Drive In Movie Radio

[JDay]

Have a drive in theatre in our county and it’s a lot of fun bringing the Mach-E. The movie audio goes via FM radio channel and sounds amazing in the car. However the radio powers down after 15 or 20 min. In an electric car I would think depleting the battery wouldn’t be a concern like a gas powered vehicle. It’s a real pain having the audio go out all the time.

Anyone know if there is a way to keep the audio system on indefinitely without having the car on accessory mode? The little lights are on in that mode and distracts from the movie.

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[flapjake314]

there's a setting for "engine" shutoff timer, i can't remember if there is a "never shut off" option. there is also an ambient light shutoff too though so i think you could be solving this multiple ways...

 

[DaMeatMan]

Have a drive in theatre in our county and it’s a lot of fun bringing the Mach-E. The movie audio goes via FM radio channel and sounds amazing in the car. However the radio powers down after 15 or 20 min. In an electric car I would think depleting the battery wouldn’t be a concern like a gas powered vehicle. It’s a real pain having the audio go out all the time.

Anyone know if there is a way to keep the audio system on indefinitely without having the car on accessory mode? The little lights are on in that mode and distracts from the movie.

Leave the car fully powered on, (not in vehicle accessory mode), and then go into SETTINGS --> VEHICLE and uncheck the 30 min vehicle power down option. Then turn off your lights so that you don't ruin the drive in experience for other guests ?.

 

[MachEMaster]

Leave the car fully powered on, (not in vehicle accessory mode), and then go into SETTINGS --> VEHICLE and uncheck the 30 min vehicle power down option. Then turn off your lights so that you don't ruin the drive in experience for other guests ?.

I also put the center screen into "Calm" Mode, and drape a black micro fibre cloth over it. I rested my baseball cap over the information display, and it was movie time!

 

[timbop]

Leave the car fully powered on, (not in vehicle accessory mode), and then go into SETTINGS --> VEHICLE and uncheck the 30 min vehicle power down option. Then turn off your lights so that you don't ruin the drive in experience for other guests ?.

I also put the center screen into "Calm" Mode, and drape a black micro fibre cloth over it. I rested my baseball cap over the information display, and it was movie time!

Yep, that's exactly what I did last year when we did a drive-in. IIRC you have to be careful with opening the doors or hitting the pedals though because then the lights come on for a bit. Next time we'll park backwards with the hatch open and sit in folding chairs

 

[HuntingPudel]

Yep, that's exactly what I did last year when we did a drive-in. IIRC you have to be careful with opening the doors or hitting the pedals though because then the lights come on for a bit. Next time we'll park backwards with the hatch open and sit in folding chairs

But… then your left and right audio channels will be reversed! ??

 

[JDay]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. All really great. So it’s possible to turn off all exterior lights when the car is fully powered on? I didn’t realize that.

Imagine it would be simple for Ford to code a vehicle setting option to adjust audio shut off time when car is off, but since drive ins are all but dead I doubt there would be a huge demand, unless you are on a steak out.

But if you are reading this Ford, it’s on my wish list!

 

[OON7]

If the blue lights on the ceiling by the courtesy lights are what you are talking about, you can get some webcam privacy covers for a couple of bucks on Amazon to block them.

Ford should add a drive-in theater mode, in addition to a pet mode and car wash mode. I'm sure they'll get Right on it after they get JimRPA his frunk release! ?

 

[dmastro]

OK, so drive-in mode:

* Disables auto shut-off
* Disables all lights even when opening doors
* Disables displays unless tapped (so you can turn off drive-in mode)
* Disables walk-away lock so you don't lock yourself out while you're running out for more popcorn
* Switches speaker channels based camera recognition whether you're facing the screen or away
* Runs climate control to keep the windows from fogging up

Seems easy enough.

 

[RickMachE]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. All really great. So it’s possible to turn off all exterior lights when the car is fully powered on? I didn’t realize that.

Imagine it would be simple for Ford to code a vehicle setting option to adjust audio shut off time when car is off, but since drive ins are all but dead I doubt there would be a huge demand, unless you are on a steak out.

But if you are reading this Ford, it’s on my wish list!

Yes, you turn the knob from Auto to Off...

Your request to Ford indicates that you're not understanding the issue at hand. You don't have a radio. You have a SYNC system, with a big screen and lots of electronic modules connected to it. It can't run off the 12v battery. Ford has already designed a feature to stop people from killing their 12v batteries, and it forces the SYNC system off.

The car is designed to be turned on to accomplish your task. Use CALM mode on the center screen, or bring some towels to cover that and the front dash. Ford's not going to spend 10 seconds on this.

 

[HuntingPudel]

OK, so drive-in mode:

* Disables auto shut-off
* Disables all lights even when opening doors
* Disables displays unless tapped (so you can turn off drive-in mode)
* Disables walk-away lock so you don't lock yourself out while you're running out for more popcorn
* Switches speaker channels based camera recognition whether you're facing the screen or away
* Runs climate control to keep the windows from fogging up

Seems easy enough.

Will they have a “necking mode” for when teenagers are at the drive-in to put the HVAC on overdrive? Windows can get pretty foggy… ??

 

[JDay]

Yes, you turn the knob from Auto to Off...

Your request to Ford indicates that you're not understanding the issue at hand. You don't have a radio. You have a SYNC system, with a big screen and lots of electronic modules connected to it. It can't run off the 12v battery. Ford has already designed a feature to stop people from killing their 12v batteries, and it forces the SYNC system off.

The car is designed to be turned on to accomplish your task. Use CALM mode on the center screen, or bring some towels to cover that and the front dash. Ford's not going to spend 10 seconds on this.

So sync runs off the 12V when the car is off? That makes sense. Good to know. Everything runs off the 12V when the car is off?

 

[HuntingPudel]

So sync runs off the 12V when the car is off? That makes sense. Good to know. Everything runs off the 12V when the car is off?

There is a shutdown timer to completely shut off all of the switched accessories. There are several always-on circuits. ??

 

[RickMachE]

So sync runs off the 12V when the car is off? That makes sense. Good to know. Everything runs off the 12V when the car is off?

There is no alternator The 12V powers almost everything except the drive motors and HVAC.

 

[generaltso]

So sync runs off the 12V when the car is off? That makes sense. Good to know. Everything runs off the 12V when the car is off?

Not just when it's off. The high-voltage battery really only powers the drive motors and the HVAC system (and DC/DC converter to charge the 12V battery).

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