First Trip in the New 10th Anniv.

[druryg]

We just completed our first week long outing in the new rig. Everything worked as expected. The only problem was I broke the handle on one of the recliners. Guess I pulled it harder than I should have. I am not sure who makes them but they appear to be Lane's. The quest Home Theater was one of the first things to go. Hate to have a nice HD 32" LCD TV and a DVD player that will only output 480i SD resolution. Best Buy had a nice Panasonic HD unit (PC-PT660) that up converts up to 1080p, and a flip out tray for the DW's ipod. It even has wireless capability to connect the speakers in the bedroom or outside if desired. The Quest unit is for sale if anyone would even buy it..... The Directv H-20 works all three TV's and the wireless remote works inside and outside. Radio Shack makes a RF convertor that allows the H-20 to convert s-video to RF and back feed the bedroom and basement. Just make sure the antenna amplifier is turned off. A fellow new Monty owner came by to ask if I was using DTV or Dish Network. He was unable to get his DTV working as he got some bad advice on how the Montana’s cable is wired. After a quick lesson on how to aim his dish and quick rewire inside he was good to go and very thankful.
Sure gotta love the "HUGE" basement. Installed some chair racks from Clear One racing on the ceiling. Gives me room for 6 bag chairs to free up floor space. Add 6 large stackable plastic bins, 2 large folding recliners, 1 10x10 portable screen room, 1 Childs playpen for the dogs, 1 22" LCD TV on swinging wall mount, and still room for the satellite dish and 2 large rolling coolers. No need to have to pack everything so tight or to carry anything inside anymore. The larger black and gray tanks allowed the two of us to stay 7 days without a trip to dump station with the portable ..... Look foward to the next trip we have planned to Destin and Top Sail Park.

[Mudchief]

Glad you had a great time in your new unit. Hope you have many more happy times in it. That new basement is really nice.

[eeoski]

Gerald,

Congrats on the first "shake down cruise!" We look forward to doing the same in a few weeks. (Presuming we can get a campsite somewhere relatively close by for Memorial Day weekend.) If not our "shake down" will take place here on the five acres in Umatilla, Florida!

Your post has given me a few ideas for organizing our basement space for ease of packing and access of items. I am the "Rubbermaid Container Queen" so I'll likely NOT have to make any additional purchases to get the outside stuff properly containerized. I like the outside t.v. idea...now its just a matter of choosing between money for diesel or money for another t.v.! LOL

Would love to see some photos of what you did in the basement. By the way, does your awning cover the basement door (for sun glare on the t.v. screen) or is it unnecessaryw with the basement door flipped up?

Robin

[grampachet]

Congrats,
We spent 10 days in our new 3000RK (non-anniversary) two weeks ago. What a treat! I did find the coax-cable was shorted and did some by-pass to make the TV's work. No complaints at all.

[DarMar]

Sounds like things are going real well, keep us posted on all those improvements!!! Sure like the basement tv addition as well.

[druryg]

Robin,


Guess that would depend on how yor rig is situated.... But the awning did keep the sun off in my case. One of the reasons we chose the 3000RK was for the full awning. I will post some pics of the basement in the next few days....

[druryg]

Grampatchet,


Sorry to hear you had issues with your cable... The setup is really so simple that as long as the Factory installed the connectors correctly there should be no problems.

[sailer]

on your tv's if you look at SONY the new units now have non glare on them so the sun or anything does not put glare on the tv look at best buy or where ever they will show you the new non glare john

[eeoski]

Look forward to the photos! Bella is a 2955RL and her awning is 17' long and stops just short of the basement. I was just thinking you might have rigged the basement door (e.g., with gas struts) to provide some "overhang" to shade/protect (nominally anyway) your t.v. from the sun/elements.

Robin

[mcculloe]

On those units, how do they get the basement to be flat floored? Did the lower the frame? Or did they raise the overall height? I have a pre 10th anniversary, and we have the non-flat floor and am curious.

[druryg]

They lowered the frame.... No I have not rigged some struts but considered it. The tv mount is the long arm variety which allows it to swing out pretty far or stay completely in the basement. There is an stringer just inside the hatch that allowed a good firm mount on one side of the base. On the other side I used some large washers behind the OSB of the dress panel to spread the load. We were oriented east/west so the sun was not an issue this trip. I will have some photos posted this weekend.

[William O. Phillips]

I have two questions - 1. What is "The quest Home Theater?" We are looking at the 2009 Montana 3000RK. I thought it came with a 1080i HD TV. Is that not correct?

Second question - What are "some chair racks from Clear One racing on the ceiling?" that sounds like a great idea for bag chairs.

We are seriously undecided on the 3000RK and the 2980RL. We like the 3000RK but are afraid the room in the living area is a little tight. With the additional slide on the 2980 I think we will get a little more room.....

Thanks much - Bill

[druryg]

Bill,

Ours came with the Sylvania 32" LCD and yes it is capable of up to 1080i resolution. It has 2 HDMI inputs as well. The factory installed DVD "Home Theater" which I believe is made by Quest "QR4000" is only capable of outputting 480i SD and that was on the component output. If you check the input to the TV with the info button it will tell you what resolution the incoming signal is. The new Panasonic unit I purchased has an HDMI output and is advertised to up convert the output up to 1080P. When I checked it, the TV reported 1080i HD. The quality of the picture was very noticeable. Clearoneracing.com sells the chair racks and I am quite pleased with them. I installed 2 sets of them on the ceiling of the basement, curb side, and it gets them up and out of the way. I considered installing them on the front dress panel but only 1 set would fit. rvsupplywharehouse.com also sells them. We decided on the 3000RK because the third slide on other units limits where you can camp sometimes. I agree the extra open space is really nice but sometimes you have to compromise. The 3000RK also has some other features like the full awning that covers the front hatch which was important to us. I was planning to take some picture of the modifications today and get them posted but it is raining here and will have to wait until tommorrow.

[druryg]

Pics of chair rack installation in basement and more.

[eeoski]

Gerald,

Thanks for the photos. I REALLY like the chair racks! Frees up a lot of space and makes them easier to get in an out.

Robin

[iowaone]

Thanks for the pictures the racks look like an excellent addition.