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.
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2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions and extended leather. Ski hatch retrofit. Aftermarket reversing camera. DVB-T and XCarlink now removed as redundant.
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".
(Even rarer than a D2 S8!) 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. Agate Grey/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. Added Auto-dim mirror, Leather seats, 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!
