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borisvonf
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# Posted: 23 Jul 2010 20:54
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what are you guys doing for non natural background noise? i have the solar panels up and charging my agm battery. now i am thinking of installing a 12 v car radio for music. does anyone have any other suggestions?
does anyone know of a 12 v boom box type radio?
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medic29
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# Posted: 23 Jul 2010 22:12
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I have been looking for 12-v boom box type radio without success most are 6 or 9 volt. I too thought about just putting a car stereo and speakers in my cabin, but the price is more than I really would like to spend.
I'm interested if anyone else has ideas. I have thought about making a converter that would reduce the 12v down to the 6v or 9v the majority of the radios need.
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Rob_O
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# Posted: 23 Jul 2010 22:14
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Most boom boxes have a DC input. It will be printed on the radio what voltage it takes
I'll be using a car stereo and building cabinets for the speakers in the "dead space" between the joists of the loft.
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islandguy
Member
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# Posted: 24 Jul 2010 23:58
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or just use an inverter and plug any radio into 12v.
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dk1393
Member
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# Posted: 25 Jul 2010 09:39
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I use a solar/ac/dc radio. I also use a regular CD player with the inverter. It draws very little.
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Rob_O
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# Posted: 25 Jul 2010 10:45
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Be aware that most modern car stereos will have some parasitic draw for the internal clock, station presets, remote control, etc... Putting a switch in the constant power (usually yellow) wire will let you turn that small power drain off
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medic29
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# Posted: 26 Jul 2010 20:59
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Quoting: Rob_O Be aware that most modern car stereos will have some parasitic draw for the internal clock, station presets, remote control, etc... Putting a switch in the constant power (usually yellow) wire will let you turn that small power drain off
Or you could just not hook up the yellow wire; the radio will work just fine without the yellow wire.
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Rob_O
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# Posted: 27 Jul 2010 21:55
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Quoting: medic29 Or you could just not hook up the yellow wire; the radio will work just fine without the yellow wire.
Not always
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Kithera
Member
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# Posted: 1 Sep 2010 11:28
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Car stereos aren't designed with low power draw in mind, so they may not be the best option. A small portable radio would be a better option. Depending on the source of your music (radio, CD, ipod or similar), you might do a lot better with aa discman style portable dvd player and either some computer style external speakers or headphones. All of these can work off of wall works, and automotive style replacements can be picked up at any radioshack
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Anonymous
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# Posted: 4 Sep 2010 18:00
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I plan on using a car stereo in my cabin as well to make solar powering easier. The red and yellow wire will need to be wired together and then to a toggle switch and there is your music. 2 small speakers on the inside and if you want to get crazy 2 marine speakers on the outside plug in the ipod grab a beer kick back and relax
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rob_o
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# Posted: 7 Sep 2010 00:21
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Quoting: Kithera Car stereos aren't designed with low power draw in mind, so they may not be the best option.
This is correct. If you have something like a satellite radio tuner or a MP3 player for your source, there are a number of "class T" amps you can buy on eBay or Amazon that will work very well for you. They run directly off 12V and are extremely efficient when matched to good speakers.
If you want to disturb the neighbors for hours on end, build a boominator clone and you can rattle your brain from dawn to dusk on very little battery
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Kithera
Member
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# Posted: 8 Sep 2010 09:31
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Quoting: rob_o If you want to disturb the neighbors for hours on end, build a boominator clone and you can rattle your brain from dawn to dusk on very little battery
I really want to get attached to some of the local audiophiles. It seems to me that speakers isn't something that you really buy out of a catalog, but really must hear. I usually go to a pro audio store (Guitar Center, Sam Ash, etc.) for headphones, but all they carry in speakers for small spaces is powered studio monitors. Where does one go to find a good set of drivers.
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rob_o
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# Posted: 11 Sep 2010 20:05
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Quoting: Kithera I really want to get attached to some of the local audiophiles. It seems to me that speakers isn't something that you really buy out of a catalog, but really must hear.
You really won't know what they are going to sound like until you have them in your cabin hooked up to your gear.
I wasn't looking to put together an audiophile quality sound system for my 12*12 cabin, just wanted some efficient speakers to run off the automotive head unit I was planning to use. Since I found out how inexpensive "international manufacturing" has made this stuff I'm planning for something a little fancier
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 14 Nov 2010 20:51
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I purchased an older RV AM/FM/cassette stereo at a garage sale. It runs off 12v, and has hookups for two speaker pairs (I've set up a pair indoors, and will have some outdoors for the covered deck). In FM use, the stereo pulls about .1 amp per my meter. The cassette will "eat" more. With a 4 amp-hour battery, I'll get plenty of use.
The car/RV radios should have power use ratings on them. Look for one with low current draw or low wattage to maximize battery life.
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Moontreeranch
Member
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# Posted: 30 Nov 2010 12:51
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I ran a 12 V DC feed to a box...in it I have a female cigarette socket and two female banana plug ports. I picked up some Bose computer speakers that are 12 V via a normal wall wort...cut the wall wort off and wired in male banana plugs...Ipod feeds the speakers via normal plug...I can charge my cell phone or ipod from the cigarette socket. the speakers do not have an on / off switch so I just unplug the banana plugs when not in use. the Bose speakers are plenty powerful to fill our 10 x 20 cabin
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SE Ohio
Member
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# Posted: 1 Dec 2010 19:17
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12V Cabin stereo as installed. Draws no power in off position, uses minimal current when on. This came from a RV store junk sale, but works well, and is unappealing to a burglar!
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Anonymous
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# Posted: 1 Dec 2010 22:04
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For our horse barn , we went to the dollar store, got a cheapo little radio that runs off 2 aa bat..tossed the little ear phone and added a small speaker, with a little adapter it runs off a 12 bat. and a small solar charger of roof,
runs a LOOOOOoooooon time before winds up needing a good charge from charger.
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lucky ducky
Member
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# Posted: 2 Dec 2010 10:55
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If you get a boom box, check where you insert the batteries. I was at a cabin one time and a guy had a 12 V battery hooked up to the two springs that keep the batteries tightly in place. Just check which is pos and neg. He used this for years.
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borisvonf
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# Posted: 19 Jan 2011 22:19
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after frying an 8 d cell (12 volt) led lantern, i decided to try again with an 8 c cell boom box that also runs on 120 v AC. i soldered an sae 2 prong 12 volt adapter to the first positive plate and last negative spring, and viola, i had solar powered music. used an inline 5 amp fuse and running only fm radio the charge controller made it look as if the solar ran the radio without tapping into the battery in early afternoon sun. i drilled hole thru the side of the boom box to run the wires and can still run it on 120 ac or on 8 c batteries or wired into the solar system.
that gave me enough confidence to try with a different 8 d cell led lantern. is now working straight off the 12 volt battery (in line fuse). the difference is the new lantern has a removable battery pack where it is obvious where the positive and negative attach. after doing a post mortem on the first led, i realized it had a more sophisticated electrical system that was easily fried by my ignorance.
maybe this will help someone else
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rayyy
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# Posted: 25 Jan 2011 18:53
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What I did was to buy a 120volt am/fm-cd-casette player with 2 external speakers ($40.)that also could run off of 8 size C batterys.8 batterys in series is 12volts DC! So I just wired up my 12 volt deep cycle to the + and - in the battery compartment in the radio.Works like a charm.
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