i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo
system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers
and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house?
what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car
battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build
up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that
made sense, i appreciate your help.

wrote in message
oups.com...
i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo
system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers
and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house?
what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car
battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build
up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that
made sense, i appreciate your help.

You are likely a troll, but I'll answer anyway- yeah, just hook it up to a
12v power supply from Radio Shack or wherever. Be aware most power supplies
are 'dirty', so it will sound pretty staticy. Also be aware the sound from
most car stereos is designed around small spaces and small speakers, so in a
normal size room, it is likely to sound pretty crappy. Make sure the ohm
rating of the speakers you use is appropriate.

All in all, cheaper and easier to buy a good boom box.

aem sends...

On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote:

i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo
system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers
and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house?
what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car
battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build
up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that
made sense, i appreciate your help.

If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios,
I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception
because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane
around the base of the antenna.

If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have
all plastic bodies.

"mm" wrote in message
...
On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote:

i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo
system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers
and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house?
what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car
battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build
up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that
made sense, i appreciate your help.

If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios,
I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception
because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane
around the base of the antenna.

If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have
all plastic bodies.


A 13.8v base station power supply such as you would use for powering a
mobile CB radio indoors, is all that's needed. You can also safely use a 12v
battery, by using a sealed gel-type, such as is found as the backup supply
in alarm panels and emergency lighting. I'm not sure that the groundplane
argument holds up. On vehicles where the antenna is wing mounted, the
groundplane is very lop-sided. Also, vehicle antennas tend to be
electrically short for the frequencies concerned, and don't contain anything
in the way of loading coils to address this, so end up being pretty
inefficient things.

Arfa

In article ,
Arfa Daily wrote:
Also, vehicle antennas tend to be electrically short for the
frequencies concerned, and don't contain anything in the way of loading
coils to address this, so end up being pretty inefficient things.

Many have head amps these days. Mine - I have a DAB radio - two, one for
VHF band III and one for VHF Band II & AM.

--
*Remember, no-one is listening until you fart.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

This is a good idea, and not hard to do. Car radios have an edge over most
table-top radios since they always incorporate RF amplifiers to boost
weak-signal conditions, and pack a lot of power for the small size they take
up. And very cheap, if picked up at a yard sale.

What you needis to understand which terminals on the radio itself are for
+/- 12 volts, Right +/- speaker and Left+/- speaker leads. Low voltage so
not a fire hazzard. Sound will be as good as you'd want if you've found a
reasonable radio and good speakers.

The ground-plane theory sounds reasonable until one realizes that the
antenna length and car's metal chassis size are nowhere near the right
dimensions needed for resembling an AM ground plane.


wrote in message
oups.com...
i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo
system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers
and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house?
what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car
battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build
up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that
made sense, i appreciate your help.

On Thu, 17 May 2007 08:09:03 GMT, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:


"mm" wrote in message
.. .
On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote:

i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo
system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers
and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house?
what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car
battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build
up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that
made sense, i appreciate your help.

If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios,
I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception
because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane
around the base of the antenna.

If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have
all plastic bodies.


A 13.8v base station power supply such as you would use for powering a
mobile CB radio indoors, is all that's needed. You can also safely use a 12v
battery, by using a sealed gel-type, such as is found as the backup supply
in alarm panels and emergency lighting. I'm not sure that the groundplane
argument holds up. On vehicles where the antenna is wing mounted, the
groundplane is very lop-sided. Also, vehicle antennas tend to be
electrically short for the frequencies concerned, and don't contain anything
in the way of loading coils to address this, so end up being pretty
inefficient things.

Arfa


Realize that the antenna is a relatively tuned device, which makes it
more difficult to connect it ot a standard FM antenna. Other than that
possible problem (which may not affect your installation at all) then
Arfa's suggestion of a CB adapter is a good one.

What you needis to understand which terminals on the radio itself are for
+/- 12 volts, Right +/- speaker and Left+/- speaker leads. Low voltage so
not a fire hazzard. Sound will be as good as you'd want if you've found a
reasonable radio and good speakers.

