Showing posts with label car battery changing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label car battery changing. Show all posts

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Motorcraft WC8980 Battery to Ground Cable

Motorcraft WC8980 Battery to Ground Cable"Restoring" my 1995 F350 for camper use and needed new ground loom. Obselete from Ford dealer but just happened to find here with search for "battery ground wire" or similar. Came promptly, reasonable price and perfect. Fits other listed applications as well.

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Thursday, May 15, 2014

Apple iPod iPhone Accessories. Apple Fm Transmitter Car Kit and Car Charger with LCD display for Ip

Apple iPod iPhone Accessories. Apple Fm Transmitter Car Kit and Car Charger with LCD display for Ipod 3rd, 4th, 5th Generation, Mini, Photo, U2, Nano, Video, Classic, Touch. I am extremely surprised to find out people are actually happy with this thing! To say it's cheap is an understatement. It is made completely out of very cheap plastic, very cheesy that is almost like a toy out of a cereal box (and that's no exaggeration!). But that aside, the important thing was if it worked.

I bought this in a package deal with other accessories (cases, cig lighter chargers, charging adapters, etc), but mainly wanted it for the FM transmitter. I put the needed batteries in and programmed the channels in and then set it down to plug in my ipod. It then 'blanked out' and I had to reprogram it all over again.

So I tried it with the car lighter adapter and it was worse! Every time you even touch it, it would blank out.....I couldn't even get a channel programmed before it would blank out again, so it was impossible to even plug my ipod in it to try it!

So the most stable way to use it was to put the batteries back it. Again, I kept having problems with it blanking out, but did finally get to use it and the quality was pretty good, but having it constantly blanking out almost renders it useless!!

Yes, the price is cheap............but the quality is VERY,VERY POOR and what good is it if it's almost completely useless!! I would recommend spending even just a few bucks more to spare yourself a LOT of frustration and try a different one that is actually useable.

I purchased this device for an iPod Touch and a car without an auxiliary jack or USB port. The price is the best out there but there is a certain amount of truth to that bit about getting what you pay for. The sound is rather muffled so that I am turning up the iPod as high as it can go and I'm still towards the high end of the stereo. I have yet to see volume control on the device itself that I suppose could correct the problem. As one other review mentioned, there are no directions in the package.

It works better than what I had before (nothing) but for someone who is really looking for quality sound as the end result, you need another device.

Buy Apple iPod iPhone Accessories. Apple Fm Transmitter Car Kit and Car Charger with LCD display for Ip Now

This is a great transmitter for the money. I only paid about $6 for it and it works perfectly. I can use it throughout the house. You can use it with anything with a headphone jack and choose any station to play on. Don't buy the expensive transmitters unless you want something specifically made for iPod.

Read Best Reviews of Apple iPod iPhone Accessories. Apple Fm Transmitter Car Kit and Car Charger with LCD display for Ip Here

First, as far as I can tell, the USB port on this transmitter does NOT charge a device (at least not my iPod Touch).

While the adjustability of FM stations (in .1 increments 87.5 108.0) is a great feature, a couple design errors prevent this transmitter from being amazing. After I wrote the vendor I purchased from, they send me another. Comparing the two leads me to believe that the same issues probably plague most of the units.

The cigarette lighter adapter included did not fit snugly on the first unit I received. Any minor jostling or moving the device would cause it to lose power. The second unit has a somewhat better fit, making the car adapter usable. While batteries are an option, they are drained quite quickly (within a day or two) while the unit is off. Having 10 present stations is a nice feature, but the stations are not remembered if batteries are removed or the cable is unplugged.

As a transmitter, it works fine. The huge range of adjustability means that it is easy to find a (relatively) open FM channel. Plugging in a USB cable led to substantial distortion on the second unit I received.

Conclusion? For significantly less than other transmitters, this one may provide a great value if you are willing to put up with some quirks (and if having a useless USB port doesn't bother you).

Want Apple iPod iPhone Accessories. Apple Fm Transmitter Car Kit and Car Charger with LCD display for Ip Discount?

I paid virtually nothing for this FM transmitter, and I got what i paid for. When it's working, it works well (see below). On some long road trips, i've discovered that the transmitter was actually strong enough to overpower local radio stations--a big bonus! I have had no problems at all using this in big cities with lots of radio clutter. The cord from the transmitter to the headphone jack is a few inches shorter than I would've liked, but you can make it work.

More on the transmitter:

The transmitter works 98% of the time. But 1% of the time it "purrs" at you, and 1% of the time it violently (and loudly) "hiccups." The "purring" isn't too disturbing, but the "hiccups" can be quite jarring in the middle of a song. If i had to do it over again, i would get a different transmitter.

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Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Husky Liners Custom Fit Molded Second Seat Floor Liner for Select Subaru Impreza/Forester Models (G

Husky Liners Custom Fit Molded Second Seat Floor Liner for Select Subaru Impreza/Forester ModelsI have a 2014 Subaru Forester this went right in and fit great. Looks almost OEM and matches the gray just fine. A couple of small gaps around the edge where the plastic curls in a bit, but no big deal. Kids had been getting my carpets muddy but no more!

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Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Griot's Garage 92217 Battery Manager IV

Griot's Garage 92217 Battery Manager IVI bought the Battery Manager IV over a year ago, because my car often sits for extended periods of time without being driven. And I got tired of the battery dying, needing to get a jump or push-start the car, and other such inconveniences. And I can tell ya that ever since I purchased and have been using the Battery Manager IV, these frustrations have been a thing of the past.

It actively takes the battery up to 14.4V to fully charge it, then enters the float mode to maintain the battery's full charge at 13.5V (as opposed to cheaper units that keep driving 14.4V into a battery during long term float, actually damaging its life).

Also of note is that it'll charge a battery connected to the car, a solo/disconnected battery, and even a dual-battery setup, as I have in one of my vehicles.

One thing I did find out about this unit, however, is that the battery must already have and be able to maintain a minimum charge for the Battery Manager IV to work. Ie, this unit will NOT be able to charge a completely dead/drained battery. That battery will have to be charged for a bit (or, after a jump, drive around for a while for the alternator to charge the battery some), THEN the unit will take over, recharging the battery to its full capacity.

All in all, this unit does exactly what it claims to do, and it does it well. I am very happy with the purchase, and wouldn't hesitate to purchase a second unit for my other vehicle. The only reason I didn't though was I decided to go with Griot's 3-In-1 Battery Charger/Maintainer/Tester (Part #77495) so at least one of my units can charge a fully discharged battery, AND test it too!

We liked the first Battery Manager so well, we bought another one! One of our vehicles sits for long periods of time without being driven, and we have found that this works like a champ to keep the battery topped off. The second one lives at the beach house, to keep the vehicle there charged up when we aren't around.

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Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Schumacher XCS15 SpeedCharge Ship 'n Shore Battery Charger

Schumacher XCS15 SpeedCharge Ship 'n Shore Battery ChargerThis is a great little charger. I am using a large 460AH bank of batteries in my van dwelling and purchased this as an emergency charger after my expensive unit died. Once I hooked it up, it was astonishingly simple is to use. Now I want to keep it as a backup.

This unit has a cool percentage charged indicator. It was easy to hookup and turn on. The icons are a little confusing but all you need to know is your battery type and how to turn it on. It will do the rest for you. Most impressive!

