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  1. #1
    Big Traveler RamGunner's Avatar
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    Had a great discussion with Bill Fenech, Marc Hauser, and Nate Goldenberg at RV Show

    There was an RV Show in Salt Lake City today (technically in Sandy, UT) and they were all at the General RV display. We have been considering a Momentum 358TH for a project we are working on (as well as for recreation), and in speaking with them it is very clear that they really do care about the quality, and about the customer service on the back end.

    They made it clear that they would love to build a perfect RV, but considering that it's a home on wheels that suffers earthquakes on a daily basis (while traveling) it's almost impossible. There are also constraints in available space and weight. Given that understanding, they do a great job. The 385TH that was on display was really nice.

    I was able to take a few minutes and explain the idea of running HDMI cables from the entertainment center to where each of the TV locations are in the RV (garage, bedroom, and underside TV). I could see the wheels spinning, and when I explained that it would essentially futureproof the units in terms of entertainment connectivity for a few years, they were very receptive. I certainly can't say for sure, but I would not be surprised if that became a factory-available option at some point in the future. It would certainly put them light years ahead of any of the competition.

    Being that Nate is GM for the Momentum line, speaking with him about some technical upgrades was especially helpful. I'd be installing some antenna cables for some Ham Radio gear from the pass-through storage between the living area and the garage to the area to the left of the outside ladder. He was able to tell me exactly how to do so, and there is a factory wiring channel that's in the perfect position to help. He also told me how I can get some Cat 6e cables (for data communications) from the cabinet by the fireplace to the outside hookups. It REALLY helped to have him tell me a little about specific aspects of the construction that will be very helpful to accomplish this.

    If everything works out, we should be adding a Momentum 385TH before the year is up. We will be writing more about it at RamGunner.com, and two soon-to-be-released websites.

    I wanted to thank the participants here, as you folks helped us to make that decision as well. We were also looking at a Tesla unit, but in the end, the quality of the Grand Design build, support from the folks in charge - and the floorplan of the 385TH - won out.
    Last edited by RamGunner; 02-14-2015 at 07:06 PM.
    Editor - www.RamGunner.com and www.MomentumGunner.com
    2014 Ram 3500 Tradesman/CTD/AISIN/4.10/4WD/CC/LB/DRW/VHF/UHF/APRS/CB/SCANNER
    B&W RVK3600 5th Wheel Hitch/Reese 30140 Gooseneck Ball/Gen-Y HDGH-604 Receiver
    2016 Momentum 385TH (Internal LAN/AV Distribution/Polaris RZR 800 EPS/CB/SCANNER/VHF/UHF/APRS and HF for World-Wide Communications)

  2. #2
    Seasoned Camper gr8daggett's Avatar
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    Great to hear as I sit here (frozen) waiting for our Reflection 337.

    Good luck with your possible 385TH.
    Mike & Pat Clawson
    Marty & Bucky (Welsh Corgis)
    2015 Grand Design Reflection 337 RLS #2813
    Titan Disc Brakes, Liberty Rider Suspension
    2005 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Duramax/Allison
    Comfort Ride Hitch, 52 Gallon Titan XXL Fuel Tank, Banks Speed Brake, Firestone Air Lift Bags
    http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/...pst4uyouma.gif

  3. #3
    Rolling Along
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    I, too, would be interested in learning about recommended ways to feed ham antennas without messing things up. One possibility I've been considering is using one of the TV cable feeds, and living with the 50/75 ohm mismatch.
    2015 Reflection 337RLS, #931, Built 6/14, Purchased New 1/15
    2015 Silverado 3500HD LTZ SRW CC, 8' Bed, 4WD, Z71, Duramax/Allison
    11,600 GVW, 3,739 Payload, 16.1 mpg for first 21,000 miles
    Reese Elite 18K Hitch with underbed rails
    Amateur Radio KQ3T (ex-WN8PXF, WA8PXF, N3CKQ)
    Felines: Butter (Abyssinian), Cinnamon (Burmese, R.I.P.), and Harry (Orange Tiger Cat, Rescued from Sutton Lake CG, WV)
    2018: Visitor Center Volunteer at Prince William Forest Park, Triangle VA, June thru October
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

  4. #4
    Big Traveler RamGunner's Avatar
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    We are planning to have several radios in the garage area of the Momentum 385TH (one Kenwood TM-D710GA, one Icom IC-7000, a Uniden SSB CB, and a Uniden trunking scanner). I want to mount the HF antenna on a mount that I can move up the ladder when stationary and down when traveling). When I was looking around to see what would work for mounting the radios themselves, I focused on the pass-through storage cabinet between the garage and the living area. Nate told me I could not have picked a better spot.

    On the living-area side of the cabinet at the top by the wall is a square channel that looks like part of the protective fence by the upper bunk. It's a hollow wiring channel!

    He said the easiest thing to do would be to remove part of the vent in the garage, and fish the cables from the wiring channel to that point. Then go the other way - drill through the outside by the ladder into the roof area, and fish them the rest of the way. He is going to get me more information - we want to make sure that where we drill through to bring the cables outside is safe.

