I wanted to share with you my high-tech RV solutions. Hopefully these will give
you some ideas of how you can take your RV travel to the next level. Let's take a
look. 18 months ago I left my corporate job as an IT Director and jumped into
this 2018 Jayco NorthPoint 381flws. This is a 43 foot front living fifth-wheel
with six slides that provides a total of 422 square feet of living space.
It has a gross combined weight rating of 16,750 pounds.
I tow it with a 2016 Ford super duty F-350 dually with an 8-foot bed.
I quit my job to focus on creating tech training videos for my YouTube channel
Sele Training. Since I also travel full-time in my RV I knew that creating
videos and managing my YouTube channel would require good Internet access to
stay connected. I also wanted the ability to boondock anywhere, feel safe, and live
with many of the comforts of home. After two years of research and the past
18 months of travel, I've found answers to many of these common
RV challenges and am here to share my top 6 high-tech solutions that work well
for me traveling full-time on the road. For off-grid camping you need power. I
could have added an optional generator to my RV. It came with a generator prep
but to avoid the fuel and the noise I went big on solar. How big? I have
2,880 watts of solar panels, 600 amps of lithium batteries, dual Victron Charge
Controllers, and dual Victron Multiplus Inverters. I didn't go cheap on solar.
This complete system was $17,500 installed,
but i was able to use a 30% energy tax credit to reduce that cost
significantly. The solar panels are mounted on IronRidge aluminum rails
which are screwed into the roof and covered with a generous supply of
Dicor sealant. There are nine 320watt solar panels. Each panel weighs 40 pounds
and with the railing included it adds about 400 pounds to my roof. Six lithium
batteries fit nicely inside the front storage compartment and I was able to
find an empty space above the batteries where I mounted the charge controller,
inverters, and other solar equipment. A Victron Color Control is mounted
inside the RV and is connect to a Victron app on my phone to monitor the system.
When I boondock the solar handles all appliances including my residential
refrigerator. As you can see here it only requires 300watts during normal
use for both AC and DC power combined. The solar panels are generating 1900watts
from nearly direct sunlight. In fact on a sunny day like this i can
run one air conditioner without even draining the batteries. With the air
conditioner turned on it adds about 1400watts but results in next to no drain on
the batteries. It'll even handle both AC's on high at the same time for a few hours.
This high-tech solar system is the power station that gives me the ability to
boondock for days or weeks at a time, completely off-grid. Currently cell
phone-based internet connectivity is the only viable option to work remote. Cell
service is the most widely dispersed connectivity solution in the US and is
available in many boondocking locations. Sure you can get satellite internet and
download at blazing speeds but the latency makes it unusable for normal
back-and-forth communication like what I need. Low orbit satellite solutions
like Space-X's StarLink has promise but it's not here yet and may not work well
in the woods without clear views to the sky. The wi-fi at campgrounds is
notoriously bad and does not help when I'm boondocking. If you are fortunate
enough to have a grandfathered unlimited data plan then you can use all the data
you want in an RV while traveling but I didn't have one so I needed to find
another solution that would give me lots of data without paying an arm and a leg.
After a bunch of research and testing of several devices I found the answer. I
use a MoFi 4500 router paired with a SIM card. I just added a line to my existing
T-Mobile cell plan for only $20 a month. I also added an AT&T
SIM card for another #20 a month plus tax. Now i can swap out those
two SIM cards in the MoFi depending on coverage I have. Unlike other routers,
the MoFi has a special TTL setting in the menu that lets you use streaming
data without throttling. That means you can use a standard cell plan from any
carrier to get virtually unlimited data. I've been using over 150GB per
month for internet, streaming TV, my computer, security cameras, iPads, and
other devices without any throttling. I've also installed an omnidirectional
antenna on the roof and pop it up each time I reach a new location. It boosts
the cell signal similarly to a Weboost or other cell signal boost device.
The MoFi router is $300 and the omnidirectional antenna is $130
making the initial investment less than just a cell booster solution
alone. The monthly cost is even lower than other less appealing limited data
plans so it's a great combination. This has solved the internet connectivity
challenge for me and I've been able to stay connected over the past 18 months
of travel. With a big RV, expensive solar, and boondocking in remote locations
safety and security at night or when I leave the RV is important. This led
me through a long search for a high-tech security system that would work on an RV.
I wanted a system that was inexpensive, wireless, had motion detection, and would
notify me on my phone when I was away. The Amazon Blink XT2 system offered the
perfect match and I've been very pleased with the results after a year of use.
I mounted six wireless cameras on the outside of my RV and one inside. They
all connect to a base sync module that conveniently connects to my MoFi router
with a usb power cord. As long as I have internet connectivity it records motion
from any of the seven cameras and uploads the video to a free cloud
storage space. When motion is detected I get notifications on my phone and I
can view the recording or see live video feeds no matter where I am at the time.
It even has a temperature monitor which notifies me when it's outside my preset
limits. Each camera uses two AA lithium batteries that will last up
to two years. You can get a 5 camera kit with the sync module for under $300
and add more cameras as needed. Now i have peace-of-mind when I'm
away from the RV or sleeping at night. In order to work remote while creating
YouTube videos I needed a work area that could handle the constant travel.
I was able to convert my dining room space into an office with a view. I
made a desktop from the old dining table by removing the pedestal and mounting it
on the wall with an adjustable support bar underneath. My desktop computer along
with the battery UPS sits underneath and a dual-mount stand with two monitors is
bolted on top of the desk. This setup is solid and handles the bumps as we
go down the road. I simply put away my keyboard mouse and headset in a drawer
when I travel. This is obviously a custom setup that depends on your living space
but using some creativity you can come up with a remote office
work area too. One of the regular hassles of boondocking is that your waste tanks
fill up only after a few days. If you have a large fifth wheel like me, you
do not want to pack up everything just to run to a dump station. Many people
use a portable waste tote that you can pull behind your tow vehicle
but that does not work so well when you are miles away from a dump station.
My high-tech solution is to use a macerator pump with a 50 foot
commercial hose and a 100 gallon waste bladder. I place the waste bladder in the
back of my truck and transfer the waste from my RV using the macerator pump. It
will even pump uphill if necessary. Then I take the bladder to a dump station and
drain the waste through the attached hose. This water bladder is made for
agriculture use and it's tough so i have no concern about leaks. I pack
the macerator waste bladder and hose into a storage box and put it in the
back of the truck bed when i travel. Cost of all these items is around $350.
Along with power and waste disposal the one other utility you need when
boondocking is fresh water and that is another item I do not want to pack up
the RV to refill. I use a 75 gallon fresh water tank in the back of my truck bed.
I fashioned an RV water pump to the side of the tank and added pvc pipes with a
water filter. This allows me to fill the tank at a dump station or other location,
return to the RV, and connect a hose from the tank to the water inlet.
The pump uses a standard 12-volt connection in my truck for power and
transfers a full 75 gallon tank in about 20 minutes. Cost for the fresh water tank,
pump, and connections is around $300. I hope these high-tech solutions give you
some ideas about how you can enhance your RV experience. They have made my RV
life comfortable, safe, and enjoyable. You'll find links to purchase all the items used within the
description of this video. Check out my channel at youtube.com/seletraining and please subscribe if you want more information
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