Buying stereo from USA

Psygnosis

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2479576900
NEW AIWA CDC-X30MP CAR CD/CD-R/MP3 PLAYER RECEIVER

Does any one know whether this will work in Ireland correctly. Im looking for an CD/MP3 player with RDS for around the 150 euro mark.

JohnCleary

You'll probably get stung by Irish customs for Tax. Also, I dont think the FM tuner will work. I'm not certain on this bu a friend of mine brought one home from the USA to Ireland and the Radio wouldnt work

gwladys boy

most good makes have settings for different regions, europe, asia and the like

try argos or something,

Blitzkrieger

I've been thinking about doing this myself. To make matters worse, mine's a Jap import.

I think the thing to do would be to ask a professional.

secret_squirrel

afaik RDS doesnt exist in the states - therefore you might not get a stereo from there with it on...

rymus

as far as the tuner not working... the radio on my US import bike works well. Can't pick up some stations though, that's a bit of a pain in the arse. Might get it looked at to see if the power can be boosted or something.

PBC_1966

I posted some technical details on a similar thread a short while ago, but I'll summarize again here.

If the radio has digital channelized tuning, then you won't be able to receive all Irish/European stations properly. On AM, American broacasters use 10kHz channels: 900, 910, 920, 930 kHz etc. Irish/European allocations are on a 9kHz spacing, e.g. 900, 909, 918, 927kHz.

Similarly, American FM broadcast channels are on 200kHz spacings, where the decimal digit is always odd: 87.9, 88.1, 88.3 MHz etc. European broadcasters can use channels which are located between these, e.g. 88.2 MHz, so you won't be able to properly tune all transmitters. The Zenith pilot-tone system of broadcsting stereo is the same, so that will work, but as has been mentioned already the European RDS is not used in North America.

The final point to note is that the FM pre/de-emphasis correction is 75uS vs. 50uS, so the received audio frequency response won't be quite right on FM, along wioth slight changes in the background noise, although tone controls can compensate to some degree.

Many modern radios are sold into an almost worldwide market these days, so in many cases it may be possible to re-program the radio to European standards, either with a special key sequence or by changing a link inside the set. You would need to ask the manufacturer if that's the case for the model you're considering.

Hope this helps.

Emerson

Don't forget the need for a 240v - 110v stepdown transformer. Otherwise the thing'll be blown away when it's plugged in, assuming you're going to use it in Europe.
That, the frequency limitations & lack of rds would turn me off.

The_Bullman

Originally posted by Emerson
Don't forget the need for a 240v - 110v stepdown transformer. Otherwise the thing'll be blown away when it's plugged in, assuming you're going to use it in Europe.
That, the frequency limitations & lack of rds would turn me off.

would you need a stepdown transformer? I thought cars were 12V as standard...

Emerson

oh wait, this is motors... scrap the voltage problem. Thought it was a home receiver you were looking for.... my bad

kevinmcc

Try http://www.carstereocomponents.de/
They are German so you won't have to pay any custom tax.