Favorite App

[Desert185]

Originally Posted by Festus2

Sort of related to apps .........If any of you are planning on visiting British Columbia or some other Canadian provinces then you should know that you can be fined for operating a hand-held device while driving. "Operating" includes but is not limited to texting or talking on a mobile phone or using a GPS or tablet while in your hand.

The fines can be quite costly - up to a $1000 - in Ontario, for example.

So using your iPhone or android with the appropriate app to find a campsite or check the weather is great - just don't get caught with the phone or iPad in your hand while driving.

The police have been using some "creative techniques" to catch offenders. They disguise themselves as "down and outers" and stand on the corner of busy intersections holding a sign that might say "I'm hungry- need $ for food". Behind the sign is a two-way radio that is used to contact the "real" police if they see you with a cell phone in hand. Waiting to pull you over just down the road is the uniformed, undisguised policeman.

We have the same laws in many of our states, but perhaps without the medieval, revenue generating police tactics...at least out west, anyway...although Oregon and New Mexico are making an effort.

I'm working on a dash mount for my iPad and/or iPhone.

[chuckster57]

Hands free has been the law for a long time here in Ca. I have used a Bluetooth since about 2004. My phone tells me in my ear when and where to turn and I get to enjoy the dash stereo along with my passengers.

[jkohler70]

I'd like to find a good app for locating the direction of television towers so I could quickly point by antennae in the right direction. The signal meter on the TV isn't great, and while we watch little when camping, I do like to catch the local news. I can find apps for Europe, but nothing for the US.

[Desert185]

When in a park I just look at the majority of other's antennas or just point it towards the nearest town/city. I also found that the Winegard booster for the batwing antenna is very effective, making the pointed direction less important.

[jkohler70]

I added the RV-Wing upgrade to the antennae to increase UHF reception since the majority of HD broadcasts are in the UHF band. The added wing is much more directional than the standard bat wing. The apps for Europe will use your location to pinpoint the direction of the antennae.

[B&T]

Originally Posted by jkohler70

I'd like to find a good app for locating the direction of television towers so I could quickly point by antennae in the right direction. The signal meter on the TV isn't great, and while we watch little when camping, I do like to catch the local news. I can find apps for Europe, but nothing for the US.

Maybe this for iphone/ipad:

iPhone antenna pointing app - OTAmap. Shows the closest 150 stations to your current location as indicated by your iPhone/iPad. It shows you where to point to any given station. Other features include station fcc info/contour maps/transmission tower views and details etc.

Or for Android:

the free version of TV Antenna Helper

it uses your location to find nearby over-the-air Digitial TV (DTV) and HDTV signals in the *United States* and assists you choosing an antenna and pointing it in the correct direction. Information provided by the app includes: TV channel signal strengths, compass bearings to signals (direction), distance to signal towers, TV channel numbers, RF channel numbers, elevation, and frequency bands (UHV, Hi-V, Lo-V).

User location is determined automatically via GPS or the network. Alternatively, a location can be manually entered. DTV/HDTV station data is downloaded from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The app displays nearby TV signal information in three ways:
1) A scrollable list displaying all nearby TV signals ordered from strongest to weakest.
2) A compass that displays the stations at their correct heading from the current location.
3) A map displaying the current location and the location of all nearby TV signal towers.
The app can also be used to recommend antennas for your location.

or use the web site

http://www.antennaweb.org/

and a compass app