Not always as safe as you'd like. I've had a car radio set the
dashboard on fire when the alternator was screwed up and spiking
higher than the noise-suppression coil could cope with.

On Thu, 17 May 2007 08:43:01 -0400, PeterD wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2007 08:09:03 GMT, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:


"mm" wrote in message
. ..
On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote:

i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo
system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers
and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house?
what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car
battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build
up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that
made sense, i appreciate your help.

If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios,
I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception
because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane
around the base of the antenna.

If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have
all plastic bodies.


A 13.8v base station power supply such as you would use for powering a
mobile CB radio indoors, is all that's needed. You can also safely use a 12v
battery, by using a sealed gel-type, such as is found as the backup supply
in alarm panels and emergency lighting. I'm not sure that the groundplane
argument holds up. On vehicles where the antenna is wing mounted, the
groundplane is very lop-sided. Also, vehicle antennas tend to be
electrically short for the frequencies concerned, and don't contain anything
in the way of loading coils to address this, so end up being pretty
inefficient things.

Arfa

Realize that the antenna is a relatively tuned device, which makes it
more difficult to connect it ot a standard FM antenna. Other than that
possible problem (which may not affect your installation at all) then
Arfa's suggestion of a CB adapter is a good one.

I live in Baltimore and there have been both AM and FM stations in
WAshington which came in fine in my car, on two different radios of
the same style, and on my friend's car radio.

But badly if at all in the house. Over the years I've tried 10 or
more table radios and 2 stereo tuners, some pretty expensive. One AM
radio station WRC never came in at all in the house, and WAMU and WCSP
will come in somehwat on some radios and won't at all on others (and
price doesn't seem to matter. Some of the cheapest work the best)

I wanted to take one of the car radios and build a cabinet for it, to
hold it and the battery, and a small charger, but a friend who has
worked in electronics said it wouldn't work as well in the house. Do
you all think it would?

If you are inclined to email me
for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)

In article ,
mm wrote:
I wanted to take one of the car radios and build a cabinet for it, to
hold it and the battery, and a small charger, but a friend who has
worked in electronics said it wouldn't work as well in the house. Do
you all think it would?

It will depend on the type of building you are in - car aerials are
usually in the open. ;-)

But as said before - no need for a battery and charger unless you suffer
from power cuts. You can buy mains power units designed for this purpose
from RS etc.

--
*On the other hand, you have different fingers*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"mm" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 17 May 2007 08:43:01 -0400, PeterD wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2007 08:09:03 GMT, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:


"mm" wrote in message
...
On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote:

i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo
system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers
and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house?
what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car
battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build
up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that
made sense, i appreciate your help.

If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios,
I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception
because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane
around the base of the antenna.

If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have
all plastic bodies.


A 13.8v base station power supply such as you would use for powering a
mobile CB radio indoors, is all that's needed. You can also safely use a
12v
battery, by using a sealed gel-type, such as is found as the backup
supply
in alarm panels and emergency lighting. I'm not sure that the groundplane
argument holds up. On vehicles where the antenna is wing mounted, the
groundplane is very lop-sided. Also, vehicle antennas tend to be
electrically short for the frequencies concerned, and don't contain
anything
in the way of loading coils to address this, so end up being pretty
inefficient things.

Arfa

Realize that the antenna is a relatively tuned device, which makes it
more difficult to connect it ot a standard FM antenna. Other than that
possible problem (which may not affect your installation at all) then
Arfa's suggestion of a CB adapter is a good one.

I live in Baltimore and there have been both AM and FM stations in
WAshington which came in fine in my car, on two different radios of
the same style, and on my friend's car radio.

But badly if at all in the house. Over the years I've tried 10 or
more table radios and 2 stereo tuners, some pretty expensive. One AM
radio station WRC never came in at all in the house, and WAMU and WCSP
will come in somehwat on some radios and won't at all on others (and
price doesn't seem to matter. Some of the cheapest work the best)

I wanted to take one of the car radios and build a cabinet for it, to
hold it and the battery, and a small charger, but a friend who has
worked in electronics said it wouldn't work as well in the house. Do
you all think it would?


