Community Forums

lnanne · 08-20-2016, 05:34 PM

We are headed back to Washington state in our new home (currently in Dubuque, IA) and we'll post a full trip report soon but we have a couple of questions that we are eager to know!

We have a microwave convection combo that vents into the RV right into the ceiling of the slide. Seriously? We can turn on the ceiling fan in the kitchen but it doesn't seem good for smoky/greasy air to vent into the rv before being pulled out through the ceiling kitchen fan. Are we missing something?

I want to listen to the music on my smartphone through the upgraded sound system. I can pair my phone to the radio via Bluetooth but the dash radio can't be played through the upgraded sound system? I also tried to pair the phone to the cabinet sound system but didn't have luck there either. If someone can tell me what's possible, I can pursue figuring it out with more vigor!

Much thanks!

Ellen

wildtoad · 08-20-2016, 06:48 PM

Check your microwave documentation. From what I read the oven can be installed in one of several ways, and non vented is one of the ways. The system recirculates the exhaust from the stovetop. We don't have a convection but our microwave does the same thing. There should be a metal filter under the microwave which will trap any grease from anything cooking on the stove and these filters can be cleans and replaced as needed.

Can't help with the radio or sound system. My BSS is less sophisticated....

And of course, congrats on your new Bay Star.

sightseers · 08-20-2016, 07:21 PM

We have a 2014 Bay Star 2903 with the surround sound system and after much reading and posting have discovered that the dash radio and the complex A/V system are totally separate. Only way to use the fancy system is to turn the inverter on to power it up. We like the Sirius radio feature but is only on the two dash radio speakers. We had the two dash overhead speaker which were worthless changed over to better ones by the dealer and this made a huge improvment in audio quality. Have yet to get the fancy A/V system with the surround sound to work properly. The woofer is not working. Have a service appointment scheduled for later this month at the factory. Except that ours came with this system would not have ordered it - way to complicated and difficult to use.

avid_dk · 08-20-2016, 07:48 PM

We run our phones/ipods through the A/V system by USB connection, it works fine. The dash radio doesn't connect to the A/V system and not sure the sound would be that great while underway even if it did.

lnanne · 08-21-2016, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sightseers

We have a 2014 Bay Star 2903 with the surround sound system and after much reading and posting have discovered that the dash radio and the complex A/V system are totally separate. Only way to use the fancy system is to turn the inverter on to power it up. We like the Sirius radio feature but is only on the two dash radio speakers. We had the two dash overhead speaker which were worthless changed over to better ones by the dealer and this made a huge improvment in audio quality. Have yet to get the fancy A/V system with the surround sound to work properly. The woofer is not working. Have a service appointment scheduled for later this month at the factory. Except that ours came with this system would not have ordered it - way to complicated and difficult to use.

We think something is wrong with our sub-woofer as well. The whole system doesn't sound premium at all. When we tried the usb connection, it said device error (LG G4 android). I usually use bluetooth.

Disappointing so far but we'll keep playing with it (we still have many manuals to dig through - still haven't found one that's helpful on the sound system).

lnanne · 08-21-2016, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avid_dk

We run our phones/ipods through the A/V system by USB connection, it works fine. The dash radio doesn't connect to the A/V system and not sure the sound would be that great while underway even if it did.

Yes, we wouldn't use it driving. We're parked with electric and just wanted great music in the superior speakers (we thought!). Not sure what we're doing wrong but the USB isn't working with ours (LG G4 via USB). It says device error.

lnanne · 08-21-2016, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildtoad

Check your microwave documentation. From what I read the oven can be installed in one of several ways, and non vented is one of the ways. The system recirculates the exhaust from the stovetop. We don't have a convection but our microwave does the same thing. There should be a metal filter under the microwave which will trap any grease from anything cooking on the stove and these filters can be cleans and replaced as needed.

Can't help with the radio or sound system. My BSS is less sophisticated....

And of course, congrats on your new Bay Star.

Thanks for the congrats! We're terrified and excited all at the same time! HUGE learning curve despite our previous experiences with motorhomes/trailers.

Our biggest concern is that it vents onto the ceiling in the slide (1 inch gap to ceiling). Wondering if we should get a metal (?) deflector and somehow mount it there to protect the ceiling and the fascia board. But if others have this set up and it's not an issue, perhaps there is no need to worry. Also, isn't it a goal to reduce humidity inside? If we run the fantastic fan as well perhaps that combination will be fine. Just wondering what other peoples experience is with the setup similar to ours.