I purchased this unit at a large chain department store nearby not through Amazon because I needed it immediately to charge my dead car battery. The unit is easy to use but, you should read the instructions first otherwise you could damage your battery if it's not set up properly. The buttons on the unit have icons that indicate fast, slow, and maintenance charging modes. You should know under what circumstances to use those modes. There are also buttons for battery type selection that are important as well.

Note that the unit is actually rated at 15amp not 10amp as indicated in the Amazon description at this writing which is a good thing.

The only issue that I have with the unit is that there is a cooling fan that is very loud. I can understand the necessity to cool the charger's components when charging a battery at high currents. The problem is that the fan is always on even when the battery becomes fully charged and is being trickle charged at low current levels when entering maintenance mode. I would have preferred that the fan be thermostatically controlled so that the fan comes on only when the charger's components heat up during fast charging. The fan should shut off during maintenance mode. Since the unit is microprocessor controlled, it would be a very simple matter to control the fan thermostatically for the price of a thermistor about a 50 cents in cost. As an electrical engineer and professional software developer, I can attest that the additional software development time to implement such a feature would be about 15 minutes.

Of course, if the manufacturer designed the unit with inadequate heat sinking on the critical electronic components to save costs, then the fan could be a requirement even at trickle charging rates. But, that would be a design flaw that would manifest itself in early life failure of the electronic components which would be even more problematic.

So, if you are looking for a charger to maintain a battery in full charge condition using a trickle charge mode (sans fan cacophony), then you may want to pass this one by.

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I spoke to Schumacher 4 times and got 4 different responses as to why it wasn't working properly and what settings I should use. It was turning itself on and off and setting itself to Gel when it came back on, when I had set it to AGM for my Marine battery before it went off. I did not lose power. At one point the charger read 15.7 and I could hear the acid bubbling. Of course I unplugged it, called Schumacher for the 4th and final time. The guy said no way it would charge that high. Well it did and I do know how to read! Since it was going on and off, resetting the settings and overcharging, I decided to return it as it was definitely defective and unsafe, but apparently Schumacher wouldn't stand behind it. Be careful! Overcharging any battery is DANGEROUS! Too bad, but I didn't feel safe leaving this unattended which is why I bought this "smart charger" in the first place.

Read Best Reviews of Schumacher XCS15 SpeedCharge Ship 'n Shore Battery Charger Here

I purchased this unit to charge and/or maintain several different types of batteries including a bank of large 125 AH deep cycle batteries. Everything worked fine but the information during charging is not totally useful. In the charging mode, the new feature of automatically switching between % charge and voltage every 15 seconds was a good idea. However, it is only half a good idea. The voltage displayed is not the actual charging voltage at the battery. It is the mode voltage (6V or 12V) which is useless information that does not need to be repeated every 15 seconds. I returned this charger in hopes of finding a better unit.

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Great battery charger for the price. One of the best made for deep cycle batteries. I would suggest this one to anyone who needs one.

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Monday, March 17, 2014

Motorola MR350R 35-Mile Range 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio (Pair)

Motorola MR350R 35-Mile Range 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio
  • VibraCall vibration alert or 20 different call tones
  • 11 weather channels (7 NOAA) with alert features
  • 22 channels each with 121 privacy codes for superior interference protection
  • Pair of two-way radios with up to 35 mile range
  • iVOX hands-free communication without the need for an audio accessory

First of all, all the distances advertised on any walkie talkie like this is based on mountain top to mountain top communication, where the valley increases the range, and no obstruction. That is where they based the 35 miles. For city use, in malls, house to house and areas with trees will be between .5 to 1 mile at most. Since I have been using Motorola Walkie talkies all my life so I knew what I was buying.

I experimented with 3 different models of Walkie talkies in the mall with my wife. First we tried the 5 mile Motorola. I was on one end of the mall inside Macy's and she was on the other side in Nordstrom. She could not even hear me.

We tried the 10 mile Motorola. This time she could hear me press the talk button and a few garbled words, but that was it. We could not communicate.

We tried these 35 mile ones last. We were able to hear each other just fine. Not bad considering the distance and the number of obstructions.

I have also tried this on the open road for car to car communication and it can reach the horizon. If you want more power, you will need to get a license and buy a 5 watt radio.

This Radio has many nice features you would normally find in Professional Radios 5 times the price of this.

UPDATE SEPT 25, 2009-

This radio has a really nice feature I just discovered. It has the hands free iVOX capability. It will broadcast when it hears a sound. There are 3 levels of sensitivity. I tried it as a baby monitor. I left my wife and baby while they were asleep and turned on the radio to High power on one of the GMRS channels(I have an FCC license by the way, so I can use this channel). I drove about 1 mile to my brother-in-laws house. The Radio worked as a long range baby monitor! It was impressive considering that the radio was indoors and I was not line-of-site, and it reached a mile. Very amusing.

I would advice getting an FCC license so that you can use the High power GMRS channels legally. With these radios, it is about 1.5 to 2 watts. If you use the FRS channels 8 to 14, all walkie talkies including this will only use 0.5 watts. Channels 1 to 7 are GMRS/FRS channels. You cannot legally use the high power PTT button if you do not have an FCC license. Channels 15 to 22 are GMRS channels where you can use the High power mode exclusive to GMRS radios. Go to the FCC website and pay the fee for a GMRS radio license, it is good for your immediate family for 5 years. It is worth it if you use it all the time.

****Update October 26, 2009****

I will now detail what I have found out about my Motorola:

Pros:

1. In door range This is the mall slayer. Go to any mall and give your kids one and you will be able to talke to them pretty much anywhere they are.

2. Audio Quality Very clear and very loud.

3. Outdoor Range It has almost the same range as my Icom professional radio which has 3 times the power. That is basically because outdoor range is more about antenna height rather than power.

4. Flashlight Very useful when you go camping. You dont have to bring an extra flashlight. It is bright. Excellent for emergencies.

5. iVox Hands free operation. Very useful as a 1 mile baby monitor.

6. Call button I can call the other radio so that they know I am trying to call them so they can pick up the radio.

7. Emergency button It will send an alert so that the other person knows you are in trouble.

8. Weather channels I use it to find out the weather, specially before going Kayaking.

9. Privacy Codes it has so many Privacy codes so you will never be disturbed by other radios.

10. QT You can restrict the radios that you hear to only Motorolas.

11. Scan well most other radios have this too.

12. 2 power settings You can either transmit on .5 watts or 1.5 watts, depending on the button you press. Unless you are using FRS channels 8 to 14 which are hardcoded to use .5 watts.

13. Vibrate feature In case you are in a noisy place, this is useful.

14. Ease of use It does not get easier. Instructions are clear and it is intuitive.

CONS:

1. I am still trying to find one.

********UPDATE December 27,2009*********

I conducted another Distance and clarity test:

Equipment:

1. My Icom F21 UHF 4 watt Professional Handheld Radio(same one Police/Sheriff use. $380 for a pair)

2. My Motorola MR350($59 a pair)

Parameters of the Test:

I have a 40 Watt GMRS Base Station at home. My Home is by the Beach Blvd. I will drive North on beach Blvd and at every quarter mile, I will get down from the car, and transmit. I will transmit first with the Icom, then the Motorola. I will also note down if I can hear a reply back and how clear the reply was.

