Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category
Monday, November 9th, 2015
The Shouse Tech (Part 1) This is the first in a series of articles that explain the technology that is used to automate and manage our shed-house (the Shouse). In this article I will provide an overview of what they systems do and how we interact with them. So what do the systems do for […]
Read this article >>
Tags: Power, ShedHouse, Solar, Technology
Posted in Communication, Electrics, Power, Shed House, shouse, Technology, Water | 4 Comments »
Saturday, November 9th, 2013
In the last few months I have had a number of emails from people wanting to know if they can run this appliance or that appliance in their motorhome or caravan. Unfortunately, as is often the case, the answer is not just a simple “yes” or “no” – but a resounding “it depends”. You see […]
Read this article >>
Tags: battery, Building A Motorhome, Electrics, Energy, Free Camping, Motorhome, Power, Solar
Posted in Caravan, Electrics, Motorhome, Power, Refrigeration, Solar, Technology | 39 Comments »
Saturday, June 22nd, 2013
As we travel we often get asked “where is your favourite place in Australia” – while this is a hard question to answer, our thoughts normally turn to the most remote and isolated places we have travelled to. The vastness of the Australian outback is very difficult to describe to people who have not experienced […]
Read this article >>
Tags: Australian Travel, Caravan, Free Camping, Motorhome
Posted in Caravan, Motorhome, News, Technology | 3 Comments »
Saturday, November 3rd, 2012
How to buy cheap solar panels without getting ripped off. For many years solar panels were very expensive to manufacture and were equally expensive to purchase. The price of panels was very stable at around the $10 per watt mark for a number of years. Manufacture of panels was limited to just a few well-known […]
Read this article >>
Tags: Building A Motorhome, Caravan, Electrics, Energy, Power, Solar
Posted in Caravan, Electrics, Motorhome, Power, Solar, Technology | 36 Comments »
Monday, June 20th, 2011
If you have read any of my other articles you will know that we carry and use an ANT Mobile Satellite internet system. While this system works brilliantly and is the best way to stay connected to the internet almost anywhere in Australia and NZ, it is relatively costly to setup. What if you just […]
Read this article >>
Tags: Bluetooth, Caravan, Computing, Electronics, Mobile Internet, Motorhome, NextG, Technology, Telstra
Posted in Caravan, Communication, Internet, Motorhome, Technology | 13 Comments »
Saturday, February 12th, 2011
If you have read my article that discusses the function of a solar regulator, you will know that a standard solar regulator is a fairly simple device with a fairly simple job – to stop the batteries from being over charged. A new type of regulator called MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) is beginning to […]
Read this article >>
Tags: Building A Motorhome, Caravan, Energy, MPPT Solar Controller, Power, Solar, Technology
Posted in Caravan, Motorhome, Power, Solar, Technology | 27 Comments »
Sunday, January 23rd, 2011
VAST Satellite Television System for Travellers The VAST satellite TV system will replace the existing Aurora system used by many travellers. But we have been waiting on answers to questions like : When will VAST be available? When will Aurora stop? What equipment is needed for VAST? What channels will I be able to receive […]
Read this article >>
Tags: Motorhome, News, Satellite, TV, VAST
Posted in Caravan, Communication, Motorhome, News, Satellite, Technology, TV | 36 Comments »
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
Solar panels are expensive – not as expensive as they used to be, but you are still going to need to budget a few thousand dollars if you plan to power motorhome or caravan from the sun. Given the cost of purchasing the panels, I am always amazed by the number of people that then […]
Read this article >>
Tags: Building A Motorhome, Bus Conversion, Caravan, Electrics, Energy, Free Camping, Motorhome, Power, Solar, Technology
Posted in Caravan, Electrics, Motorhome, Power, Solar, Technology | 32 Comments »
Friday, September 24th, 2010
Launching a satellite into space and receiving a television signal from it, is one of man’s great achievements of the 20th century. Sometimes getting a picture to appear on your television can seem almost as technical and challenging. If you are not receiving a picture from your satellite TV system, follow the steps below to […]
Read this article >>
Tags: Caravan, Motorhome, Satellite, TV
Posted in Caravan, Communication, Motorhome, Satellite, Technology, TV | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
(Updated 6/01/2011) You might want to read the most recent article on VAST at https://hobohome.com/news/?p=593 V.A.S.T. (Viewer Access Satellite Television) is set replace the existing “Aurora” satellite television system used by many travellers. So what does this mean for those of us currently receiving our television from Aurora? Some background Aurora RABS (remote area broadcast […]
Read this article >>
Tags: Building A Motorhome, Caravan, Satellite, Technology, TV