Is a rooftop antenna out of the question?

What I'd do is lug a car battery into your livingroom, hook up the car radio
and see if it works. Probably take less time than all the typing you've
already done.

Bear in mind that most car stereos are designed to drive 4-ohm car speakers
not 8-ohm home speakers... for long-term life of the car unit you may want
to use the line-out function if it has one into your home amp.

Dave

"mm" wrote in message
...

I live in Baltimore and there have been both AM and FM stations in
WAshington which came in fine in my car, on two different radios of
the same style, and on my friend's car radio.

But badly if at all in the house. Over the years I've tried 10 or
more table radios and 2 stereo tuners, some pretty expensive. One AM
radio station WRC never came in at all in the house, and WAMU and WCSP
will come in somehwat on some radios and won't at all on others (and
price doesn't seem to matter. Some of the cheapest work the best)

You need a better antenna, not a different radio. Can you mount a whip on
the house? Radio Shack used to sell a suitable model.

In article pz03i.22664$g63.14636@edtnps82,
Dave wrote:
Bear in mind that most car stereos are designed to drive 4-ohm car
speakers not 8-ohm home speakers... for long-term life of the car unit
you may want to use the line-out function if it has one into your home
amp.

A solid state amp won't come to any harm driving a higher impedance
speaker than the minimum recommended. You'll just get less power. Bridged
output car amps ain't at the leading edge of Hi-Fi though, so even a
budget home one will probably sound better.

--
*Stable Relationships Are For Horses.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"mm" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 17 May 2007 08:43:01 -0400, PeterD wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2007 08:09:03 GMT, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:


"mm" wrote in message
...
On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote:

i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo
system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers
and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house?
what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car
battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build
up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that
made sense, i appreciate your help.

If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios,
I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception
because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane
around the base of the antenna.

If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have
all plastic bodies.


A 13.8v base station power supply such as you would use for powering a
mobile CB radio indoors, is all that's needed. You can also safely use a
12v
battery, by using a sealed gel-type, such as is found as the backup
supply
in alarm panels and emergency lighting. I'm not sure that the groundplane
argument holds up. On vehicles where the antenna is wing mounted, the
groundplane is very lop-sided. Also, vehicle antennas tend to be
electrically short for the frequencies concerned, and don't contain
anything
in the way of loading coils to address this, so end up being pretty
inefficient things.

Arfa

Realize that the antenna is a relatively tuned device, which makes it
more difficult to connect it ot a standard FM antenna. Other than that
possible problem (which may not affect your installation at all) then
Arfa's suggestion of a CB adapter is a good one.

I live in Baltimore and there have been both AM and FM stations in
WAshington which came in fine in my car, on two different radios of
the same style, and on my friend's car radio.

But badly if at all in the house. Over the years I've tried 10 or
more table radios and 2 stereo tuners, some pretty expensive. One AM
radio station WRC never came in at all in the house, and WAMU and WCSP
will come in somehwat on some radios and won't at all on others (and
price doesn't seem to matter. Some of the cheapest work the best)

I wanted to take one of the car radios and build a cabinet for it, to
hold it and the battery, and a small charger, but a friend who has
worked in electronics said it wouldn't work as well in the house. Do
you all think it would?

When I mend the things on the workshop bench, I just hang in any piece of
wire that comes to hand, and get perfectly good stereo results on FM, and
good reception on AM, so I don't see why you shouldn't get good results with
a decent antenna outside. At the end of the day, apart from the ones with
built in amps, as Dave pointed out, car antennas are just an electrically
short metal rod at worst, and a crude untuned helical wound on fibreglass at
best. Just one thing though. If you went for a genuine car antenna, and
needed to extend the cable over the length that it's supplied with, you need
to use a genuine ready made up extension for the job. Extending with any old
coax that comes to hand, for some reason, just doesn't work, as I found out
a few years back ...

