Any PU with stereos?

[Hargus]

Hi all,
       I'm trying to pass the time until camping season thinking about mods for the PU. I got a portable "boom box" (radio with tape/cd) for Christmas. I have always used an old radio while camping. It isn't fancy but it works. I think the days of needing a "boom box" for camping are gone. We usually have a little country on during the day or early evening.
 I got to thinking, I've seen stereos installed in PUs but I don't know if I've seen speakers on the outside of a PU. I can think of a lot of pluses and minuses to it one of which is cutting into the outside skin of my PU or how the wet weather would be on the speakers over time. But in this day and age you can do anything and there are so many different products out there.
 We upgraded a couple of years ago with a newer PU. It came with a rv antenna on the roof and I figured I could use that to get improved reception.
 I'm sure I can get some feed back out there to help me with my decision.
Thanks

[rccs]

You could try going to the Great Lakes Pupup Clubs web site at //www.glpuc.org and check out the message board under Solutions and improvements. Read the thread about Extreme Makeover "Camper Edition" and see what Luv2Camp has done with his camper. Also check out his website for pictures of the many mods he has made.

[AustinBoston]

I don't know about built in units, but I do know a little about sound dispersion.

I have done sound for several churches for over 23 years, and for a traveling church group for about six years (we performed in about 150 churches in four U.S. states and Quebec).  Many of those performances were outdoors, which is dramatically different from sound indoors.  I think this qualifies me to say what follows.

A portable radio or a bom box acts like a "point source" at distances of over about 10-15 feet.  That means the sound falls off according to the inverse square law (power is equal to the inverse of the square of the distance).  As you get farther and farther away, the sound gets quieter and quieter.

But when you put two speakers farther apart, that changes.  At higher frequencies, the speakers act like two separate point sources and there is little or no difference from a boom box at the same volume.  But as the frequency drops, they begin to act together (similar to a row of speakers known as a line driver).  The inverse square law no longer applies because the sound ends up being beamed in a particular direction (roughly, away from the side of the pop-up).  The net result is for those outside the beam, the sound falls off faster than with the inverse square law, for those inside the beam, it falls off slower.

To complicate matters, the way it beams is frequency-dependent.  All frequencies will beam straight out, but some will also beam to the sides.  No matter where you are on that side of the pop-up, some frequency bands will be beamed at you.  (The effect is similar to a comb filter, which means it sounds terrible).

Eventually, a person can be far enough away that the system acts like a point source, but that may be at ten times the distance of the boom box - as much as 150 feet (assuming the speakers are 8-10 feet apart).

At low enough volumes, the effect is unimportant.  But you are likely to find that the boom box can be played significantly louder than speakers 8 feet apart without disturbing anyone.

I have seen speakers on the sides of dark side units, and they are usually only 2 feet apart or so, close enough so that they may as well have been using a boom box.

With any sound source, bass frequencies carry farther and penetrate better than midrange and treble (and the ear is more sensitive to bass at low volumes) so turning down the bass makes the sound less offensive to neighbors.

I doubt this really answers your question, but I hope it helps.

Austin (Everyone: No, I can't help you diagnose your home stereo or tell you what speakers to buy, so don't ask.)

[Hargus]

I doubt this really answers your question, but I hope it helps.

Austin (Everyone: No, I can't help you diagnose your home stereo or tell you what speakers to buy, so don't ask.)[/QUOTE]

Thanks Austin, I appreciate your opinion. That is the some of the feedback I'm looking for. I am concerned about the family that's camping next to us. As we all know how different campgrounds are your gathering point isn't always in front of the PU. But it would be nice to park set up and just turn on the radio.
Thanks
 ( Austin, I know you can diagnose any stereo and you've got the best speakers set up !!   :p)

[chkster]

there are always wireless speakers.. look for some that transmit 300 ft+
there are even waterproof sets some look llike rocks. just my two cents..

[CAPEd CODger]

For the stereo system in my Roo, I purchased a "kicker" speaker set up from a local outlet store. The set-up looks like a carpeted "suitcase" with speakers mounted on it. I ran wires from the stereo to the place where the auxillary propane hose exits the trailer. At that point I installed a plug on the wires. Allowed some extra wire to be able to move speakers where I wish. There is a mating socket on the kicker box.
When I wish to have some noise on the outside, I place the box where I want it and plug the connectors together. This keeps the speakers looking good and I don't have to worry about cutting any holes in the camper.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Happy New Year!

