Electronics…
January 17, 2006
Yay! My project boxes, line filters, PCB etching kit, and a few other things came in today. Now I can get to work on the final bits of putting my iPod in my car.
Coffee Maker
January 17, 2006
Wow, check out the AeroPress coffee maker made by Aerobie. Yes, the same people who make those top-notch flying discs. I think I’ll have to get one of these, as it seems like it’ll solve the problems I’ve been having with inconsistant coffee from my french press.
Visiting the Car Dealer
January 16, 2006
Well, this afternoon I took my vehicle into the dealer to check out an interesting resonating sound which I was hearing at times when the engine was under load and somewhere around 1400-1500 RPM. Turns out that this is a normal sound, and the service person was able to duplicate it on another vehicle. So, everything is good in that regard… Now I just need to wait for my Parts Express order to get here (hopefully tomorrow) and I can finish building my iPod hookup stuff.
Tonight I’m going to try and change the software which runs on the Navigation Unit in order to get rid of the safety warning when it starts up, and possibly change the image displayed as it is booting. We’ll see how that goes. :)
iPod in 2006 Civic Update, Part: Whatever
January 15, 2006
Finished custom Aux In connector. (Click for more…)
Well, a bit more progress was made on the iPod connection for my car. Today I soldered up the Aux In connector, potted it in epoxy for strength, shrink tubed it, soldered a 3.5mm (1/8″) connector on the other end for testing purposes, and tested it out. And guess what? It works just as designed.
The connector fits into the factory connector perfectly, tells the Navigation Unit (head unit) that there is something connected to Aux In, and accepts audio in phase on the proper channels.
Also, while cutting the black TuneDok stem to fit, it seems that I squeezed everything so hard that it caused oil to be squeezed out of the vinyl. Wow.
So, yeah. Both the spacer and heads of the bolts are painted, and I’m just waiting for the aluminum plates to dry so I can photograph them. I did get this really nifty photo of wet paint on one of the aluminum washers which I think could do nicely as a flyer photo or something. Well, provided the flyer was printed fairly nicely.
Now all I need to do is order the rest of the parts I need. These should include a cast aluminum project box, PCB etching kit, tin coating kit, and a few other odds and ends which I need to finish everything up. I’ll go order those now, I think.
Honda ‘Auxiliary Jack Assembly’ Connector
January 15, 2006
Connector for ‘Auxiliary Jack Assembly’ on Honda Wiring Harness
(Click for more…)
Ahh, I think I finally figured out exactly how I would make the connector for inside the dashboard of my car for inputting audio into the connector which originally plugged into the rear of the Aux In connector on my dashboard.
What I ended up doing was taking a PCB salvaged from a 2x CD-R and an old CD-ROM drive controller and pulling the long pins off of the CD-R’s PCB and the plastic .100″ spacer from the CD-ROM controller. I then straightened the pins and assembled the pins into the connector, first bridging pins 1 and 2. (This indicated to the head unit on Honda cars that there is something connected to the auxiliary input.)
I then fit everything into a random (probably the VESA connector) header on an old video card and ensured that there is 3/8″ of pin hanging out the non-wiring side of the spacer. After getting everything aligned, I applied a bit of epoxy to the back (wire) side of the spacer to hold the pins in place.
So, tomorrow, likely after the epoxy has cured, I’m going to cannibalize another MIDI cable for it’s nicely made wire assembly, and I’ll use the red / white / green wires and connect them to the left / right / return (ground) pins on the newly made connector. Then I’m going to attempt to pot the entire solder/wire portion of assembly in epoxy. This will provide a nice bunch of strain relief along with ensuring that nothing in this connector shorts out.
Even though I only need three pins, I think I’ll use a DB9 connector for the other end, the one which will connect to the junction box. It’ll be shielded, easy to solder, unlikely to fall out (screws on the connector), and quite solid.
So, yeah… It’s shaping up nicely thus far. Now it’s bed time or something.
Working With Metal
January 14, 2006
Metal Plates for the iPod Holder
(Click for more…)
Well, I’m getting rather excited about the iPod mount / adapter which I am fitting into my car.
Well, if you compare today’s test fitting to the Jenga-like one from earlier in the week it’s pretty obvious that this new solution with the aluminum plates are a great deal better. Sunday or Monday I’ll finish it up by trimming the dark gray stem from the black TuneDok, taking it all apart, and painting the plates, spacers, and bolt headers. Hopefully that’ll go well, too.
Honda Music Link iPod Adapter Review Redux
January 13, 2006
Well, it turns out that my Honda Music Link iPod Adapter Review has gotten some rather high rankings on Google.
I’m the first hit for honda music link review and honda music link ipod adapter review. I’m also on the first page and within the first handfull of results for honda music link and honda music link ipod.
I’ve also been getting one or two pieces of email per day from people who have read the review. People are generally divided between saying that they either have or have used the Honda Music Link and don’t like it, or who were thinking about buying it and now won’t.
I’m also likely to go to the Auto Show this year and if I do, I’ll be certain to talk to the Honda reps. Based on some photos I saw of the show a few days ago (but can’t find now) Honda to be touting this same iPod connection kit and even has a fully logo’d Element touting this accessory. It’ll be interesting to see what they have to say.
