In this episode we answer lots of reader questions, check out the RV news of the week, offer some tech tips and learn all about the many benefits of having a dash cam in your RV.
Our guest in the second half of the show is Dewey DeVane, the owner of Windshield Witness, the company that makes the dash cam I use in our RV to document our travels and capture the beautiful scenery Jennifer and I encounter as we travel North America.
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Shownotes for Roadtreking Podcast Episode 36
First, though, Jennifer and I answer a bunch of listener questions aimed at Jennifer, on topics about what items we permanently keep in the Roadtrek, what pots and pans she takes on our trips and how we share the driving and the chores in our RV.
Come meet Jennifer and me in Florida next Week
We share how we are about to head fown to Florida for a week and invite podcast listeners to come meet us on Tuesday, March 17, from 3-7 p.m. at Leisure Travel RV in Winter Garden, Fla. We'll be there with our brand new Roadtrek CS Adventurous XL, which has some top secret experimental features that we are testing. We can't talk publicly about them but if you happen to stop by, I can at least point out the things we, ahem, can't talk about. As an extra incentive for Roadtrek shoppers, Jim Hammill, President of Roadtrek Motorhomes, will offer anyone who comes by and is a member of our Facebook Group a check for $2,500 if they buy a Roadtrek from Leisure Time's current inventory. You can find details of our meet-and-greet and the special deal on the Leisure Time RV website.
The GreenPan
The non-stick ceramic pans we use for cooking that Jennifer talked about are called GreenPans. This is one of the pans we use in the RV
Mosquito Jacket
She also talked about some mosquito jackets we were planning to get to protect us from biting and stinging insects. Here's what we are ordering.
SuperHealthyme
The podcast and blog I do about eating healthy and losing weight is called SuperHealthyMe.
RV News of the Week
- Arsonists torch RVs at two Florida lots http://www.myfoxorlando.com/story/28295343/sanford-rv-business-catches-fire
- Missing Boy found in Colorado http://denver.cbslocal.com/2015/03/09/missing-6-year-old-boy-found-at-great-sand-dunes-national-park/
- Gas price hikes tapering off again http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2015/03/10/US-gasoline-prices-tapering-off/5651425982243/
RV Bucket List Destination – the Beartooth Mountains of Montana
I talk about the Roadtreking Boondocking Montana Mountains Photo Safari, scheduled for June 8-11 in the Beartooth Mountains, just north of Yellowstone National Park.
Traveling Tech News – the Apple Watch and the Belkin Net Cam
I offer my take on the Apple Watch. Suffice it to say, I'm trying to find a reason to buy one. But as I say in this post, I'm not having much success – http://pcmike.com/has-apple-finally-become-too-elitist/
I also talk about the Belkin Net Cam.
Being an RV owner, I spend a lot of time on the road. However, I still like to keep tabs on what’s going on at home. With the Belkin NetCam HD Plus, I can check in on the house while I’m gone.
With the Belkin NetCam HD Plus, you can literally watch your home from anywhere. The device delivers 720p HD live streaming video straight to your smartphone or tablet and sends you automated alerts whenever the camera detects motion in your home.
What’s even cooler is that the Belkin NetCam HD Plus also works with other devices in the WeMo family so you can program home automation triggers like turning on your lights when someone walks through the door.
But that’s not all! The push-to-talk feature lets you communicate directly with anyone on the screen, such as a house sitter or family member who couldn’t join the trip.
Visit your local Verizon retailer today to pick up your own Belkin NetCam HD Plus and check out all the other smart home devices they offer.
And, visit Roadtreking.com/vzw for stories about how technology can enhance and improve your life.
Why You Need a Dash Cam in Your RV
We interview Dewey Devane, CEO of Windshield Witness, the maker of the dash cam I have in our RV.
Use of a dash cam revolves on a simple concept: Documentation of your drive, be it across North America or to the corner convenience store.
There are three basic reasons for adding a dash cam:
1) Protection: Accidents are often become a blame game with one driver’s word against another’s. Dash cams offer proof of what happened.
2) Documentation of a trip: When traveling great distances, there are just too many beautiful places and things to stop and photograph. A dash cam provides for a thorough recounting of your journey with high def video.
