HOW TO: ipod into hotrod without a radio

I'm SUPPOSED to be getting a new work phone, I'm going to get a Blackberry so I can listen to streaming internet radio in the car (our network is EVDO). Just an idea to pass along for any iPhoners (or other smartphones even). Listening to a gazillion INTERNET radio stations in the CAR without some sort of strange contraption, ain't technology grand!

It might not sound like a thread that should be on a traditional hotrod site, but music and hotrods are pretty traditional. It's just that radio, in general, SUCKS in most of the world (I don't even like satillite radio anymore, since they merged). I bet plenty of hotrodders woulda loved an MP3 player in their car full of their favorite tunes!

 

Ok found this and it looks like it would work well. It is a whole kit for under $30. It claims to be 150W
It has the wire to run to the battery but it looks to be much smaller than we are talking about. For a 12v motorcycle system but would there be a down side?

http://cgi.ebay.com/150W-Motorcycle...ryZ18795QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

A rumbling exhaust and the whouling of the tires rolling down the road is music in my ears!

Real hot rods don't have radidios! What's next in the dash, a tv, maybe a car phone!

 

That's a great example of how car audio gear doesn't have legit ratings like home stuff... That thing only puts out 35W per channel RMS (root mean square, the average of a AC wave form (which is what music is, AC, just like outta the wall. You can plug a subwoofer into an outlet and hear the 60Hz, but its gotta be a serious subwoofer), it has a peak wattage of 150 which is sorta a bullshit number. That's the sort of thing you want to shy away from, it probably even sounds bad. For good prices on excellent equipment, alot of the mid 90's stuff from legit names is cheap and built like tanks (they hand made lots of these things right here in the USA). Also, the physical size and weight of an amp can sorta be related to its power (digital excluded).

Here is an excellent example of what you'd need, this actually would be a good buy. This actually is a legitmate 150W amp. Honestly, I probably would buy it if I didn't need money to fix my Galaxie, just for future use:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Used...c0.m245&_trkparms=72:1171|65:12|39:1|240:1318

<i>EDIT: Oh yeah, if you don't really know some "good" brands, I can rattle some off for you, sure others will chime in. And car equipment from your "standard" brands, like Pioneer, Sony, etc. is rated legitimately. They will put out what they say, whereas, at least back in then, the big car-only brands were either rated like that, ligitimately, which showed up in alot of sound quality type cars, where they didn't worry about "power classes" in competitions, or they were seriously underrated by using unregulated power supplies, and just flat out bullshitting numbers sometimes for cars that DID have to worry about power classes in competitions. For the midbasses in the doors of my DD, I have a little Rockford Fosgate amp I bought when I was 15 that is rated 30Wx2. It actually tested at (they give you a "birth certificate" with your amp) somewhere like 70 or 80 watts per channel. And I DID run that one harder than designed, it never shut down, and it put out something like 250 or 300 watts to a subwoofer. This is an amp rated 30x2. I don't think this is as prevelent in the newer amps that have come out in recent years.

However, the downside is, the can make it sound better than it is by testing it under crazy conditions, horrible signal to noise ratio, noisy circuitry, and they etch the biggest number they can on it and sell it for cheap.

 

I drive my Galaxie 3 or 4 days a week year round (when it's not off the road, at least)... I love the sound of my solid cammed FE, but it does get a little boring after a while (excluding the fun parts), especially stuck in traffic at rush hour. If I didn't just stash one in my Model A from the get-go I'd end up havin' to do it a couple weeks down the road when I start saying "man, I could go for some music right now!" Its a total package, cars and music is like life's super value meal! And a Dr. Pepper.

 

Cool - I liked the idea of it all in one kit and how small it was. I understand what you are saying about quality.
I just do not feel I need that big of amp. I will do some digging around. I appreciate the info. Now I have one more task for the weekend

 

I'm going this route in my '66 F-85 (slapping a radio-delete on the dash & shaving the antenna) using my ipod or wife's sansa w/ fm stereo.

thanks for all of the info.

