We finally got a Barth like I've been hoping to get for several years. It is a 1990 38' Regency Widebody w/ a 3208TA Cat. I flew down to Phoenix on Wednesday the 23rd and drove back to Colorado the next day. By Sat the 26th we were on our way to a nearby RV park for its maiden voyage. This voyage did not come without problems since, as I started to leave (Friday) for Lake Pueblo State Park, it developed a low air pressure problem that appeared to be turning into a nightmare. As it turns out, it was a blessing in disguise.

With the help of several here at barthmobile.com, I realized I was in over my head and called a mobile mechanic using truckdown.com. Four hours later, I was on the road at a cost of $287.04, a figure that was lower than what I would have been charged for me to take it to a shop and this guy came to me.

As a result of being delayed a day, we lost our spot at the lake when the guy that reserved it for us gave it to another friend of his. We, as a result, decided to go somewhere else and this is where it got a bit more interesting.

I began looking through the yellow pages for a RV park that was fairly close by. I figured that since it was Memorial Day weekend, we might be out of luck. I guess the fuel prices dictated otherwise because the first place I called not only had spots, they had pull throughs with 50A service. Being a newbie with a fairly large rig, I salavated at the idea of pull through and said "sign me up."

I arrived at Castle Rock RV park and checked in only to find she had booked me into a spot requiring me to back in. Oh! That's what I said on the outside, on the inside the response was a bit more colorful. I asked if it was a good spot and she said "yes, it is right next to our spot." She was referring to her and her husband, they are full time motorhome in a 1999 American Eagle. No pull through and I had to back in, for crying out loud! Well, it turned out to be quite easy actually, even though it was very tight.

This was the first part of the blessing, her husband not only showed me how to hook up but save me from damaging my coach. I didn't know that you have to shut all circuit breakers off, both inside the coach and on the power pole to prevent damage from a possible sudden surge in power.

Then we had a problem with sewer smell that was fairly strong so we left the coach there and spent the night at home since we were only 40 minutes away. The next day, the RV park got me in touch with a guy that told me how to make a temporary fix so we could stay in the motorhome that night. I am scheduled to have the problem professionally corrected on May 29th. I will post this part of the trip in Tech Talk.

Sunday evening, I was next door at the American Eagle visiting with her husband Dave and as I was leaving, I had to step around a barrel chair that was sitting under his awning. He proceeded to tell me how a couple had just bought a new SOB with this chair but they wanted a recliner. So they asked him to find a good home for it and left it with him. I said I need one, how much do you want for it and he said "Free! They gave it to me, if you can use it, it's yours. If it doesn't fit, give it to someone else." If you know the floorplan of the Regency, you've seen that the livingroom was set up for two barrel chairs. The previous owner of mine had ditched one or both to put in a stand for a computer. I didn't care for that so I removed the pieces and was about to embark on a search for a chair to put there.

So, here I am in a back in spot instead of a drive through and I'm put next to a guy that 1. shows me how to use my coach, 2. gives me a placard to hang from the drivers position when my antenna is up so I won't forget and, 3. gives me a brand new barrel chair that still had the plastic on it and seemed almost made for my Barth. The chair aside, this guy turned what could have been a lousy first trip into one where we all (wife, two daughters 10 & 12 and me) had a great time. What an awesome first trip, the chair was just icing on the cake!

We leave for the 2nd weekender this Friday to stay at Gardern of the Gods. By the way, if you are passing through Colorado, I absolutely recommend Castle Rock RV Park. It is on I-25 about 7-8 miles south of Castle Rock which is between Denver and Colorado Springs. They gave us an awesome maiden voyage we won't forget.

Yikes Bill! A back-in spot at your first campground! After taking delivery of our coach and driving 6 hours back towards home we stayed over at 4 Mile Creek State Park near Niagara Falls and had to back into our spot. I know the feeling.
The previous owner left us his antenna-up warning device. He used a very large pink plastic hair barrett that the girls use to clamp on to their pony tail. Or something? It clamps nicely on the tv antenna crank handle when travelling. When the antenna is up it clamps to the steering wheel. Kind of hard to miss!
Don

If you forget to lower your antenna it will do it by itself as soon as you reach about 65.
Oh yeah, this method is not recommended for those who have adverse nervous reactions to extremely loud sudden noises, or those who wish for antenna to ever go UP again.

Hmmm. Does that mean, Danny, that you have had a learning experience somewhere along the way? If so, odds are the plastic gears gave way as they were designed to do. Cheap & easy to repair. Don't ask me how I know.

To get serious about this for a minute, I haven't figured out how to get the mechanism apart to replace the gears. I didn't strip them in the aformentioned way, my story is much stupider. On the second to the last trip to Talledega the crank wouldn't engage the lifting mechanism so I climbed on the roof and "helped" it until it was raised. Much clicking was involved. After about six more trips using the same method, I spotted a tiny set screw on the side of the crank handle. The proper allen wrench took care of the problem in short order, but by now the gears are shot from forcing the thing up and down. Zip ties to the rescue again! When the antenna is fully up or down the two shafts are tight against each other, so I've been zipping them tight to hold the wing up, then cutting the zip and putting a new one on to hold it down. Crude, but it works. Do I get at the gears from the top or the bottom?

quote:

If you forget to lower your antenna it will do it by itself as soon as you reach about 65.
Oh yeah, this method is not recommended for those who have adverse nervous reactions to extremely loud sudden noises, or those who wish for antenna to ever go UP again.

Golly, we were gonna buy a television. Now, I'm afraid. Guess we'll have to wait a little longer.

Danny, it's a long time since I did the job on mine, but as I recall, there's a worm gear on the end of the crank that engages a plastic sector gear on the bottom of the antenna, & you reach it from on top.

That's what I was afraid of, since I'll have to dig through numerous layers of sealants liberally applied by previous owners. Oh well, I was going to get to a roof job sooner or later so now it will be sooner.

Danny....I don't know if it'll help, or if it's even needed, but I've got the 8 page Winegard owners manual & detailed exploded parts drawing I could fax you......

Hey Lee, thanks for reminding me how thorough Barth was when it came to the owners manuals. Haven't checked to see if this is in there but I'll be surprised if it isn't. More to come.

We just came back from the 2nd shakedown cruise
of our new Barth. Boy have we (I) got a lot to learn. I did learn, luckily it wasnt' the hard way, that doing a thorough walk around is a good idea. After cranking down the antenna, the last thing I did before leaving, I did a walk around and happened to look up and notice the antenna was not fully retracted as I had thought. I finished my outside inspection and attempted to lower it the rest of the way but met resistance. I raised it a couple of turns and then lowered it until I heard it flop on the roof. I hope the flop is a good thing but it was certainly better than the flop I would have heard at the aforementioned 65 MPH.

Did you make sure the V's lined up facing the rear of the coach before lowering the antenna? This places the antenna straight backwards when lowered.