Arfa

"mm" wrote in message
...
On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote:

i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo
system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers
and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house?
what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car
battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build
up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that
made sense, i appreciate your help.

If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios,
I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception
because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane
around the base of the antenna.

If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have
all plastic bodies.

Would a simple aerial tuning unit enable someone to use a car radio with a
long wire aerial or any aerial that happens to be on the roof or in the
loft?

Rudge

On Thu, 17 May 2007 18:46:05 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
mm wrote:
I wanted to take one of the car radios and build a cabinet for it, to
hold it and the battery, and a small charger, but a friend who has
worked in electronics said it wouldn't work as well in the house. Do
you all think it would?

It will depend on the type of building you are in - car aerials are
usually in the open. ;-)

I did install a folded dipole in the attic and connect a radio to
that. The only AM station I really wanted to get has changed
frequencies and is now so weak I can't get it in the car either. It
changed formats too so I don't even want it now.

Both stations I really want are PBS or C-Span, in other words, talk,
so sound quality isn't important as long as it is clear.

The house is a wood frame townhouse. Which of the following would
weaken the signal?

The roof is plywood covered by "tarpaper" which looks and feels like
black paper, covered by asphalt shingles.

There are electric wires to ceiling lights in 5 places, most of which
are off most of the time, and certainly could be if it helped
reception.

Sheetrock walls, covering wood frame with fiberglass insulation, with
T-111 (a wood product) on the outside of the first floor, bricks on
the outside of the second floor. The radio stations are south of
me, and the south side of my house has a medium sized aluminum framed
window which is made up of 3 smaller aluminmum framed pieces of glass
and 3 storm windows, and one vinyl bug-screen, with aluminum frame.
Barely any electric wires in the south facing wall, and all can be
off.

Holding up the second floor are probably two steel I-beams, the width
of the house, spaced at thirds from the front of the house to the
back.

Holding up the first floor are also two steel I-beams, but I don't
expect to get good reception in the basement.

So how much worse is an aerial in the house than outside?



But as said before - no need for a battery and charger unless you suffer
from power cuts. You can buy mains power units designed for this purpose
from RS etc.

On Thu, 17 May 2007 17:53:39 GMT, "Homer J Simpson"
wrote:


You need a better antenna, not a different radio. Can you mount a whip on
the house? Radio Shack used to sell a suitable model.

I can do that, but I liked the idea of portable so that I could use it
in the bedroom, office, and kitchen. I spend a lot of time in each
place. I could run an extension to each place -- I wish I had done
this when I ran phone anc vcr lines. I don't have quite the energy now
I used to.

On May 17, 5:47 am, mm wrote:
On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote:

i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo
system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers
and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house?
what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car
battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build
up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that
made sense, i appreciate your help.

Talk about using a sledgehammer to crack nut. What an unnecessary lot
of work. And almost certainly inferior to a domestic hi fi.... Just
get a decent hi-fi tuner and a good external aerial (maybe some kind
of amplifier would be useful if the reception is no good). Your signal
depends to a large extent on the quality of the aerial so don't skimp
on it.

"mm" wrote in message
...

You need a better antenna, not a different radio. Can you mount a whip on
the house? Radio Shack used to sell a suitable model.

I can do that, but I liked the idea of portable so that I could use it
in the bedroom, office, and kitchen. I spend a lot of time in each
place. I could run an extension to each place -- I wish I had done
this when I ran phone and vcr lines. I don't have quite the energy now
I used to.

There was a device called an active antenna - there were construction
projects for these. Try google.

http://www.southgatearc.org/qrp/activeantenna.htm is one such.

The other way is a honking big tuneable loop antenna - but that's not too
portable.

"Rudge" wrote in
o.uk:


"mm" wrote in message
...
On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote:

i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo
system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers
and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house?
what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car
battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build
up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of
that made sense, i appreciate your help.

If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC
radios, I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good
reception because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground
plane around the base of the antenna.

If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have
all plastic bodies.