Result of the test:

Distance

1. Icomwas able to transmit and receive clearly up till 3 1/4 miles. It then started to become choppy from that point.

2. Motorola was able to transmit and receive clearly till 2 3/4 miles. It then started to become choppy from that point.

Clarity

1. Icom There were times I had to ask my wife to repeat herself because it sounded a little muffled.

2. Motorola Just like listening to an FM radio. Loud and crystal clear.

Conclusion

Although the extra power of the Icom gave it a slight advantage in range, about 20%, you can buy 8 pairs of these Motorolas for the price of the Icom. Let the result speak for itself.

Note: This test was meant to show that the Professional Radios only have a slight advantage over the Motorola. The distances were that far because I have a base station with a 10 foot mast and an external J-pole GMRS tuned antenna. Hand held to hand held still follows the laws of physics so it is the same as I mentioned at the beginning of the review, .5 to 1 mile in the city. Completely different story if you are on an elevated position. Distance in miles = Square root of the Height(in feet) x 1.4.

*****UPDATE FEB. 04,2010******

I would like to now discuss the Cost savings of this MR350 over Professional Radios.

My Motorola MR350 is still going strong. I have since bought more Professional Icoms and have had to go through the hassle of tweaking them and programming them manually to get them to function the way this Motorola does when you first take it out of the packaging. I had to buy these Icoms because I am a member of a GMRS Radio Group here in Orange County and Los Angeles and I need the repeater functionality and external antenna.

If you buy a professional radio, you will have to pay to have it programmed. It can cost from between $20 to $80 each time you need to have something programmed. I bought the software and equipment to program my Icoms and they were very expensive. Again, this is something you will never have to do with the MR350.

Batteries on my Icoms cost about $60. That is even more than the cost of this MOTOROLA!!! Not to mention that I had to buy an external battery pack for my Icoms costing $45 so that I can use Energizer AA batteries. The Motorola can use the included rechargeable battery, or you can use Energizer.

I have my Motorolas fully charged all the time so if ever the big earthquake hits LA, this will be my primary survival gear together with my Swiss Army Knife.

Conclusion:

In a cost perspective, the Motorola MR350 wins hands down. You will easily spend about $650-700(hardware and software) to equip a pair(2) of Professional Radios to have some(not all) of the features of this Motorola MR350. At the end of the day, cost will always be a factor when we purchase anything.

Hope to talk to you on the air.

******UPDATE APRIL 19,2010*******

I just bought another set of Motorola MR350 radios. I leave a pair in my car for emergencies where I cannot use my car mounted Mobile UHF radio. I still think these are the best deal on any UHF radio.

******UPDATE OCTOBER 26,2010*******

I just wanted to update all of you since it has been 1 year since my original post. The 4 Radios and the batteries are still working great. That being said, one of the nice people to comment, mentioned that one or both of his new units were defective. Unfortunately, that is not unique with Consumer radios. Once you receive your radio, whatever you buy, please test it right away. If you find that something is not right, tell Amazon that the unit is defective, then exchange it for a new set. That is the nice thing about Amazon. And if you have more issues, drop me a comment, and I can point you to other radios that you may like. I collect radios and I have tried most of them already so I can save you the trouble of deciding.

Also, he mentioned that there is a site that you can get a free replacement faceplate for the MR355 which has the Repeater capability and all of the features of the MR350. The catch is the original faceplate of the MR355 is camo. The free replacement faceplate will make the MR355 look much more discreet. Look into that radio as well. From what I hear, they are almost the same price. Oh, and I also have that MR355 radio, but never take it out because I have not replaced the faceplate yet. I will eventually.

******UPDATE FEBRUARY 2, 2012*******

I am so happy to announce that all 4 Motorola MR350 radios are still working. I still take them with me everywhere and have not had any problems with them. I have accidentally dropped them a couple of times so they have some scratches here and there, but they still work fine. I am really happy all 4 radios have lasted this long, almost 3 years for the original pair.

If there are any situations you would like me to test, please let me know and I will do my best to document a proper test for it. Let me know.

******UPDATE AUGUST 27, 2012*******

Again, I am happy to report all 4 radios still work. Now I would like to talk about the best new radio I have seen from Motorola, the MT352R. It is basically very similar to the MR350 except that it has a better rechargeable NiMH battery. It has double the battery life of the MR350. It also has a new method of charging. It does not use a charging station anymore. You just plug a mini USB cable to the bottom.

That is great, except that it is a much larger radio, so you have to consider the bulk of this before buying it. I have only seen it but I am about to buy a pair and see if this provides. I was really hesitant to buy it because it did not look as sleek as the MR350 which has served me well.

Once I get it, I will let you know if it is even worth paying the extra money, for what appears to be the same radio.

Another thing I wanted to discuss is the repair of these consumer radios. If the radio is still under warranty and Motorola will replace your radio as long as it was not due to user error. Once the warranty is over and your radios break, you have to buy a new radio as they do not repair radios out of warranty. Motorola used to do repairs, but no one really availed of it because it costs $50 or more to repair a radio. People just bought new ones. That goes for all handhelds available. So, the moral of the story is, if your radio is still under warranty, bring it to Motorola(or whatever radio you buy) and they will give you a new radio. Do not wait as the warranty could lapse.

I hope that helps you guys.

********UPDATE December 3, 2012*******

All 4 MR350 radios are still ticking. I am happy to report though that I have purchased a pair of Motorola MT352R radios. It will be arriving soon, and I will do a very comprehensive side by side test between my favorite, the MR350 vs the contender, the MT352R. Please give me about a week to get the radios, perform the tests and analyze the results. I should be able to post the findings by December 14, 2012. It should give you enough time to decide whether to buy this for xmas.

********IMPORTANT UPDATE December 4,2012*********

I received the Motorola MT352R this morning and proceeded to perform the comparison testing between the MR350 and the MT352R. Please go to my review of the MT352R so you will be able to see the results of my testing. Motorola MT352R Giant FRS Weatherproof Two-Way 35 Mile Radio Pack Silver

In a nutshell, they have the same features except for the IP-54 weather resistance. The main difference between them is size, distance, battery life and most important of all, price. Is 20-30% more distance worth paying 40-50% more(depending how much the current price is of course)? That is your choice. I still prefer the MR350 because of the very slim form and proven reliability. The MT352R is as big as an ICOM handheld. The MT352R has a better battery, but the MR350 has great battery life to begin with.

Please read my review of the MT352R so you have a better idea. I hope that helps.

********UPDATE April 29, 2013*********

I have had these radios for 4 years now and they still work just fine. I still highly recommend them.

Buy Motorola MR350R 35-Mile Range 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio (Pair) Now

Motorola MR350R vs Midland GXT1050--both products received good reviews on Amazon and I had a hard time initially deciding which one to buy since I could not find detailed comparison between the two. So, I will try to be more comprehensive in comparison here hoping to help you make a decision suitable for your purpose.

I bought MR350R two months ago from Costco at $55 (tax included) to monitor my baby sleeping upstairs and to use during road trips. A month later I also bought Midland GXT1050 from Amazon upon good reviews and my dissatisfaction with some silly design issue associated with the MR350 VOX feature (which is critical for monitoring purpose).

Size and weight: MR350 is lighter (6.2oz vs 7.3oz for each handset including rechargeable battery pack and belt clips) and has a noticeably more agronomical grip, especially for kids or someone with smaller hands.

