Car Radio

[jonnyconcrete]

Just found these buggers on ebay....only 9cm deep!!!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Car-Audio-1-D ... 3cb093dac2

Any experience anyone?

[Tintin]

Just found these buggers on ebay....only 9cm deep!!!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Car-Audio-1-D ... 3cb093dac2

Any experience anyone?

My experience with these is limited to clicking on your link and wanting to p*ke cos of the look of these....

Honestly, I don't get why anybody is still messing around with this subject. If you want a modern radio get one with a wired remote and put the radio in the trunk. The older Sony remotes e.g. are simple restistor networks so one could actually get a nice looking but non-working period radio, use only the front and use the buttons for switching some resistors with adjusted values.
http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/vbb/showthread.php?t=293867
http://www.panuworld.net/minidisc/fordsony/index.htm
Here's a solution for Blaupunkt radios on motorcycles:
http://www.ake-electronic.de/motorbike- ... ontrol.htm

Just my 0.02?


Tim

[gerrym]

What is the UK timetable for phase out of AM/FM and replacement by digital. Seems a shame to invest in radio solutions if they are going to be obsolete within a few years.

Regards
Gerry

[billwill]

What is the UK timetable for phase out of AM/FM and replacement by digital. Seems a shame to invest in radio solutions if they are going to be obsolete within a few years.

Regards
Gerry

I heard a rumour that this was postponed indefinitely for RADIO, though TV changeover going ahead, to be completed 2012 (?)

[Tintin]

What is the UK timetable for phase out of AM/FM and replacement by digital. Seems a shame to invest in radio solutions if they are going to be obsolete within a few years.

Well, a) judging by the numbers of cars with analog devices affected I'm pretty sure that there will be DA-interfaces ("dash-below" instead of of "set-top"...) available pretty quickly in this case. And a lot of OEM installed remote audio controls apparently are simple resistor networks anyway. b) I don't know about the UK but here in Germany UKW aka VHF will be replaced by DAB (well, that's the current plan at least....) and there are already DAB radios with remote input available.


Tim

[Baggy2]

In my experience digital radio in a car is useless - and this was a modern steel bodied car with modern supression. I was not in the back of beyond but travelling on the M23 - M25 and A12 using a digital adaptor. most of the time you got nothing unless you were within 5 miles of a transmitter. Getting nothing was better than the awful noise that ensued when you were in a poor area.
I gave up - loaded my SatNav with music I liked and went back to FM.
Why are the government so keen on this? Its not to free up spectrum because they say FM will continue with local radio on it - my theory is that it introduces the technology that will make subscription radio possible - 'type in your credit card number to get a traffic report' etc
Just My 2p!
Baggy

[stugilmour]

jonny, I went with one of these mounted in the trunk. Posted some details a while back. The controller is only as thick as the dash, minimizing mounting issues. If you are getting a new dash, would recommend getting the radio cutout to smaller dimensions; I put a plastic blnking plate to cover the larger stock hole.

http://www.casmfg.com/Secretaudio.htm

[Tintin]

....http://www.casmfg.com/Secretaudio.htm

Hm, I had a look at this stuff some time ago - the only problem is that if you browse through the respective boards the get a lot of flak for their quality. Really a lot....


Tim

[jonnyconcrete]

I'm no music guru or hifi groupee, I was just looking for a modern radio solution that gave me access to the football and cricket comentary

I have settled on a InPhase IP 100SSD... fitted it last night...85mm mounting depth at ?39, looks ok has all the radio shizzles, no CD (hence the mounting depth) but it does have IPOD and SD card connectivity. Has all the amp stuff on the back if you want to blow your windows out.

Chuffed, fitting took about 10 minutes.

[Dave Fowler]

I'm no music guru or hifi groupee, I was just looking for a modern radio solution that gave me access to the football and cricket comentary

I have settled on a InPhase IP 100SSD... fitted it last night...85mm mounting depth at ?39, looks ok has all the radio shizzles, no CD (hence the mounting depth) but it does have IPOD and SD card connectivity. Has all the amp stuff on the back if you want to blow your windows out.

Chuffed, fitting took about 10 minutes.

Sounds like just the sort of thing I'd be interested in. I like to play music (iPod only though as it saves messing around with CDs) and listen to Radio 4 for news and cricket commentary. OK, so it may not look too pretty, but the original radio in my Plus 2 is hardly a work of art either.

Does it integrate fully with an iPod?

[kstrutt11]

At 85 mm I would think you could mount it behind the dash with a panel or front off of period radio as a cover, My new dash came with a matching walnut blanking panel for the radio hole which could give a very neat solution.



Kevin

[Dave Fowler]

At 85 mm I would think you could mount it behind the dash with a panel or front off of period radio as a cover, My new dash came with a matching walnut blanking panel for the radio hole which could give a very neat solution.



Kevin

I like the idea of that. You'd need to have a remote control for the head unit though.

[stugilmour]

Nice find jonny. The one's with "shallow mounting depth" can be hard to find, and more importantly dimensions can be sort of relative when looking on the 'net. I actually couldn't find a concrete reference to mounting depth on that model with Google; thanks for sharing that it actually works on the Plus 2. I probably would have got one if I knew about it when buying, as the one I posted does not have a built in CD either & was somewhat more expensive.

For the NA guys, any comments on the tuning of the AM and FM bands? I believe we have different standards this side of the pond where we increment FM like 92.9 - 93.1 - 93.4... Does this unit accommodate different digital tuning or is it infinite tuning adjustment?

As to reliability of the one i bought, seems to work now but only been in place a short time. It is an OK radio, not great. With a suppression capacitor on the alternator there is no hum or whatever, so suppression is reasonable. Had to put a ground loop suppression deal on the sat radio input, and all is good.

Cheers!

[jonnyconcrete]

I'm no music guru or hifi groupee, I was just looking for a modern radio solution that gave me access to the football and cricket comentary

I have settled on a InPhase IP 100SSD... fitted it last night...85mm mounting depth at ?39, looks ok has all the radio shizzles, no CD (hence the mounting depth) but it does have IPOD and SD card connectivity. Has all the amp stuff on the back if you want to blow your windows out.

Chuffed, fitting took about 10 minutes.

Sounds like just the sort of thing I'd be interested in. I like to play music (iPod only though as it saves messing around with CDs) and listen to Radio 4 for news and cricket commentary. OK, so it may not look too pretty, but the original radio in my Plus 2 is hardly a work of art either.

Does it integrate fully with an iPod?

Dave, apologies for the delay, it's a 3.5mm jack connection, so if by fully you mean the head unit has full control of the ipod, then no...you kinda need a handy passenger to act as DJ!

[petersracing]

Sorry for the thread resurrection. I just dragged my plus 2 out of hibernation and thought I should fix the hole in the dash as I install the new woodwork. The Inphase looks pretty much what I've been looking for (for 29 years!!) but I seem to have missed the boat. Does anyone have one stashed away? All the sellers I've contacted wont ship overseas.

Ian