Michaelszipp · 08-22-2016, 02:26 PM

I believe that the USB connection on the front of the upgraded Sony sound system will recognize (i.e., play) an ipod or music files loaded to a usb drive. It will not recognize the player (Spotify, Pandora, etc.) on your phone.

I bought a mini USB to HDMI cable for my android phone. For music, I can run it directly into the HDMI connector on the back of the amp. Usually, I run it into the back of the Sony TV, which allows me to stream video from my phone (Netflix, HBO Go, etc.) to the TV with high quality video and audio.

I actually have an HDMI cable permanently plugged into the back of the TV (it was a bit of a pain to plug in blind), with a female/female HDMI connector on the end. I then run the HDMI cable from my phone into that, and set the TV input to 'HDMI' when I want to stream from the phone onto the TV or into the fancy sound system.

Works great for video and music, total cost about $30. The HDMI cable attached to the TV stores out of sight behind the display when not in use. I use the same Android HDMI cable to plug into the dash audio system with the latter in 'Dual Mirror' mode, which puts my nav on the screen for easy access and also picks up my Spotify audio without using Bluetooth.

JerryP · 08-22-2016, 05:30 PM

We have an REI Subwoofer in our 2013 Bay Star. I'm not very impressed with this product. It was not working at all when I learned how to set up the AV system. I had to physically un-install it to get to the control knobs. After adjusting it several times, it works a little bit. I will probably replace it at some point. When I upgraded the dash auto system, I installed an Alpine PWE-S8 under the drivers seat. The Alpine works great.

The only issue with installing the Alpine on the AV system it that here is no +12V enable signal to activate the unit. I would have to install a hidden On/Off switch. The REI does an auto-turnon when it detects an input signal.

Concerning iphone connections to the A/V system. I connected the HDMI output from the A/V system to the TV. Then I connected an HDMI cable to one on the unused HDMI inputs on the A/V system. Apple makes a Lightening to HDMI converter. I can play music or video on the iPhone and it will display on the television in HD format. The cable is kind of cumbersome, but it does work.

Regards, Jerry

Regards, Jerry

lnanne · 08-23-2016, 05:27 PM

I just can't believe that any system wouldn't come with bluetooth now-a-days. Actually I saw that the model up from this one has bluetooth. So I guess we'll do the HDMI route (but I really didn't want to be tethered) or the headphone jack route. I mainly wanted the upgraded sound system for the speakers so I suppose we eventually could replace this receiver/setup with something else. Just so disappointed that the ONE thing I wanted to do - play music from my phone via bluetooth on the upgraded speakers - it actually doesn't do it! Thanks Jerry and Michaleszipp and everyone for your thoughts on this. I'll try to remember to post what we finally did with this!

Maddawg46 · 08-24-2016, 11:13 PM

We run our fantastic fan on our Bay Star 3124. It sucks air from the vent of the convection microwave.

BPoland · 08-25-2016, 06:30 AM

The upgraded AV system in the Bay Star is NOT configured properly as it rolls off the assembly line. By that I mean you have to take an HDMI cable and go from the Sony receiver to the input on the TV. Then you can go through the setup program on the Sony receiver, and be able to See on the TV what it is that you're adjusting. This will help it sound a little better. then put the connections back the way they were. There is also a microphone included for an automatic sound check.

As for the dash radio and speakers, the radio is ok, but not great. There is no blue tooth capability in the radio, and the speakers are a joke. We listen to the XM radio as well and found that not having any speakers outside made it difficult to listen to it. The dash radio only has the front speakers hooked up. There was an option where they would install speakers in the bedroom and hook them up to the rear speaker line from the dash radio. This bedroom speaker option was also done in the Canyon Star models. I ran the rear channels to an outside storage bay and installed a set of speakers with an A/B switch to activate or deactivate the speakers when not in use. The volume is kept VERY low so that we can hear it while sitting under the awning. We are very mindful of not letting it be heard by anyone else.

I guess the bottom line is, these systems are installed and set up by workers on the assembly line. I'm not sure that they are technically savvy. It is probably closer to hook this wire here and this wire there. Ok, it's all done.....