Setup and Change Settings: MR350 has more intuitive LCD display and signs/symbols whereas GXT1050 took me a couple of hours to set up and memorize what each symbol/letter means (It would be tremendously helpful if Midland can add a full list of all symbols/letters and their meanings in a simple table instead of diving this information into chunks and burying it into each individual function/feature section). I think a 10 year old can be taught to change settings on MR350 without a manual but that most likely won't happen with GXT1050 (with or without the manual).

Features: These two share many useful key features like Weather Scan and Alert. GXT1050 has more channels (50 vs 22 for MR350R) which may be useful for using in populated areas although I never run into issues with MR350 on this one. MR350 has a built-in LED light for emergency use, which is nice. GXT1050 can produce a loud SOS siren which maybe useful in certain situations (although I never used it for any real purposes). Overall GXT1050 seems a bit more versatile with features such as direct call.

Range: GXT claimed 36 miles range and MR350 claimed 35 miles--both claims are meaningless since nobody would ever achieve the advertised range unless standing on two mountain peaks with perfect conditions. In actual use, the effective range is more like 1-2 miles in a flat suburban environment and a bit more in open field. Some reviewers here found a slightly better range with GXT1050 although my test twice showed MR350R lasted a slightly longer range while me driving away from home with each model broadcasting from my living room.

PPT Button is the one needing to be pressed down when transmitting. MR350R has the button designed in such way you can press the upper part for high power and lower part for low power--made switch power a much easier task. Using GXT1050's mechanism you will have to pre-configure power level in the settings and is not very easy to change in a hurry. The shape of MR350 PPT button is made in such a way though, you would end up using the high power most of the time since the upper part of the button protrudes further out. Nonetheless, I like the MR350R design on this one.

VOX: This is one of the most critical features if you want to monitor baby sleeping in a different room or just want to talk hand-free. I agree with C. Hayes' review here that MR350R's three sensitivity levels are not sensitive enough (Hayes's wording made me smile, though a bit exaggerated.). GXT1050 has 9 level of sensitivities and the most sensitive setting (level 1) is indeed more sensitive than that of MR350R (level 3), however, the difference it is not day and night--both detected my baby crying after waking up when placed about 1-2 feet away and both failed to detect my normal talk volume from 1-2 feet away unless I yell loudly or put the radio within 2-3 inches to my mouth. When put in front of a PC speaker, I did notice that GXT1050 started getting into the transmitting mode a bit earlier than MR305R as I turned up the volume knob of my speaker. However, if you want to talk to you handset placed on your shoulder (like policeman does) with your normal voice volume without bending your head to get close to the ratio--good luck no matter which set you use. I really think both companies should increase the sensitive level here.

The biggest turn-off of MR350R is that its VOX feature would be automatically cancelled if you press PPT button, intentionally or accidentally, even if when all settings are "locked"--my baby likes to play with radio and sometime the VOX setting is accidentally cancelled because he squeezed the PPT button. I found this a ridiculous under-thinking (or over-thinking) by Motorola's engineers--I understand the need to preserve power if pressing PPT means VOX may no longer be necessary, but auto-cancel even though settings are locked? Does the word "lock" mean anything? GXT has no problem on this one--kudos to their engineers. I would have returned MR350R for this reason alone (thanks to the great Costco return policy.) if not because my GXT1050 set had a quality issue.

The Wishper feature of GXT1050 does give much loud volume which is very useful for baby monitoring if you don't carry your ratio set on you or right next to you.

Battery life: Both are pretty good (for the good unit I have). I followed exact instructions to do the initial charge (important to battery life) and subsequent charges. However, one of my MR350R unit would run out juicy twice faster than the other handset would--this may be due to difference in batteries or the radio circuit parts. Even worse luck with GXT1050 I had-sometimes one unit would lose power during use even though it was newly charged and it would not even charge after being placed on the charger. Swapping batteries solves the problem temporarily but this issue reappears later. This caused me to return the GXT1050 to Amazon (thanks to Amazon's 30 day return policy) after on two occasions my baby woke up and fell off bed but GXT1050 failed to give me any warning in advance because of this very issue.. I don't know whether this was caused by a faulty battery or circuit component but I do think this is probably an isolated quality issue since most reviewers here seems to be quite happy with their purchase. One small thing to comment on the rechargeable battery installation and removal--MR350 got this one right with a ribbon under the battery to help you remove the pack easily. The GXT1050 rechargeable battery pack fit in so tightly and there is no ribbon there to help--it would take a few minutes and possibly a fingernail or two (and believe me, I am not exaggerating here) to remove it, especially if you are in a hurry to put in some alkaline batteries in the field. Midland--please spend a nickel or a dime and put in a removal ribbon here.

Charger: Both models do NOT have smart charger--which means the charge light is still red even when fully charged. IBoth companies should make an improvement on this for better battery power and life.

Compatibility: I checked their frequency charts and found that first 22 channels are on exact frequencies so they are compatible. However, I found this to be true only when privacy code is not used. When both models are set on the same channel using the same privacy code--they were able to scan and found each other SOMETIMES, but not always. What a bummer since I would be happy to have both sets (if without quality issues mentioned earlier) and use them in a group to suit different needs.

Waterproof: GXT1050 is splash-proof (JIS4 as the fine print specified), not really waterproof in the sense you can submerge it in water but this is still better than MR350R.

Price: GXT1050 package costs about $20 more but it also includes two headsets and a car charger adaptor--I would call a tie on this one.

Overall, each model has its own strengths--buy what suits your purpose. I had experience in building electronics and know for a fact that individual difference in parts/components sometime impact significantly in power consumption and transmit/receiving sensitivity. So, each unit may vary somewhat from one another --your mileage may vary when coming down to range, sensitivity, etc. So, celebrate if you get a good pair but don't get too hung up if someone else claims a bit better range or clarity or whatsoever.

I would have given 4 stars to both models given their solid performance before noticing quality issues mentioned above but 3 stars here due to quality/reliability issues happened to the set I received in addition to some much desired improvement in design--I hope the manufacturers read my reviews and take some actions--those are not expensive changes at all but would be much more user friendly. I would buy the improved version of either brand in a heartbeat.

Read Best Reviews of Motorola MR350R 35-Mile Range 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio (Pair) Here

After purchasisng the Motorola MR-350 via Amazon, radios were tested in a residential area in my city.

To my surprise and amazement the MR-350 units were able to clearly communicate over a distance of one and one half miles, having to punch the signal clearly through homes, trees, steel, wood and many line of site obstructions.

Clearly, this is an amazing pair of radios, and the claim of an unobstructed range of many miles is highly likely.

Delighted with the Amazon purchase and this is an excellent value, demonstrating a lot of radio muscle power in a tiny package.

Richard Denver.

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I would URGE you to read WILFREDO M VIRAY'S ("Wally") EXCELLENT, THOROUGH and THOUGHTFUL review. There's not much more I can say.

However, a few friends have asked "why would anyone use a two-way radio when cell phones do the 'same' thing?" I live direcly under a bluff in the midwest. Cross country ski, walking and bike trails, and one of our country clubs are there as well. Cell phones don't work very well in these areas.

