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Post by kiwijim on Oct 12, 2012 5:58:06 GMT 10
Just a note of interest Al, I've just done a check for these Stand off Brackets on E bay USA, There appears to be two different models of the same item available, first they both carry the same model number but the White verson is far thinner than the Cream model. The White verson is selling from $15.95 - $43.28 The Cream one is over $ 24.00
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Post by kylarama on Oct 13, 2012 22:55:42 GMT 10
As always Al, I love your workmanship and attention to detail. Seriously! who makes a canvas cover for their regulator? All this late model van stuff must be rubbing off around here! Look whats residing in our backyard now I'm not a complete "traitor" though. The Millard is staying and will serve duties at the beach for 3 months of the year. The Jayco's far nicer to tow and easier to get into our favorite camp spots.
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Post by kiwijim on Oct 14, 2012 8:37:03 GMT 10
Howdy kylarama,
That's a nice looking camper you have bought , Ideal for getting into camp sites where a conventional caravan won't go.
Looks like that lotto went outside W.A. again. "Darn" ;D ;D ;D
The way we are going, it looks like we will have to find another name for this Forum, something like.......
CLASSICS'S AND OTHER TOYS.
kiwijim ;D
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Post by millard1399 on Oct 24, 2012 11:21:40 GMT 10
G'day All, Well, we are back home to reality after a 10-day road test of the Windsor and Prado. Everything went really well, and the Prado is certainly a cut above the Mazda Tribute for towing the heavier Windsor. All the improvements made to the Windsor over the last few months stood up to the test, with the big winner being the additional light fitting over the kitchen bench. ;D kiwijim, the TV antenna is a ripper! We picked up all 11 digital channels that were available in the area we stayed at. The antenna pole doesn't clamp in the bracket as tightly as I was hoping, and the pole is still fairly easily rotated by hand after clamping. However, we had one breezy day when the wind was up around 30kph, with gusts up to 60kph (according to the Weather Bureau website), and the antenna didn't move an inch out of alignment. The little Aldi digital TV we use in the van is a useless piece of #&^@!, so we're going to upgrade to a slightly larger screen with far better viewing angle than the Aldi one has (as soon as you move away from the centre of the screen, it changes to look like a film negative). Anyhoo, back to the trip... We towed the van about 500kms from home to a place called Tamworth in NSW (home of the "Golden Guitar" and the Country Music Capital of Australia). We based ourselves at a caravan park for seven of the 10 days, and then did daytrips around the countryside each day. The weather was glorious with day temps up to 30 degrees. Only had the one afternoon of light rain during the whole seven days. Most other travelling vans only stayed the one night in our caravan park, or at the most two, before packing up and moving on. These Grey Nomads sure don't stay in the one spot for very long! This first photo shows how we were packed in like sardines during our stay, heh heh (that's us on the right of the picture)... There's a pretty good lookout that lets you see the whole of the city of Tamworth below. This photo is only part of the view... When you look at the northern section of the view (not shown in photo), the one thing that stands out over everything else is the Bunnings store in the distance. Here's some other snapshots of places we visited... - a footbridge with a name that caught my eye... - a long timber viaduct which is now part of the disused NSW railway network... - the Standing Stones at Glen Innes... - the Balancing Rock south of Glen Innes... - bats in the trees at Singleton, during our stop for lunch in a park... - some artwork made out of old corrugated iron... Hope the photos inspire you to get cracking on your restoration, and get out and see some of this great country of ours! cheers, Al.
