The sound coming from our TV above our dash has never been very good. It sounded muffled and distorted. The speakers of the TV are trapped inside the wood cabinet it's installed within. There are great speakers for our radio throughout the motorcoach but for some reason these were not used for the TV
When we were visiting my brother, Harry, I asked him to help us trouble shoot the problem and offer a possible solution. He owns a Radio Shack in Rochester and this type of puzzle really is fun for him to solve. We stopped at the store and enlisted the help of his manager, Travis, too.
It was decided that we needed a new radio that had two axillary ports. One would be used for the TV and the other for my IPOD. Cool! The added bonus of being able to play my IPOD through the radio was great. All our music is stored on it and constantly changing radio stations as you travel is a hassle. Now we can listen to music and pod casts that we like as we meander down the road.
Travis spent a lot of time trying to find a radio that work well for us. He decided on a Kenwood KDC-X995. It also has a remote to change stations, adjust volume etc. It's a great thing for a copilot to have available.
It took some time to install this radio and run cables from the TV around the dash to connect with it. It was a family affair with a few trials and errors. They worked into the wee hours of the morning finishing everything and we were all pleased with the results.
When we were visiting my brother, Harry, I asked him to help us trouble shoot the problem and offer a possible solution. He owns a Radio Shack in Rochester and this type of puzzle really is fun for him to solve. We stopped at the store and enlisted the help of his manager, Travis, too.
It was decided that we needed a new radio that had two axillary ports. One would be used for the TV and the other for my IPOD. Cool! The added bonus of being able to play my IPOD through the radio was great. All our music is stored on it and constantly changing radio stations as you travel is a hassle. Now we can listen to music and pod casts that we like as we meander down the road.
Travis spent a lot of time trying to find a radio that work well for us. He decided on a Kenwood KDC-X995. It also has a remote to change stations, adjust volume etc. It's a great thing for a copilot to have available.
It took some time to install this radio and run cables from the TV around the dash to connect with it. It was a family affair with a few trials and errors. They worked into the wee hours of the morning finishing everything and we were all pleased with the results.
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| Harry sorting out all the wires |
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| Working in the small spaces of a motorcoach is not easy |
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| Travis came to help too |
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| Jen and Jimmy supervising |
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| New radio |
It looks and works great. With the radio changed to the video setting the TV sound comes out of the speakers of the motorcoach. It is such a great improvement. It sort of like surround sound at the movie theatre. The radio does need to be turned on when the TV is playing for this to work.
Below are the two cords for plugging the IPOD into the radio. I can control the setting from the copiolet seat as we are going down the road. Or, it can be played anytime while we are stationary. I had a small speaker for playing my IPOD in the past, but it sounds so much better coming through the speakers of the motorcoach..
Thanks Harry and Travis for helping us with this great solution. It's awesome!
Way to go Harry and Travis!! Can't wait to "hear" the results on MY new couch/bed!!! LOL :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a creative way to solve your problem. Great work. Nice to be around smart problem-solving people. Even if they are relatives...hehe
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your weekend.
I wished I could have come up with a solution when I worked on it back in Arizona. Did he try to get it working through that big-ass amplifier in the overhead compartment or did he bypass that component completely? Maybe he used the new radio as a pre-amp to that big-ass amplifier? Anyway, I'm glad you got it working. It was a shame that you were not taking advantage of those ceiling speakers for you TV. How weird that Newmar designed it like that. And isn't it great to have your iPod hooked up to the coach radio while traveling down the road. We love ours. Originally the setup charged our iPod while in use, but when we upgraded to iPhones, the charging feature was lost. Does your setup charge the iPod while plugged in?
ReplyDelete-- jc
How nice to get all that free help! Those dangling cords would never work here...little Baxter would go nuts!
ReplyDeleteWe had our system done when we got the coach (thankfully) and love the surround sound too.
I am happy that it worked out so well for you. We all need more music in our lives. The nice thing about the unit is it has an HD radio, USB and aux inputs and blue tooth sync for your phone so it's flexible enough to handle about any audio option now and in the future. And Travis wants to remind you that it will be even better with an iPhone! Lol
ReplyDelete