Posted in Caravan, Communication, Motorhome, News, Satellite, Technology | 23 Comments »
Friday, June 25th, 2010
Installing Solar Panels Correctly on your Motorhome or Caravan So you have decided to install solar panels onto your caravan or motorhome – great! Here are some important tips that will help you to get the most out of your expensive solar panels. Wiring size Take care with the size of the wiring. Using cable […]
Read this article >>
Tags: battery, Bus Conversion, Caravan, Energy, Motorhome, Power, Solar
Posted in Caravan, Motorhome, Power, Solar, Technology | 59 Comments »
Monday, May 17th, 2010
Getting Help When You Need It Most We love to take our motorhome to some of the remotest places in Australia, we like the solitude and the feeling of isolation. I realise that this type of exploration is not for everyone, but the reason most people travel in motorhomes and caravans is to explore Australia […]
Read this article >>
Tags: ANT, Caravan, Electronics, Mobile Internet, Motorhome, Satellite, Technology, Telstra
Posted in Caravan, Communication, Internet, Motorhome, News, Satellite, Technology | 4 Comments »
Saturday, April 24th, 2010
Shade Tolerant Solar Panels? I have heard a number of travelers repeat the great “shade tolerant” sales pitch given them, when selecting solar panels for their motorhome or caravan. Much of this is just that – sales pitch. Firstly, nobody in their right mind is going to intentionally locate their expensive solar panel in the […]
Read this article >>
Tags: Caravan, Energy, Motorhome, Power, Solar
Posted in Caravan, Motorhome, Power, Solar, Technology | 6 Comments »
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
Not sure if your expensive solar panels are doing their job? Here is some simple tests that you can do to determine how your solar panels are performing. A solar panels currency is current (measured in amps) – so you are going to need some method of measuring current. Some solar regulators have a display […]
Read this article >>
Tags: battery, Caravan, Energy, Motorhome, Power, Solar
Posted in Caravan, Motorhome, Power, Solar, Technology | 29 Comments »
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
No matter whether you are a “The glass is half full” kind of person or a “The glass is half empty” type, you will agree that one advantage of drinking from a glass is that you can see just how much of the liquid remains. Sadly our motorhome and caravan batteries are not like that […]
Read this article >>
Tags: battery, Caravan, Energy, Motorhome, Power, Solar
Posted in Caravan, Motorhome, Power, Solar, Technology | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
My brother-in-law recently purchased a pure sine wave inverter via eBay. In the supplied information the inverter looked like the perfect replacement for his modified sine wave “Xantrex” brand inverter (that has performed flawlessly for a number of years). The inverter purchased is currently selling (on ebay) for $579 plus $135 shipping When the inverter […]
Read this article >>
Tags: battery, Caravan, Electronics, Energy, Motorhome, Power, Technology
Posted in Caravan, Motorhome, News, Power, Solar, Technology | 10 Comments »
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
Almost every motorhome and many caravans use an inverter. These clever electronic devices take the low voltage direct current (DC) power from our batteries and convert it to the same high voltage alternating current (AC) that our household sockets deliver. This allows us to have 240 volt mains power with us no matter how […]
Read this article >>
Tags: battery, Caravan, Motorhome, Power
Posted in Caravan, Motorhome, Power, Technology | 15 Comments »
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Most people who have anything to do with solar power know that a solar regulator is necessary. Not too many of these people understand the exact function of a solar regulator or how it does what it does. For the purpose of this discussion and unless I state otherwise, I will be talking about the […]
Read this article >>
Tags: battery, Caravan, Motorhome, Power
Posted in Caravan, Motorhome, Power, Solar, Technology | 4 Comments »
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
For someone wanting to equip their motorhome or caravan with solar panels to collect free power from the sun, there is an almost endless list of technical terms rumours and myths to wade through. Terms like polycrystalline, amorphous and temperature co-efficient to name just a few. Sales pitch aside, how is the average person supposed to […]
Read this article >>
Tags: Caravan, Energy, Motorhome, Power
Posted in Caravan, Motorhome, Power, Solar, Technology | 12 Comments »
Friday, February 27th, 2009
Billions of dollars are now being spent annually on alternative energy research. Some of us have been living almost entirely on renewable energy for years. However, all this research is making our lives a little easier. New and improved products are emerging thick and fast, fuelled by the now much larger market created by the […]
Read this article >>
Tags: Energy
Posted in Caravan, Motorhome, Power, Solar, Technology | 14 Comments »