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Welcome to my
site!
This is my home on the web where I post my latest projects in hopes
that someday it will help someone else.
My most popular project by far is
my Homemade RV Camper. It was featured in Popular Mechanics as well as RVTV
that was broadcast on the outdoor network.
The thing that most people are
interested in is the fact that it was completely built from the frame up. It
started with an old 1973 Terry Camper that we "gutted" and rebuilt
 
Pictured is my son Blaine and Mason.
What It Is:
A completely hand-built RV that enables mom and
dad to watch a movie in the living room while the kids play Wii in their
bunks
Time:
Seven months
Cost:
$9300
At first glance,
Chad Nicholls’s RV looks like an off-the-lot model. Closer inspection reveals an
electronics showroom: six flat-panel TVs and an exterior projector for
campground-wide movie nights. A PC acts as a central hub that allows Nicholls,
32, an Technology director at a transportation company and a
father of three, to access the family’s music and DVD collection and to pull
from his home satellite feed via a Slingbox. When it is not parked in a Wi-Fi
hotspot, a Verizon AirCard and 3G router stream TV through the 296-sq.-ft.
mobile home. Equally impressive: Nicholls built the entire RV himself, framing a
flatbed trailer and working from the inside out, finally installing the roof as
one piece. He bought most of the materials for the structure, including the
windows, doors and paneling, at an RV surplus store near the family’s favorite
Angola, Ind., campground. Some of the screens, speakers and receivers were left
over from an upgrade of their home entertainment system. Others were refurbished
Internet steals from Newegg and eBay. What was Nicholls’s most daunting task?
Knowing when to stop. “At some point my wife said, ‘Enough.’” Odds are his two
oldest kids won’t complain: Each has his own portable 8-in. flip-down flat
screen with a built-in DVD player.
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