Fitting CD/Radio

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JeremyF

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Finally got round to getting an ebay car CD/radio bargain.

I see that it needs direcvt power from the battery if the station presets are to stay in memory. Does this consume much current?

Also, for the antenna, how go I ground it?



<hr width=100% size=1><font color=red>Jeremy Flynn/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif
Dawn Chorus</font color=red>
 
Presets.

Absolutely minimal, but ensure your wiring work is good to avoid stray currents in the permanent live circuit.

Antenna.

Buy an active strip antenna from Halfords and fit it under the cabin headlining or similar. Connect the braided wire to the case of the head unit and it will work fine.

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The radio/CD I fitted - a Goodman - consumed 30 mA in standby mode. In 24 hours it therefore used .72 Ampere Hours of electricity, say 5 Ampere hours per week. Whether or not this is negligible depends upon your battery capacity and the length of time you might leave the boat between charging times. I found my partly charged battery flat in a month so disconnected the permanent supply to the radio and now use the scan facility to change stations rather than the presets.

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I was about to write the same thing, leave the boat for 5 weeks as I did over Christmas and have to take the car battery over to the boat by dinghy to jump the engines. I had run my other battery flat by overusing the eberspacher without checking charge, but generally not a problem as I can jump start engine to engine doh!

Since I fitted new and functioning master switches we have had no problems with power drain.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=blue> Julian </font color=blue>

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I remember seeing a wiring diagram on the web purporting to solve this very problem. The idea was to have a small 12V lead-acid battery dedicated to the radio, isolated by a diode from the rest of the electrical supply. The idea was that it would be charged with the rest of the batteries, and then supply the standby current without the risk of draining the other batteries.

Sadly, I can't remember where I saw it. I think it was a "hints and tips" page from a sailing club; maybe Liverpool, or Scarbrough, or something.

Rich

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Uses very little current but this could turn out to be a lot if you were to leave the boat for several weeks. I have mine wired directly to my domestic battery (80 aH) & have had no problems. Your wiring would need good quality (connections etc) and essential to have it fused (say 250 mA).

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The radio drwas very little for the storing the station data - not to be confused with standby ! You fully switch it off - problem is that some modern car models continue some screenactivity, like a clock, even when switched off.
Alternative: There are some guys who fit a 9V block battery to the permanent power connection. It appears to do the trick w/o compromising on the main battery.

Since our radio has an excellent automatic search and store function (6 stations), I can't be bothered - when I come for the weekend, I have it search&store and then leave the switch for supply active for 2-3 days.

Antenna: don't lough, but I just connected a 9.99 (euros), cheapest Halfords has in NL, and just let it lie behind the radio itself (dead area) mid-cabin level. Works excellent!

chris

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Active antenna

The standard active antenna on my bennytoe mounted on the bulkhead is not that good, when I get a spare moment I will change it to a standard aerial connected to the pushpit. Dealer comented on their poor performance as well, could just be the area, but car reception in the same area is fine.

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The antennas suggested in this thread will only work well on FM if you are in a good reception area for the required stations. Consider fitting a Glomar RA201 antenna splitter between your VHF and its antenna cable. With this installed, your stereo will use the mast top VHF antenna, if thats where yours is, which will give your reception much better range. The splitter isolates the stereo when you transmit on the VHF to avoid damage and has a pre-amp which provides excellent broadcast reception on FM, MW and LW. The RA 201 only consumes about 3mA from your 12V supply and can be connected to your VHF radio 12v supply input.

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Why not fit a small solar panel connected to your domestic battery and then you will have no problems with coming back to a flat one again. Believe me a great investment.

Yoda

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Whats needed to Fit CD/Radio

What do you mean by good quality wiring ? I need to do a similar operation to permanently connect my radio to the battey, so what bits will I need?

Thanks


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