Jensen AWM970 Uncommanded Actions

[j-d]

This is the 12VDC - powered "entertainment system" in a late model Thor Fifth Wheel.

It takes the following uncommanded actions, all on its own...

1. Turns ON at random

2. Playing Radio, displays "USB Input" at random. Drops out of "USB" and goes back to playing Radio

3. Playing a DVD, keeps going back to its own root screen (Jensen logo, etc) and says it's "Loading" the DVD

Any...

1. ...tricks to get it under control? Thinking of doing a "reboot" by pulling its 12VDC fuse

2. ...hope for this thing? It's not ours, I'm trying to help out at a campground...

THANKS!

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Harmon-Son Glorious Lustrous Rainbow Dragon

I recently priced some replacement tubes (USSR) for the older amps and nearly fainted. MacIntosh, Klipschorn and Altec Lansing Voice of The Theater) was my weakness. Way way beyond my budget though. Champagne Taste, Ripple Budget and all that.

[Gdetrailer]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
About = to a Karmon Hardon

Oops damned dyslexia...

Not sure about modern HKs but I can tell you after owning multiple older built HKs over the years they really built some rocking stereos..

I had TWO Award A50 series (all tube) from the 1960s (bought them used in flee markets for $20 EACH) that I used for DJing.. Ran them wide open all night.. Awesome sound and built like tanks.. Sold them about 10 yrs ago, hated to run them or let them sit and the caps rot either way and then I would have to rebuild them..

Have a silver faced Solid state receiver 25W PC from the 1970s, works and sounds great even today..

Have the newest in my home which is a mid 1980s black faced 90W PC Integrated amp and separate tuner.. Can't even stay in the house when I turn it up to half the volume and pumps out nice tight bass..

Like everything else now days, I suspect that HKs "quality" has suffered although I have recently noticed that Crown Professional amplifiers are now marked as Crown by Harmon? Could it be the same Harmon as HK?

[MEXICOWANDERER]

About = to a Karmon Hardon

Oops damned dyslexia...

[Gdetrailer]

j-d wrote:
This fiver has

A = Two Bedroom Speakers

B = Four Living Area Speakers

C = Two Outdoor Speakers

The "J" has buttons A, B, and C and the sets of speakers can be selected in any combination. I think the switch would solve the problem. Use it for say A and B on "Front" and then wire "C" to the rear.

I think what these folk plan to do is try and contact J, see if there's a re-furb program and at what price. If they do that, get lucky and the replacement lasts longer, the swap-out is simply plug and play.

Looked at some car stereo units and a few seemed to have the traditional three RCA jacks for video: Red, White, Yellow. If they want to go that way I think I'll suggest they call somebody like Crutchfield and talk about which unit covers the most features.

Might as well use a household DVD Player. TV itself is 120 VAC after all.

They are more than welcome to check with Jensen on a refurb.. I doubt they are going to get any spectacular "deal" though considering I found a "refurb" one on Amazon and they are wanting $145 for it..

HERE

That is a lot of money for something that is less than stellar for quality..

[j-d]

This fiver has

A = Two Bedroom Speakers

B = Four Living Area Speakers

C = Two Outdoor Speakers

The "J" has buttons A, B, and C and the sets of speakers can be selected in any combination. I think the switch would solve the problem. Use it for say A and B on "Front" and then wire "C" to the rear.

I think what these folk plan to do is try and contact J, see if there's a re-furb program and at what price. If they do that, get lucky and the replacement lasts longer, the swap-out is simply plug and play.

Looked at some car stereo units and a few seemed to have the traditional three RCA jacks for video: Red, White, Yellow. If they want to go that way I think I'll suggest they call somebody like Crutchfield and talk about which unit covers the most features.

Might as well use a household DVD Player. TV itself is 120 VAC after all.

[Gdetrailer]

j-d wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:
Rip that thing out, then throw it as hard as you can onto concrete, then with a 20 lb sledge beat it into pulp, then stomp on it, then with a broom sweep it into a pile and pickup with a shovel and toss the remains into the nearest garbage receptacle...

No Shotgun, No Flame Thrower? I'd actually warned him that I'd never heard a good thing about J-Brand entertainment systems.

I've got the install instructions for the J unit and it seems to have more connections than I'm familiar with in car stereo.

A replacement needs to play Radio, Music CD, and output DVD to a TV set. Should also control speakers, like On/Off, Indoor/Outdoor. Can you suggest a Make/Model to do this?

