If we got an old RV, would you watch us turn it into the Qain Train

A tek syndicate schooner perhaps?

1 Like

I'm thinking pace arrow. They've got 440 Hemi's in them sometimes and they're damn reliable if you get rid of the thermoquad.

I know nothing about RV's. I just like the styling of the GMC.

I know what a schooner is, but I must ask.

Is that a mall rats reference?

No it's not.

that guy has the life, does great videos for wired.

@deusqain in all seriousness your going to need an good A/C in the mother ship due to the battery's and pc's in such a confined space

so make sure you add those to your budget

but in my dream world i would much rather have an pirate ship on the outside but a super advanced computer headquarters on the inside


2 Likes

That's actually pretty nice looking. I was also going to suggest an old schoolbus.

3 Likes

The cool thing about that truck is because it was made pre-CGI most of that stuff actually works and is still working today. I read in AUTOWEEK a while back that someone bought it to restore. I love the triple-wheel gimbal suspension it's a great idea. Not only can it crawl over anything, when it is a boat the wheels function as paddles.

Full Movie

I agree its a cool motorhome.

I would definitely watch this. Especially the networking/"mobile lab" side of it, and all the electronics mods on it. That would be super cool.

2 Likes


2 inches of books will stop almost any bullet with 1/8in steel on both sides. if you line the rv right it'll be bullet proof everywhere but the glass. you can get the books free from librarys and other organizations that toss thousands of books a year. you could even get the steel free if you are willing to scavenge and know how to use a grinder. old metal bedframes are very easy to dissemble and give a few pounds of 1/8 steel each then you just have to weld them together and throw on wallpaper over it.

the glass is pricey but the only other alternative is something like

which is unreliable and from the right angle offers no protection.

1 Like

I would loooooove to see this happen!

Sure I have time and solar equipment I can donate. Probably some small batteries too. (no large ones at the moment.) I know my way around wiring vehicles and whatnot from installing radios.

sat equipment is ridic expensive unless it's ghetto mounted and manual aiming.

hmmmm.. Ghetto mounted and manual aiming.... + equipment to automate aiming... WIN!!

1 Like

The problem is getting the stepper motors to only move a fraction of a degree and still be weatherproof

if you can solve that you're a better man than I

edit: it's honestly easier to just aim the dish with your hands if you know the general direction of the satellite (easily accessible online)

MCU stepper motors and a nice mount. GPS and a 9 axis IMU should be able to do a pretty good job. Then make smaller adjustments using the signal strength as a guide.

What about fabricating a weather proof shroud to house the base, for the X axis, and one on the back of the dish for the Y.

Granted that is a rather involved process, but there isn't much reason not to investigate the practicality and feasibility.

1 Like

Stainless or Aluminum frame and stepper motors enclosed in water tight container with greased double rubber seals around the drive shafts. NEMA 23s are big enough to move a rather large dish and cost about $30 each. I could make a housing for them for maybe $20 depending on materials.

If you can do this, that's where it's at. I still think manual aiming (while requiring someone to climb up onto the dish is bad) is where its at. The software we have is basically a one touch solution but it was like $7000.

Manual aiming with waterproof steppers is honestly probably easier than automatic software because as people we already know the general direction satellites are located in, so the tare is nonexistent (it takes so long)

basically satellite software starts at a low horizontal axis and spins around looking for a sat. when it finds a sat is does some handshaking to find out if it's the sat it's looking for. if it isn't, it keeps spinning around until it finishes a rotation. it then it increases the y axis then does it again. over and over until it finds the sat it's looking for. or not at all because your fucking sat table is out of date and you haven't used the dish in 7 months,