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You can still place free ads on RV-Coach Network. However, we will now charge a nominal fee to add photos to your ad. The fee will be among the lowest in the industry at only $25.00 per listing.

Here's what you get:

• Full control over your ads through a web browser
• Upload up to 10 images per ad
• Change information as needed
• Mark as "Sold"

RV dealers and brokers will also find major benefits with our new inventory maintenance program. Here's what you get for $75.00 per month:

• Personalized Dealership page
• Up to 50 listings per account
• Up to 10 images per ad
• Easy-to-use maintenance through web browser
• Priority listings
• 25,000 plus unique visitors per month
• Searchable listings
• ...and more

Featured State...
Arizona
The Grand Canyon State

Ancient Dwellings
Oraibi, Arizona, which is part of the Hopi reservation, claims to be the oldest continually inhabited place in the United States.

Quartzsite RV Show
The Quartzsite RV Show is one of the largest gatherings of RV enthusiasts in the United States. The next gathering is scheduled to take place January 18-26, 2003. Visit the site to learn more.

Web Sites
http://www.state.az.us
http://www.arizonaguide.com
www.quartzsitervshow.com

Site Updates
These periodic updates will keep you informed as to how RV-Coach Online is continually making changes to our site in response to your feedback.

Virtual RV Park
The world's only Virtual RV Park has been online now for six years and counting! Viewers are using the Virtual Park to keep their families informed of their whereabouts and to post their latest e-mail address. Sign up for FREE today by clicking here.

Parts Search Directory
You can search over 2000 companies that sell parts or services to the RVer in our Parts Search directory. We have painstakingly handpicked each company to ensure that you find what you need. If you have found a company in your cyber travels that we don't have, please add it here.

Links Directory
If you are looking for other web sites that cater to the RV or bus conversion lifestyle, check out our online directory of web sites. It is searchable and contains hand-picked web sites. You can even submit your own link if you have one that helps our viewers. Just click here.

Chat Box
We appreciate all our visitors, especially those who are willing to help out fellow RVers. This newsletter, special thanks goes to Walt, RV Wizard, Sam Watson, and Joe for their efforts to solve a problem affecting a refrigerator pilot light.

Mechanics Corner
Q: from Jim -- The pilot light on our refrigerator goes out while we're driving down the interstate. But when we are at a campground it will stay lit. We have a Class C Coachman 2001.

A: from Walt -- Had the same problem, even had the circuit board replaced (due to another problem) which some say is the cause of this type of malfunction. Finally replaced the LPG regulator at the tank which increased the pressure to correct the gas to air ratio. It doesn't go out when parked since there is no turbulence but the mixture has to be right when it is getting some air turbulence from the vented door. Get the gas pressure checked at an LPG dealer or RV repair shop. It should be at least 11 inches of water column.

A: from RV Wizard -- You have a wind shield for the burner box that might need adjusting if it has rattled loose or someone left the "window" open. Most do not travel with propane on and if you do you'll need to turn these off to refuel. Your refrigerator once cold should travel all day without getting too warm. Good luck and be safe.

A: from Sam Watson -- Listen to the Wizard! More and more states are making it illegal to transport with butane tank valves open, unless they are part of the vehicle's fuel system. Add to that the fact that insurance companies tend to view a butane fueled fire (as a result of the tank valves being opened), in the aftermath of a collision, as being a contributing factor caused by the "insured", and then reduce their loss compensation accordingly.

A: from Joe -- But if you have to run with your refrigerator on while traveling to keep your cold food from spoiling, you can take a fiberglass filter from the return of an A/C unit or hot air furnace, fold it in half and put it on the bottom behind the access door on the outside of your unit. It was nice when the trend was three-way power refrigerators, but now it is either gas or 110v, and the 12v is almost non-existent.

Fast FAQs
Below is our most popular Frequently Asked Question in recent weeks. For more RV FAQs, please visit our FAQs section, where you are invited to contribute your own FAQ.

Q: What should I first remove from the bus?

