Charging the Battery of the RH1 on a Car Radio

[ojos504]

Hi !

Yesterday I bought a new Car Radio (I was still running tapes).

I was wondering whether the USB-port of a car radio could:

1. feed the battery of the RH1
2. recognise and playback MP3 files (Hi-MD mode disc used as USB mass storage media, not Sonic Stage made disc)

I tried 3 brands:

• Pioneer: displays an error, no battery-charging.
• JVC : battery-charging OK, but there was something wrong with the files.
• Kenwood: battery-charging OK, MP3 playback OK (although there was something strange in the playing order).

So I bought this one

• for MP3 playback, it seems easier to use flash memory.
• for playback of MD's, only solution seems to be: RH1 line-out to aux-in of the car radio (and then you lose the remote ctrl of RH1)

Anyway, most important for me was to find a solution to charge the battery in my car, and now I have it :-) . Edited July 24, 2009 by ojos504

[sfbp]

I would have thought that the Sony CDX-GT610UI would do both. However it seems a bit of an expensive way to use the precious RH1, when memory sticks are so cheap.

I don't know why you have to remove the remote of the MD (ie lineout from the headphone socket of the control), as audio is passed right through (the tweakings to the sound happen in the MD unit itself).

There is a remote commander that you can probably buy that will perform most playback functions, that has the right control jack to go into all MD portables. Look out for auctions for any unit with a car kit (such as the MZ-N510CK, but there are others too) and you will get one for free. The exact model of the one I have (not the same as the above, but is the one that comes with the 510) is RM-MC25C.

[ojos504]

I would have thought that the Sony CDX-GT610UI would do both. However it seems a bit of an expensive way to use the precious RH1, when memory sticks are so cheap.

I preferred a new car radio (Sony CDX-GT610UI is an old model). And main RH1-related purpose was charging the battery.

Other appreciated possibility would have been Atrac-CD playback, but no new model on the market.

I don't know why you have to remove the remote of the MD (ie lineout from the headphone socket of the control), as audio is passed right through (the tweakings to the sound happen in the MD unit itself).

Just tried line-out audio (without removing the remote) on a mixer: seems to work well, although the options on the RH1 remain "headphones" and can't be changed.

Would I try it on my brand new car radio... ?

[sfbp]

The 610UI was one of the last that offered Atrac-CD playback. You could get one for $50 if you tried.

I think the only real advantage of the line out setting is that the level is locked at 23 (Avrin?) but other than that you shouldn't suffer too much Maybe worth disabling the Euro-cripple volume limitation if it is known to interfere with the sound output quality... I have no idea.

Atrac CD (ie equivalent to HiMD) beats LP2/MD in my opinion, perhaps because it's built in to the head unit. Also holds more (equivalent to about 4 or 5 MD's).

[ojos504]

• Kenwood: battery-charging OK, MP3 playback OK (although there was something strange in the playing order).

So I bought this one

• for MP3 playback, it seems easier to use flash memory.
• for playback of MD's, only solution seems to be: RH1 line-out to aux-in of the car radio (and then you lose the remote ctrl of RH1)

Anyway, most important for me was to find a solution to charge the battery in my car, and now I have it :-) .

Before anybody on this forum buys the above mentioned car radio for the purpose of charging his RH1 unit, I want to correct my first findings:

No, it doesn't charge the battery of the RH1, although the animated charging icon pops up on the RH1 - and keeps blinking.

Further, line-out to Aux is working well with the remote control.