Car Stereo Forgetting Radio Presets

Thargor

This is for a JCB but its the exact same setup as in a car. My father has a Blaupunkt stereo in his JCB but unfortunately it stores the radio presets digitally and due to the way the JCB is used it often has the battery disconnected for long periods causing the radio to forget its presets (even a 2 second disconnection is enough to do this).

Im sure this issue has been encountered by a lot of people in a lot of machines so has anyone ever seen a solution? I'm thinking some kind of small battery you could clip in between the stereo and the car battery to supply the trickle that the radio seems to need to remember the stations? Or any other solution? Thanks.

Atlantic Dawn

At the back of the radio there will be a red cable connecting to a another red cables and similarly you will see a yellow connecting to a yellow. Open these connections and swap the so yellow to red, red to yellow. This sorts it with any VW cars, if the connections are standard it should be the same.

Alanstrainor

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

At the back of the radio there will be a red cable connecting to a another red cables and similarly you will see a yellow connecting to a yellow. Open these connections and swap the so yellow to red, red to yellow. This sorts it with any VW cars, if the connections are standard it should be the same.

This only makes sense if the radio was wired to the ignition, rather than a constant live...

But in this case, it seems that the battery is removed from the JCB from time to time, which results in the loss of stations. Well at least, that's what I can make out of this.

Not sure OP, why radios can't store this in a non volatile memory is beyond me...

Thargor

Thanks but the battery is being physically disconnected at times, how will that make any difference to the power being interrupted and wiping the memory? Surely some company must have made a little pass through holder for a 9v battery you could stick in the back there somewhere?

EDIT: What Alanstrainor said.

Thargor

I remember we had a radio in an old Ford transit years ago that was totally analog presets, must have been gears or a little belt and pulley system moving the dial when you're finger supplying the mechanical power, worked perfectly for about 15 years as far as I remember.

Chimaera

If you're nifty with electronics, this looks like a useful solution: http://www.bagotronix.com/radiopwr.pdf

Special Circumstances

Thargor wrote: »

Thanks but the battery is being physically disconnected at times, how will that make any difference to the power being interrupted and wiping the memory? Surely some company must have made a little pass through holder for a 9v battery you could stick in the back there somewhere?

EDIT: What Alanstrainor said.

Google "car memory saver" - should throw up some results similar to what you described.

You could probably make one up but you need a diode in case 12~15V makes it to the 9V and the 9V goes pop...

Micks Garage have a draper yoke, but it's unclear how you use it - are the clips used to charge it, or do you need another battery?
http://www.micksgarage.com/proddetails.aspx?pid=1797667
Edit - looks like you need another 12V battery with the draper one.

Thargor

Chimaera wrote: »

If you're nifty with electronics, this looks like a useful solution: http://www.bagotronix.com/radiopwr.pdf

Not a hope, thanks though.

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Google "car memory saver" - should throw up some results similar to what you described.

You could probably make one up but you need a diode in case 12~15V makes it to the 9V and the 9V goes pop...

Micks Garage have a draper yoke, but it's unclear how you use it - are the clips used to charge it, or do you need another battery?
http://www.micksgarage.com/proddetails.aspx?pid=1797667

Yeah I know someone with one of those but no, not what Im looking for, I was hoping for an out of sight permanent solution. Doesnt look like theres anything commercially available, Dragons Den idea for someone maybe, thanks.

blastman

To be honest, any solution to this is going to be more trouble than re-tuning the radio...

Thargor

Not if it solves the problem no.

TherapyBoy

How about wiring the radio directly to the battery separately & leaving it connected while you disconnect everything else?

Thargor

Nah it really has to be something that can survive having the battery disconnected or removed for long periods. I was sure someone would have made a battery attachment for the back of the radio by now, doesn't look like it.

TherapyBoy

But why wire in a seperate battery for the radio memory when you could just leave it connected to the existing battery while everything else is disconnected? The battery in the JCB will probably last longer & you have less problems with feedback into the auxiliary battery or having to use diodes/rechargeable batteries.

Thargor

Because the batteries get removed and switched a lot, dont worry about it.