My East Coast came with a 40 year old Pioneer am/fm/tape car radio. Although it had a great sound, the speakers and housing had started to rust, the dial no longer showed what channel it was on and it was starting to drift off the station after a while. So I bought a new car radio from Jaycar that seemed to be a good replacement.

It came with a lot of bling on the front panel, flashing leds to show the sound, but most of them seem to do that nowadays. The head unit can be removed for security, it has an output for a dvd screen from the dvd player (not important to me tho), usb and bluetooth interfaces. The hole in the woodwork needed to be modified to accept the unit as well. But for less than $150, it appeared to be good value. Until the first time I used it.

We go away for weekends and have usually been able to spend the weekend on 1 battery charge for the Engel fridge and the radio. Lights are LED, but we spend most of our time in the cockpit anyway. So the first weekend away with the new radio, the battery was flat in 4 hours. I spent the weekend running the engine to power the radio.

So I am now looking for a replacement. Doesn't need to be loud, only AM/FM will do fine. But will need to fit in the ISO sized hole in the timberwork. I have the option of using the mobile phone to do the job (for FM and playlists), but would prefer not to.

Is it possible to get a simple am/fm radio that doesn't draw much power?

Get one of these before they run out.

Not only does it have AM and FM reception, it also has VHF, Long Wave and Short Wave reception.................AND a 3.5 mm input socket so you can play music off your phone/MP3 player etc. It comes with a very good pair of waterproof gimbal mounted 60 watt speakers as well.

Short Wave will get you time signals on 10 mhz, Radio Australia with news and music when you are out of range of AM/FM plus a lot of chat in Chinese.

Long Wave will get you weather reports from Charleville if you know the frequency and time of scheds.

They are a discontinued model that is not being replaced with a unit with the same capabilities. A Bargain at the price so get one while you can.

I have one and verify that it pumps good sound.

www.gme.net.au/catalogue/discontinued/marine/gr200wep.aspx

On ciscos advice before xmas i purchased and installed the gme
after using it over xmas and oz long weekend and the other times aboard while on the trailer i am extremely pleased with it
most of the time i either listen to the radio or play idop via the aux input
with the basic antenna i use with it was surprised with its vhf and ssb reception
I have not noticed any excess battery draw
it was good value imho

No problem Trace.

I bought it from Tackle World in Bundaberg for $109. Their number (07) 4153 4747. Not sure if they have any left.

Yes, I bought a Dual brand marine stereo. According to my monitor it consumes one amp running and half an amp on standby.

Total pain in the butt turning it off at the panel every time I use it so it won't unnecessarily drain power. Unlike some of the other dedicated marine stereoes, every time you do you loose your stations settings.

Thanks for the details Cisco. I have ordered the GME online from Whitworths, so hopefully they still have some in stock. It will also complement the existing GME VHF.

Never got to the stage of connecting directly to the battery to save the settings. But I suspect the power culprit is the bluetooth. I should have been wary when I noticed it had a 15 amp fuse during the install.

I have the radio running off the VHF antenna with a splitter (also GME). Gives great reception, with no noticable drop off in VHF range.

EC31 said..

Thanks for the details Cisco. I have ordered the GME online from Whitworths, so hopefully they still have some in stock. It will also complement the existing GME VHF.

Never got to the stage of connecting directly to the battery to save the settings. But I suspect the power culprit is the bluetooth. I should have been wary when I noticed it had a 15 amp fuse during the install.

I have the radio running off the VHF antenna with a splitter (also GME). Gives great reception, with no noticable drop off in VHF range.

I am not certain but I do believe the GME unit retains memory settings when de-powered.

Ive bought 2 pioneers in the last 3 years. 1 for 9r my previous boat and 1 for my new 1. 85 dollars ebay. Sounds amazing and included speakers. Cd player. Radio. Usb stick player and aux input.ill see if i.can find a link.