Bob

[twobighemis]

I shouldnt be much hassle.  By a car stereo of your choice, a few boxes for 6x9 speakers, and plenty of speaker wire.  

The hardest time i had was finding a good spot to cut for the cd player mount.  Once i did that, it was just a matter of running wires to the places I thought I would get the most use out of the portable 6x9's.  

If your cutting skill isnt the best, just run tou your local car stereo installers, and ask them for a universal DIN trim ring.

[beacher]

You can always mount waterproof marine speakers on the outside wall of your PU.  It's a very common option on Toyhaulers these days.

If you camp at public campgrounds, some of your campsite neighbors will undoubtedly be irked by your music.  Usually quite a bit!  Have you considered an Ipod with headphones?

[wavery]

You can always mount waterproof marine speakers on the outside wall of your PU.  It's a very common option on Toyhaulers these days.

If you camp at public campgrounds, some of your campsite neighbors will undoubtedly be irked by your music.  Usually quite a bit!  Have you considered an Ipod with headphones?

Boy......I will 2nd that opinion.

This weekend we were camped at Point Mugu and the campsites are right next to each other on the beach. Some guy pulls in next to us, sets up his TT, turns the stereo speakers (on the outside of the camper) full blast :mad: . Then he proceeds to take a walk on the beach. I listened to this for about an hour, then went and knocked on their door to ask them to turn it down or at least turn off the outside speakers  (thinking that someone was inside) :eyecrazy: . To my surprise, there was no one inside the camper and the guy was GONE!! :confused: . He just decided that he would bless everyone in the campgrounds with HIS selection of music, No charge, of course :p

I went to the park ranger. He said that he would come talk to the guy. 2 hours later the ranger shows up. The guy had already returned and the ranger found him buried under 8 feet of sand and the stereo was off and the trailer was burnt to the ground..........................well..............maybe that was wishful thinking :p

The guy came back about an hour after I went to the ranger. I asked him if he would please turn the outside speakers down. He was highly embarrassed and apologetic. He said that he intended to walk down to the beach and come right back but got carried away with the beauty of the sun & surf. Before he knew it, he was 5 miles down the beach, checking out the cool tide pools in the rocky out-cropping. He had completely forgotten about the stereo.

On the evening before New Years Eve, a bunch of his friends showed up. Every once in awhile, someone would go in and turn on the outside speakers. The guy would jump up, run in and turn them off. Later that evening, a saw him on a pile of plastic boxes and lumber, removing the speakers.

The next morning, when I got up, he was gone. I talked to the people in the camper next to him. They were a bunch of Pit-Bull toting red-necks. The guy told me that he told that guy if he heard that music again, he would open the door to his trailer and set his Pit-Bulls on him in the middle of the night, when he was asleep. I think that he meant it too. The "stereo guy" must have thought that he meant it because he packed up and left at 3:AM (according to "Pit-Bull Guy") :p .

The moral of that story is: If you see a gray diesel-pusher with a picture of a Pit-Bull on the back, take your stereo and camp in a spot way away from him .

[Hargus]

Hi All,
       I just want to reiterate to everyone that my intention of installing the stereo in my PU is not to turn my campsite into a "hip hop party" :yikes: . Like I had mentioned in my earlier post that I thought my days of bringing a "boom box" camping were over. (I actually never had a big radio, just an "old" maybe 5" x 4" x 2" portable radio. I mean old it was always just in the camper. It drove my wife crazy when we would try to listen to the baseball game.) My wife gave me the new radio for Christmas because we didn't have a good one. She always thought I was crazy to sit there and play with the old one to try and get the station.
 My wife thought it was a great gift and it was because we don't have a good radio to listen to our baseball (Red Sox) and some country music or cd's. But I don't want to carry another piece of equipment no matter how little if I don't have to. Also since I have a rv antenna with the PU I have I thought it might help with reception in out of the way campgrounds.
 I'm thinking of installing some kind of stereo with the credit from the new radio so my wife's gift can be thoughtful . I'm leaning toward maybe getting some small speakers with extra wire so I can put them anywhere. Maybe hang them from the awning so you can have them close to where you are so the sound wouldn't have to be that loud.

 I still would like some ideas from out there. I want all my mods to look good if I'm going to go to the Eastern rally in July.
Thanks.