Yahoo Message Number: 5629 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/5629)
SmarTire is now available to monitor the tires in your toad. The Spring 2003 SilverLeaf Newsletter describes in detail the new system. The Receiver, Antenna, and 4 Sensors for your car costs $649. An additional optional display to put in your car so that you can see the tire pressures and temperatures for the car tires as you drive the car is $159. The new toad monitor system interfaces to the Silverleaf system, so that system is a prerequisite.
The system also has the capability of monitoring more than 6 coach tires for those coaches with a tag. High pressure sensors for the coach are $99 a pair, but are currently in short supply. The manufacturer states that "it will likely be about a year before high pressure sensors will be available for the coach tires".
You can get a copy of the Newsletter with all the details by calling Silverleaf at 888-741-0259.
Yahoo Message Number: 5631 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/5631)
Have you heard of anybody using the Sentry version of tire monitoring. (Ad in FMCA current copy) They use valve stem sensors that require no dismounting, etc.
I'd like some feedback on them if possible.
Smart Tire told me that the full MH and toad system is not currently available with range up to 40' MH plus toad. Their "second generation system is said to be more reliable than the existing one, but they have not released the higher pressure system with monitoring capabilities up to 10 wheel and 70' range.
Thanks,
Larry
Intrigue 10762
Yahoo Message Number: 5690 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/5690)
I think this is gen-2, even though the newsletter doesn't call it that. It can intermix high and low pressure monitors and has ability to monitor toad and coach tires. (read below for details)
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Yahoo Message Number: 5692 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/5692)
The use of the Smartire Gen 2 system is not predicated on having a Silverleaf VMS system. In my looking at the Smartire system I have discovered the following so far:
1. The Gen 2 system is currently available for the towed vehicle for as little as $209.
2. To set it up with a remote display in the coach, an external antenna and remote display head is needed. The receiver is mounted in the coach under the dash instead of the towed vehicle. The remote display is then connected to the receiver to allow a remote display on the dash or other convenient location. The antenna and remote display adds another $200 to the system. Once the high pressure transmitters become available in early 2004, a coach owner can add those to the system. Each high pressure transmitter is expected to cost about $50 each.
3. I use VMSpc with a laptop. Silverleaf is considering the incorporation of the Smartire system into the VMSpc system through a software update. However, their current goal is to incorporate it in the the hard mounted VMS systems that many coaches have. Since there is no mention about which system, Gen 1 or 2, it could be both or just one of them. Which one is anyone's guess. Martin at Silverleaf has avaoided answering my questions directly about any commitment.
Maybe if there is enough interest generated on his forum, he will be enticed by consumer demand.
4. If you want to have both in coach and in towed vehicle monitoring, that is possible. Smartire advised me last week that they are putting together a package just for that and the total cost will be about $549 suggested retail. Of course, I assume there will be discounts from the retailers for this package just like there are now for the packages already available. I suspect discounted it will be $450-500
5. The Gen 1 system in current use in many coaches is and will not be compatable with the new Gen 2 system components.
6. I still have some unanswered concerns that I have sent back to Smartire. They include monitoring response time for the transmitters. The Gen 1 system has listed in their specifications that the transmitters send data every 30 seconds after the vehicle is above a certain speed and after the first five minutes of travel. I have not found anywhere in the Gen 2 specs anything about its response time.
7. Another concern is Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). Even
though the specifications say the system meets FCC requirements for RFI, I still have concerns because of how minimumal those requirements are for consumer electronics. The Smartire system operates at 433 MHz (UHF) frequencies. I am a ham radio operator and have VHF, UHF and HF equipment installed in my coach and towed vehicle. Unless well shield, the receiver could become a source of problems. I do use my equipment while in motion. Especially VHF & UHF.
Any reliable warning I can get for a potential tire problem is well worth the up front investment. Even if it is just having the system for the towed vehicle to begin with, to reduce the potential for disaster out weighs the cost. I may be going overboard in view of some. I am real careful about tire conditions, proper inflation pressures and speeds for all my vehicles. I have survived one roll over and total loss of a vehicle I was driving by myself due to a tire failure. I don't care to take any more chances than I have to and especially with the lives of loved ones and others.
Jim Hughes
Jacksonville, FL
2000 Allure #30511
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Yahoo Message Number: 5698 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/5698)
Jim; There is enough info in the details of your message to lead me to believe that the Newsletter announcement that I referred to in message #5629 is Smartire Generation 2. Have you seen the newsletter? Do you agree that the announcement documented there is Generation 2 even though those words are not used in the announcement?
Robert
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Yahoo Message Number: 5700 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/5700)
Robert,
I think the article you are referring to is at: http://www.simply-smarter.com/downloads/s2003newsltr.pdf. (http://www.simply-smarter.com/downloads/s2003newsltr.pdf.) Silver Leaf apparently proceeded to offer the intergration into their VMS systems that are already in many coaches. For an upgrade fee, they will update the firmware in the VMS so it can read the data signals on the VMS screen vice on the remote display that Smartire uses in their system. Again, yiou do not need the Silver Leaf VMS to use Smart Tire. It does appear they are referring to the Gen 2 system in the newsletter, because it refers to the low pressure transmitters and they refer to the high pressure transmitters not being available.
With all that has been said, you can still have the same functionality without VMS. Check out this web site for information: www.smartire.com . When you look at the web site, look at the list of retailers under "where to buy". Vulcan Tire is one of the retailers. The website shows the basic towed vehicle system for $209. This is not everything that is needed to build a complete coach and towed vehicle system. It is only the stand alone towed vehicle system that is the Gen 2 system. The Road Talk Gen 2 system is the fully intergrated system. Look close at the Smartire website. The receiver is boxed differently to allow of the needed external antenna.
Once I get further information to the questions I have passed to Smartire, I will post the info.
Jim Hughes
2000 Allure #30511
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