Stereo Installaion - 2408T - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

Norton Rider · 01-27-2013, 09:42 PM

I started installing a stereo in my 2408T today. After doing a lot of measuring I narrowed it down to two locations:

1- Stereo and speakers in the cabinets above the tip-out
This location has power wires right above the tip-out winch. The stereo could be installed in the blank center panel that covers the winch compartment. Some stereos may be too deep and will interfere with the winch. They may need a spacer in the opening to pull them out a bit. The speakers could go in the blank panels at the ends of this overhead cabinet. The antenna could be installed through the trailer sidewall, right behind the cabinet.

The close up photo of the tip-out winch shows the power wires in this area. They are the yellow wires at the top of the photo and some white wires right behind them that can't be seen in in the photo.

2- Stereo in the cabinet above the kitchen counter and speakers in the front overhead cabinet.
This is the factory location. I was not going to use this location until I discovered that the speaker wires had been run at the factory. One end was coiled and stowed in the left corner of the front overhead cabinet and the other end was behind the blanking panel on the left side of the kitchen overhead cabinet. This area also had power wires, as well as a blanked out DIN sized hole for the stereo chassis.

The downside to the factory location is that the antenna will end up under the awning unless the coax wire is run aft quite a distance.

In the end I decided on the factory location for the stereo and speakers. Attached are some photos showing both locations and the speaker wires that I found at the factory locations. I'll post photos of the finished installation tomorrow.

Raul

RichR · 01-28-2013, 07:03 AM

Why not use the TV antenna connection for the stereo? There should be an unused connection right there on the back side of the panel. DaveL uses that in his 2409T with good results.

Norton Rider · 01-28-2013, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichR

Why not use the TV antenna connection for the stereo? There should be an unused connection right there on the back side of the panel. DaveL uses that in his 2409T with good results.

I was thinking of doing that to see how it worked. I'm glad to hear that somebody has had good results. I'll get a length of coax and connectors to try it out.

Raul

Norton Rider · 01-28-2013, 08:21 PM

I finished the stereo installation today.

I tried hooking the stereo to the TV antenna and got mixed results. FM would only work with the antenna amplifier turned on. AM would not work at all. Before installing an external antenna I decided to try an internal one. I Installed one of these from West Marine: WEST MARINE Antenna at West Marine . I simply laid the internal antenna wire inside the cabinet, behind the stereo. The FM reception is now excellent, and the AM reception is marginal. We don't listen to AM, so this is a good compromise. I'll have to see how it works when we are boondocking.

Below are some photos of the stereo mounting sleeve from the front and the back of the cabinet. The factory opening was sized perfectly for a DIN standard stereo. All I had to do was push in the plywood blanking plate (it was stapled in place) and mount the sleeve in the opening. The sleeve is held in place by tabs that are bent outward. You can see these tabs in the photo taken from inside the cabinet. Once the sleeve was in place it was an easy matter to push the stereo and snap it in place.

I chose a Sony stereo similar to the one on my boat. It has a USB input on the front. This allows me to play MP3 music files stored on a memory stick. One memory stick can hold a huge amount of music. Incidentally, I bought the stereo at a Sony outlet store for about 1/2 what it was listed at a major electronics supplier.

I forgot to take photos of the final installation before I lowered the trailer. The ones attached were taken in the lowered position. The speakers are hard to see; you can see a bit of the right speaker in the photo. I'll post better photos later.

Raul

RichR · 01-29-2013, 07:50 AM

AM reception doesn't seem to be very good on most any radio anymore. If you could add a separate antenna for it, which would consist of some configuration of a very long wire, reception could be helped. Many radios have only a ferrite stick antenna built-in with no external connection.

JIM L · 01-29-2013, 10:25 AM

The TV antenna will only help on with the FM band. We have the factory installed radio in our HiLo and the radio antenna that HiLo installed does receive fairly good reception on both AM and FM. Antenna quality does vary from good, better and best. You need to do some research to find the better ones. Better yet go XM. I have a small portable XM receiver, a little larger than a credit card that I use in the RV, tow vehicle and I can clip it to my baseball cap and enjoy it thru noise cancelling headset when mowing the lawn, using the log splitter or working on the tractor. In the HiLo I set it on the counter top, plug its output into the RV radio aux input, aim the XM antenna and enjoy its programming thruout the RV. In the TV depending on your radio system the hookup will vary. You get upwards of 60 to 70 channels plus weather and traffic. XM does not claim reception in Alaska or Hawaii but we got XM reception well into Alaska when we went up there. I would't travel without it anymore. You do pay a monthly fee for XM.

Norton Rider · 01-29-2013, 10:52 AM

I'm pretty happy with the reception right now. FM is excellent, and I rarely listen to AM. If the hidden antenna does not work well when I'm off the beaten path, I will install an external antenna.

Raul

RichR · 01-29-2013, 11:15 AM

I assume the power to the stereo is controlled through the main power switch since you used the factory wiring. The reason I am mentioning this is, some systems use power to keep programed and can slowly drain the battery just as the LP leak detector can do. Just had to throw that in. I'm happy that it is working for you.

Norton Rider · 01-29-2013, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichR

I assume the power to the stereo is controlled through the main power switch since you used the factory wiring. The reason I am mentioning this is, some systems use power to keep programed and can slowly drain the battery just as the LP leak detector can do. Just had to throw that in. I'm happy that it is working for you.

The power drain to keep it programmed extremely low. I actually measured the current on a similar stereo on my boat and it was 8 milliamps. I assume that this one is similar.

Raul