3) Capturing the unexpected: Entire websites are dedicated to this use of dash cams. The reason is simple – so many things happen so fast for even the most skilled camera quick-draws. Take the Chelyabinsk meteor that was caught flying over Russia last February. Because so many dash cams are used in Russia, plenty of documentation of the event exists. Now, you may not be likely to catch such a visual and impressive event, but then again, maybe you will.
Reports indicate Russia, in fact, has led the way with dash cam use because of the weight the legal system puts on the video evidence, especially when it comes to auto insurance fraud, a particularly problematic issue in the region. But with so many dash cams from Europe making the You Tube rounds, dash cam use has now become a worldwide phenomenon.
Windshield Witness offers some great benefits:
– It mounts to the dash/windshield to video capture what happens in front of the vehicle.
– It records automatically when driving.
– It powers on/off with vehicle.
– It recycles media (i.e. deletes the boring stuff and, when the little SD memory card fills up, it starts recording over the oldest clip) automatically.
– It has a G-sensor. This sensor will earmark any video connected with detection of an impact.
Like it? You can buy it here. Total price including USPS Priority Mail delivery is $221.16.
The Windshield Witness System includes a 32GB Class 10 SD memory card and Transfer Kit. The system delivers 1080P video quality and comes complete with everything needed to video your travels and to better protect yourself and your loved ones from a fraudulent accident claim.
The Transfer Kit allows customers to easily move the Windshield Witness between two vehicles, without having to remove and re-install the window mount and power cord. You can easily transfer their Windshield Witness back and forth between your RV and your daily driving vehicle. Simply unscrew the camera and then screw it into the window mount on the other vehicle.
I couldn’t be happier with this camera.
Free Audiobook
We make long RV trips go by fast by listening to audiobooks. We try to pick books and novels set in the area we are visiting or about the history of the region. The best way we've found to buy audiobooks is through Audible. And as a special affiliate of Audible, our podcast listeners can get a FREE audiobook download and 30-day free trial at www.audibletrial.com/roadtreking. Audible offers over 150,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or mp3 player. For listeners of the Roadtreking podcast, Audible is offering a free audiobook download with a free 30-day trial to give you the opportunity to check out their service. To download your free audiobook today, go to audibletrial.com/roadtreking.
Please Subscribe and Give Us a Rating and Review
And, of course, many listeners are asking how they can subscribe, review and rate the Roadtreking Podcast on iTunes. With a new podcast like this, those reviews and ratings are really important to be able to show well in the iTunes listings. So if you can, I’d sure appreciate it if you’d subscribe and leave me your review.
Here’s how:
First, open up the iTunes app on your computer or mobile device. Click on Podcasts up on the top
> From the iTunes Podcasts page, use the “Search Store” field up at the top right corner of the page. Type in Mike Wendland or Roadtreking RV Podcast.
> Click on the logo image of the Roadtreking RV Podcast on the search return page
> From there (see photo above), you can…
1) Subscribe
2) Choose and Click on a star (1-5) that reflects your rating. Five stars means you really like it, one star not so much.
3) Leave a written review.
Thanks to all for the kind reviews we’ve received so far. That got us noticed by Apple/iTunes as “New and Noteworthy.” I appreciate every review!
And remember, you can appear in future episodes. Ask a question or voice your comments about RV topics by clicking the Leave Voicemail tab on the right side of this page here at Roadtreking.com. You can then use the microphone on your computer to record your words.
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One Response to “RT26 Roadtreking Podcast – Why You Need a Dash Cam for Your RV”
Comments are closed.
May 03, 2015at3:58 pm, toddleiser said:
Hey Mike – Enjoyed your post on the dash cam and the podcast interview with Dewey. I plan to order one from the link above and use to capture our drives and “just in case”.
Couple of questions –
1) Have you been using the Windshield Witness since December when you posted and if so, now 4 months or so later, all still good?
2) Are you able to capture a still picture from the device either as you are recording or (more likely) from the offloaded file onto you laptop?
I have a Class A but like to read your blog and am signed up for your email update reminders.
Thanks for the answers and the great information!
Todd