First experience camping - two questions

[kuruma]

First experience sleeping in the car overnight last night on the pitch black Yorks Moors.

Q1.
Sleeping facing the back shelf, I could see a very faint outline of some flickering lights on the driver's side rear window pillar just above the passenger shelf. They're super faint so you need to look at this in really dark conditions to see it.

Just wondered if it was the LTE receiver (although I was in an area where I had no signal anyway).

Q2.
How on earth do you stop that campfire animation on the screen? Ideally, you'd be able to turn the screen off completely but this seemed impossible.

 

[UrbanSplash]

Did you sleep well?

 

[NorfolkMustard]

Perhaps try screen clean mode?

 

[kuruma]

good question... actually I slept better than I thought I would... esp as I'm nursing a cracked rib from a footie injury. But the wife said she had about 3 hours. The mattress was comfy enough but it was a new space, being restricted in a sleeping bag and the car battery cooling fan (maybe?) kicking in every now and then which can be heard as a faint whine.

We'll def be doing it again when the weather's a bit warmer. Temp outside was 6C when we woke about and the battery lost about 30% charge overnight keeping us at 18C in the car.

 

[kuruma]

Perhaps try screen clean mode?

yeah, did resort to that, but still, it's a screen that's on.

It strikes me that if you are in camp mode you shouldn't have to face a forced lit screen all night without some kind of workaround like this.

 

[UrbanSplash]

Just sling a towel or a jacket over the screen. Bjorn has a good camping video on his YouTube channel

 

[Dilly]

yeah, did resort to that, but still, it's a screen that's on.

It strikes me that if you are in camp mode you shouldn't have to face a forced lit screen all night without some kind of workaround like this.

Can’t you put screen brightness on manual and wind it right down?

 

[kuruma]

did that but you'd be surprised how bright it is on supposedly 0% brightness with that campsite animation. I thought Tesla had scientists working for them but, though I was no expert at science at school, 0% meant nothing back in my 1980s Physics A' Level classroom.

It seems the workaround for this is to turn screen to "0%" and activate screen cleaning mode. That's the darkest you can make it if you want camp mode. However, another workaround might be to switch aircon mode to ON (not Camp) with a pre-set temp and then lock the car on your phone with you in it. I wonder now if that would have killed the screen like it does when the car is parked and empty.

 

[Medved_77]

did that but you'd be surprised how bright it is on supposedly 0% brightness with that campsite animation. I thought Tesla had scientists working for them but, though I was no expert at science at school, 0% meant nothing back in my 1980s Physics A' Level classroom.

It seems the workaround for this is to turn screen to "0%" and activate screen cleaning mode. That's the darkest you can make it if you want camp mode. However, another workaround might be to switch aircon mode to ON (not Camp) with a pre-set temp and then lock the car on your phone with you in it. I wonder now if that would have killed the screen like it does when the car is parked and empty.

Last time I slept in the car I seem to recall putting the screen into clean mode then waking up later with the campsite back. I think the screen clean mode times out although I'm not sure after how long.

There are covers that you can get to protect the screen from sun which should also block out the light that emits from it. I'm sure some clothes would do the same job though.

 

[kuruma]

yeah... I'll throw my undies over it next time!

No one have any idea what the answer to my first question is though? What's the device making the light in the rear window pillar?

 

[Dilly]

yeah... I'll throw my undies over it next time!

No one have any idea what the answer to my first question is though? What's the device making the light in the rear window pillar?

Not just reflection from the screen or perhaps a digital watch?

 

[kuruma]

Not just reflection from the screen or perhaps a digital watch?

initially I thought it was light from outside the car but there were no streetlights and the moon wasn't up yet. We had nothing on in the car except the darned campsite animation. At first, I didn't think it was really there, but when I cupped my hands round it, you can def see lights flashing like a router under the fabric.

 

[ljames28]

With the light, I know that in the back of the Model X, if you pry some trim from the passenger side, there are flashing red lights behind that, although I don't know what for.

I also had similar issues with the screen, I think I decided camp mode was totally unsuitable for sleeping, and you need to use some variant of "Climate on" and then select "Power off" from the touchscreen, which turns off the screens/music, but keeps the climate on. I read that camp mode was originally intended as party mode, and was renamed, which explains why it is incompatible with the concept of sleeping

 

[Dilly]

initially I thought it was light from outside the car but there were no streetlights and the moon wasn't up yet. We had nothing on in the car except the darned campsite animation. At first, I didn't think it was really there, but when I cupped my hands round it, you can def see lights flashing like a router under the fabric.

That’s camping for you. Never had a good night’s sleep camping...
3 of us once spent a night in a Morris Minor. Unrestrained discomfort!

 

[SalisburySam]

Haven’t experienced the issues. But then, my idea of camping is having to stay at a Hilton Express when the main hotel is booked.

 

[Sparkeur]

When it hit 40c here with 30c at night in summer, I decamped to the car on a few nights. Threw in a zed-bed mattress, pillow and a quilt cover. The campfire was rather odd in the circumstances but I had an extremely good nights sleep. However, I don't think I'm ever likely to deliberately head off in the car to commit camping which, as someone once said, appears to be natures way of promoting hotels.

 

[kuruma]

so even Bradley, our local mobile service guy, doesn't know how to kill the camp mode animation.

He was also stumped by the lights (green/yellow) in the rear window pillar although he did say that there are a couple of aerials in there. He couldn't remember which exactly but thought it might be the DAB antenna.

 

[Godsense]

good question... actually I slept better than I thought I would... esp as I'm nursing a cracked rib from a footie injury. But the wife said she had about 3 hours. The mattress was comfy enough but it was a new space, being restricted in a sleeping bag and the car battery cooling fan (maybe?) kicking in every now and then which can be heard as a faint whine.

We'll def be doing it again when the weather's a bit warmer. Temp outside was 6C when we woke about and the battery lost about 30% charge overnight keeping us at 18C in the car.

so even Bradley, our local mobile service guy, doesn't know how to kill the camp mode animation.

He was also stumped by the lights (green/yellow) in the rear window pillar although he did say that there are a couple of aerials in there. He couldn't remember which exactly but thought it might be the DAB antenna.

0% seems high for 18c based on Bjorn's videos but good know as i'm planning a test trip soon.

Your on first name terms too, same here. I feel like that means too many mobile visits.

I dare not look now as I feel like I won't be able to un-see it. I never noticed it when I did two nights back in September. Its not LTE or WIFI as they are in the wing mirror

 

[ACarneiro]

I echo the idea that 30% in one night seems excessive.
I slept in my car in the hospital car park during the peak of the COVID joy and the temperature was around 8 degrees (ish). Was losing about 10% over 8 hours or so...

 

[Exy1]

yeah... I'll throw my undies over it next time!

Watch out for skid marks