 

How would this work for a positive ground car/

 

Not too differently... Mount the amp so that no part of it can contact a ground source (some little rubber spacers and some rubber washers come to mind), most amps have their chassis grounded as well, you don't want to put +12V on the chassis. Then ground the positive cable to a good ground spot and run the negative cable to the amp. The amp turn-on lead needs to be a postive 12V, what I would do is get a basic, find 'em everywhere, Bosch-style relay; use the postive ground and a negative switched source to energize the relay's coil, then wire one side of the normally open switch circuit to ground and the other side to the turn-on lead. That may not be the best explanation, if any part needs clarified just ask, but it wouldn't be a difficult thing to do at all.

 

if you do what a decent looking cd player,look fo the older clarion units, they are black,no fancy graphics, and they have a round volume knob, they are very clean looking, i hate the flashing blinking video screen crap out now too, i have a "rice" project but it's old and those radios don't even look right in it, i don't think they look right in anything personally.

 

You're right, they don't look right in ANYTHING. They're constantly blinking or flashing or showing something on their screens (why a CD player needs a screen saver is beyond me). Modern radios are hideous. I like to use old ones too, no real reason not to if they do what you need.

 

whats a ipod?

 

Google it and if you have to ask what is Google forget it you dont need to know

actually it is a MP3 player, a MP3 is a digital form of music

 

surely you can't think i was serious?

 

No shirley I did not think you were serious

 

here's a slightly newer one, they aren't as common anymore,but you can find the older ones often on ebay, they had a great sound and were well made,plus being clean looking. for some reason they always reminded me of aircraft radios, the dot matrix display is much better looking then graphics too.

 

i had one for a little while,bought it new then discovered i couldn't turn off the graphics, kept a piece of cardboard taped over it i could flip up,until i sold it to some teenager. they are very distracting.

 

And stop calling me Shirley!!
Nice info, been wondering where I would be putting a radio in the Model A and it was going up in the headliner but now I see that there is no need for it anymore.

 

Has anyone seen or tried the Ion Tailgater? They are listed on Ebay. I have a few cars with AM, lousy, or no radio, so this looks like a decent solution. It looks like a guitar amp, your ipod docks on it, and the power, amp, battery, speaker, and all are self contained. You supposedly plug it in and it holds a charge 12 hours of playing. That way, you can throw it in the back seat of any car and not have to cut speakers into your door panels. Has anyone ever tried one? I'd love to hear how they work before dropping the dough.

 

Yup, I got a 2 channel one and a 3 channel one... I think the 3 channel one sounds better... For less than $30 shipped for each, I think they will work just fine hidden inside the '64 Riviera console in my Ford... a sub behind the spare in the trunk and a pair of 6" speakers behind chrome grills in the kick panels up front, and my Sansa (2gb, fm radio, $39) on a coiled cord plugged in... It runs for about 6 hours on a charge, and it clips to anything, and will store alongside the amp in the console.

 

Thanks for the info, I found both pieces on the net. Now I need to weld the hole the former owner of my 56 f100 hacked in for a radio, looks like he used an axe.

 

So,any updates on this tech?As in is there any new connectors for the ipod to connect directly to an amp?I just got an 80 gig iPod classic,and I want to do this system since the '63 Caddy still has the stock AM radio,etc.I think this would be perfect for a system setup in a few ways.One way being that you don't have to hack anything up really.Two,you don't have to lug around a bunch of CD's or tapes keeping the mess in your car to a minimum.Three being the safety aspect meaning all the components can be hidden which is less of a reason for some idiot asshole thief to break in to your vehicle.When you leave the vehicle,disconnect the iPod,put it in your glove box or pocket,and everything in the car looks stock.

 

Btt

 

Just thought I would suggest the RediRad for anyone who already shelled out the dough for an iPod or portable CD walkman and either wants to retain the original equipment (and have the traditional SOUND!) or doesn't want to spend even more money on a way-out-of-place aftermarket stereo system.

Here's a link to a RediRad installed in a car...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7SIS5110Ec

Current HAMB Alliance members get a special discount, so if there is a HAMBer on your Christmas list, you can save some money and give the gift of music!

 

showed my younger brother this and he installed one in his pontiac, all hidden! works and sounds great.

 

I have 2 one 6 volt and one 12 volt REDIRAD they work great!

 

Great advise, got enough for all three cars.... All the music I can stand!!

 

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Great info ! Thanks for sharing!

 

Beer, Harleys, RediRad-I love Milwaukee. Will I be able to get Polish talk radio on my RediRad?