How to wire stereo in ice shack

[jasond37]

I am wanting to install/wire a stereo into my ice shack, I always forget to bring my handheld and this seems like a good solution.  I found some old car stereo speakers and would like to use an old car stereo, but how do I wire it?  I've done it in my truck before, but is there a way to wire without the harness and all the other connections?  I have a marine battery for the lights, and would like to use that for power.  Any inputs?  I am just stumped for some stupid reason....I should be able to figure this out. 

[michianafisherman]

Does it have wire leads coming out of the radio?  Or do you need a plug? Red power 12v+/ black - then play with the other wires to the speakers.

[ice dawg]

Go ta an electroncs store and buy a roll of speaker wire. I have four speakers in my shack wired to an older AM/FM cassette radio.

[jasond37]

The stereo that I have requires a wiring harness, to be plugged into the factory harness from a vehicle.  There are no leads coming out.  I am wondering if I can find a cheap AM/FM radio that I can just wire directly to battery/speakers without having to buy or use a harness.  I can figure out the antenna.

[budjd2cyl]

i have a ryobi cordless tool set that has a 18 volt little radio with it no am though just fm.. but i built a wooden box with a lawn mower battery in it. installed a 12volt plug on the side of the box and presto sirius satillite radio.. and that little 18 volt radio is lite and small and i have a extra battery for my flashlight

[yoslick]

If ya need wires, either go online for the make and model and make your own harness or go to Wally world and they sell harnesses for vehicles if its a Ford or other car make stereo....

[michianafisherman]

They make cheap radios for car with leads. I would pick one that is not too heavy. Some factory radios are heavier than the replacements. Don't forget speakers are heavy also, and depending on the location can transfer vibrations to the shanty that would not be good for fishing. If you do use speakers, keep them away from other electrical items so the magnets don't mess them up.

[jasond37]

I think I'll just stick to my handheld, after thinking about it for awhile it just doesn't sound like a good idea anymore.  Too much to mess around with and I don't want anyone to break into the shack and steal things. 

[DasRottweiler]

All ya need to do is wire the two speakers and the power wire and ground. Pretty simple. Total of 6 wires unless ya wanna run 4 speakers. Red and Black to battery (suggest a Cabelas battery-small like vex battery)and then 2 each to the speakers. You could build it all into a jigging seat box and take it home with ya. I made one with a CD player -240watt graphic equalizer and two speakers. I put a plug on it to plug into the cig lighter. I never knew which truck I would be assigned at work, this way, I had pumpin tunes whatever I drove! You could do much the same and add a seat to the top and sum rod holders too! Speakers can be deployed in an emergency also,  I lost my spud-bar down a hole once and tied 2 speakers together on a rope, dropped it down and wella, retrieved my bar!

[mdeutsch]

Another option if you have an MP3 player is to just rig a small amplifier to a pair of speakers. You can connect the MP3 player from the headphone jack to the input of the car amplifier and then to a couple of speakers. All the volume and track information is controlled by the MP3 player. Like others mentioned, a small vex batter has more than enough juice to power the setup. Keep your eyes open on craigslist for a cheap 2 channel amplifier. This saves you have an expensive/bulky CD/radio in your shack. I can get you more information and a photo of how I've done this if your interested.
Matt

[snowman6902]

I'd like to see a photo of your setup

[$ignmoney]

I was talking to a older gentleman last season and he was telling me on slow times you want to get a good spot and be real quite and you may catch fish while others are not. Drill your holes and sit them out being very quite.So when playing a radio ( I do at times) it needs to be very low volume. sound still travels through the ice and will turn off a good bite.

[ice dawg]

My wife says Walleyes bite better when listening to Patsy Kline. Who am I to argue with her? When the fishing slows down she puts some Patsy Kline music in the boat stereo and they start biting again.  

I have an old AM/FM cassette in my drop down house with four speakers. My son has a cassette adaptor for his XM radio for when he is there. We turn it up just loud enough to be heard.

[hankthecrank]

I will try to get pics posted today of my set-up. It is a Sansa Fuze with a small personal speaker set, just plug in the 3.5 lead, turn on the speaker set and presto, jammin' to AC/DC on the ice. Attached velcro straps to hang the set off the bars of my Scout trap.

[$ignmoney]

My small flip over I use a small radio I got from the kids hand-me-down.( bought them a new stereo and took there old one) took it apart and where the battery's go I taped in with a plug so I can run it from my 12 volt battery along with the aqua-vu,lights etc. Small & light weight. Works good for me. Can't do the patsy but crank the ac-dc!

[jasond37]

Any radio will work, I just want something that runs off 12V and can plug in the car speakers I found in a box I forgot I had.  I've been using a handheld weather radio, which works great.  I think the custom look of speakers/radio under the cabinet would look cool.  Here is the cabinet I would be using.  I had planned to put the speakers in the sides of the cabinet (they are just 5" round), and mount the radio under the cabinet for easy access.  The battery sits in the cabinet too. 

[$ignmoney]

Nice shack! Knotty pine looks awesome. I would put 1 on each end up high aiming down some and that way you will have the stereo effect. Its totally up to you,it should look great eather way.