High Tech Toy Questions

We take:

Cell phones for emergencies.
Digital Camera
Laptop (mostly to download pictures from the camera)
GPS that hooks to the laptop in case we get lost

There are times that the office will call with a server issue, which necessitates staying in a CG with wireless internet so I login to the office network and resolve any issues (PITA!). But, it beats not going anywhere at all...

Bob

Okay, I probably take far too many (and I used to be a backpacker!).

No TV, no DVD player though. I do bring a laptop (or two) and satellite internet. I've also been known to do some telecommuting from the TM. I run the satellite and laptop off a 100 watt inverter when dry camping.

The tow vehicle will have all the ham radio equipment from the old one installed in it as soon as I figure out how to mount everything. It'll have an IC-706 HF/VHF and a Kenwood D700 VHF/UHF radio, with two VHF/UHF antennas and some sort - haven't figured out what yet - connected to an auto-tuner.

This probably isn't the way to relax for everyone, but it works for me - and that's what is important in my eyes. Take the stuff you want to be comfortable, leave the stuff that stresses you out at home.

We take the Tom Tom GPS in the TV, my cell / blackberry just in case (boy do I get dirty looks from the daughters if I use it to look at work Email though...so it normally just sits beckoning me to "unrelax" and go to the dark side and peek at Email), digital camera, and the MP3 player which plugs into the Pioneer player I just installed in the TM.

We're coming from a traditional popup and having just joined the TM Family I've been thinking about looking into an LCD TV and DVD player with similar thoughts of old series from TV...but none of the family is too keen on this yet.

Like many other replies, we primarily play games while inside the camper and not hiking or fire watching. We like Cribbage, Gin, Kings-in-the-corners, Golf, Rummicube, Sequence, Hearts, Oh-heck, and a bunch of others. Makes me want to start the weekend early just thinking about them!

Dan...

Dan, that is the nice things about having the kids still at home. I love many games like heart, spades, pinocle and some others that are just not as fun with two people. Looking forward to grandkids, so we can swipe them for a week or two. Looking forward to Chutes and Ladders and all those other games our kids almost always "won".

As several people mentioned a digital camera, and I also carry one. I just don't really think of that as a high tech device. If I did not have the digital, it would be my old 35mm Pentex SLR my youngest son is using in college photography now.

Bob, I feel your pain. We have about 250 Cisco switches and routers at 20+ sites in our network. A year ago we had three Network Engineers and a supervisor who could also resolve many issues. I am the only one left from the group. I will be so glad when I get the new guys up to speed.

Joel, a Ham Radio Operator huh? I worked on the Rockwell Collins KWM-2A when I was in the Air Force besides other radios systems. When they attempted the hostage rescue in Iran, one of our mobile control towers was at the base in Egypt many of the planes left from. I have worked on two-way radio; both ground and avionics radios; and analog, single sideband analog and digital microwave radio. Never heard of single sideband analog microwave? In the middle 80s, MCI Telecomm was running out of capacity and pioneered the technology.

We typically take cell phones so DH can contact me if he has a problem while out for his 30+ mile bike ride. Two-way radios are part of the electronic supply kit for keeping in touch with DS while he explores the campground. Also take my IPOD and speaker base unit for music. For trips longer than a weekend, we will take a DVD player to watch movies in the evening if the weather is too hot/cold to sit outside. Absence of TV is part of my getaway experience. My favorite evening entertainment is a fire and conversation.