"I-POD" Action

Hey we just got this. It's a 30 Gig Unit $400 @ Fry's It plug's right into the Boat/Car , Moving threw Songs is Very easy. No Skipping, and the best thing is it can go with you where ever. Car or to the Gym or on your Desk! I wish I got one long ago.

How did you connect it with wires?

The I-Pod hold's a 8 Hr charge and It also has a cigaratte adaptor, So I guess the wires your asking about the "RCA's". I have a aux imput, On my EQ there is a A and B imput on it, you can use it to link the sound of 2 boat's together or a imput for the Ipod. Alot of New CD units have a AUX switch on them fro DVD imput see if your unit has one The NEW clarion Marine units have it

hey Grant, does our stock 2002 clarion head unit have an aux in, or did you change out your HU? i got a 15 gig ipod a few months ago and would love to hook it in if possible...

Wes

You have gauges for the bling-bling? I gotta say, that I-Pod doesn't look like it's registering much on the bling meter.

To add the ipod to your head unit you need an RCA to IP_BUS interconnector... For my Pioneer Premier unit I used a CD-RB10 cable. If you want to use a CD changer use a CD-RB-20. The ipod ROCKS! I can play it through my truck, boat, car and home stereos.

Wes: The answer to your Question is "NO" But the 03 Clarion will accecpt a AUX imput. You need a EQ for your system and if you get the one we talked about you will be takeing care of thins problem.
and Samon: yes very low on the bling Factor Mabey I should add some ICE to the Ipod

Or you could just buy an 03 Malibu and "plug and play"

Love the Bling Bling gauges!

Back to the linking two boats stereos together, a buddy and I have talked about doing that in the past. So would you take an output "rca" that would normally go to an amp and then wire it to an imput on the back of a head unit? I have to look at the back of my head unit, how many outputs are there normally? I think linking boats stereos together would be pretty trick while tied up together, especially on major weekends when we get up to 20 boats together.

When I go houseboating I hate hearing different tunes from everybody's boat. A couple years ago I came up with the solution. Here the FM transmitter I hook up to my laptop: http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=FM25B

It works up to 1/2 mile away if you take the jumper out to make it work at the higher wattage. No aux inputs or modulators needed, just tell everybody to tune in "your" station.

Enjoy

Hey Mike: That's a Cool Item! What is the quality of the transmission?? like What does it sound like to compaired to a CD playing or MP3 Thanks

That is cool, I will check it out, but was also curious about the sound quality.

fm transmitters typically have very poor quality unfortunately :-( I got one to tide me over until i get a hardwired solution for the ipod in my car, and the quality is quite poor. it's better if get one that allows you to dial in any frequency you want, but many only allow you to select from a few preset ones so depending on the stations in your area your mileage may vary...

I just hooked my Archos Jukebox up to my Sony marine unit tonight. I had to buy a Sony XA-300 bus controller to make it work with my CD player but it allows me to add two RCA inputs & a USB input & control it off my head unit. This would allow me to run two CD changers plus my MP3 player (running with USB) & control it all from my deck. The reality is that it cost me $100.00 through Crutchfield & once you hook a 30 gig MP3 player into your stereo you realize you don't even need any CD changers! Screw CD's they skip on the water & MP3 is "good enough" for the boat.

Anyone ever used an eDigital player? Not sure how to hook it up...

Thanks!

Bob

The sound quality from the transmitter is better than the CD changer modulators. This unit is a step up from what you can buy at the retailers (see below). It is not CD equivalent but comparable to most radio transmissions. Of course your receiver plays a significant role in the sound quality.

The FCC limits the output to 10 watts (I think from memory), there is a jumper you can remove to jump the power to 25 watts increasing range an fidelity. Here is a better link: http://www.hobbytron.net/R-FM25.html
They also sell an assembled kit if you don't like the idea of soldering about 100 tiny electronic components to a circuit board.

I have a wired FM modulator in my boat but my tiny Gruv X transmitter works just as well (http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10334637) Just velcro it to your mp3 player and go. If you are really concerned that much with sound quality just play the CD but this thing is tough to beat for convenience.

Grant, have you had the I-pod out on the water? If so how did you like using it.
I really like the idea. I shopped for one this weekend and everyone in sacto. had the 30 gig for $499. Did you get a special deal? I tried Frys online also 499.

Tom,
I have the ipod in my boat and don't even use CD's in the boat anymore. It's great because depending on how well you tag your music, you can play by genre, artist,album, playlist or composer...I have a boat song "playlist" for when we ride. I have a 10 gb and it has over 1800 songs downloaded... AND it's only halfway full. I think a 30 GB has the capability of something like over 6000 songs. Ebay has some great prices on ipods if you are looking.

kirk - apple claims over 7500 songs for the 30GB. WAY too much for me, but still nice to have the space!

I use my iPod in my truck since my CDs got stolen it is great. I don't have a stereo in the boat, but if I did, I'd use it.

Mark,
No stereo???? Isnt that against the law or something...

Tom: FRY's In Santa Clara, Ca $400 30 Gig. This weekend was the first time I had it out. I like it. It works great for picking a bunch of songs and letting them play. Playlist, Some thing's I dont like are
1. Low RCA out put power, No big deal,
2. Week Battery Only "8" hrs play time. I havent hooked up a power to it yet. I charge it in the house each night
3. The face of the I pod is touch sencitive so before you put it in the cary case or away you have to lock the buttons it has a(HOLD) button
it gets old if you are playing with it constantly

But there are many up side's.
1. NO MORE SKIPPING SONGS!
2. NO MORE SKIPPING SONGS! There is nothing wrose than 5000 watts of skipping hip hop! Im done with that.
3. It's display is large and easy to read and operate even when underway.for somthing not being designed specifically for a boat it seems to work very well
4. It seems like you always have the song that some ones singing or talking about. One second some one is humming it and the next your playing it. It's cool

Grant-

questions on your complaint #1...does the low rca input matter since the signal will be amplified anyway? what side effects does low RCA output create? how is scrolling/searching for a desired song? can multiple playlists be kept?

Grant,
The ipod is almost my best addition to my system.
I have 2-800 watt amps and the low rca inputs do not affect the performance. Scrolling and searching is generally by alphabetical order in each catagory... artist, song, genre, etc... The possibilities for playlists are endless. It all really is determined by how well you tag your music.
I have a firewire auto charger that I keep in my boat for charging the ipod when I trailer. It always is charged when I need it.

Is the 30gig really necessary? Will the 15G do the job?

Grant,
You can up the output voltage before your amps. That is what we did with the JL Audio X-Star for Maeghan. It uses an I-Pod as the jukebox. We also added the IR remote.

Zedz...give us the info. How do you up the voltage coming out of the IPOD? How do you like the remote?

Just got the I-pod and loaded some stuff last night. I used the fm modulator to broadcast the signal to my truck stereo on the way to work this morning. It sucks! this is not an option for using this device. I tried moving through the four presets but it makes no difference. The music sounds muffled like an old cassette tape.
Is there any other way to get the signal to a stock car stereo?

Tom,
Are you using a modulator or transmitter? I have had much better luck with the transmitters, with both available in my boat I use the transmitter for better sound quality.
Mike

sorry about the delay...been out of town. Matrix output amplifier is what we are using. Love the remote. All this will be in an upcoming wake world article about the stereo.