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Radio Installation

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jhorton3

jhorton3

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I went out and bought myself a Sony radio to install in Midgie. In the multi-pin wiring piece there's a red wire for power and a yellow wire for holding the memory. Which wires on the car should I connect these to?
 
Hi Jim, Generally speaking the Yellow memory wire is connected to a always hot circuit routed in a Brown wire. OTOH, the radio's Red wire is connected to a switched power line which in most LBC's is White. However, because modern radio's with memory can draw considerable power when the car is not in use it can leave the battery marginally charged or drained. You might want to consider connecting both the Red and Yellow wire to a common switched power point. Using this method you will be required to program the radio before each use. But this latter method also assures that you don't go off and leave the radio on if the volume happened to be low. Your Choice.--Fwiw--Keoke
 
I have one of those cheap Sonys. Good little stereo. I hooked the yellow and red together then a fuse, then straight to a constant hot (ammeter wire). I want to be able to listen to my stereo regardless of ignition position. And I don't want to reset the presets and clock all the time. Those Sonys have an automatic off feature so if you leave the stereo on (but not playing anything) you can have it automatically shut down after 10 seconds, 30 seconds, or a few minutes. In your '74 though you have an accessory key position? yes? And more wiring options I'm sure, like wires in the harness for stereo? My '63 has nothing so I kept it simple and easy. I had it like that all last season and the battery never flinched.
 
Thanks guys! Very good point on the memory circuit being a constant drain on the battery. Sometimes it's a couple of weeks between drives so that might be a issue, but this radio does have the auto off feature. I pulled out my enlarged wiring diagram and the legend this morning, and it's showing a radio circuit coming off a green/pink circuit. Would that work if I just wanted to pair the red/yellow wire and forgo the constant memory power? This radio also has a 10 amp flat fuse on the back of it, but I'll probably add another inline fuse just to be safe.
 
One thing I did with Bugsy is to add a little micro SPDT switch mounted on the left under dash support bracket. Im one position the radio operates normally and comes on when the key is turned. In the other position the radio is connected to an always on source. So if I stop and turn off the engine and want to listen to some tunes, simply flip the microswitch. Switch is hidden, out of the way and right by my left hand to flip on. A simple solution but no burnt points either.
 
One thing I did with Bugsy is to add a little micro SPDT switch mounted on the left under dash support bracket. Im one position the radio operates normally and comes on when the key is turned. In the other position the radio is connected to an always on source. So if I stop and turn off the engine and want to listen to some tunes, simply flip the microswitch. Switch is hidden, out of the way and right by my left hand to flip on. A simple solution but no burnt points either.
 
I forgot to add that my car does not have a acc position for the ignition switch.
 
I'd just wire it hot all the time and use a cheap battery tender on the battery for weeks of downtime. Mine doesn't sit for more than a few days at a time during the driving season.
 
I like to wire mine hot all the time to (fused of course) but I tend to put in older pushbutton am fm units that don't constantly drain the battery. It is nice to be able to listen to the radio while working on the car, washing it, etc.
 
I did a quick look on the Sony web site, and they steadfastly avoid telling you what the current drain of their components are. But I have a hard time imagining that the memory function would have a great enough drain to flatten the battery in any short time. Typically this is CMOS memory, which is very low power--like the memory in your laptop. I suspect that the drain is less than the self-discharge rate of the battery.

All in all, if you leave the car sitting for a few weeks, it's not a bad idea to charge the battery, anyway, or put it on a trickle charger.
 
I was wrong. I noticed an hour or so ago that my car does have an acc circuit on the ignition switch. I forgot to state this is a radio kit from Sony that also includes 6" xplod speakers. It's a 52 watt X 4, front aux port, USB port, MP3, WMA, etc., etc.

I connected both the red and yellow wire from the radio into a fused link. Means I don't have it hold the time or stations, but not a big deal to me. On the other end of the fused link I soldered on a British bullet connector, and attached that connection to the green/pink wire under the dash. Plugged my aerial into the radio and crossed my fingers. Radio works very well even with the aerial in the lowest position. I've still got the console sitting on the passenger's seat, so now I get to play Twister and get everything connected and the console reinstalled.
 
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