.  The truck is getting between 13 and 14 miles to the gallon.  It's going to be an expensive trip as far as gas is concerned.

While showing the camper to my daughter I tried to turn on the lights.  No go!  Tried everything else, still no go.  Checked the battery.  Dead flat.  Plugged in the 110 power.  Lights turned on and the meter showed the battery charging.  The only thing I could figure was that I had forgotten to plug in the truck power when I left home.  Then I smelled electrical insulation burning.  I've got a short somewhere.  I've pulled the fuse between the battery and the converter which gives me 110 power so I can use the camper, but the battery isn't charging.  I wonder if I've ruined the battery.

Tomorrow I'll call the dealer and find out just how good the warranty is.  I'm three hundred miles from the dealer and need a repair.  I might be able to find and fix the short myself, but would rather have it done under warranty.  I wonder if there are any Aliner dealers in CT.

Ham or Amateur Radio

Back in the early 90's I studied, took the tests and got a ham radio license.  For years I worked the air waves regularly.  The last couple of years I've been off the air.  I'm not sure why I stopped.  Now I'm getting interested again.

My first job is to wire my pickup so I can work the radio while mobile.  Then I've got to make some portable antennas so I can be on the air from campgrounds.  Talking to people around the world from my little camper will be fun.

If you are a ham; I am N1ITK and will be working 2 meters and 20 meters on a regular basis.