No,Saturns have plastic panels over a steel chassis.
Mostly on the sides,I believe the roof is still steel.


Would a simple aerial tuning unit enable someone to use a car radio
with a long wire aerial or any aerial that happens to be on the roof
or in the loft?

Rudge







--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

In article ,
mm wrote:
I did install a folded dipole in the attic and connect a radio to
that. The only AM station I really wanted to get has changed
frequencies and is now so weak I can't get it in the car either. It
changed formats too so I don't even want it now.

The AM aerial I have here in the UK covers LW, MW and SW and is an
externally mounted vertical rod about 4 metres long with a type of balun
on the end. The cable is a twin screened balanced type - a special for
those frequencies. At the other end is a second transformer that does
balanced to unbalanced to feed a tuner. The principle is that most
interference at these frequencies radiates horizontally, so you put the
aerial above it and have a well screened downlead. Not a cheap device but
it works well and is a one time purchase.

If you only need the one station, I'd consider mounting the receiver in
your attic so the aerial is close and in a good position and radio link it
to the other(s) in the house.

--
*Real men don't waste their hormones growing hair

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
mm wrote:
If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios,
I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception
because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane
around the base of the antenna.

If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have
all plastic bodies.

The main problem with plastic bodied cars is interference from the car
ignition, etc. On others the engine is in a sort of Faraday cage. Hence
the earthing straps you often see across the bonnet (hood) hinges.
Although this is mainly for the benefit of others to prevent RFI to TVs
etc. But it helps the car radio too.

--
*Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all?"

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
mm wrote:
If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios,
I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception
because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane
around the base of the antenna.

If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have
all plastic bodies.

The main problem with plastic bodied cars is interference from the car
ignition, etc. On others the engine is in a sort of Faraday cage. Hence
the earthing straps you often see across the bonnet (hood) hinges.
Although this is mainly for the benefit of others to prevent RFI to TVs
etc. But it helps the car radio too.

huh? there's plenty of holes around the engine so that it's not a faraday
cage. most radios have some sort of filter for this. for that matter, my
vette doesn't have any of these and the radio works in it.

--
*Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all?"

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Charlie Morgan" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 18 May 2007 09:58:25 -0700, "charlie"
wrote:


"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
mm wrote:
If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios,
I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception
because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane
around the base of the antenna.

If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have
all plastic bodies.

The main problem with plastic bodied cars is interference from the car
ignition, etc. On others the engine is in a sort of Faraday cage. Hence
the earthing straps you often see across the bonnet (hood) hinges.
Although this is mainly for the benefit of others to prevent RFI to TVs
etc. But it helps the car radio too.

huh? there's plenty of holes around the engine so that it's not a faraday
cage. most radios have some sort of filter for this. for that matter, my
vette doesn't have any of these and the radio works in it.

--
*Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all?"

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.


Corvettes have a layer of wire screen embedded in many body panels,
including the hood.

CWM

have you seen the engine compartment of one? my 94 certainly doesn't have a
bottom panel under the engine, nor side panels where the wheels are. there
are no bonding straps over the hinges, which are on top of the front bumper
anyway. it doesn't have a front panel in front of radiator, just the bumper,
which does not have wire mesh, nor any mesh behind it. how much of a faraday
cage would it be with only the hood having wire screen, if there was
actually one there, and which isn't bonded to anything?

In article , charlie
wrote:
The main problem with plastic bodied cars is interference from the car
ignition, etc. On others the engine is in a sort of Faraday cage.
Hence the earthing straps you often see across the bonnet (hood)
hinges. Although this is mainly for the benefit of others to prevent
RFI to TVs etc. But it helps the car radio too.

huh? there's plenty of holes around the engine so that it's not a
faraday cage.

A Faraday cage can be made of mesh. Doesn't have to be solid steel.

most radios have some sort of filter for this.

Some sort of, yes. But it's still better to stop interference getting to
the aerial - especially for distant reception.

for that matter, my vette doesn't have any of these and the radio works
in it.

