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  #91  
Old 4th July 2022, 05:55 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is online now
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So all change! Things have moved on in 5 years, though I still have the same car of course.

Digital TV reception has proved problematic, maybe due to technical or power changes at the transmitters, I don't really know why.
And now, with fairly universal 4G I can get almost anything I want on my phone.
There have been a couple of other "niggles" so I decided most of this added complexity can go.

Today I started ripping out the TV installation, not as simple as I thought and there's still an aerial lead that is pretty inaccessible to get rid of!
Once I'd done that the camera, which had been intermittent, started working reliably. Until I put everything back and screwed the knee panel back in place.

So, "in for a penny, in for a pound" I decided to take out almost everything and along the way found a loose connection in a power supply lead.
First thing out was the XCarLink, which was less easy than it might be as I had piggybacked several other circuits off its conveniently-accessible wiring.

But once gone I found a handy spare +12v connector driven by the reversing light circuit (RFLS) and decided to try using that to power the video signal converter.
That's no longer needed for TV, just the camera. Worked fine.
(The RNS video input is RGB whereas the tuner and camera both output CVBS, though one is PAL and the other NTSC!)

A bit more simplification, what's left of the wiring tucked away, knee panel back on and the camera is working just fine.

I might reinstate the XCarlink at some time in the future, mainly for the Bluetooth input allowing music streaming from my phone.
Unless there's a simpler solution?

The other audio features - playing music from USB or SD Card - are rather old hat now.
And the handsfree phone facility I've hardly ever used and wouldn't expect to at all in future.
So it's really served its time and should perhaps be retired?

And I still have a covert but functional reversing camera.
And Video-In-Motion so I could still use the camera when reversing at over 5mph.
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!

Last edited by HPsauce; 4th July 2022 at 07:02 PM.
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  #92  
Old 4th July 2022, 07:27 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HPsauce View Post
mainly for the Bluetooth input allowing music streaming from my phone.
Unless there's a simpler solution?
Actually, there might be. The TV input has stereo audio but my reversing camera doesn't use it.

This post on an A2 forum gives an idea of the possibilities: https://www.a2oc.net/community/index...mm-jack.38941/
I can probably patch in whatever I want to the existing video input cabling, it has easily accessible multi-way connectors part way along.

At present the converter supplies the 12v "TV available" trigger signal when it turns on, but I can easily make that come on with the RNS itself.
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!

Last edited by HPsauce; 4th July 2022 at 07:30 PM.
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  #93  
Old 4th July 2022, 08:08 PM
MikkiJayne MikkiJayne is offline
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The USB-Nachruesten box I put in Paul's FE is a pretty simple solution. That has aux and USB input, and bluetooth for streaming and handsfree. It just connects in place of the CD changer, so the changer itself and tv tuner can go away and run everything from the phone.
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  #94  
Old 4th July 2022, 08:12 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is online now
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Thanks MJ I'll have a look at that, I think I've seen similar online.

And looking back almost 6 years in this very thread:
Quote:
Originally Posted by HPsauce View Post
Which leads me on to another thought. The TV input lead to the RNS-D has stereo audio as well, standard phono connectors, I could use these for an audio input of my choice, just need to fit up a jack socket somewhere.... Where would be a good place to hide it?
(My Xcarlink, awaiting refitting, may become redundant now!)
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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  #95  
Old 4th July 2022, 08:18 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikkiJayne View Post
The USB-Nachruesten box I put in Paul's FE is a pretty simple solution.
There seem to be several models, do you happen to know which, how much and where from?
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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  #96  
Old 4th July 2022, 08:29 PM
MikkiJayne MikkiJayne is offline
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Universal streaming box 1701

They won't ship to the UK but we have friends in Germany who can solve that I printed a mounting to put it under the hvac controls in Paul's. I think there are pictures in the thread.

I like these because they are trivial to fit, do everything I need, and just work.
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  #97  
Old 4th July 2022, 08:46 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is online now
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Ah, the barn find that Bert dragged in! Yes here's the sneaky picture:



I'll have a play with the TV audio input first as that will probably do almost all I need and I have almost all the components already including a Bluetooth audio module.
If it doesn't work well enough then that unit seems to cover ALL the bases!
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!

Last edited by HPsauce; 4th July 2022 at 10:16 PM.
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  #98  
Old 4th July 2022, 09:32 PM
Ronin Ronin is offline
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As always: why not just gen an Android HU?
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  #99  
Old 5th July 2022, 04:01 PM
strummagnet strummagnet is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HPsauce View Post
Ah, the barn find that Bert dragged in!
Now my Fabulous Barn Find

The unit does all that I currently need it to do. The USB has six folders to mimic the 6 disc CD locations and you can have up to 999 songs in each folder, though with no way to scroll through apart from pressing 'next' on the head unit - can get tedious - So it is a 'virtual' CD player and works with all the buttons on the head unit.

The bluetooth connection allows (in my case) to use the android phone to use Google Maps or WAZE (whatever the preference). Voice directions will interrupt the 'CD' player if needed. Using Google drive I can use voice commands so don't even have to touch the screen, as it is frowned upon by the boys in blue. I have a holder set on the dashboard that holds my phone out of arms reach but still able to view directions.

Phone calls also pause the 'CD' player. Only annoyance which I have not looked into is notifications on the phone also interrupt proceedings. I am sure there must be a setting for that.

I like the symmetry the OEM unit provides but the screen is just a little dire! Yes it may not be the ideal solution but as this thread there are all sorts of options:

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showpost....09&postcount=1


Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin View Post
As always: why not just gen an Android HU?
Ideally I would like BMW's iDrive
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Gosport UK
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Audi S8 2002 FE Avus Silver / Extended Red Leather.
Daily Driver: BMW 3 series GT - Just more practical for my camping trips!
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  #100  
Old 5th July 2022, 04:09 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is online now
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Chilterns, almost over HS2!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by strummagnet View Post
The USB has six folders to mimic the 6 disc CD locations and you can have up to 999 songs in each folder, though with no way to scroll through apart from pressing 'next' on the head unit - can get tedious - So it is a 'virtual' CD player and works with all the buttons on the head unit.
That's pretty much the same as XCarLink (though maybe only 99 tracks per virtual CD) and they're both limited by the way the RNS works.
As noted earlier, I "may" reinstate the XCarlink depending how Bluetooth via TV-in goes.
One advantage it does have is that you can use the "real" CD changer as well as the virtual one.

The rest of the functions of your unit I don't really need so initially at least I'll stick with audio streaming via Bluetooth on the TV audio input.
I'm just waiting for a mini-jack cable I've ordered to arrive so I can splice it in to the TV input loom. I have everything else I need.

I'm pretty good with maps and planning routes so the RNS-D navigation is more than adequate despite its age.
I don't get real-time traffic information of course but I do actually get RDS-TMC on the RNS (Thanks to Adrian_E for the appropriate map CD).

As for TV I've just been testing the poorly-behaving tuner that I took out of my S8. It's definitely faulty so has been scrapped.
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!

Last edited by HPsauce; 5th July 2022 at 04:46 PM.
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