It is the music selection that is quite unique.  But you get to see many features and some good views of this tiny limited edition trailer.  Enjoy!

The PowerMac tower enclosure is simply beautiful and matches the Airstream very well. I didn’t know what to do with it at first but then after I went through the effort I suddenly realized that it could make a great storage locker for all those dirty parts like the greasy hitch, the wheel chucks, the hitch lock, the hitch stand and the hitch stand blocks. All this stuff is dirty, greasy, full of spiders and ants and I no longer wanted them in the car.

So here it is: Looks great, holds all I need and acts as a primary tier for holding your drinks. The secondary tier (the propane enclosure) is for empty bottles.

I just polished our DWR Airstream and when you get to touch every section on the exterior you realize how unique it is.  A assembly line car on the other hand has none of that built by hand feel.

DWR Airstream with Sony CDXGT930UI head unit replacement

So, after I upgraded the TV with a built-in DVD player, I no longer needed a stereo head unit that had DVD playback and a video out.  What I did want was a head unit with iPod integration, so I went on a quest and after much research found the Sony CDXGT930UI car receiver.  It was quite easy to connect since the previous model was also a SONY (MEX-R1) and the connectors were the same.  It took me about 30 minutes to swap them out.  The sound difference was substantial and is so much better than before.  I tested many of the EQ settings and can now make “the Daemon” rock without having all the Airstream panels rattle.

Sony CDXGT930UI head unit with green lights and iPod integration

The new unit also looks quite nice and has green lights that fit the DWR’s lime green interior design motif. The interiors of the overhead storage units of the DWR Airstream are painted lime green; and when the lights are turned on, there is a nice lime glow from behind the sliding metal doors. iPod integration is quite good although more cumbersome than actually selecting music on the iPod itself, but it certainly is nice to to have a digital audio connection via USB to the head unit (that also charges the iPod) and to be able to see what is playing from a distance without having to have the iPod visible.  Also, I can now control the iPod via  Sony CDXGT930UI’s remote control and turn them both off with one press of a button on the remote. I used to have the iPod in the Apple Universal Dock but the connection to the Sony CDXGT930UI head unit only succeeded intermittently, so I have to connect the iPod USB cable directly to the iPod.  Now I will create a pocket in which the iPod can rest and be out of the way in the overhead storage compartment.

DWR Airstream over head compartments

Airstream external refrigerator access panel with replacement fan by Noctua (NF-S12-800)

I read the forums and found out that other people had the same problem. So, I ordered a fan by Noctua for $50 (Noctua NF-S12-800).  I installed it and added some rubber spacers to isolate the fan from the wood panel that it connects to.  The Noctua NF-S12-800 is a 12V fan that only uses 0.60 watts and was meant to be used as a super quiet cooling fan for a computer enclosure. The new fan works well to keep air moving through the fridge cooling fins. And, I can’t hear a thing. I have to hold my face near the vent to feel that air is moving. As a trained recording and audio mastering engineer, you could argue that my ears are super sensitive. But, the fan also annoyed my wife as well. So, now, both of our ears are happy campers!

When attending a hiking retreat with Robert Thurman at Menla Mountain Retreat & Conference Center, the staff kindly let us boondock on their beautiful grounds.

I’m sure the old fan moved more air and made the refrigerator more efficient, but the noise was unacceptable. There is another benefit as well.  When boon-docking, the battery didn’t drain nearly as fast. In fact, we dry camped at Menla Mountain Retreat Center in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York for four days and the solar system kept the battery levels around 60%.  That would have never happened with the old fan. We would have been lucky to eek out one or two days and would have had to turn the fridge off at night, so that we could sleep.

Reasons to replace the Airstream stock refrigerator fan:

Pros: super quiet; uses much less energy

Cons: makes refrigerator slightly less efficient

Night falls around The Streaming Daemon

Living in the deepfreeze that is Minnesota, we are always looking forward to a beach vacation. We were about to travel 3100 miles to get some sun and saltwater in our faces when the nose-biting cold bit us hard. It is difficult to think at -6 degrees Fahrenheit, especially when it comes to connecting a trailer after a six-month travel break. I got our DWR Airstream and Volvo all packed and hooked up and was ready to roll south, but I couldn’t get power to our trailer.  After taking the fuse boxes apart, inspecting electrical panels, cables and connections, and tearing my hair out, it turned out that I simply had plugged in the trailer plug upside down. This will never happen to me again. My wife was already on the Internet looking for a last-minute Hawaiian get-away, so I knew that I had to figure out my lost power issue or we were going to be flying to Aloha-land instead of driving to Florida.

I love to troubleshoot, it is a huge part of my job as a Macintosh computer consultant, but not at 5 AM when my extremities are frozen.  I had to hot tub just to thaw my brain and come to my senses and look at the plug again. It is most often the simplest element in the chain the gets overlooked.

We finally got going and I drove 17 hours (950 miles)  the first day to make up for lost time and and to avoid the blizzard that was coming our way.

