Wiring a Sony stereo & VHF

L

localboy

New member
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I'm hooking up a VHF and I-pod ready stereo/CD player (Sony CDX-M60UI) on 'Au Kai.

The Sony wiring shows three power connections:
red=power
orange/white=illumination
yellow="memory"

It says to hook up the red/power to the "ACC" [iginition] so the unit will only power up when the key is in. The yellow/"memory" connection needs a constant 12v power source. The orange/white illumination is obviously if it's installed in a car when the lights are on, the unit illuminates.

My questions:
What do you all recommend for the Sony wiring? The boat is obviously different in that the battery switch will kill ALL power to the boat. Correct? :?

I have two unused "accessory" spots on the original factory panel. (10 amps ea) Can I hook up BOTH the VHF and the Sony to one? That would leave one still empty for a future radar/plotter combo.

I have to go and look to see if the gauge lights are hooked up to the running lights or are always on. IIRC, they are always on.

You can see that my obvious lack of electrical installations has reared it's ugly head yet again.
 
I think I have the same setup. I just wired my memory wire to the same power lead (hot when switch is on) and live with the fact I have to search for stations after switching the battery off. I'm usually only looking for one I like and often use CD's. Believe it or not, no ipod yet, but the kids like it and it's a decent sounding radidio. I did wire the lights to the same circuit too, so I guess they're always on when the unit is. Both my VHF and Sony are sub circuits of a 15A circuit. I haven't blown a fuse yet. There are small in-lines at both radios.

The memory is not that important to me as I often go to different places.

chris
 
Lo Boy , Red to dedicated power supply [accessory circuit or battery switch] for main unit amp . Always with whatever amp fuse or circuit breaker in the line they suggest, if its ten amps you are maxed on that circuit. If both loads [VHF and Stereo] add up to less than 10 amps you can combine them .They probably wont since the VHF can transmit at 25 watts and the stereo probably has lots of RMS potential power . Most likely will need separate circuits .Since it aint a car , so you might want to listen while at anchor . No need for the key to be on . Skip wiring to the key switch.
Orange/White to nav. lights if you want them on only at night . Or to main power if you always want them on [ thats ok, and simple] and lets you always see whats going in in the dark even if key switch and nav lights are off .Stealth music .
Memory goes to always on battery in a automotive situation . On the boat , only if there is constant charge .Solar is a good way to replace that energy. If not, it will continually drain battery and cause problems and shorten battery life . If you use your boat frequently [like a car] do what Sony suggests . If you are a normal boater make sure you constantly charge batteries [even a trickle] and/or turn it all off.
Hope that helps .
Marc
 
Thanks for the responses. I'm going to hook up the Sony to the incoming power from the battery as it has it's own fuse built in to the unit. I'm not too concerned about the memory, as I doubt we'll use the AM/FM much; if I lose it when I turn off the batteries, oh well. At least this way it will have power @ anchor (so we'll have tunes) and I'll still have one accessories spot left for a future electronics upgrade.

Mahalo again! 8)
 
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