cb radio, cassette radio

[jagcb750]

I have a CB radio in my coach. A Uniden P-22 or something. Did my 345 come with this factory installed or did someone add it later? The Sony radio in dash looks to be aftermarket. The weirdest thing. When I first got nancy, the radio worked. On the haul back from Texas it quit working. The CB I didn't discover until later. It could have really come in handy on the haul back. After I got home, I discovered that there was melted plastic in the housing for the in-line fuse (glass) that went to the radio. I replaced it, but the radio would only work in the AM range. The CB radio didn't work. The next day it rained a little early in the morning. When I turned on the radio the FM stations now worked. The CB also worked. Later that day both quit working again. I can't get either to work now. It was odd that both The CB and regular radio would only work together. It seemed like it had to do with the FM antenna or something. Now nothing works not even the AM part of the radio. The radio lights up, but acts like it is frozen. It won't let you change stations or anything. The same in-line fuse seems to be getting hot. I wish I new more about this set-up. I started to take the dash apart and took all the screws out, but something seemed to be holding the dash in place. Is there detailed instructions available on how to dismantle the dash? I apologize if I posted this in the wrong forum. There is a little black box that seems to have the CB and the radio plugged into it. There are two little screws to adjust on it. One is radio frequency. There is no mention of this little box on the owners manual for the CB.

[Condoluminum]

I don't believe the Uniden CB was a factory installation.. I also think the Sony radio was an aftermarket install, since Chassis maker wouldn't use Sony brand radio either..

That said, it sounds like install "has issues", either with connections or splicing or water and humidity leaks... Unless you love tape cassettes, I'd recommend buying new radio/cd player, and letting radio shop handle install plus removal of CB and Sony, with fresh wiring... You could alswyas add handheld CB with cigarette lighter power lug, or remote Cobra model with mic/speaker/control unit. No more tape cassettes sold new, and even "Books on Tape" are now CD's...

If you want to remove, most radios and racks had spring clips on sides that needed to be pushed inward to clear opening in front to remove units, after loosening retaining screws holding the radio in position...

[jagcb750]

Sounds like a good Idea. I am not a cassette tape man anymore. I do kinda like the CB though. But hey, like you said I could always add one later if need be. I tried taking the radio out by removing the hex nuts, but it needs to be removed by pushing it back in towards the dash and it seems you have to remove the dash to get behind it to remove the radio and unwire it. I wish I had some instructions on how to remove the dash on this 345 without messing anything up.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by jagcb750

Sounds like a good Idea. I am not a cassette tape man anymore. I do kinda like the CB though. But hey, like you said I could always add one later if need be. I tried taking the radio out by removing the hex nuts, but it needs to be removed by pushing it back in towards the dash and it seems you have to remove the dash to get behind it to remove the radio and unwire it. I wish I had some instructions on how to remove the dash on this 345 without messing anything up.

Actually I think the Uniden CB was a factory installation. Our 1984 310 has a Uniden mounted up under the dash on the left side of the steering wheel. There is a splitter/signal tuner that splits the signal from the antenna on the left side of the coach. The split signal goes to the AM/FM radio and the CB. I haven't got our CB to work yet because the Antenna was busted off and I haven't figured out yet out to fish a new cable through the wall and up under the dash. The CB radio powers up and seems to work but without an antenna.

If yous seems to work when wet at times then I would say you probably have some kind of grounding issue, but thats just a hunch.

As for the in dash Radio I believe the Sony was the factory model that was installed. My airstream factory service manual lists a Sony XR-45, XR-7 and XM-37 components for the entertainment center in the dash.

What we did was pull the old radio out of the dash, I used a dremel tool to cut a larger opening for the newer style of slide in radio. There is JUST enough room for the radio to fit depth wise.

