As we all know, putting up an awning for the first time can be worse than taking a physics degree, and often in the rain!  It almost makes Ikea furniture seem like a piece of cake.  So as we are staring to get our awnings out here are a few tips.

Have a trial run at home, hidden from the neighbours if possible, before getting to the site and getting very frustrated for all the other “professional” caravanners looking on.

Choose a nice day with little wind on your first trial run, even a bit of wind can thwart your first attempts

Put your groundsheet down now instead of later when it’s all up.

Wax the beading of the awning rail, making it easier to slide the awning on.  Furniture polish with silicon will do the same trick.

Once the awning is through the channel fully, fit the awning brackets into the roof cord.

Fit the centre vertical poles together and fit into the canvas then proceed to do the same for the remaining front frame poles and legs. Raise the frame to the vertical, attach the roof pole to the bracket and partially loosen it. If you have to erect your awning on a windy day, put a storm strap over the whole awning at this point.  Now fit the final roof poles and loosen them as well.

Next zip in the front and sides - then you will be able to fully tension the legs to the correct height

Peg down the corners of the awning - we then slide in the awning skirt along the channel at the bottom of the caravan. You will then be able to peg down the rest of the awning

Once you’ve got the poles correctly erected put colour coded stickers on the joints making it easier the next time.
 

In 2012, traditional analogue television will be a thing of the past in the UK.  Therefore if you still want to enjoy the TV when travelling you will need to switch to digital. To do this you will have to buy a Freeview box and a satellite.
That will mean investing in a Freeview box or fitting a satellite dish.

Freeview:

Freeview receivers work well at home, depending on the area you live in, but for most areas you simply plug in and get crystal clear reception of your standard channels but also BBC3, BBC4 and Film Four for free.
However in caravans and motorhomes this can be a little bit more problematic normally down to the aerial such as Status Aerials.

Omni-Directional style aerials are often not up to the job, hence the reason we don’t use them for domestic use. The problem is height and a 25 ft mast is often not practical.  So what’s the solution?
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Satellite:

Freeview is fine for UK touring, but not so great when abroad because you can only pick up local stations. In theory you should be able to get a perfect picture just about anywhere that your dish can gain a clear view of a satellite.

There are lots of dishes to choose from, with the dome-style designs being the top of the range.

Once the dish is fitted you need to make sure it’s pointing in the right direction.  To get a picture, you’ll need to buy a satfinder. This is a device which you connect between the dish and the receiver with an indicator to show when the appropriate satellite has been found.
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Dishes that find the satellites by themselves are even easier.

Before you decide what dish to buy, you need to check out the coverage – or footprint – offered by different satellites.  For example the Camos Satellite Dome will pick up all popular UK TV & radio programmes over all of the British Isles, France, Holland & Belgium and well into Germany, Switzerland, Austria, north-west Italy and north-east Spain down as far as Barcelona. In the rest of Europe it has a similar performance to any other satellite dish with a diameter of less than 1.2M

Bob Eldridge of Summertronics has invented an innovative product called the Scanthief 200 to help in the fight against caravan crime. It basically consists of a tiny transmitter you hide in the caravan.

There is a case station that you leave at home or work and in the instance of somebody tampering with the van the station will give off an alarm to alert you.

The device is just four-and-a-half inches by two-and-a-half inches and detects movement in any direction.

Sick of lugging about the heavyweight, bulky steel frame for your Trio Sport awnings?  Upgrade now to the Fibermax ultralight awning frames.  Full range of TRIO Sport frames available now on the site. FREE UK delivery!!!

We’re please to announce that we have now expanded our caravan mover section to include Reich’s fantastic Move Control range of caravan movers.

MOVE CONTROL allows you to move your caravan smoothly and effortlessly. The Reich Move Control is designed and constructed to be robust and hardwearing but lightweight at the same time. The caravan mover is powered by double 12 volt motors that power rollers to move the caravan wheels at the touch of a button via remote control.

Police are appealing to early morning workers such as taxi drivers, milkmen and postal workers to help combat crime by keeping an eye out for suspicious behaviour

One of the things workers are being asked to look out for is cars which have different registration plates to the caravans they are towing.

 Det Sgt Simon Ingham, of the  Serious and Organised Crime Unit stolen vehicle squad, stated: “We’re asking them to look out for any suspicious behaviour, and also to look out for caravans which are being towed by vehicles containing one or more males.

“It’s also worth noting that in some circumstances where a stolen caravan is recovered by people contacting the police in this way, they may receive a substantial reward.”

The leaflets are being handed out across the county.

Anyone with information should contact 08451 253545 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Remember to take as many precautions as possible.  Visit our Caravan Security section.