Shot gun or flame thrower? Yeah, I thought about throwing those in along with then we hang it and then we kill it.. But I thought that might be taking it a bit too far

But seriously..

Often in a trailer there is two pairs of "indoor" speakers and optionally one pair of out door speakers..

If this is the case you could put both indoor sets of speakers on the front speaker output of a car stereo.. And the outdoor speakers can be put on the rear speaker output of the car stereo.

When no outside music is wanted, just set the car stereo fader to the front only..

If inside and outside are to be on then set the front/rear fader to middle.

If you want only the outside on set the fader to rear only..

Although if you want to make life a bit easier, you can buy speaker A/B switches. They can be had for as low as $11..

Here is a in wall A/B switch it can do A OR B, A+B or both A+B OFF for $11



Buy it HERE

Or you can buy a table top type like this one for $21



Buy it HERE

Or for more selection you can find a search for them at Amazon HERE

Now, IF the current system has multi-channel "surround sound" you do need to be aware that with a car stereo, you will not get multi-channel Dolby surround.. In most cases that is not a problem but you may lose the built in subwoofer output and amplifier..

In most cases this is not a problem, most car stereos provide a NON AMPLIFIED subwoofer output.. If this is the case, you can add a separate external small car stereo amplifier to the car stereo subwoofer output..

As far as car stereos with DVD player AND video output, pretty much all of them will have at least analog composite SD (480i) video output. Pretty rare for a car stereo DVD player to have HDMI or RGB and rightly so, DVDs ARE STANDARD DEFINITION so really makes no sense to spend more money on building in a scaler to RGB or HDMI..

If TV does not have composite analog video in you can get a video "scaler" which can upscale the composite to analog RGB or even digital HDMI.. Those do not cost a lot, typically start at $30 or so and up ..

Brands, stick with the main known good quality after market brands like Pioneer, JVC, Clarion.. Skip the dirt cheap stuff..

Personally, if it was for myself, I would skip the built in DVD, put in a DISKLESS car stereo (no CD or DVD)that has USB capability and can play MP3 music files!..

For DVDs I would use a $29 home DVD unit and power it with an inverter.. And if you want your movies to play through the stereo you make sure the car stereo you select has an external Aux audio connection and connect the DVD player to that..

This method allows you to play CDs or DVDs through the stereo and you get additional features like MP3 player from USB and some have Bluetooth, Pandora, Sat radio and HD radio options..

Many features you will never get with that "J" brand!

[malechi]

Indoor/outdoor is just the fader setting on a normal car radio

[j-d]

Gdetrailer wrote:
Rip that thing out, then throw it as hard as you can onto concrete, then with a 20 lb sledge beat it into pulp, then stomp on it, then with a broom sweep it into a pile and pickup with a shovel and toss the remains into the nearest garbage receptacle...

No Shotgun, No Flame Thrower? I'd actually warned him that I'd never heard a good thing about J-Brand entertainment systems.

I've got the install instructions for the J unit and it seems to have more connections than I'm familiar with in car stereo.

A replacement needs to play Radio, Music CD, and output DVD to a TV set. Should also control speakers, like On/Off, Indoor/Outdoor. Can you suggest a Make/Model to do this?

[Gdetrailer]

j-d wrote:
This is the 12VDC - powered "entertainment system" in a late model Thor Fifth Wheel.

It takes the following uncommanded actions, all on its own...

1. Turns ON at random

2. Playing Radio, displays "USB Input" at random. Drops out of "USB" and goes back to playing Radio

3. Playing a DVD, keeps going back to its own root screen (Jensen logo, etc) and says it's "Loading" the DVD

Any...

1. ...tricks to get it under control? Thinking of doing a "reboot" by pulling its 12VDC fuse

2. ...hope for this thing? It's not ours, I'm trying to help out at a campground...

THANKS!

Rip that thing out, then throw it as hard as you can onto concrete, then with a 20 lb sledge beat it into pulp, then stomp on it, then with a broom sweep it into a pile and pickup with a shovel and toss the remains into the nearest garbage receptacle..

Then after all that go and buy a aftermarket car stereo with DVD player and never ever look back at that worthless piece of junk with the "j" name..

Folks, RV manufacturers buy the cheapest junk for "entertainment systems", that "J" brand most likely cost the RV manufacturer a mere $5.. There is no "quality" in it.. It is Throw away junk. Don't buy another and don't spend any time trying to fix it.. there is no "cure" other than junking and putting a better brand name car stereo in it's place..

[malechi]

If you're sure that no one is accidentally sitting on the remote then try CTRL-ALT-DEL reset it