car radio antenna for fish house

[kooba]

If you look at the lodges fish houses they have a black antenna for their radio. What are they and where can a guy buy one of those? I plan on putting a car radio in my fish house and looking for a antenna. KOOBA

[cold one sd]

I have a flexible black rubber antenna on my fish house that I bought at the local boat dealership. They have them in their catalog.

[Ryan_V]

an often overlooked place to shop for these items is the local salvage yard. I got a nice CD player car stereo at my local one for about $25. I'm going back to look at antennas also. otherwise, I've always just stuck a wire coat hanger in my other fish houses car stereo and that works just fine.

[marine_man]

If you want a really good antenna go to a marine dealer and ask for a powered radio antenna... it's the same antenna as what lund used to (and possibaly still does) use on thier boats. The drawback is that you have to provide it switched power, otherwise it will draw your battery down, but the powered version pulls in a lot more stations than a normal car antenna would. Plus, it folds down for travel and comes with a rubber gasket. They cost about $25, but when we put one on iffwalleye's house last winter it pulled in stations that he didn't get before that...

marine_man

[ice_it_06]

If you are talking about a rubber whip antenna you can get them at any auto outlet. Checker had the last one I put on my house. Was like $10 for a 14" black whip. Didn't even have to install it as the reception was excellent just laying inside the ceiling cabinet the radio was installed in.

[duck2]

Ryan V mentioned that he installed a car stereo in his fish house. I currently have a 12V outlet in my fishouse. Can the spaghetti mix of wires that comes out of a car stereo be combined to receive power from a 12v receptacle? It is obvious that I am pretty unsophisticated when it comes to wiring. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

[ice_it_06]

duck2:

You connect it just like it were a car. Pos (red) & Neg (black) Illumination (yellow) to hot.

Just make sure you fuse the line to the deck (30) usually and what ever the illumination line requires if the deck has one. The yellow line usually has the fuse inline on the back of the deck so cut behind it and its already to go.

[Ryan_V]

duck...I just wire my stereos in my shacks direct to alligator clips and hook them up directly to battery. Like mentioned, red and yellow to positive, and black to negative. then the rest of the wires are speakers. pick two sets and you're set. they should all be labeled (RF, LF, etc) on another note, I have mine hooked up, but the display is too dim to read, everything works fine, just can't read the display... anyone have any ideas on that??

[duck2]

Thanks for the simple directions. I will retrieve the components from my garage and try the hookup directions.

[StrosLit31]

ryan,

If your display is dim i would check and make sure you have a tight connection, some times aligator clips do not stay tight enough. another thing to look at is the temp. if it is cold out and not warm in your shack it could be dim. or possible a low battery or if it has a detacable face it might not be push in all the way.

[coldmark]

Good info in this post...I just bought a used JVC car stereo and it sounds like all I need to know is red/yellow to the POS terminal and black the NEG. Find 2 speaker wires to hook up and I'm good to go. A couple of questions:

1. Is there a wire in the wiring harness for an antenna too?

2. My deck has a 15 amp fuse on the back. Is that good enough or do I still need to install an inline fuse?

Thanks!

[anyfishwilldo]

The red wire with the fuse, is for key on power in a car. The fuse will be plenty. The yellow is a constant for keeping your settings. As far as the speakers go, purple w/black RR, grey w/black rf, white /black lf, green w/black lr. The antena will either be a hole in the back of the deck, or it will have a short fat lead out the back.

[coldmark]

Thanks afwd! Yes, the deck has a hole in the back for an antenna now that I look closer.