Good inexpensive radio for my '71 -- recommendations?

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JLT
Old School!
Location: Sacramento CA
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Re: Good inexpensive radio for my '71 -- recommendations?

Post by JLT » Thu Sep 09, 2021 4:58 pm

This is that report:

Since the docking part of the DIN slot didn't match the original Dual one, I swapped them out. The wiring harnesses were also different (no surprise there), so I spent many a tedious moment cutting what I could off the old harness and splicing it into the new. Thankfully, the speaker wire color coding was identical, so that reduced the fumble factor.

One point: when I got the radio, it came with this antenna connector that looked like a coax connector, rather than the almost universal antenna socket. I drove around to some so-called car stereo shops, asking what sort of adapter was needed and where to get it. They had no clue. Finally, I went to Best Buy and got to talking with another customer. He looked at the radio and said "You don't need no stinkin' adaptor." He then proceeded to pull out the "coax socket" which turned out to be an adaptor. The hole that was left was, of course, the traditional antenna socket. And those so-called audio experts didn't know about it. And the owner's manual didn't say Word One about it. Sheesh.

The radio seems to work fine, although making all the setting changes will require a bit of rehearsal. I'll figure it out the next time I have some time to spare. But it looks like it will do what I want it to do.
-- JLT
Sacramento CA

Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"

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Amskeptic
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Re: Good inexpensive radio for my '71 -- recommendations?

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Sep 22, 2021 8:26 am

JLT wrote:
Thu Sep 09, 2021 4:58 pm
I went to Best Buy and got to talking with another customer. He looked at the radio and said "You don't need no stinkin' adaptor." He then proceeded to pull out the "coax socket" which turned out to be an adaptor. The hole that was left was, of course, the traditional antenna socket. And those so-called audio experts didn't know about it. And the owner's manual didn't say Word One about it. Sheesh.

I love moments like that ... a customer told me that although her twelve year-old Kitchen Aid dishwasher worked OK, she never liked the blue trim. I peeled off the blue protective plastic and it was chrome underneath (really nice actually after 12 years of protection). She was agog.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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JLT
Old School!
Location: Sacramento CA
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Re: Good inexpensive radio for my '71 -- recommendations?

Post by JLT » Wed Sep 22, 2021 2:30 pm

I assume that the owner's manual that came with the dishwasher said something about peeling off the blue plastic that protected it. The OM that came with the radio didn't say squat.
-- JLT
Sacramento CA

Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"

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JLT
Old School!
Location: Sacramento CA
Status: Offline

Re: Good inexpensive radio for my '71 -- recommendations?

Post by JLT » Fri Feb 18, 2022 6:32 pm

UPDATE:

The first Continental unit started to give me grief... turning on and off, rebooting, etc... so I exchanged it under warranty for another one. That one gave me no trouble until a road trip I recently took, when it cycled on and off... just once, and has behaved itself since. The radio has a good warranty, so I'll hold off a little longer to see if the trouble repeats itself.
-- JLT
Sacramento CA

Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"

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JLT
Old School!
Location: Sacramento CA
Status: Offline

Re: Good inexpensive radio for my '71 -- recommendations?

Post by JLT » Tue Nov 22, 2022 1:55 pm

JLT wrote:
Fri Feb 18, 2022 6:32 pm
UPDATE:

The first Continental unit started to give me grief... turning on and off, rebooting, etc... so I exchanged it under warranty for another one. That one gave me no trouble until a road trip I recently took, when it cycled on and off... just once, and has behaved itself since. The radio has a good warranty, so I'll hold off a little longer to see if the trouble repeats itself.
Now the replacement unit has been cycling on and off again, this time rather annoyingly. It only happens on longer trips, so I'm suspecting that it's a heat-related issue.

But when I asked about this on the various Facebook forums, somebody said that this is a common problem with VW alternator equipped cars and some models of radio. They said that although the alternator is supposed to be putting out AC voltage which is converted to DC voltage, sometimes a stray AC current gets through and the radio reacts to this by cycling on and off. They recommended that some sort of rectifier circuit be installed in-line between the fuse box and the radio. But they didn't elaborate on what the components of that circuit are supposed to be.

Just on the off-chance that it might be a wiring problem, I wired the radio directly to the fuse box, where it shared juice with other components. No difference, and the other components never seemed to have that power interruption.

I have two questions:

1. Is this person giving me BS or is this a real problem solution?

2. If the latter, can anybody tell me what that circuit is supposed to look like? I don't care if it's not an off-the-shelf component, since all I need is a schematic and I can wire it myself.

3. (OK, I said two, but...) If nobody on this forum can give me an answer, can you give me some ideas on where to look? I've already tried the Samba, but there's no thread that addresses the issue.
-- JLT
Sacramento CA

Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"

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Amskeptic
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Re: Good inexpensive radio for my '71 -- recommendations?