This can also be true when you're traveling. A two-way radio can put you in touch with a LOT of sources you cannot reach with a cell phone... truckers, for example. Forget the stereotype these guys can be lifesavers on the open road. Two way radios are free of roaming charges, and they'll work ANYWHERE NO cell phone network can make that claim.

We also use these radios (and their "predecessor," the Motorola T9500XLR) EXTENSIVELY at work. (We now have TEN pair.) The building is concrete and steel, and no matter where you are, you can communicate CLEARLY with these radios. (Incidentally, we're talking about a 200,000+ square foot... that's a fairly large building.) Using two-way radios is a VAST time saver compared to paging someone on the intercom, then waiting for the "callee" to find a phone and get back to you!

Another NICE feature: Although these radios are supplied with a comparatively expensive 3.6 volt rechargeable battery, YOU CAN USE (3) AA's INSTEAD.

Again, I refer you to Wilfredo "Wally" Viray's excellent review for some non-biased technical data.

Good job, Motorola!

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I purchased 3 sets of these. They are the most powerful units I was able to find in the "for general public consumption" category. What I mean by that is these are not commercial or military grade units, and so their reception will not be quite as powerful as those, but as far as commercially available, relatively low-cost units go, these are probably the best out there.

The radios are excellent in just about every way. I've owned them now for over 9 months, and my children use them daily to keep in touch with us in the home. The children are 8 and 10 years old, and radios are our way of knowing where they are, and staying in touch with them as they play in the neighborhood. When we need them to come home we can call them home. If there is trouble, or a "stranger" nearby, my children can call home to tell us about it. In such a way, we keep tabs on our kids and we gain enormous peace of mind from knowing they can reach us with the push of a button.

We live in Central Florida (which is basically flat land) and we can get about 1 to 1.5 miles out of them in suburban areas. In one case, I was able to get a signal out to about 2 miles in a clear cut area. The key to remember is these radios are "line of sight", which means if there are trees between you and the receiver, it degrades the signal strength substantially. My neighborhood has many trees, so the reception is limited to 1 to 1.5 miles. In open areas, you can get substantially longer range (for example in a desert area, or from a mountain top. Also, weather plays with the range. Heavy rain will degrade the reception.

My advice is don't look at the published range on the box. I doubt 30 miles (or whatever) will ever be do-able, except on a perfectly clear, calm day on the Bonneville Salt Flats from an elevated platform. We thoroughly tested these radios under all kinds of circumstances. You get 2 miles out in a regular suburban middle class neighborhood, and you hear nothing. If your area is filled with hills, peaks and valleys, then this will also limit reception. When my kids dip down a small hill, and there are land formations between the reciever and the sender, the signal goes to zero. Around houses and trees on otherwise relatively flat terrain, the signal still reaches out to 1.5 miles. In one part of our neighborhood, there is a cul-de-sac that drops down 50 or 80 feet down (a lower part of the neighborhood) and the signal back there is zero. So just keep in mind this is LINE OF SIGHT. If you can draw a straight line between the sender and the reciever without any physical land mass or giant building obstructing your view, you can get several miles range out of it. If there are buildings and trees, the range is inside of 1 mile. Just trees, about 1.5 miles.

The other thing I love about these radios is the NOAA Weather Alert Service. At any time, if there is a weather alert in your area, the radio goes right to the NOAA radio station, and transmits the relevant data, no matter what you are doing, even if you are on a different station. As long as the radio has the power "on", the weather will interrupt and announce the alert. Even while we are at home during our normal routines, on nights when we are expecting bad weather, we keep the radio turned on by our bed, and if a tornado or other alert is being issued, the radio comes to life and wakes us up. Living in Central Florida, we get tornadoes from time to time, and the radio has woken us up to get informed about the situation. We get up turn on the news, and find out where the tornadoes are to see if we need to prepare. This NOAA radio feature is fantastic.

I would have given the radio a "5" star, but we lost a volume cap for one of our radios, and after a phone call to Motorola we discovered NO SPARE PARTS are being sold or shipped out to support these. The staff answering these calls were not professional, and poorly trained, generally disinterested, detached, and obviously bored with their careers as phone attendants/inbound customer service representatives. For such an otherwise respectable company, I was disappointed with the phone support on this product. The good thing is Motorola will replace the radio no questions asked through their warranty program. It is interesting to note the radio is made in China, and the poorly trained phone support people make a point to tell you about it repeatedly when they talk to you.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

GTMax White USB Flip Home Wall Travel AC Charger Power Adapter for Apple iPod Touch 4th Generation

GTMax White USB Flip Home Wall Travel AC Charger Power Adapter for Apple iPod Touch 4th Generation
  • USB Home Wall Travel AC Charger Power Adapter
  • Input: 100V - 240V (U.S. & World Standard)
  • Best replacement for original MP3 player travel charger.
  • Intelligent IC chip inside recognizes a fully charged battery and automatically switches to a saver mode to prevent overcharging and short circuit.
  • The USB travel charger is lightweight and easy to carry while traveling.

Great product! works perfectly on my ipod touch 4th generation. This is a must have. you can charge your ipod/iphone wherever you are and charging is fast.

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Not much to say other than it works great with my gen 4 ipod touch. Haven't had a single issue.

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Do not buy this product!!!!! Just received it today and plugged it in to charge my Ipod Touch. After about 10 minutes there was a loud pop and a spark came out of the charger. VERY DANGEROUS, don't know what would have happened if I was not in the room at the time. I guess I got what I paid for!!!

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I have been frustrated by the fact that it is difficult to find which plugs/cords work with which apple products.

Fortunately this one works and it has an indicator light to let you know it is on and I like that it has a power saver mode when it is fully charged.

I don't know what other products this works with but I do know it works with my ipod touch 4th generation.

I bought two of these chargers for my ipod touch and ipad. One worked just fine and the other didn't work at all.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Multi-Functional Auto Electrical Circuit Tester with LCD Display and LED Flashlight -- tests contin

Multi-Functional Auto Electrical Circuit Tester with LCD Display and LED Flashlight -- tests continuity, polarity, voltage, frequency, misfiresSince I watched one youtube cast on car repair I wanted to buy Power Probe III Eric the Car Guy used. In my opinion original Power Probe is extremely overpriced. I hesitated buying this one being afraid it's low quality chinese cnock-off. This tool here I don't know about the legal issues patents and so, has exactly same functionality (and bit more) at lower price, extremely well made, is aesthetically and ergonomically nicer than power probe (I think whoever designed the shape and look of power probes was thinking about brick on the stick).

I totally love this tester here. Backlit LCD, white LED at the end to see what you're probing, extender for the probe and power supply, soft cable, good grip. low current test light safe for electronics.

You have two LEDs, red and green. red one goes on when you touch +12 or the flying lead of something connected to +12.

Green one goes on when you touch the ground or flying lead something that connected to the ground.

Using rocker switch you can supply the probe end with +12 or ground. This way you can test activate different circuits.

Warning! You should know and understand what are you powering and understand how electricity works. Otherwise you seriously risk frying something. In experienced hands this tool is awesome, you don't need a mess of jumper wires to test circuits anymore.

Tool has built in 5amp self reset breaker when you power the circuit.

I can't comment on the misfire detection function, my cars are in perfect shape here. Frequency/rpm meter can't see where I might need it in the car, we don't adjust idle anymore but let it be. with the voltage threshold detection for example you might check for voltage ripple in case of the bad generator if you understand it again.