Hmm, it’d be especially interesting if I brought a stack of business cards marked “Read the first review of Honda’s new Music Link iPod Adapter: http://www.nuxx.net/hondamusiclink.html” and left them in the vehicle.
iPod in Car Update
January 13, 2006
Opened Up Dash and Center Console
(Click for more…)
Well, there’s the center console of my car as I had it opened up last night in order to figure out wiring stuffs. I ended up taking the following notes on these three pages which should cover everything I need to get my iPod nicely connected to the Aux In, without any visible wires:
· Accessory Power Socket pinout and notes.
· Auxiliary Jack Assembly pinout and notes.
· Connector E on Navigation Unit pinout and notes.
Despite a bit of digging in the dashboard (photo) I was unable to find a keyed +12v source on Connector E, which is the one which is used to connect audio accessories such as XM, CD changers, and the Honda Music Link. There are two sources of +12v there, but they don’t switch off when the vehicle is turned off. I can only assume that the Honda Music Link works by using a relay to turn off the power sent to the iPod when the vehicle is switched off by noticing a lack of data coming from the Navigation Unit or something, not by a simple loss of power on some lines. Ah well.
That said, I think I’m going to instead get power from the back of the Accessory Power Socket. It turns out that the connector is a simple pair of 1/4″ spade connectors with some nicely moulded plastic around it. I should be able to make a small harness which allows me to both collect power from there and pass power through to the existing socket, so it can still be used.
As far as audio goes, the back of the Auxiliary Jack Assembly is a bank of five pins, .100″ (2.54mm) apart, and just about 3/8″ long each. Of these five pins, the first two are shorted together when a 1/8″ (3.5mm) plug is inserted into the jack. This signals to the Navigation Unit that there is something connected to the Aux In and to make this an available input option via the interface. The other three pins are the standard Left / Right / Ground (Tip / Ring / Sleeve). So, I just need to get a small bank of the appropriate pins, short the first two together, and wire the other three back to the box where all the connections are made.
So, yeah. Lots of progress last night… I only had one problem, which I’m really kicking myself over. See, the navigation unit is held down by two 8mm-head bolts which are inserted from the underside. This probably also makes it a lot harder to steal. Anyway, when inserting one of the bolts I accidently dropped through a relatively small hole and it into the center console where it seems lost. I think it may have rolled to the side and is now somewhere under the carpet. There is still one bolt holding it pretty solidly, but I feel quite stupid about it all. Ah well.
Digital Gray Card and Car Stuff
January 13, 2006
Edge of a Robin Myers DGC-100 Digital Gray Card
(Click for more…)
Well, today I finally received my DGC-100 Digital Gray Card from Robin Myers Imaging. I had read about this just before acquiring my 20D (photo gallery retired), and I finally got around to picking one up.
At US$9.95 (plus $1.10 postage) it’s fairly expensive for a grey card, but it’s also really well made. As it is a solid slab of appropriately colored plastic, should it become scratched or too damaged, one can sand it with 100 grit sand paper and then rinse it off, and it’s good as new. It’s also not vulnerable to things like finger oils and water and such as the cardboard ones are. Also, it seems to be quite a bit more evenly colored than the cardboard one I picked up for around US$3 back at the end of December.
I have to say, after seeing one of these in person, I have to strongly recommend that anyone who needs a grey card get one of these. I like it because it can easily be stuck in a backpack or something, and one doesn’t have to worry about the color rubbing off, corners bending, etc.
Tonight I also did a good bit of work on my car, pulling the dashboard off, Navigation Unit out, and figuring out where to get power and such from for the vehicle. I did screw one thing up, though. And I feel pretty bad about that. See, the Navigation Unit is held down (probably for security reasons) with two bolts up through the bottom of it. Well, when replacing everything at the end of the night, I dropped one of the bolts somewhere in the center console. I spent about 10 minutes looking for it, and I just simply can’t find it. I can only assume that it fell to the side and is now somewhere under the carpet or something. Blah. Well, at least the Navigation Unit is still held down fairly well… I do feel stupid, though.
I grabbed a few pictures of the torn open dash and some scans of my notes of pinouts, but I’ll post them here tomorrow or something.
Also, I think I’ve got the physical mounting of the iPod figured out, and I’ve now got the electrical worked out. The only things I still have to figure out are what connectors to use for the iPod dock cable and the audio out on the box which will couple everything together and where to get a .100″ spacing header with 3/8″ long leads. I’d use a standard IDE connector cut down, but those are only 1/4″ leads. I can work around this if I can find the same connector Honda uses if I look hard enough. (This is for the auxiliary audio input connector.
Now I just need to get all the parts, assemble it all, and install it all. Yay!
Oh, and a HUGE thank you to
AEx 6.3 & iTunes 6.0.2
January 12, 2006
[Cross posted to
Upgrade iTunes to 6.0.2, put the v6.3 firmware on your Airport Express, restart iTunes, and there will be a ‘Multiple Speakers…’ option at the bottom of the drop-down to pick through which Airport Express (or local) to play the music. Select it and one gets the above dialog box.
Nice, eh?
Sync also appears to be dead on…