In 1993 I bought a used Yaesu FT-5100 amateur radio that featured built-in flash memory for retention of settings. It worked great. At one time the rig was in a box for 4 years and when I plugged it in it had remembered all its programming. That was 15 years ago, and now I go to a car audio dealer and ask for an in-dash receiver with that same feature and they tell me nobody makes it.

This just underscores the sorry state of mobile sound engineering. Every time your battery falls below 11 volts your radio loses all its memory, and you are forced to reprogram it. But the do have hundreds of models that will blow your eardrums out while they entertain you with flashy animated displays. Kinda weird, don't you think?

My in-dash is a 7 year-old Kenwood KDC-MP8017 and the remote "Off" button stopped working (on both remotes). So now I am looking for a new one with more modern (Apple-oriented) features. Here are my ideal features, in order of priority:

• AM and FM receiver, plus HD Radio.

• It should decompress MP3 and AAC format files.
• Can its internal amp be turned off in case all speakers use an external amp?

• NOAA Weather service might be a good too: Google.

• Does it have a front auxiliary input for iPod or other devices? Does it have a front auxiliary input in the rear for permently attached device?
• Does it have a front accessible USB input for flash memory?
• Does it have Bluetooth® built in?
• Some kind of basic preamp output.
• A motorized fold-down face might be a good feature.
• Stereo headphone output jack in the front.
• Has memory so when the battery gets disconnected it does not need reprogramming, aside some kind of anti-theft code.
• If not #1, I can connect to the filesystem and upload a configuration file (like a .plist file) with stations and presets, etc.

• iTunes now burns audio disks with a /Volumes/Disk/.TOC.plist file containing the playlist. My old unit throws an error over that file. I wonder which new players use that file in the display?

• Also, there is a file ContentsDB.xml that is included with Computer/iTunes/MP3Tags:"mp3 disks".

• All I want is AM-FM/HD. I don't want want a CD player, it is obsolete.
• Possibly Bluetooth and/or USB interface.
• Plus a good remote control because this is for use in an RV. Solutions @ crutchfield.com

http://community.crutchfield.com/forums/30/ShowForum.aspx

Current arrangement:

Front Door speakers: 4" Far rear speakers Back Panel: 5-1/4" (appears to be wrong) Size Codes

• E: "Euro-DIN" stereos attach from the front through the 2" tall rectangular hole in the dash, sliding into a metal sleeve that attaches to the front of the dash.
• S: Similar to "U" chassis, but with a taller nosepiece or offset shafts. They fit the 3-hole dash opening in many older vehicles.

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• In case of a power failure, all settings are lost.
• The unit can't be powered on or off with the remote. You must do it on the faceplate.
• The on-off button also cycles through the source. This is irritating.
• Standby mode isn't exactly a power saver, it uses too much battery power.
• LED display has 7mm high "white dot" characters, I am barely able to see the clock from the back
• The clock does not show by default, you must enable it on the faceplate.
• When the clock is showing, the track name does not show. The two are mutually exclusive
• When the clock is showing the current station or track cannot be shown with the remote.
• CD track name defaults to the filename, not the MP3 tag.
• The station search mode is not changeable from the remote
• Has no indicator if it is on or off from the display. If the volume is way down the unit will drain the battery.