Second life for a good old car stereo

4wd

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Got this discarded Pioneer for free, from 2012, was meant for the bin. Sad to see so much fine electronics and mechanics just thrown away, strange society we live in. Quickly realized it could be a very++ practical little box: USB, Bluetooth, 2 analog in, video in and out, cd and dvd.

Got a suitable power supply (which also runs a vu+ which' psu went dead with a bang :O) and now it's working great for bluetooth from pc & phones and does tv\sat sound, and plays usb mp3's. The video out from sat receiver shows on the screen, with 'nearly' correct image proportions.

The drawback with car stereo, needs a constant 12v on one of the power connections so as to not lose all settings, so for momentarily powering down the main 12v one needs to plan for an extra 12v source or some battery. Am really enjoying just looking at this little wonderbox on the table at my cottage, does so much and for free :O) If I keep it in service, will sort out better cabling etc. For the moment all well as it is.

Sound perfectly ok for my current use and speakers, powerful eq and loudness makes it possible to tailor audio for any source' condition, not looking for the perfect pure audio, just wants music to be "sounding good"
 

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Lazarus

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Channel Hopper

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Got this discarded Pioneer for free, from 2012, was meant for the bin. Sad to see so much fine electronics and mechanics just thrown away, strange society we live in. Quickly realized it could be a very++ practical little box
The drawback with car stereo, needs a constant 12v on one of the power connections so as to not lose all settings, so for momentarily powering down the main 12v one needs to plan for an extra 12v source or some battery. Am really enjoying just looking at this little wonderbox on the table at my cottage, does so much and for free :O)


A car battery perhaps.

Does it have a short wave band ? The only car I had with one was a Mitsubishi Galant from 1999. The radio turned out to be the best bit.
 

4wd

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A car battery perhaps.
Does it have a short wave band

A car battery somewhat overkill x10.000 for the memory retaining mA's needed :O)
Tested with a small 9v battery and even that kept settings intact (for enough time until next connection to a suitable 12v).

No SW (my old Granada's had that !), and by the way no FM reception, transmitters shut down in N as DAB is implemented. An external DAB adaptor could fix that, but most just throw away old equipment and buy new (that's how the pioneer ended up here). Anyway, radio of zero interest in my case, it's the bluetooth, usb, analog in's (and in practice excellent sound) that makes it so useful.
 

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Terryl

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Get some double A (AA) rechargable NMH batterys with solder tabs on them and make up a battery flat pack to equal 12 volts or so, this can go under the stereo (if you plan to make a stand for it) and keep things for the memory hot.
 

Terryl

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Code:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-Rechargeable-Batteries-2700-mAh-solder/dp/B014JJANEK/ref=sr_1_17/259-6535507-2069867?s=electronics-accessories&ie=UTF8&qid=1535501421&sr=1-17&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A1058423031%2C3598531031
 

PaulR

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If the radio was from a 2012 car then the owner was extremely fortunate that taking the radio out didn't cause a hatful of other services to stop working. On my 2013 car, for instance, the satnav, front & rear parking sensors, phone link-up, MP3 player and goodness knows what else, would stop working.
 

4wd

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taking the radio out didn't cause a hatful of other services to stop working.
Yes, lots of interactions in these modern ages. The car it was removed from had just speakers & a rear camera, no problems afaik.

make up a battery flat pack to equal 12 volts
measured the 'sleeping brain' current draw, only 2,5 mA. And the 9v test shows it retains memory even when voltage drops low below 12v. So nothing critical. Must think of some system with relay or switch, completely disconnecting the main 12v supply cable while instantly connecting to whatever memory battery I may opt for (depending of wanting to keep settings for minutes or months).

Anyway, resetting the unit (eq and a few more things) takes less than 30 seconds, so no big deal even without the memory battery. Just nice to fiddle with things and make up something that works and is useful :O)
 

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A large electrolytic on the brain wire, plus a diode to prevent a draw to the main circuitry when the power is disconnected
 

jeallen01

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2-way 12V relay in the 12V supply and held in the Normally-Open position, with the Normally-Closed contact connected to the 9V memory supply, and the Common contact connected to the radio - when the 12V is switched OFF, the 9V supply takes over, and vice-versa.
 

jeallen01

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12V supply to the coil of a 12V 2-way relay, Common contact to the radio, Normally Open contact also connected to the 12V supply, Normally Closed contact connected to the 9V supply - when 12v is being supplied, it goes to the radio, and when the 12v supply is disconnected then the radio is supplied from the 9V memory-retention battery.
 

4wd

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Thanks for the ideas, will think of something after seeing what kind of use the unit will get.
 

4wd

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That 12v supply proved much more useful than 1st anticipated.

Powers the Pioneer (around 0.8 A idle, 1.5 A with normal listening level) + the Solo2 (psu died) & the TNTsat (strong audio hum on analog out from bad original psu), the two sat boxes together around 1.5 A.

PSU rated 8.5 A, so can hook up some more if needed :O) Picked it up at a shop nearby, inexpensive (especially compared to buying new individual 12v supplys).

Also, any old\new PC supply would surely be perfect for such use. example+12V 22A
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Power-Supply-24-PIN-Floppy/dp/B00P2GE38C/
 

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jeallen01

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The 8A-10A power supply bricks are sold mainly for CCTV use - like those here. I have an 8A one running several sat boxes and my Acer Veriton "Nettop" PC - and it still has some capacity to spare.

Only issue can be the 12V plugs & sockets because the lower rated ones are the 2.1mm sort whereas the higher rated ones are 2.5mm - so one might need to buy an n-way splitter and make up some adapter leads (as I did).

I also got a handful of these in-line 12V switches so as to be able to switch individual units ON/OFF as required - better than having to plug/unplug those that don't have their own built-in switches (most don't) or leave them on for extended periods.
 

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Excellent 4wd - I do like to see serviceable old kit repurposed and given a new lease of life. :)
 

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Excellent 4wd - I do like to see serviceable old kit repurposed and given a new lease of life. :)

I can put you in touch with a couple of my ex-wives, if you want :ph34r:
 

4wd

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Lazarus

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Channel Hopper

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I can put you in touch with a couple of my ex-wives, if you want :ph34r:


I can start a 'wife / partner ' section on the forum so long as all transactions are out in the open.
 
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