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Post by kiwijim on Oct 24, 2012 13:53:56 GMT 10
Howdy Al, Great to hear everything went well for you on your trip, Sounds like that type of aerial pole bracket could be the way to go, I'll have to get the nose working and find that bargain. ;D ;D ;D Now Tamworth is one of the places we would like to visit again, it looks like the same Caravan Park that we stopped in and meet Bob&Jacquie while doing the Round the Block trip. We would like to be there for the Country Music Festival but, I reckon it would be a bit warm there when the Festival is on in January. So, you're back home, where are you off to next. ? No excuse for staying at home now, seeing the Caravan is all you had hoped for. ;D ;D ;D Cheers kiwijim
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Post by millard1399 on Oct 25, 2012 14:11:18 GMT 10
By gees these caravans can suck the dollars out of your wallet when you least expect it. What was supposed to be a five-dollar job today turned into a $155 job. On our way back home from Tamworth, I stopped to do a tyre pressure test, to see how we were going against the "4psi rule". When I took the plastic wheel cap off, the lead weight from the tyre rim had come loose, and was sitting inside the cap. I couldn't see where it was originally fitted on the rim, so I left it till we got home to get it fixed up. This morning I took the wheel up to the local friendly Tyre Shop. He put it on the balancing machine and then called me over. "No good", he says. "It's got a slight bounce in the rim. See?"One dud wheel rim. Where do I go find a replacement? As luck would have it, they had two galvanised trailer wheels in stock that matched the dud wheel. Swap the tyre over to the new rim, and then go home and get the other wheel and take it back to be swapped over. I also took the spare wheel up with me for them to check, and its rim wasn't in the best condition either, so the old second caravan rim was swapped to become the spare. Fair bit of mucking around and to'ing and fro'ing to get it all sorted out. Now the Windsor has fancy-shmancy wheels on it... cheers, Al.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2012 22:27:17 GMT 10
Hi Al . Glad your back safe & sound! The van looks great now with its new bling So they just happened to have 2 floating around Lucky for them or you ?? Cheers Gav.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2012 19:40:10 GMT 10
Hi Al, Gee those rims look shmick I reckon a nice set of white walls would go well. Or a set of BF Goodrich ( white lettering ) ;D ;D Regards Steve
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Post by bobt on Oct 27, 2012 21:03:08 GMT 10
Hey al Glad to hear you had a nice test trip. Tamworth and Glen Innes are nice places. I would love to spend a bit of time in Glen Innes. My neighbors do the music thing at Tamworth every year. It’s a tad popular, they book 12 months in advance. Me I am not into the guitar thing. Them grey Nomads, mate are on a mission, usually to get to the favorite spot or get home, none of em muck around in between. If you stop in a popular overnight stay it is interesting to watch em all roll in then watch em all disappear the next day. The time of year you went away is the time they are all heading home. On one of our trips north we found we had to either pull into a caravan park before 3.30pm or book ahead or we would miss out. That is a nice set of new wheels you have. So what is next in the mod space or travel agenda? Bobt
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Post by millard1399 on Nov 5, 2012 19:58:48 GMT 10
G'day All, Just got back this arvo from a 5-day trip down to Canberra. We stayed in the camping ground in the Exhibition Park, for those that know the area. This is a pretty popular park, with heaps of vans coming and going each day. On the way down last Thursday, we copped some really gusty winds which buffeted the van along the highway. I had to slow down to under 80kph to maintain control of the van on quite a few occasions. Lucky it's a dual-carriageway highway, or I'd have been in the bad books with other drivers not being able to hoon along at the 110kph limit. kiwijim, once again the TV antenna bracket proved it could stand up to pretty strong winds, so it'll certainly do us for our travels. The following photo shows a Millard in the park, and their outdoor chairs tossed around in the winds we copped the first afternoon... Just across from us was this big Capricorn van... ...and up the road from us was this nicely kept Roma poptop... Across the road from the park is a caravan storage compound. The Millard in this photo had probably been covered up a couple of years ago, but it seems that nobody has checked on it lately... Also in the storage compound was a biggie Viscount, with some way-cool graphics on the side of it... We went to the big Swap Meet held in the Exhibition Park on Sunday. It was the 25th annual meet, and man-oh-man it was chock-a-block full of stalls. After about an hour of walking around looking, I started to get brain overload trying to remember everything I'd seen. We happened to catch sight of a beautifully restored 1938 Packard in the entry carpark area... And finally, on a totally separate note, I thought this sign in the Park was a great "play on words" relating to a famous piece of art... Next trip will be down to Young (NSW) for their Cherry Festival at the end of November. cheers, Al.