Bottom line five stars from me

The device is just what I expected, it is practical and reading of the screen is clearly visible, the length of the cable allows testing in the rear of the vehicle as the rear lights and fuel pump built light lets you see just those parts dark in the back. You can test the pulse of the injectors without damage to the ECU. I think a good general test device Electics system of the car and easy to use. It is great device

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I am a professional mechanic. This tool is good. The only downside that I have with this tool is that is doesn't make a beep sound when touching a B+ or ground like the power probe does. With that said, I think the other features in this tool make up for that over sight. The KV spark test function is cool. The jury is still out on weather the rated KV's shown on the tool are accurate, but it will quickly tell you if a car has spark or not (only cars with wires, not cars with coils on plugs). If you in the market for a power probe you should really take a good look at this tool. I would consider this tool a bargain at double the price!

Read Best Reviews of Multi-Functional Auto Electrical Circuit Tester with LCD Display and LED Flashlight -- tests contin Here

This is a great product, I used others similar as this one with less functions but this one has extra functions

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Saturday, January 11, 2014

Samsung Focus i917 Combo Rapid Car Charger + Home Wall Charger + USB Data Charge Sync Cable for Sam

Samsung Focus i917 Combo Rapid Car Charger + Home Wall Charger + USB Data Charge Sync Cable for Samsung Focus i917The USB cable does not allow the telephone to be recognized by my PC.

The wall charger caused the touchscreen to 'freeze'

Despite the great price, I would not recommend this product.

I purchased this pack the same day i purchased my phone so they would arrive together. This pack actually arrived first, which is wonderful, but i noticed immediately that the USB cable included (which is very short mind you, about 3') was bent a bit on the micro side and would not work. I gave the company a two star seller feedback and they contacted me that night to resolve the issue. They told me that they would send me out a new USB cable and that i should look for an e-mail with instructions. They then slipped in that i should reconsider my seller feedback, which i would gladly change if the issue was resolved. As pleasant a surprise as this was, no e-mail or replacement ever came and here i am to this day, almost a month later with a tweaked USB cable that does not function.

I believe it is worth mentioning that the wall charger and car charger work fine.

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The wall charger causes the phone to freeze up. The car chager plug fell off the wire as I tried to plug it in for the first time. Completely unsable.

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THE ARE WHAT I WANTED FOR THE RIGHT PRICE. THEY ARE ALL THAT I NEEDED TO COMPLETE THE PURCHASE OF A NEW PHONE

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I was expecting this replacement to be exactly like the original that came with the phone and it is not but it does seem to work fine

Monday, December 30, 2013

Odyssey 34M-PC1500ST TROLLING Thunder Marine Dual Purpose Battery

Odyssey 34M-PC1500ST TROLLING Thunder Marine Dual Purpose BatteryGreat battery, have yet to run it completly down and have run it 4 continious hours on a 46lbs thrust motor. It holds an excellent change. Price on Amazon was lowest found.

I needed a pair of these Odyssey batteries for a dual battery installation in a Jeep Wrangler. Amazon had a great price on the batteries and they were shipped promptly.

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Using two Odysey 34M-pc-100st on my 28ft Catalinia sailboat.

Always a powerfull start for the disel engine and the house battery is strong

thoughout the night powering lights, water pump and 12 volt frigerator.

The batteries have never failed me on the water unlike other batteries I have owned.

Read Best Reviews of Odyssey 34M-PC1500ST TROLLING Thunder Marine Dual Purpose Battery Here

If you take your fishing seriously like I do this battery is a must-have. Thing holds a charge well and if you take care of it with a good marine charger this thing will not let you down. I only leave 5 star reviews if the item exceeds expectations, and this battery did just that.

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This batt is incredible. I have used it 3 straight days while fishing/camping and it hasn't had a hiccup in the charge. Holds a charge like you wouldn't believe! It also charges quick as well. I haven't had it long so I can't say for sure how it will hold up in longevity but i like it thus far.

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Monday, October 28, 2013

DURAGADGET In Car charger for Navigon 7310, 6350 live, 6310, 4350 MAX, 40 Easy,3310 Max

DURAGADGET In Car charger for Navigon 7310, 6350 live, 6310, 4350 MAX, 40 Easy,3310 Max
  • Charge in car through cigarette lighter adapter, Output: DC 5 volt up to 1mA
  • LED Indicator shows charging status device
  • Charge and use your device at the same time
  • Will not overcharge your device (reverse circuit protection)
  • Input: DC 12V~24V FOR CARS AND LORRIES

It was exactly the charger I needed the original's inside pieces just fell apart. Works perfectly in my car with this GPS unit I had

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Waste of time and money since this car charger isn't compatable with the Navigon 6310 as stated. This car charger adapter fits into the Navigon, however the Navigon screen is blank. I have now ordered the Navigon car charger through the Navigon website. I guess you get what you pay for in this case. PS the issue isn't with the Navigon GPS since my old charger still works. The old cord has a short in it and needs to be held in a certain position in order for it to work properly. At least I can use the old cord for the time being, but this Duragadget is useless with the Navigon. I'm hoping to get a refund.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Usa Spec Pa15-ford2 Ipod / Iphone / Itouch 3g Interface + Aux Input for Ford's *Includes 3g Iphone

Usa Spec Pa15-ford2 Ipod / Iphone / Itouch 3g Interface + Aux Input for Ford's *Includes 3g Iphone Cable*
  • New Ford iPod interface!!
  • 3GS compatible,displays text and no loss of any factory features
  • Fully Compatible with new iPhone 3Gs, iPod Classic, Nano, and iTouch, and 4G models
  • Control, Play and Charge though the Factory Radio
  • Retains Satellite radio tuner, with no loss of any functions

It really works. A bit confusing to figure out the directions, but part of that is because it's hard to get to the connections in the Ford Sport Trac in the first place. The cord is a bit long, wish there was a good way to shorten it up,had to roll it up and jam it in the right front kick panel. I would have assumed that the item would have been made for the Ford Sport Trac the manufacturer would have know how long to make the cord from the connection to the iPod. But it works and makes my '07 Sport Trac w/o an MP3 connector that much better. Called technical support and they were very helpful.

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I got this as a Christmas gift from my wife for my 2007 Ford Explorer (with sirius receiver). It took about 3 minutes to install and works like a dream! The only down side is that you can not shuffle on the fly from your car stereo, otherwise it's worth every penny!

Saturday, July 13, 2013

ZOpid - Talking Universal Wireless Bluetooth Hands Free Car Kit / Speaker Phone with Built-in Recha

ZOpid - Talking Universal Wireless Bluetooth Hands Free Car Kit / Speaker Phone with Built-in Rechargeable Battery - HC-ZB323V
  • One of the best hands free car kits - 12 different voice prompts make it real easy to use
  • Bluetooth v1.2 - Works with any bluetooth enabled cell phone or PDA - Very easy to setup in car
  • Digital Signal Processing (DSP) for clear sound and noise cancellation - Supports voice dialing
  • Last number redial - 10 calls memory - Call transfer - Battery charging indicator
  • Built-in rechargeable Li-Polymer battery - Up to 10 hours talk time - Up to 230 hours stand by time

I have been using this carkit for almost a year and I am very pleased with the product quality. Over the year I have used the carkit with a few different cell phone models without any problem any minor issues that I have had were resolved by either consulting the user manual or visiting product-support website.