Travel path of our Florida trip in spring of 2009

The next day I drove another 400 miles, and when we rolled into Saint Joseph Peninsula State Park, I parked and didn’t even disconnect the car from the trailer for 5 days.  Saint Joseph Peninsula State Park is a beautiful camping spot and we enjoyed every day – even when the temp dropped from 73F to 35F with 35 mile winds. Here are some pictures of this stunning Florida State Park.

Airstream mattress platform - moldy from condensation

We just returned from a 3100 mile trip to the Florida Panhandle with our DWR Airstream, and to our dismay, we discovered that our mattress was starting to develop mold on the bottom. Moisture sans air flow is a breeding ground for mold. This was bound to happen if one looks at the construction of the mattress platform. Airstream decided to use two plywood sections to lay the mattress onto.  There is no air flow to the center of the mattress, therefore in cold and damp weather, the colder storage compartment develops condensation between the mattress and the plywood platform.

Airstream bed platform - with moldy panels removed

This is certainly a design flaw. We have discovered that our DWR Airstream trailer is an interesting combination of great design and somewhat shoddy carpentry. So, my brother Mark Thomas from Thomas Design/Build and I created a solution, so that we can get out of town without creating more mold build-up. We purchased pine slats for $8.50, an aluminum strip to complete the rear support structure, a box of screws and a galvanized metal sheet to isolate the heater compartment from direct contact with the mattress.

Mark Thomas - replacing ply-wood mattress platform with pine slats to improve air circulation below mattress

Three hours later we had replaced the plywood panels with a breathable wood slat system that lets air circulate under the mattress between the storage compartment and the rest of the trailer. My brother is an architect who actually has the skills to build a house himself. Due to his excellent upgrade, we’re ready to travel mold-free!

Airstream with slat system for mattress breathability

Polk Audio MM651um in silver

The four stock speakers in the DWR Airstream were $16 coaxial pieces of OEM crap, unfortunately.  For the kind of money a DWR Airstream costs, I would have liked to see a more premium speaker system be standard.  But, that’s not the case. So, I went out and searched for a suitable speaker replacement that would fit the existing holes.

I found some great choices and ended up with the 6-1/2″ diameter Polk Audio MM651UM. This silver colored model is the Ultra Marine model for extra protection from sun, water and salt – for when we park this Airstream semi-permanently on a beach in Hawaii.

Given the mod white interior of the DWR Airstream, I didn’t want all black speakers. Silver works. White speakers of the quality I wanted were not to be found. I got four speakers for under $500.

Polk Audio Speakers next to the Nelson Ball Clock

I installed them in under 2 hours.  I did have to drill a few new holes since they didn’t line up with the old speaker screw holes, but they look great and the sound is way better.  My ears don’t get fatigued anymore and we can enjoy a more high fidelity sound while we are cooking and watching movies in the trailer.

Volvo XC90 with Dynaudio

Our Volvo XC90 V8 Sport on the other hand has a Dynaudio speaker system that still blows me away. WOW! When I used to be a audio mastering engineer, I edited on Dynaudio Acoustic C3  speakers and it was a pleasure.

So I say to Airstream:  Please check out Dynaudio and see if you can have them customize a system for your trailer line. I would have certainly paid for the upgrade.

DWR Airstream + Volvo XC90 V8 Sport in the Badlands, SD (photo: Martin Thomas)

I love Volvos, for many reasons, so I had to find one that could pull our new DWR Airstream. We went to our dealership and drove a used 2004  XC90 and it was uninspired. I talked to my wonderful sales person, Tristan Grobel at Borton Volvo in Minneapolis, MN and asked, “What about the new Sport Edition?” and he said, “I’ll let you drive it. You’re going to love it.”  He was right.  The moment I opened the door, Kate screamed, “This is it.” And, once I started the V8 and took the first corner, I was hooked.  What a great car.  What a fantastic ride.  Tight, quick and a nice V8 roar when you kick it.

We bought it and Borton Volvo installed my brake controller for pulling the “Streaming Daemon.” That was so much fun for them that we brought the mechanic two 24-packs of Budweiser (that is what the guy liked) when we picked up the Volvo XC90 Sport as a bonus for his effort.  They had to remove the seats and run new cables to the back. Fun!

Then we drove out to Eugene, Oregon to pick up one of the last remaining DWR Airstreams. Tom Hanks bought the other DWR model at our dealership.

Zipping over the Rockies with this V8 beast was more than fun.

Pulling the Airstream is even better.

It is so smooth, quiet and powerful. A combo one seldom sees. I even have a feeling we might be the only people in the US pulling an Airsteam with a Swedish car named WOTAN. It is a great combo. Great design and performance front and back.

DWR Airstream Bambi with Volvo XC 90 Sport in Wyoming

Winterize Manufacturing - RV Blow Out Plug

I finally found this little ingenious adapter to blow out the water lines in our DWR Airstream to prevent the lines from freezing in the winter.  I looked all over, but I could only find hose adapters that were clunky and expensive.

I was able to blow out the whole system, including the water pump, with an air compressor attached to my city water intake on the Airstream trailer in less than an hour without having to run in and out of the trailer non-stop.  I’m so happy too have found this little, blue, nicely-machined gem.  It is made by Winterize Manufacturing and costs$17.95.