Heheh... initially I had a DVR for the van. The Hi-def 622 for Dish network. I confirmed a few suspicions:
DVRS generate more heat and require more airflow than I could give it in the van.
DVRs suck a LOT more electricity than their inert counterparts
I may try to get back to using a 622 when I have the van back in hands, but it's not looking good for a dvr. Also, There doesn't seem to be a good way to isolate the DVR from vibrations/jostling it will get exposed to and that is bad bad bad for a hard drive.
Herb, I am a Modern Major Technical Geek.
I actually have something in mind like what you are talking about, but it won't use a hard drive based DVR (which takes a while to boot, unless it's running all the time) but something solid-state.
A lot of this will depend on when I get the van back how much solar I end up putting on it.
The 4x4 sounds like it's going well. At this point we have just scheduled to pick up the van on the 26th. I think it's sort of at the point where addtl pictures are kind of moot. I have certainly not had a problem getting ahold of them or getting questions answered while the van is there.