When I used the carkit for the first time I felt that the volume was not loud enough but the product support website had instructions on how to fix that problem the fix required adjusting the incoming-call volume on the cell phonewhich on most phones is adjusted while you are on a phone call. The volume adjustment is required again only if the phone settings are reset.

To use voice dialing from the carkit, when it's paired with my Motorola V3, I have to press the call button twice, instead of just once as documented in the user manual. Again, I found detailed instructions on voice dialing on product support website.

My wife uses my car sometimes, so my carkit has pairing information saved for her phone as well, which makes it easier for her to use the carkit while using my car as it does not require to repeat the pairing process.

Most of the voice prompts are very helpful, but I specially like the "end of call" prompt, because with most of the bluetooth handsfree devices you cannot tell if the call has ended, unless you look at the cell phone screen.

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I purchased this item to compare with my other BT car kit Motorola T305 (reliable connection but not so great in sound and indication). It turns out this unit is a complete opposite.

The good sound quality, including the British-accent voice prompt from the device. It's good to know the current status of the unit and what it is doing. The volume is loud and clear. Never see the low-battery indication as I charge only once a week. (The power outlet on my car doesn't have power when the car is off and is mostly used for my radar detector.)

The bad connectivity: it took me 5 times to successfully pair with my Treo when I receive it. Once it's connected, it's often to drop the connection and pick up again after a few seconds. Occasionally it doesn't pick up anymore. Although so far it never drops the connection DURING a phone conversation, it's quite annoying to have to worry about it.

There is another unit almost identical but a little more expensive on amazon.com. May that's what the extra money is spent for.......

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I was excited to get this product and finally be able to speak "hands free" while driving my vehicle. I have tried other blue tooth devices that fit over the ear and have never liked the way any of them have fit. I have three cell phones (one for personnal and two for work) and was looking forward to a device that could connect to all three. After using this device for a few days I was terribly disappointed with the perfomance. I continued to use it for several more weeks hoping for an improvement, but no luck. I have listed my opinions for pro's and con's to help you decide.

Pros: Holds a charge for several days and comes with an included car charger. Very large, bright LCD display for incoming calls. Voice prompts with number. Sorry, that's all of the good stuff.

CONS: Pairs to each of my three phones with no problem.... but NOT simultaneously. It automatically pairs to my work phone (the primary pairing) when the unit is initially turned on. The device won't pair with one of the other phones unless the primary is turned off or out of range. In other words, if my personnal phone rings, the device WON'T automatically swith to that device. This is a huge inconveinence and makes the multiple pairing feature virtually USELESS to me. Also, the speaker volume is TOO LOW, even at the maximum volume setting. What does this mean? It means I really CAN'T HEAR what the person I'm having a conversation with is saying. But that almost doesn't matter because everyone I've spoken to on the device has complained about not being able to hear me, or the line having TOO MUCH STATIC. Also, the voice dialing feature on my cell phone DOES NOT WORK through this device. In other words, I still have to pick up the cell phone and dial the digits on the keypad in order to make a call. There are other negatives, but I think you get the point.

My opinion is this is a TERRIBLE product, especially for the money paid ($60 plus shipping). I only wish someone else had taken the time to write a review prior to me WASTING MY MONEY on this.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Camco 57331 Olympian Wave-3 3000 BTU LP Gas Catalytic Heater

Camco 57331 Olympian Wave-3 3000 BTU LP Gas Catalytic HeaterI purchased the Olympian Wave 6 Catalytic Heater during the summer of 2007, for use in our 1987 Starcraft Nova Popup Camper. The camper has an 11' box, so it's a fairly large camper when opened up. I had already installed an OEM Duo-Therm forced air furnace. It worked great, but the blower fan in these forced air furnaces are noisy, use alot of 12 volt battery power, and the furnaces use quite a bit of propane. Every time that furnace turned on, it would wake us up. Then we'd lay there listening to the blower run for 10-15min. When it finally shut off, instead of being able to go back to sleep, we'd still be awake, anticipating the next cycle.

The Wave 6 Heater is an amazing heat source and fits the use in this camper perfectly. I purchased the feet for it, as well as the available protective cover for storage (I highly recommend you buy the cover because you must keep the platinum catalytic mat clean). I had a 10' flexible rubber propane hose made and T'd that into the existing fitting under the fold down sink cabinet. A small brass ball valve is located at the T in order to turn off/on propane flow into the flexible hose to the heater. At the other end of the 10' hose is a propane quick coupler (purchased from ) and this allows the hose to quickly be "snapped" on to the male fitting that I installed on the heater. A quick note about these propane quick couplers. There are several versions made; a low pressure and a high pressure. The Wave heaters use your low pressure system in your camper/RV/MH/TT/5er, but you can use either the low pressure quick coupler set up, or the high pressure. Some campers/RV's/etc. use these quick couplers from the factory, so if you're having trouble matching an existing coupler, it may be because you're trying to mate a low pressure with a high pressure, or vise-versa. Call the folks at mbsturgis and they can help.

When not in use, the heater stowes under the dinette seat. It takes just a few minutes to get the heater out before going to bed, and set it up. Per the manufacturer's instructions, I open the roof vent about 1/2", and the lower panel of the screen door the same amount. Sometimes I'll unzip just a few inches of the upper corner, of the side bunk windows, but not always. We never have a condensation problem.

The heater lights quickly and in about 5-10min. is fully "cooking." Set on medium, it will keep the camper 71*F inside at an outside tempurature of 51*F. I leave it run all night and it keeps us toasty warm.

A word of advice on using heaters in campers; do your homework if you're worried about carbon monoxide poisoning. By that, I mean call the manufacturer and get your information straight from their technical support, or even their engineers. That way, you have actual data, instead of all the story telling that is so common on many RV website forums.

Bottom line: This is an outstanding product that's extremely well designed and built. It's easy to use, super efficient, quiet, and just cranks out the heat!

UPDATE: Dec 2012

We're still using the Wave 6 heater after 6 seasons. Still love the thing. It still runs all night long, while we sleep. I wound up making "thumb screws" that allow me to take the feet on and off faster. I install the feet at the beginning of each camp trip, and take them off on the final day of the trip, and the heater just sits out of the way on the counter during the day. The thumb screws are just 5mm allen head "bolts" that I threaded into 5mm wing nuts. I tightend the allen head bolts really tight into the wing nuts, so the wing nuts make it easy to spin the bolts through the legs and up into the heater's threaded lugs. Hope that makes sense.

To give an idea of how little propane these heaters use, we had an 8 day camp trip this year, and only used 3.8 gallons of propane. That included about 10 days of running the refrigerator, and 8 days of cooking 2 meals per day on the 3 burner carry-out stove, and using the Wave 6 from about 8pm each night, until around 6am the next morning.

My little travel trailer came without an LP Furnace. I originally thought this would be a huge drawback and prevent me from dry camping...until I discovered the Olympian Wave 3! What a fantastic little unit! It's every bit as powerful as a forced air 12000BTU LP furnace, however it has some big advantages-1. it's completely silent. No loud blower motors to wake you up every time they turn on; 2. it doesn't require any battery power (an LP furnace won't run if your battery dies); 3. it's smaller, lighter, and portable than an LP furnace; and 4. With a hose and leg accessories, you can move the heater around to wherever you need it.

