Adding 12v radio & CD

[markwick]

As all the entertainment systems are 110v - I have decided to add a 12v am/fm/cd car radio inside for when we are boondocking - question is do I need a separate fm antenna (if so does it have to be mounted outside) or can I hook into the coax and tv antenna - will that work?
I'm sure someone out there has done the same.

[DonandJudy_12]

On our previous units, the radio was 12 volt powered and had an auto antenna- that allows am and fm reception- good luck on your project-keep us posted on your progress- Don

[kerry]

Might try buying an inverter. Run 12v to it and plug the 110v stuff into the inverter.

Kerry

[OntMont]

You might want to check out some of the Henry Kloss radios from Tivoli Audio. Some of them will run on both 12v and 120 volt, and come with both an internal and external antenna.

We have the model 1, which is just a radio, but they also have other variations. I saw some recently in a Target store.

[Waynem]

The "batwing" antenna is designed for AM and FM reception. Why trouble yourself with installing another one. What I think you will find is that the AM portion of the antenna is vertically polarized, and the FM portion horizontally polarized. Raising the batwing will give you AM reception. The better signal strength on the FM signal will be when you rotate the antenna to capture the direction of the FM wave.

[Snownyet]

So how to you connect a stereo to the batwing antenna? cable splitter? Our Forest river 5th wheel had an incredible sounding 12v CD/DVD home theatre with XM and a 12v LCD TV and the stereo did have its own antenna very similar to a car antenna, always thought it was odd to have that antenna. Since owning that rig Ive noticed a few LCD flatscreens at stores that are actually 12v DC units and have a wall transformer to plug into 110v AC. Something to keep in mind when shopping for televisons in the future.

[OntMont]

That is good point about 12v DC TVs. Most modern digital electronic devices run on DC power, and quite often that is done by way of a wall transformer, (I suppose that allows them to sell the item all over the world by just including the appropriate wall transformer). I will keep that in mind when I go shopping for a new TV.

So far as the antenna connection is concerned, yes you can use a splitter, or in our case, we use the bedroom antenna outlet for the radio since we don't have a TV in our bedroom. Sometimes you may find an unused antenna out connection on some other device that you have, like a VCR or sat. receiver

[AZCampinfool]

quote:Originally posted by kerry

Might try buying an inverter. Run 12v to it and plug the 110v stuff into the inverter.

Kerry

This is what I did. The inverter can run the T.V. and home theater system. The only drawback is you have to have an ample battery bank to draw from. I currently have two 6 volt Trojan golf cart batteries for this purpose and a generator to recharge them if needed.

[mtheo]

I have planned the same addition, I felt that the inverter would waste (sell) power. Want to put in good car stereo. Did it on my last trailer, seemed to work better on car attena. I plan to mount one on the side of my trailer near the entertaiment center.