I didn't say it wouldn't 'work' Only that it won't work as well as in a
metal bodied car unless some form of alternative screening is used.

--
*If horrific means to make horrible, does terrific mean to make terrible?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article , charlie
wrote:
The main problem with plastic bodied cars is interference from the car
ignition, etc. On others the engine is in a sort of Faraday cage.
Hence the earthing straps you often see across the bonnet (hood)
hinges. Although this is mainly for the benefit of others to prevent
RFI to TVs etc. But it helps the car radio too.

huh? there's plenty of holes around the engine so that it's not a
faraday cage.

A Faraday cage can be made of mesh. Doesn't have to be solid steel.

holes, as in multiple square feet. that's pretty loose mesh. faraday cage
holes are sized to the wavelength of the frequencies that are to be blocked.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage

"Cars and airplanes. When lightning strikes an airplane or a car the
electric currents induced on it are forced to travel on the outer skin of
the vehicle's body. Other signals such as cell phone signals penetrate the
skin of cars and airplanes because the wavelength of the signal is
significantly smaller than the holes present on the surface of the conductor
(the windows)."

to claim that the surrounding car body panels of a car engine is a faraday
cage is just incorrect. faraday cages simply can't have holes or they leak
the signals, making the cage be useless. a cage either is complete, and it
works, or is incomplete, and doesn't work. in the latter case, if it doesn't
work, why would manufacturers pay to engineer and make, and we have to pay
to haul around forever, an incomplete cage?

most radios have some sort of filter for this.

Some sort of, yes. But it's still better to stop interference getting to
the aerial - especially for distant reception.

for that matter, my vette doesn't have any of these and the radio works
in it.

I didn't say it wouldn't 'work' Only that it won't work as well as in a
metal bodied car unless some form of alternative screening is used.

--
*If horrific means to make horrible, does terrific mean to make terrible?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Fri, 18 May 2007 06:16:09 -0400, Charlie Morgan wrote:

On 18 May 2007 00:04:22 GMT, Jim Yanik wrote:

"Rudge" wrote in
news:Id6dnXRNVrY8TNHbnZ2dnUVZ8sGvnZ2d@brightview .co.uk:


"mm" wrote in message
...
On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote:

i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo
system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers
and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house?
what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car
battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build
up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of
that made sense, i appreciate your help.

If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC
radios, I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good
reception because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground
plane around the base of the antenna.

If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have
all plastic bodies.

No,Saturns have plastic panels over a steel chassis.
Mostly on the sides,I believe the roof is still steel.


Car stereo works just fine in my fiberglass sailboat. The "antenna" is just a
long antenna cable extension with the shielding stripped off of the last 31
inches. It's tucked up inside the headliner inside the cabin.

Well, I remember who gave me the ground plane story. It was a friend
who works in an ancillary part of communications. Don't know where he
got his information, but he could very well have been wrong.

He even offered me a ready-made box that sounded like it was designed
to hold a car radio and power supply. He's been trying to clean up so
I hope he still has it.

If I had done this earlier it might have been good, convenient and
saved me time. Otoh, it's not like I've suffered so bad these past
years. One GE AM-FM clock radio from 1972, in my office, gets one of
the 2 DC stations well enough all the time, and the other station
about welll enough almost a half of the time. It will work for weeks
and then not work for weeks. I think they change things at the
transmitting station in DC. WAMU. It's this radio I guess that is
motivating me to find a better replacment.

The radio in the bedroom gets both, and both well, though lately it
has't been getting the local Baltiomre station WYPR so well. That was
perfect for 15 or 20 years! Maybe they changed the transmitter too.

The current very cheap looking Admiral clock radio from tthe 1960's or
70's gets both, although WAMU not perfectly.

Plus I keep a radio outside in the summer time. I think it got both
stations but I haven't listened yet and I forget how well.

But these are the best of about 20 radios I've bought at yard sales,
plus two fairly expensive stereo tuners, which don't get WAMU at all.

Thanks to everyone. Maybe I'll be able to give some follow-up some
day.

