What Is Your In Truck Entertainment For Down Times?

During what little down time I have at shippers/receivers or during the first hour of my break I am either on here like I am now using my Galaxy Note 3. Or I will play a game or to then hit the bed

I promise your first three months all your gonna do is drive, eat, sleep and shower.

Hey, nobody said anything about having to shower . . .

Jopa

I remember when I was with my trainer he had a ps2 and tv set. Too bad we never got to play them though. Never could get a power converter big enough to handle them all. A laptop will work just fine though, I am using one right now even with the truck powered off.

I've been wondering about an Internet service provider. What do you use? Maybe this could be a good topic for a new thread if there isn't one already.

I promise your first three months all your gonna do is drive, eat, sleep and shower.

Hey, nobody said anything about having to shower . . .

Jopa

Ill personally hunt each on of you down of ya dont! Im so sick of smelling nasty stinky drivers with bad hygiene! It offends my nose and makes my eyes water.

Though a bit more expensive Verizon is what I use and it's pretty much dependable....more so than the rest.

Im still in my first 3 months but i can say that my laptop is the only thing i need. I only really get a chance to use it on my resets and the few days like today where i was 14 hrs early for my appointment. When i was with my trainer he had a tv and dvd player but we didnt really use it much.

One thing I did want to mention on power inverters... if you wish to use a gaming console or any other sensitive electronic devices, then you will need to invest in a better quality inverter, specifically you will want what is called a "Pure Sine Wave" inverter. These can be about double the cost of a "modified sine wave" inverter which is what all the cheaper inverters are, but the "pure sine" inverters have a much cleaner power signal which is what sensitive computerized electronics need. A modified sine inverter can actually cause permanent damage to sensitive electronics. Of course, even with the pure sine inverters, you still need to pay attention to the power requirements of whatever you want to run, and make sure your inverter is rated to handle at least that amount of power draw or greater.

I have Dish Network at home, and they have an ap that lets you basically tap into your home system from a device(cell phone, tablet, etc..). I figured this would work fine, at first, so I loaded up on a huge data plan from Verizon. Initial thought was I could buy wifi from truck stops, and use my data for when I'm parked out in the sticks. The cost of data from Verizon, while trying to watch streaming video is outrageous. I burned through that data way to quick. So I saved my pennies and have just purchased the Dish tailgater system. Still waiting for it, but after crunching the numbers, I will pay for this system in 4 months, after I drop my Verizon data plan back down to the 5g, vs the 20g.

The tailgater system is basically a portable satellite that automatically tunes into the sat's you need for signal as long as you have a clear view to the southern sky? You also need an apu , or a sizable converter to power the receiver and TV. The satellite itself gets powered by the receiver. And since I have dish network at home, its only an extra $7/per month to add the tailgater receiver

Plus the wifi at a lot of truck stops sucks for video?

I also have sirus radio that I love while driving. I get access to sports, news, and my favorite, the Jason Ellis show on Faction!

In short, for me, its all about satellites! Unless you park in a cave, you will always have entertainment.

Come this winter, when they start shutting down the Rocky Mountain Highways, there will be downtime...

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.