12 volt radio upgrade ideas?

I'm a owner of a 2008 Sundance 2900mk . I noticed that the 2009 model are set up with a new 12volt radio!! unlike my 2008. We do alot of dry camping so I been using a inverter to run the radio at this time,how much of a pain would it be to switch over to a 12volt radio?

I can remember a long time ago when campers were not so fancy, a friend of ours actually had a car stereo installed in his camper. It sounded great, looked great and ran off the 12 volt system. Now days there are so many more choices with car audio, many disc CD changer.

Maybe try that. Should be a pretty easy install.

Good luck,

Reminds me of my TT, just before my Heartland. My TT had a hole in a cabinet below the counter for a car stereo head unit. I installed an Alpine in it and left it in when I traded it for the Landmark.

We almost exclusively dry camp and I really miss not having my 12 Volt Stereo system that I've had in all of my previous 5'ers and TT. I too have a 2900MK and run an Inverter to power up the coby AM/FM DVD stereo. Now that I'm in the process of upgrading my 2008 with a few of the new 2009 features ( window lambrequins, Front pin hitch abs cover) I'm going to check on the pricing of the 12 volt stereo used in the 2009's. While the 12 volt DC to 120 VAC inverter works very well, I often find we forget to turn off the inverter when its not needed; It pulls a little juice even with no load, so having a direct current 12 volt stereo CD /DVD system would be my preference. I'm also very under whelmed with the OEM coby Stereo receiver sensitivity. Ideally all radios AM/FM should have their own external Antenna ( especially AM) and all of my previous coaches have a roof mounted antenna for the radio and another for the TV.

Wiring a 12 stereo system would be very easy. All you need to do is wire into the 12 volts (found at the TV antenna selector box) and wire to the existing speakers. For an antenna, you can use a FM/TV splitter and use the existing TV antenna or install a dedicated auto style radio antenna ( with spring base) on the roof.

There are 12VDC Radio/CD players still out there. I just checked eBay and the Voyager Inwall Flushmount AM/FM/CD/Clock is 59.99 plus shipping. That is the model I bought and installed in my BH 3055RL. I also installed an inline switch to turn off the electricity to the unit to avoid any battery drain from the digital clock on the unit.
I described my installation on 11/18/07 in this forum. Search "Coby" and you should find my thread.
Good luck and enjoy the dry camping.

Jim

Voyager Radio/CD Player on E-Bay

Thank's for the input!! We do enjoy the Coby unit but looking at other Ideas. I had talked with a Heartland Rep at a show in the Fall in NY about this!! The 2009 model has what I want!!! See that do listen!!NO I'm not going out and buying the 2009 model .Happy with the 2008 model!! Thanks again ,other comment welcomed.

oppositelock. This is all new for me.The search is very helpful hadn't seen all what this site can do!! Thanks

We bought one of the Memorex flush mount AM/Fm /cd players off of ebay and installed it in a pull-out entertainment center under the class A cargo bay. Pretty easy install and it worked great. The way DH built the center, it was self-contained, and we took it out when we traded the A in, so he is now looking at putting the components under the front cargo area. I'd sure recommend looing on ebay for the components as most of them are the same as installed in RVs today. You just might find one the exact size you need.

The RV Surplus stores in Elkhart have those flush-mount stereo systems too. Saw a few of them last time I was at one of the stores. Not sure what they cost.