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Impressed by the success of the 2007 Network Fest held at the Louisville RVIA National Show, the RVIA Board of Directors has approved a second fest for the 2008 show. A committee has been formed to coordinate the event.

More information on the Fest will be available on the Network Fest Forum on this web site. If you or your company wishes to participate, please contact us through that forum.

The 2007 RV-C Network Fest was a tremendous success, both technically and as an educational event. Fourteen vendors connected over two dozen devices into the network backbone. Despite the fact that many of the devices were brand new, there were no network problems and the products interoperated exactly as intended. This was an impressive demonstration of the maturity of the RV-C specification.

Roughly a thousand people toured the Fest and were treated to several demonstrations. The flexibility of RV-C was clearly apparent in a five-zone climate control system that included components from three different vendors. The broad support for RV-C was shown by the presence of seven different control panels and a dozen other distinct types of products. RV-C's contribution to product safety was apparent with the demonstration of the interlocks between the awning, levelers, and the chassis park brake and vehicle speed sensor.

Dealers were a large percentage of the attendees, and were particularly impressed by the diagnostic capabilities RV-C provides. The similarity between RV-C and the diagnostic protocols used in cars was well appreciated. Leaders of the RVDA (RV Dealer Association) expressed enthusiastic support of the RVIA's efforts to bring this powerful technology into the RV industry.

Participants included:
- Aqua-Hot (Heating)
- Atwood (AC Power Distribution)
- Carefree of Colorado (Awning)
- Faria (Control Panel)
- Freightliner Custom Chassis (Chassis Interface)
- Girard Systems (Awning)
- HWH (Hydraulic Leveling)
- Intellitec (DC Power Distribution)
- PowerTech (Generator)
- SilverLeaf Electronics (Control Panel, Diagnostic Tool)
- Spartan Chassis (Chassis Interface)
- TRC (Lighting Control, Transfer Switch)
- TriMark (Door Control, Entry System)
- Vansco (Control Panel)

The Fest also received logistical support from Country Coach and Ladd Industries.

The RVIA is sponsoring a milestone event in the history of RV-C. The National Trade Show in Louisville KY will be the site of the "RV-C Network Fest" - a live demonstration of RV-C networking featuring over 15 vendors and their products. The Fest will be held in Room C101 in the South Wing over all three days of the RVIA show - November 27th through 29th.

The demonstration will include two big-screen television, each displaying control and diagnostic activity on the network. At the time of this post the participant list includes Aqua-Hot, Atwood, Carefree of Colorado, Cequent, Faria Instruments, Freightliner Customer Chassis, Girard, HWH Corp., Intellitec, International Thermal Research, PowerTech, SilverLeaf Electronics, Spartan Motors, Technology Research Corp., Trimark, and Vansco.

Admission is free to anyone with an RVIA show badge. For more information on attending the RVIA National Trade Show contact Doreen Cashion (dcashion@rvia.org).

One of the virtues of RV-C is that it allows us unlimited latitude in designing the user experience. The best example we can offer is the HMStv. This unique device uses a simple IR Remote Control to allows the user to control every feature of the RV-C network. And it provides a spectacular NTSC television output to let the user monitor his system on any television. The HMStv is easier to use and more impressive than the proprietary systems used in million-dollar bus conversions, but at a small fraction of the cost.

SilverLeaf will custom-program the HMStv for the specific coach application. The background artwork is field-upgradable, which means that individual RV owners can further customize their systems. HMStv is comes with an easy-to-use remote, and is compatible with almost all universal remote controls.

Think of it as an Electronic Control Unit for the RV. Just as the ECU in the engine controls and coordinates all its important functions, the TM-102 manages all the major RV systems. It monitors and controls the tank levels, inverter/charger, generator, batteries, water pump, and many other pieces. It can be configured to provide a wide variety of intelligent features, such as tank autofill, automatic genstart, chassis battery charging, safety interlocks, and even full climate control. It is fully RV-C compliant, and can be configured with the OmniScope RV-C service tool.

The TM-102 is a fundamental part of an full-featured RV-C network. It can be combined with any control panels and other RV-C components to create a powerful, customized system.