Brad

[jagcb750]

Thanks brad, you are describing my setup exactly. I finally worked the dash loose enough to get the stereo out. Then I temporarily hooked up an older pioneer supertuner to see if it would work and it appeared to work. I didn't hook up any of the speakers. all the lights came on and the eq was flickering like it was picking up an fm station. The supertuner was way too big for the area so I am shopping for another. The cb no longer was buzzing all crazy. It quieted down, but I couldn't hear anything even though it has an external speaker. It appears that it not only requires the radio to be wired in, but that the speakers need to be wired in and working. Go figure? Anyway my cb radio chord's plastic winding is heat damaged and cracking to pieces, but the little wires inside look excellent. I need to try to find some new way to rewrap my chord. I guess a trip to Wally World is in order for a new cd player and I'm not sure where to find new material to protect my little wires.

[jagcb750]

update: Well, I bought a cd player at Wally World and wired it up like the sony was wired. I had a hard time getting it to power up. Looks like the ground is suspect. Also, there is still some association with the CB radio. I am going to run a wire direct to the fuse panel to power it up. I don't think I will try to run one to the key switch, but run it direct also. Then run a new ground wire. The strangest thing happened. I couldn't get the radio to work until the cb was on at first. Then it wouldn't even work. I shut it down and went in for a while. When I came back outside, It fired right up. But whenever I turned on a light, the radio would shut off and back on and would be garbled sounding. If I turned the lights back off it would play normally. Weird huh?

[jagcb750]

Final Update: Success! Got my radio working. I wired the red and yellow (power and clock) to the fuse block and got the radio working. I figured that the reason the radio would go off when I turned on the lights was because the radio must have been competing with the lights for power. Anyway, it worked. Then I took that same set of wires that I had the yellow and red wires hooked to and wired them into the fuse block also. I got my cb radio to work also. But, however, there is a noticeable hum coming through the external speaker for the CB. If I turn down the squelch then the humming stops, but it doesn't pick up the CB chatter. Anyway I will tweak on it later. Thanks to all that helped.

[Chaplain Kent]

Originally Posted by jagcb750

Is there detailed instructions available on how to dismantle the dash? .

Are you absolutly sure you want to do this? Under that dash is thousands of wires of colors which have yet to be named. These wires travel to places you ar I may never see in our lifetimes. Before you dismantle your dash please read my thread on rplacing my dash.

[jagcb750]

@Chaplain: No sir! I don't think I want to go to the land of spaghetti wires. I just thought I had to dissassemble some of the dash to get the tape deck out. Fortunately I was able to get it out of there without taking anything apart on my dash. I love my new cd player. My wife was a little concerned that it might be a little too high tech for Nancy.

[jagcb750]

Here is the JVC that I put in

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by jagcb750

Here is the JVC that I put in
Attachment 45778

Looks good. Noe to find a use for the cubby hole above the radio.

Brad

[jagcb750]

Yeah, I was wondering about that myself.

[jking]

The OE installation had the CB and the radio on the same external antenna ... a bad idea. No transmitting radio (CB included) will work without a good antenna. Get you a Radio Shack or truckstop CB antenna and mount it on a mirror mount. Drill a hole if you have to. But don't press the mike key without an angtenna connected ... it fries the radio.
Jamie

[HiHoAgRV]

Who needs all those fancy schmancy new fangled gizmos, I just picked up a Mel Tillis and two John Denver 8 tracks at the Salvation Army store for $.25 each!
Whoo hooo, unscrew the top from another bottle of wine !

[ViewRVs]

Originally Posted by bkahler

What we did was pull the old radio out of the dash, I used a dremel tool to cut a larger opening for the newer style of slide in radio. There is JUST enough room for the radio to fit depth wise.

Brad

The Dremel tool is a great idea!

JC Whitney also sells a dual knob stereo for the older dashboards.
CUSTOM AUTOSOUND USA-230 CAR STEREO
RETRO SOUND CLASSIC SOUND RADIO

My 8-track player is disconnected. I have a nice Alpine stereo mounted under the dash. I hate it because it does not have an Aux-In. It also takes control of the iPod which you have to control from the stereo.

My main objective is an aux in for my iPod and PC(TV).

[Gosman]

1994 Excella Classic

What size fuses dose the radio take 15 amp . Changed the fuse but think it was larger and radio still will not turn on. Was working before winter storage once got her home this spring will not turn on at all dead??
Need some help , is there a braker to the radio as well not sure and trying to cover all the bases.
Need help the radio is original Soney