The only disadvantage is that there's no thermostat control-you only have two heat settings (low and high) that stay on as long as the unit is on. But since it's more consistent radiant heat, once it warms the interior, you can maintain a consistent temp inside by just adjusting your windows or roof vent.

Unlike cheaper catalytic heaters such as the "buddy" series or the Coleman "cats", this one uses much less LP per hour (since it uses low pressure LP rather than high). It also works in higher elevations (where the others can't operate above 5000 feet or so).

Highly recommended product that will last you for years!

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We bought this heater for our travel trailer. We enjoy "dry camping" (no power or water) in the the desert during the winter and needed a heat source that does not run down our batteries. The heater is ideal from that respect. It does not require a blower and it does not use power to control the flame.

It worked well for us at first. After a month or so of regular use we noticed that it started to smell and then our carbon monoxide detector alarm sounded in the middle of the night warning of carbon monoxide levels high enough to kill. (Wouldn't you know it, it was the coldest night we ever experienced in the desert, -18 degrees!!)

Camping often means dusty conditions. It is not stated in the on-line specifications or mentioned in the reviews or in the manufactures description that this heater is not suitable for dusty conditions. Only by careful reading of the operation manual can this be discovered. We went ahead and installed the heater hoping that we could keep the dust down. Although we thought we were being careful by keeping it covered when not in use and practiced good housekeeping, the heater failed because the catalyst got "poisoned". Once it failed we found that the warranty does not cover catalyst poisoning and it was too late to return it. We now have a heater that we cannot use because of high carbon monoxide levels.

Be aware that this heater can be deadly. In a dust-free environment the heater will probably give years of use, but if you plan to use this heater, or any catalytic heater for camping, be aware of the limitations, check the operation manual before you buy it and use a CO detector.

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The unit has been used twice and works perfectly. In addition, when I had a question about the unit, the tech support folks were right there with speedy, courteous information. For their size, these heaters do not have the raw output of something like a "Buddy Heater." However, there are some big differences. Buddy Heaters do not work above 7,000 feet. Therefore, of little use in Colorado. Second, these heaters burn exceptionally clean requiring very little ventillation. Previously, I was using a radiant kerosene heater to keep my enclosed trailer warm during hunting season. It took huge amounts of ventillation to keep the carbon monoxide detector from going off (read "to stay alive".) A clean efficient burning process is critical for me when I use the heater for my hunting trailer. In addition, because these heaters hook up to a large propane tank, they can run for a very long time with no input from the user. I am very satisfied with this unit.

Want Camco 57331 Olympian Wave-3 3000 BTU LP Gas Catalytic Heater Discount?

Hi All.

We have been using a Mr Heater, and a Wave #6 Propane Heater, for about 8 years now. The only time you notice any smell at all, is the very first time your fire it up. Its just that new smell that you noitce. It goes away very quickly. Since we do almost nothing but Boon-Docking, ( No Hook-Ups at all ) we never, ever use our RV's Furance at all. First of all, because it will suck down one Battery per night. And second an RV Furance at best is maybe 40% to 50% effective, which means it really sucks down the Propane. And the last issue with any RV Furance is that they make a whole lot of noise all night long. Where as the Mr Heater and the Wave #6 Propane Heater is totally silent and use's no power at all. You can either Permantely Mount the Wave Heaters or use a Leg-kit and use the wave #6 as a Portable.

As mentioned, you must keep your Wave Heater's Pad, Covered and Clean all of the time, or you will poision it for sure. I have met other RV'er who hhave used the very same Wave #6 or the Wave #8 for almost 20 years wiht no problems. We also have never had a problem either. Take care of your propane Heater and it will take care of you. You can have it repaired, but it cost almost as much to just buy a Brand New Wave #6 Heater, and start with a new Warranity. The Mr Heater is a good Propane Heater also, but it is only good to about 6500 feet, and it does put out a liitle bit more Carbon Monixide than the Wave #6 does, which is almost nothing, compaird to the Wave #6, and is good up to 12,000 ft. Others have mentioned Moisture issues. If you vent properly, you can easily manage this. We used both of these Propane Heaters in our last 5er. And now in our 34 ft Class A Motorhome. The Wave #6 is tapped into the Motorhome's Low Pressure System. I use two 12 ft Low Pressure Propane Hoses connected together. So I can move it any where I want it to be in our Motorhome. Our Motorhome is not what you call an All Season RV. But just the Wave #6 Propane Heater has keep us very comfortable down into the singal digit numbers in the winter. In cold weather Boon-Docking, a Wave #6 Propane Heater can and does extend your time that you can stay out and enjoy yourself and the winter time. If for any rreason that ours should ever quit working, we will buy another one for sure. I do make sure our Motorhomes Furance does work properly, for just in case of an emergency only. Good Luck. Happy Travels

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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Gtmax 3.5mm LED Fm Transmitter Car Kit - All Channels + Wrist Strap Lanyard for Apple iPod touch 5t

Gtmax 3.5mm LED Fm Transmitter Car Kit - All Channels + Wrist Strap Lanyard for Apple iPod touch 5th Generation, iPod nano 7th Generation , Apple Ipod Nano 6th Generation
  • GTMax the Exclusive Brand of Bargaincell. Only in the United States.
  • 1 X Universal Wrist Strap Lanyard (BlueMall) - Blue

O M G, this is the coolest little thing. It works just fine, picks up the sounds very nicely on my fm station. Very good sound quality. It plays the best on my fm 88.1 station and that works fine for me. Under $10., go figure. Every once in a while, it picks up a little static, I change it's position, and I am good to go. I don't drive a lot. I use it to go to and from work which is about 3 miles, I also use it when I am driving around running errands. I am very pleased with it. I do recommend it. It did not come with instructions, but was too easy to figure out.

Buy Gtmax 3.5mm LED Fm Transmitter Car Kit - All Channels + Wrist Strap Lanyard for Apple iPod touch 5t Now

I purchased this item after considerable research and I decided to "invest :)" in it because it had the features I wanted and the price was ridiculously low. It will work with ANY "source" that has, or can be adapted to, an 1/8" stereo plug. The fact that it can operate on batteries allows it to be used almost anywhere and, of course, it can be used in a vehicle using the supplied car adapter. The best feature is that it can transmit to ANY available frequency in the FM band. (A similar product that I own is limited to 8 possible frequencies.) I am extremely happy with my purchase and I can recommend the product without reservation.

Read Best Reviews of Gtmax 3.5mm LED Fm Transmitter Car Kit - All Channels + Wrist Strap Lanyard for Apple iPod touch 5t Here

Item is too big, connection is not very clear and signal strength is pretty weak. I have purcased better quality for less money!

Want Gtmax 3.5mm LED Fm Transmitter Car Kit - All Channels + Wrist Strap Lanyard for Apple iPod touch 5t Discount?

This is garbage!!!!!!!!!! product never works , always need to be moved, shifted, channel surfing is too much and a hassle.

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Stopped working within a month. Don't buy it. It's horrible and the sound quality isn't that great either. I suppose you get what you pay for. I recently bought GOgroove FlexSMART X2 ADVANCED Wireless In-Car Bluetooth FM Transmitter Honestly the Best FM Transmitter in the market.