    When we do this, I'll post both a written article with photos and a YouTube video.
    Editor - www.RamGunner.com and www.MomentumGunner.com
    2014 Ram 3500 Tradesman/CTD/AISIN/4.10/4WD/CC/LB/DRW/VHF/UHF/APRS/CB/SCANNER
    B&W RVK3600 5th Wheel Hitch/Reese 30140 Gooseneck Ball/Gen-Y HDGH-604 Receiver
    2016 Momentum 385TH (Internal LAN/AV Distribution/Polaris RZR 800 EPS/CB/SCANNER/VHF/UHF/APRS and HF for World-Wide Communications)

  5. #5
    Long Hauler LCBoyer's Avatar
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    Sounds like a good plan, keep us posted. 73, K0LCB
    2018 Freedom Elite 24FE, 2 Yorkies, and my wife MARILYN, HAM call K0LCB. Traveling around this great country, making friends and seeing lot of beautiful and interesting places

  6. #6
    Site Sponsor 2hams's Avatar
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    Dave drilled through the underneath and fed cables into the bottom of the end table beside the couch on the street side. He has an antenna tuner on the ladder and a 33' fiberglass push up pole with a wire wrapped around it mounted on a flag pole buddy. We have a Reflection, so it's a bit different.

    73, KE4TCH and N4XYZ

  7. #7
    Fireside Member Trudy & Jimmy's Avatar
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    I have been looking at the Momentum 380th & 385th & Tesla. My thoughts exactly...going with the Momentum!!! I have researched other forums as well and they are all really impressed with Grand Design. We just bought a brand new F250 loaded (which my husband loves and won't give up) to pull my new toy hauler. Well needless to say since I saw the Momentum I will now be trading in my everyday car for a new f350 DRW. Exercise will be good for me while I'm parking a mile from the store entrance.
    Congrats on your decision!!! Hope all goes well!

  8. #8
    Big Traveler RamGunner's Avatar
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    Parking and maneuvering a DRW (especially a crew cab long bed) inside a city are the least convenient day-to-day aspects of owning one. All of the advantages outweigh those inconveniences. Where we are located now most of the streets were designed wider, so it's not that big of a deal for us. When we were in Las Vegas it was more of an issue, but when going somewhere I hadn't been before, it was easy to use Google Earth to get an overhead view of the parking situation. I could always find somewhere to park.

    There were some aspects of the Tesla that we really liked - such as the bedroom and washer/dryer configuration MINUS having the bedroom TV constrained in a cabinet, but overall it seemed like more of a "party machine". The flashing colored lights in the garage area were totally unnecessary for us.

    The storage and layout in the 385TH are perfect - although I'd give up 4 inches in the rest of the unit to have 4 more inches in the garage. The ONLY drawback to the 385TH is that the garage is a few inches too short for the full-sized Polaris Ranger (12'2" versus their 12'4.5" length). That's my only element of hesitation. I have heard of folks putting the front wheels up on ramps to make it fit in a shorter garage, but I'm not entire comfortable with that at this point.
    Editor - www.RamGunner.com and www.MomentumGunner.com
    2014 Ram 3500 Tradesman/CTD/AISIN/4.10/4WD/CC/LB/DRW/VHF/UHF/APRS/CB/SCANNER
    B&W RVK3600 5th Wheel Hitch/Reese 30140 Gooseneck Ball/Gen-Y HDGH-604 Receiver
    2016 Momentum 385TH (Internal LAN/AV Distribution/Polaris RZR 800 EPS/CB/SCANNER/VHF/UHF/APRS and HF for World-Wide Communications)

  9. #9
    Big Traveler RamGunner's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 2hams View Post
    Dave drilled through the underneath and fed cables into the bottom of the end table beside the couch on the street side. He has an antenna tuner on the ladder and a 33' fiberglass push up pole with a wire wrapped around it mounted on a flag pole buddy. We have a Reflection, so it's a bit different.

    73, KE4TCH and N4XYZ
    That would be a great option on the Reflection. I'm thinking pretty much the same thing, putting an Icom AH-4 off of the ladder, and an AH-2b on a mount that I can slide up/down the ladder. We will also have a couple of 2m/70sm antennas on our Momentum.
    Editor - www.RamGunner.com and www.MomentumGunner.com
    2014 Ram 3500 Tradesman/CTD/AISIN/4.10/4WD/CC/LB/DRW/VHF/UHF/APRS/CB/SCANNER
    B&W RVK3600 5th Wheel Hitch/Reese 30140 Gooseneck Ball/Gen-Y HDGH-604 Receiver
    2016 Momentum 385TH (Internal LAN/AV Distribution/Polaris RZR 800 EPS/CB/SCANNER/VHF/UHF/APRS and HF for World-Wide Communications)

  10. #10
    Rolling Along
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    Quote Originally Posted by RamGunner View Post
    That would be a great option on the Reflection. I'm thinking pretty much the same thing, putting an Icom AH-4 off of the ladder, and an AH-2b on a mount that I can slide up/down the ladder. We will also have a couple of 2m/70sm antennas on our Momentum.
    I also have a flag pole buddy, but with an End-Fed half-wave for 10-40m. I'll hang a 2m/70cm vertical off the ladder.

    Drilling up from under the end table sounds like a great idea (to me, the ham), but it awaits approval from The Boss.

    Another "safe" place would be one of the places marked for a dryer vent in the front closet, but that would put the "shack" in the bedroom, and I doubt that idea would get very far.
    2015 Reflection 337RLS, #931, Built 6/14, Purchased New 1/15
    2015 Silverado 3500HD LTZ SRW CC, 8' Bed, 4WD, Z71, Duramax/Allison
    11,600 GVW, 3,739 Payload, 16.1 mpg for first 21,000 miles
    Reese Elite 18K Hitch with underbed rails
    Amateur Radio KQ3T (ex-WN8PXF, WA8PXF, N3CKQ)
    Felines: Butter (Abyssinian), Cinnamon (Burmese, R.I.P.), and Harry (Orange Tiger Cat, Rescued from Sutton Lake CG, WV)
    2018: Visitor Center Volunteer at Prince William Forest Park, Triangle VA, June thru October
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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