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Old 05-04-2015, 02:11 PM   #1
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Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Kissimmee Florida USA
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First trip for my 2015 Georgtown 328TS

Went to Lake Louisa State Park for my first trip and a long weekend.
First off I have to say what a beautiful State Park in Clermont Florida!
The Campground Rangers are nice and very friendly. Offered assistance if needed! Met some great fellow campers, chatted and fished with a few!
Bath houses were clean and fairly new!. While I digress!

I checked in to the spot, which was a pull through with full hook ups!
First thing I noticed with my GT has great visibility. I was able to line myself up with a little assistance from family!
I can say from the time I hit the auto levelers until I had the rooms out, water hooked up, power plugged in and sewer hooked up. 30 minutes. Not bad for first time! At least I thought.
I so enjoyed the many things to do at the campground and absolutely can not wait to go back!
A few things I did find out about my GT is:
1.) I NEED A SURGE Protector! Had a few power drops during the first day (made me cringe).
2.) If I am going to be spending any amount of time in the RV, I need a Satellite Dish. I have Dish Network at the house. Any recommendations for the best one that will work while in transit?
3.) Towel rack in bathroom on door is pulled free. Since it was not loose when I did my walk through and then it was, I can only figure that the work crew that did repairs must have used it for leverage when they fixed other issues.
4.) My left rear automatic Jack has oil on it looks like cylinder is leaking. Calling the repair shop today to get it scheduled for fixing.
5.) WAY TO MUCH STUFF was brought. Just because I have the room doesn't mean I need to fill it! LOL
Although I have a couple open issues since I picked up my GT. I am overall in love with my 328ts!!! I think I made the right choice sticking with FR!

I hope the next few trips in the upcoming months are as successful!
Hope to see some of you around!

P.S. is there any "Forest River Forum or Group" decals I can put on my unit so other FRF people know?
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Old 05-05-2015, 09:26 PM   #2
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Congrats on your first trip

Just did ours as well. We had the dealer install a King Dome satellite which will automatically connect you to the service provider that you wish. All you have to do is turn the unit on and it will search for the satellite. We are on dish as well and this makes it easy as you do not need a new account.

Also a surge protector is a must along with a pressure regulator for your water line. You will cry if you fry your unit or blow your plumbing due to fluctuations in the water or the power.

Happy Camping !!
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Old 05-05-2015, 10:49 PM   #3
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Yes! Definitely must have surge protector, I fried 3 tvs, microwave, transfer switch due to an open neutral at a campground!! I did all the repairs and the campground paid for all the parts, but I could have avoided all the headache if I had a surge protector hooked up first, it would have saved my electronics.....


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Old 05-06-2015, 05:05 AM   #4
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Congratulations on the new rig!
Great to hear everything went well on your first outing and only a few things need to go back for repair. Don't get discouraged if you should find a few more. Seems to be somewhat normal for all manufacturers. Just keep a list as its easy to forget some when you take in back in for warranty work.
Glad you found maneuvering not too difficult. I can back mine into most spots pretty easy but I still have a spotter behind me just in case. There have been a few times I was only inches from doing damage when I missed seeing something or thought I had plenty of room.
Get a Surge Protector and have fun!
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Old 05-06-2015, 09:24 AM   #5
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Power drops and brown outs are very common in campgrounds. This is where your AC fan motors and other appliances can be damaged from low voltage, and resulting excessively high current draw. A surge protector does not fix this and on some, they can only shut down power at best. Surge protectors are mainly for over-voltage spikes. For brown outs and low voltage, I bought and use a voltage booster. There are only 2 or 3 mfg'ers that I know of for boosters. One is the Hughes Autoformer, which is what I have. Below a certain voltage from the park power pedestal, it starts to boost it back up to safe levels.

In front of that, I use a TRC 44270 surge protector, that can clamp a spike up to 4200 joules. It also analyzes and identifies power faults, like open neutral, open ground, reverse polarity, dropped leg and so forth and lets you know through the use of 3 bi-color LEDs what the power quality status is.

You should protect your investment on both sides of the voltage equation.