CWM

In article ,
mm wrote:
Car stereo works just fine in my fiberglass sailboat. The "antenna" is
just a long antenna cable extension with the shielding stripped off of
the last 31 inches. It's tucked up inside the headliner inside the
cabin.

Well, I remember who gave me the ground plane story. It was a friend
who works in an ancillary part of communications. Don't know where he
got his information, but he could very well have been wrong.

He's right. The best place for a car aerial is on the (steel) roof where
it acts as a ground plane, as well as being as high as practicable.
However, field strengths are designed for much less efficient aerials - in
urban centres at least. So car designers will go for a 'prettier' look -
hence the appalling devices built in to rear screens etc which quite
simply don't perform as well in poor signal areas. But the other snag is
it's not really possible to use the correct length for AM reception as it
would be too long in practice.

Ideally, the aerial should be as far away from sources of interference as
possible - and in a petrol car this means the engine. But the downlead
should be kept as short as possible too which is somewhat of a dichotomy.
IMHO, the best compromise is at the rear of the roof, with a head amp to
make up for losses caused by the longer lead. In an ideal world you'd also
use separate feeder cables for VHF and MF.

--
*Is there another word for synonym?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Sat, 19 May 2007 09:51:14 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
mm wrote:
Car stereo works just fine in my fiberglass sailboat. The "antenna" is
just a long antenna cable extension with the shielding stripped off of
the last 31 inches. It's tucked up inside the headliner inside the
cabin.

Well, I remember who gave me the ground plane story. It was a friend
who works in an ancillary part of communications. Don't know where he
got his information, but he could very well have been wrong.

He's right. The best place for a car aerial is on the (steel) roof where
it acts as a ground plane, as well as being as high as practicable.
However, field strengths are designed for much less efficient aerials - in
urban centres at least.

Thanks for replying. It's not reception in the car that is a problem.
It's getting the same reception in the house.

So that's the thing. The stations I wanted were in DC about 45 miles
from my house, so the field strength is not high here. So my friend
was saying even the less efficient mounting place for the aerial, on
the side of the metal fender, would be a better place than in the
house, where it would have had no "fender" at all. The first floor of
my house and the parking lot are the same height. So, that the car
radio worked in the car wouldn't mean the same radio would work in the
house.

So -- unless I ran an aerial to the attic or the roof, which I didn't
plan to do when I talked to him -- maybe he was right that the car
radio woudln't have worked on the first floor??

So car designers will go for a 'prettier' look -
hence the appalling devices built in to rear screens etc which quite
simply don't perform as well in poor signal areas. But the other snag is
it's not really possible to use the correct length for AM reception as it
would be too long in practice.

Ideally, the aerial should be as far away from sources of interference as
possible - and in a petrol car this means the engine. But the downlead

I don't think there is much interference in my wood frame house, with
a few electrical outlets, and a few ceiling fixtures, all of which
could be turned off if it helped, and one aluminum-frame window.
Plus two steel I-beams that hold up the second floor. But maybe these
things have more effect than I realize.

I'm judging by noting the effect that various steel bridges have on
reception when I drive through them, and a bridge that has no more
steel than my house's second floor doesn't have much effect if any.

I'm also judging the FM part by the fact that some radios do receive
the FM stations I want in the house. I had thought the car radio was
BETTER than any of them, but if it is the not as good as it could be
but still a lot better than no ground plane that exists when mounted
at the car fender, and not the radio, at least my friend will have
been right. Which is important in itself to know, even if there
were ways around this by mounting an aerial in the attic.


I couldn't find a single AM radio that would get WRC Washington DC in
the house, even when I was on the second floor, even though it came in
clearly in the car. My friend said that the car radio wouldn't work
as well in the house as it did in the car, even with the aerial
mounted on the side fender of the car.



should be kept as short as possible too which is somewhat of a dichotomy.
IMHO, the best compromise is at the rear of the roof, with a head amp to
make up for losses caused by the longer lead. In an ideal world you'd also
use separate feeder cables for VHF and MF.


If you are inclined to email me
for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)