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Post by mausie on Nov 5, 2012 23:47:50 GMT 10
Hi Al We were in Young over the weekend. Beaut weather. We were booked in for the Cheery Festival but had to cancel because Joe has to work Anyway if you have not booked you may be able to get our on-suite site #4. Tell Lenny or Karen the owners you know us (Maureen & Joe from Canberra) and he will do his best to look after you. You need to be quick though. ;D Mausie
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Post by kiwijim on Nov 6, 2012 3:54:16 GMT 10
Howdy Al, Great pictures there Young Man, It's good to see you are out and enjoying the comforts of your caravan. Sounds like the antenna has proved to be a good thing, Just wondering if you have sorted out a good T,V. for the van as yet ? I went looking for another new T,V, a short while ago, ( the old one went with the Coaster ) We found a great buy at J.B. Hi Fi, its a 19.5' Soniq brand flat screen H.D.T.V. with built in D.V.D. player, the Bonus was that it is 12V with a power transformer supplied. Total gross weight is 5.5kg and only draws 5 amp so it can be run off a car battery. A pretty good buy at $195.00 . Off to the Cherry Festival shortly Ah !! It's a damn pity it wasn't just down the road, we would have seen you there, Our next great adventure will be the Wild Flower run , but that won't be until June next year, Hopefully the Coromal will be mobile by then kiwijim
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Post by millard1399 on Nov 6, 2012 9:34:12 GMT 10
G'day kiwijim, I've been studying all the various TV options for a couple of months now. The main requirement we have is for a TV with a large viewing angle of the screen, because the mounting bracket is set up high on the wall. Even with the tilt available in the bracket, we still can't sit on the seats and see a clear picture on the Aldi TV we've got. It doesn't matter which brand you buy at the cheaper end of the market, there will always be people who praise that brand, and others who bag it to hell. But I've decided the Kogan brand is the one I'll be buying. They have a 22" full high definition TV which has a built-in DVD player, for $199 + delivery (maximum cost of about $20 to anywhere in Australia, from what I can tell. Delivery to me is $17.14). You have to buy the 12V cable separately if you want to run it off 12v (the cable costs $17 from Kogan, or you can go to an electronics store and get one for about six bucks). The Kogan has a viewable angle of 170 o horizontal, and 160 o vertical, which is about the max I could find. The little Aldi one we've got has a viewable angle of about 90 o for both horizontal and vertical, which is bloody hopeless, really. Mausie, thanks for the tip about the vacancy in Young. We checked our diary this morning, and there's a clash with a friend's annual Xmas party, so we've had to rethink the Young trip. Maybe next year for us on that one. cheers, Al.
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Post by murray on Nov 6, 2012 15:23:06 GMT 10
Al, Have brought a few kogan televisions - no trouble at all ,recommended Cheers Murray
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Post by mausie on Nov 6, 2012 17:37:05 GMT 10
Hi Al We should have taken some photos in Young caravan park. should give ourselves an uppercut hey! There was a guy there from Qld in a 1973 15' Millard. Get this - he bought it in 1975 and has been using it whenever he has a chance. And garages it at other times. There were 2 Millard on site vans that are being sold. Someone has made an offer but has not parted with the cash yet. OK we will see you perhaps next year Joe's pipe band plays in the street parade Mausie
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Post by millard1399 on Nov 11, 2012 20:45:55 GMT 10
G'day All, Lucky I didn't rush in and buy the Kogan TV in any hurry in the last week. I've just been alerted that they have "free shipping" on the caravan TVs (and probably other items as well?), so I've ordered the 22" Full HD TV tonight and "saved" $17 on shipping. I used that $17 to buy the 12V cable they stock for these TVs (free shipping on that as well). All up, not a bad deal. cheers, Al.
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Post by kiwijim on Nov 12, 2012 4:06:33 GMT 10
Howdy Al, Has the T.V. you ordered got the in-built D.V.D. player ? Lets hope you have a far better picture from the new T.V. compared to the old one. Some pic's of the new set operating will be interesting, that is when it arrives and all set up in the van. I just checked on the set I bought recently and surprise, surprise, It isn't a 19.5 after all, going by the hand book,...it's a 22in. the other bonus I got, was that when I opened the carton containing the T.V. I found that two complete bundles of accessories had been packed in the one box...... two remote controls, hand books etc, in-fact two of everything. ;D ;D ;D The TV is going in the bedroom, in the house at the moment, can't stand all the Criminal series SWMBO watches. Cheers kiwijim
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Post by millard1399 on Nov 12, 2012 8:22:15 GMT 10
Yeah, kiwijim, I got the built-in DVD model, even though we've got a good little separate DVD player that is nice and compact and is an ideal size to squeeze into a caravan. The Aldi TV and the little DVD player have now been officially claimed by the Boss for her home office room. I'll let you know what the Kogan is like once it arrives and I set it up. You must have let out an excited "whoopee!" when you opened your TV carton. Great little bonus! cheers, Al.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2012 15:07:21 GMT 10
Hi Al . Did you get the mounting bracket too? It was the best thing i bought.