A: Probably the first thing you will want to remove is the seats. There are a lot of them, so pace yourself. The biggest discouragement in converting a bus is looking at the whole project instead of just the task at hand.

The seats are bolted to the floor using (in most cases) (4) 9/16-inch hex head nuts and bolts. Two of these are found in the tracking near the aisle, and two are found near the wall.

The difference you'll notice between the older and new coaches is how the seats are attached. In older coaches, the seats are bolted directly through the 3/4-inch ply floor (usually has a laminate on top). Newer coaches (1978 and up) have one leg in the center of the seat, which is attached to the floor. Look at it and you'll notice the seat removal for these is pretty much the same as aisle-attached seats.

RVCO News Desk
Below are recent articles from RV-Coach Online. For more news from the RV world, please visit our news articles section, where you are invited to contribute your own article.

The Canadian border personnel can access your FBI file through a reciprocal agreement with the U.S. government. Anyone who has ever been fingerprinted has an FBI file. That includes teachers, school bus drivers, folks who have served in the military or applied for a gun permit, and anyone who has been arrested, even if charges were dropped. One fellow we met discovered to his chagrin that a 25-year-old offense for writing a check for insufficient funds turned up on his record when he tried to cross into Canada. Further, what may be a misdemeanor in the U.S. can be classified as a serious crime in Canada.

If your record is blemished, Canadian officials can deny you entry into their country. The border personnel also have the discretion to charge you a $200 CN fine if the offense is more than five years old or, in their opinion, not a threat to their country. In our case, my husband had a nine-year-old misdemeanor in his file that was dismissed by a local judge, but remained on his FBI file. Even though we have visited Canada every summer for the past seven years and had spent the month of July 2002 in the Atlantic Provinces, when we re-entered in late August after spending a few weeks in Maine, we were subjected to an FBI check. Since we had purchased baseball tickets in March for a four-game, late August series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees we were allowed to enter Canada after paying the $200 fine. We don't know how owning baseball tickets factored into being fined and permitted entry, but that is what the official told us.

We have Texas license plates so vehicle searches looking for hidden weapons at the Canadian border are pretty routine. We have never owned guns and don't carry any contraband so we just let border personnel do their thing. It's their job. The FBI check is something different. Most RVers are not prepared for this to happen. It's frightening to be detained for over an hour while your identification is held by the officials and your home and pets are parked 200 yards away.

We urge American citizens who are contemplating a trip to Canada to contact the FBI several months in advance of their trip and request a copy of their FBI file under the Freedom of Information Act. If there is anything in the file that could be considered a crime by the Canadian government, either cancel your trip or apply to the nearest Canadian consulate for "rehabilitation", which can be secured for less than $200.

Things have changed since 9/11.

Janet Wilder, The Road Princess
"Residentially Challenged"
roadprincess@escapees.com
www.roadprincess.50megs.com

If you have RV news to share, we have a place on our web site just for you. Please visit here to add your article.

In the last few months, however, the U.S. government has taken steps to integrate and simplify its online presence. One such effort is recreation.gov -- a web portal that provides a single point of access to public recreation sites across the United States.

Before recreation.gov, web surfers would have had little choice but to hop from web site to web site to gather information available from the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, and other government agencies. Now, recreation.gov offers a one-stop online destination for learning about recreational opportunities nationwide.

As a portal, recreation.gov itself does not serve as a repository for extensive information. Rather, it provides a gateway to enable the public to easily access resources available on other government-sponsored sites. Recreation.gov emphasizes user-friendly navigation and search functionality. For example, visitors can narrow their choices based on state, agency, or activity, such as boating or camping.

In the spring and summer of 2002, recreation.gov attracted as many as 30,000 unique site visits per day. It was also named by the Bush Administration as one of the top 25 e-government initiatives.

Recreation.gov has ambitious plans to incorporate more resources, including sites devoted to state, tribal, and local recreation areas. In addition, visitors can expect to see improvements in the site's mapping capabilities. Government officials have also taken special measures to enable other web sites to share data available through recreation.gov.