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Nov 26, 2022 3:15 pm

JLT wrote:
Tue Nov 22, 2022 1:55 pm
JLT wrote:
Fri Feb 18, 2022 6:32 pm
UPDATE:

The first Continental unit started to give me grief... turning on and off, rebooting, etc... so I exchanged it under warranty for another one. That one gave me no trouble until a road trip I recently took, when it cycled on and off... just once, and has behaved itself since. The radio has a good warranty, so I'll hold off a little longer to see if the trouble repeats itself.
Now the replacement unit has been cycling on and off again, this time rather annoyingly. It only happens on longer trips, so I'm suspecting that it's a heat-related issue.

But when I asked about this on the various Facebook forums, somebody said that this is a common problem with VW alternator equipped cars and some models of radio. They said that although the alternator is supposed to be putting out AC voltage which is converted to DC voltage, sometimes a stray AC current gets through and the radio reacts to this by cycling on and off. They recommended that some sort of rectifier circuit be installed in-line between the fuse box and the radio. But they didn't elaborate on what the components of that circuit are supposed to be.

Just on the off-chance that it might be a wiring problem, I wired the radio directly to the fuse box, where it shared juice with other components. No difference, and the other components never seemed to have that power interruption.

I have two questions:

1. Is this person giving me BS or is this a real problem solution?

2. If the latter, can anybody tell me what that circuit is supposed to look like? I don't care if it's not an off-the-shelf component, since all I need is a schematic and I can wire it myself.

3. (OK, I said two, but...) If nobody on this forum can give me an answer, can you give me some ideas on where to look? I've already tried the Samba, but there's no thread that addresses the issue.

Does your alternator have the ripple filter like those supplied with the factory alternator-equipped buses from '72 on up? It looks like a simple black box screwed to the end plate with a wire that is captive under the B+ nut.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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JLT
Old School!
Location: Sacramento CA
Status: Offline

Re: Good inexpensive radio for my '71 -- recommendations?

Post by JLT » Sat Nov 26, 2022 3:53 pm

I'll check.
-- JLT
Sacramento CA

Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"

User avatar
JLT
Old School!
Location: Sacramento CA
Status: Offline

Re: Good inexpensive radio for my '71 -- recommendations?

Post by JLT » Sun Nov 27, 2022 12:02 pm

JLT wrote:
Sat Nov 26, 2022 3:53 pm
I'll check.
I did. If you mean that little black plastic thing held in place by 3 phillips head screws, with a wire going out using a spade connector, it's there. That doesn't mean that it's working, of course.

I'm not sure what sort of diagnostic thing I can do using a VOM, particularly since it seems to be a transient thing.
-- JLT
Sacramento CA

Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"

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airkooledchris
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Location: Eureka, California
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Re: Good inexpensive radio for my '71 -- recommendations?

Post by airkooledchris » Tue Dec 20, 2022 1:28 pm

id be willing to bet it's a fault with the unit itself. if you had a way to bench test it and let it run a while when connected to a perfectly steady 12v, it would likely have the same problem.

either that or maybe a poor ground, and driving over bumps is causing it to have issues on and off.
1979 California Transporter

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JLT
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Location: Sacramento CA
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Re: Good inexpensive radio for my '71 -- recommendations?

Post by JLT » Wed Dec 21, 2022 12:40 pm

airkooledchris wrote:
Tue Dec 20, 2022 1:28 pm
id be willing to bet it's a fault with the unit itself. if you had a way to bench test it and let it run a while when connected to a perfectly steady 12v, it would likely have the same problem.

either that or maybe a poor ground, and driving over bumps is causing it to have issues on and off.
This is the second unit that had the problem... the odds are not in favor of the unit being at fault. And it's been known to run effortlessly for up to two hours before glitching.

And when it happens, it's usually on the freeway, and we don't have many bumps on those.

I did check to see if the ground was solid. It is... it goes right to the chassis itself.

I'd still like to put in a rectifier circuit between the power source and the radio, to see once and for all if it's an AC transient.
-- JLT
Sacramento CA

Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"

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airkooledchris
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Location: Eureka, California
Contact:
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Re: Good inexpensive radio for my '71 -- recommendations?

Post by airkooledchris » Wed Dec 21, 2022 1:15 pm

It’s the second one with the problem. To me odds are it is the unit 😉
1979 California Transporter

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JLT
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Location: Sacramento CA
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Re: Good inexpensive radio for my '71 -- recommendations?

Post by JLT » Wed Dec 21, 2022 1:30 pm

airkooledchris wrote:
Wed Dec 21, 2022 1:15 pm
It’s the second one with the problem. To me odds are it is the unit 😉
In that case, I'm once again taking recommendations for a "mechless" radio with an aux in jack and maybe a USB port, in the price range of about $200. One that's not a VDO/Continental. Backup memory and Bluetooth would also be nice.
-- JLT
Sacramento CA

Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"

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