Cheers Gav
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Post by millard1399 on Nov 12, 2012 17:14:09 GMT 10
Nah, Gav, I already had a TV bracket that I fitted to the van a couple of months ago ( this one ). I bought one of these a couple of years ago and fitted it to the Millard poptop. I was very happy with it, and bought another one for the Windsor this year. It's the classiest-looking one I could find on ebay for a reasonable price. I spent a fair bit of time measuring and calculating where to mount the base so the bracket could be swivelled to face the rear bedroom, or to the front for the kitchen. This photo shows it facing into the bedroom... ...and this photo shows it swivelled around facing the kitchen... When I mounted the base on that partition wall, the bolts/nuts on the kitchen side of the wall looked unsightly, so I fashioned a timber cover, and routered it then coated it with Estapol... The base was positioned so that there was 270mm clearance from the wall to the centre of the TV mount... I'd already done the research, and found that TVs up to 22" were not more than 540mm wide, so whenever the Aldi one was ditched, we could fit a larger one there. The 22" Kogan one we're getting is 528mm width, so it should fit neatly into the space available, when the TV is facing the front. cheers, Al.
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Post by kiwijim on Nov 13, 2012 2:36:33 GMT 10
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2012 4:56:17 GMT 10
Hi Al. We bought the 24" Kogan. 12v/240v. with a bracket that come's off the wall 520mm. All the reports are, great picture, sound a little poor. But it is in a caravan not a bedroom. Have not fired it up yet!!
Cheers Gav
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Post by millard1399 on Nov 13, 2012 8:15:52 GMT 10
Yeah kiwijim, it looks like it's the same bracket. The seller I bought mine from is located in your wonderful state of WA, so I've been supporting your local economy, heh heh. ;D These brackets are solid and strong in construction, and made out of cast aluminium. They claim these brackets will take up to 25kgs of TV weight, and since the 22" Kogan TV is only 3.3kgs it should carry that easily. The little Aldi TV we were using certainly wasn't a problem. We folded the bracket and TV back against the wall when we were travelling along the road, and it stayed there nice and securely in that position. The only caution I would highlight is that they include a lot of hardware in a pack in the kit, for mounting the bracket on the wall, but on both occasions it wasn't exactly what I needed for how I wanted to mount them, so I had to go scrounging in the shed for some suitable screws/bolts/nuts. Gav, from all the searching I did on the internet, one of the common "complaints" from people was that the sound from these types of TVs is pretty "tinny". I guess we can't expect too much from the miniature speakers they put into these things, considering how thin these TV units are. Whether it bothers you or not will depend on how long you can put up with the "squawking parrots" sound. We found on the little Aldi TV that the quality of sound was 'acceptable' when you're just watching the shows on the normal TV channels, but when you're watching a decent DVD, you do want a lot better sound quality to get full enjoyment out of it. One way to get some decent sound out of them is to plug in a set of computer speakers into the headphones jack outlet. I don't think the Kogan ordering system likes me very much. I ordered on-line on Sunday night, and was supposed to get an email confirming the order and showing an invoice for the purchase. It's now Tuesday morning, and I've still got no email, and the money still hasn't been deducted from my Visa account. I sent an email off yesterday afternoon asking whether my order was in the system or not. They promised to get back to me quickly with an answer. I'm still waiting... Maybe I don't get a Kogan TV after all?? cheers, Al.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2012 5:42:47 GMT 10
Hi Al I had the same problem. But it did turn up ;D Cheers Gav
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Post by millard1399 on Nov 14, 2012 8:09:42 GMT 10
Yeah Gav, they certainly have a haphazard ordering system, considering they only sell stuff via on-line orders. You'd think they'd have their system pretty well spot-on by now. I received the Despatch email late yesterday, to say the TV had been sent. But, they didn't deduct the payment from my Visa account until this morning. (Send item out first, and then get payment? What sort of business model is this?? ) I'm still waiting for the original email that includes the invoice for the order. Apparently I'll need that invoice if I have any warranty claims. I've sent two emails asking for it to be sent, but I now know they don't respond to emails (plenty of other people on internet forums said the same thing). It's all a bit frustrating because the only way you can communicate with them is via email, and they don't answer. Anyway, the TV should show up in a day or two. I really hope I don't have any problems with it, because it sounds like it would be a nightmare trying to get anything sorted out. cheers, Al.
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