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Old 06-27-2023, 06:56 PM   #321
Bus Crazy
 
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Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: SW USA
Posts: 2,064
Year: 2003
Coachwork: IC / Amtran
Chassis: CE300
Engine: International T444e
Rated Cap: 23
Thanks @fo4imtippin, we really appreciate that!

We distributed the electrical components for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was space. The way we've organized things, we're keeping pretty much the whole system out of the living space. We're also hoping to minimize concentrating heat in one location, and allow space for potential system expansion. Putting so much under the dash / in the front of the bus is a pain in regards to dealing with such irregular spaces. But it does use space we couldn't use for much else, and it keeps a lot of very heavy items far forward and centered.

The pepwave is really nice, though as you mention, there are many ways to skin that same cat. The big seller for us was the automatic fail-over functionality between cell/wifi-as-wan/ethernet. Sharon's work requires uninterrupted connectivity, so the redundancy this offered was a big plus.

Radio is an ICOM IC-2730A. Pretty basic analog unit, but it has cross-band repeat capability, which could potentially be very useful for keeping us in touch on the ground in areas where public repeaters aren't easy to hit. Problem with ham is in most cases, the only people we're going to be able to reach in the immediate area is ourselves. EVERYONE has GMRS (legally or not), and with a good high-gain antenna mounted on the roof of a bus, you don't need much power to reach out via simplex a pretty darned long ways (depending on terrain). If I could only have one, it would be a good GMRS.

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Old 06-28-2023, 12:17 PM   #322
Bus Crazy
 
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Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: SW USA
Posts: 2,064
Year: 2003
Coachwork: IC / Amtran
Chassis: CE300
Engine: International T444e
Rated Cap: 23
Almost caught up now...

Our 'dash' to house the navigation / audio head unit is composed of 1/2" BB, screwed & glued. Cutting those angles to cleanly join was a pain, but I got through it without an excessive amount of cussing. The whole unit sits on top of, & bolts to, the battery box, with the top edge floating just below the line of the OEM dash. In the future I may trim out the top edge to seamlessly meet the dash, but for now it works.

The double-gang low-voltage outlet (with keystone face-plate) allows us to access the J1939 diagnostic port (as well as the bluefire adapter currently connected to it) by simply removing the face-plate. It's a little tight, but doable. The two USB ports currently used are inputs to the head unit. Eventually we'll probably use a couple more for charging ports.
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Old 06-28-2023, 12:35 PM   #323
Bus Crazy
 
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Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: SW USA
Posts: 2,064
Year: 2003
Coachwork: IC / Amtran
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Engine: International T444e
Rated Cap: 23
That pretty much brings us up to today, with one minor exception...

This is what happens when you get overconfident in your abilities. I've been backing into the same (very tight) spot since we got the bus. This was the first time - and hopefully the last - I ran into the roof!

This boo-boo made me, quite literally, nauseous. But in retrospect - if I HAD to back into the house - I couldn't have done it any better. One inch over and I would have bent steel, and surely broken the woodwork behind it. Talk about luck! The only thing damaged is the window assembly itself (aside from a little abrasion on/around the drip edge, but the primer's still intact!).

AAA Bus Sales should have a replacement for us soon.
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Old 06-30-2023, 10:01 PM   #324
Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Aug 2022
Location: Oregon
Posts: 150
Year: 2005
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: ford E350
Engine: 6.0 power stroke Diesel Navistar EFI
Rated Cap: wife & 2 corgis
super clean.
awesome job!
was looking at your MPPT.
my cheap PWM just took a dump LOL
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Old 07-01-2023, 11:12 AM   #325
Bus Crazy
 
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Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: SW USA
Posts: 2,064
Year: 2003
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Chassis: CE300
Engine: International T444e
Rated Cap: 23
Thanks Roughneck. Much appreciated
Yeah, the Victron MPPTs are pretty popular. No complaints but then again it's not in service yet. Couldn't find anything else that would compare. If Samlex made a comparable model I would have gone with it (our inverter/charger is Samlex) but for some reason their SCC selection is minimal, and most - if not all - are PWM.
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Old 09-24-2023, 04:06 PM   #326
Skoolie
 
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Pretty darn impressive! This should be posted as motivational speaking!
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