Also, when you get around to getting these, you'll need an extension cord. Always buy the heaviest gauge copper wire available to minimize series resistance and resulting voltage drop. This is also not a place to "save" money. In my case, I bought a 25' 50A extension that uses three 6 ga wires and one 8 ga wire. This is bigger and better than most extension cords I saw out there that are for sale.
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Old 05-06-2015, 01:37 PM   #6
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PROGRESSIVE makes and distributes surge guards both portable or hard wired. Each costs about the same, $350 or so.
Hard wire unit takes a shop 2 hrs install cost.
Guaranty for as long as you own it ( the protector ).
It protects against all faults, high, low, open neutral, etc.
Check Progressive Industries on line and go to YOUTUBE and search for Progressive Surge Protectors and get yourself educated for an important decision.
Learning is FREE...👌
I fried my stuff 3 years ago in AZ resort. You only do it once and you will be pleased you bought protection. Your RV warranty does NOT protect you!
Remember, it is not only the pedestal normal type issues, but, lightning as well.
I am not endorsing any brand. Just the NEED!! Do it and never look back!!
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Old 05-06-2015, 01:58 PM   #7
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Dish tailgater and a 211z receiver.
$7.00 a mo. Since you already have dish network @ home.

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Old 05-06-2015, 02:48 PM   #8
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Regarding satellite TV reception in transit.... I'm using a KVH R5SL TracVision roof mount antenna, with a Dish 211Z receiver. Works great !! ...and if you have onboard guests, this Sat antenna tracks the satellites and allows them to watch TV in transit.

I have two big flat screens in the main living area, so I got an IOgear wireless HDMI kit that takes the 211Z HDMI output and wirelessly transmits it to the mid coach TV. This also works great!

I have a total of 4 TV's. The 2 mentioned above in the main living area, one in the bedroom and one in the basement for outdoor use. As it is right now, it is somewhat of a split system. I can watch OTA or Blu-Ray on all of them but can only watch Dish on the two main TV's in the living room / kitchen. I haven't extended the Dish signal yet to the bedroom or outdoors.
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Old 05-06-2015, 08:14 PM   #9
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If your surge protector isn't hard-wired, spend the extra few bucks and buy a surge protector lock. At a cost of $200-$350, they've been known to grow legs.
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Old 05-06-2015, 09:25 PM   #10
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Progressive Surge Protector Lock is $25. Up to 6ft infinite lock positions. Fits through built on collar and you need to WORK to steal it. For the few open parks or KOA campgrounds we use, it should get the job done.
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Old 05-06-2015, 10:07 PM   #11
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We have a 2014 Georgetown 328TS and really like ours too. I just recently installed a Progressive Industries EMS-LCHW50 surge protector. It also protects against high/low voltage, reverse polarity, open neutral or ground and A/C frequency deviation. I got it on Amazon for about $280. It is hardwired near the transfer switch and is easy to see the readout without needing the model with the remote display.
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Old 05-07-2015, 07:18 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vince and Charlette View Post
If your surge protector isn't hard-wired, spend the extra few bucks and buy a surge protector lock. At a cost of $200-$350, they've been known to grow legs.
There is another alternative. Buy a quality extension cord, feed it through the bottom hole and lock the portable surge protector in the electric cargo bay.

I keep my Hughes Autoformer and TRC surge protector out of sight in the electric bay.
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Old 05-07-2015, 07:24 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WayneT View Post
We have a 2014 Georgetown 328TS and really like ours too. I just recently installed a Progressive Industries EMS-LCHW50 surge protector. It also protects against high/low voltage, reverse polarity, open neutral or ground and A/C frequency deviation. I got it on Amazon for about $280. It is hardwired near the transfer switch and is easy to see the readout without needing the model with the remote display.
Those are nice, except they do not boost low voltage. If park voltage goes low due to high park occupancy and its hot outside with everyone running their AC units, your power gets shut off below 104Vac. The Hughes Autoformer actually boosts the voltage back up and you never lose power due to brown outs and stay cool in your RV with the AC running while others have no power or have burned out the fan motors.

Something to think about.
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