Ok so I diy-ed a car mount/dock for the Z3 for my car. Still waiting for my magnetic cable to arrive. Pictures are pretty self explanatory.
1) Magnet to mount
2) NFC Tags for functions
3) Bluetooth dongle for receiving signal from phone (I made the mistake of not buying a head unit with bluetooth built in)
Works pretty well, when mounted, it's sturdy even on bumpy roads and it just "slides" off when I want to take it off. :thumbup:
Related
I'm sick of trying to find a car cradle that has audio out, ps2 and 12v for charging!
Why is it that no manufacturers of xda cradles ever realise that some of us want to listen to mp3's in the car and have tom-tom voice prompts coming through our stereos!
Being right handed, I want my PDA on the right of the steering wheel, so I can operate Tom-Tom before setting off, or change tracks on media player. I did look at the Brodit pro-clip solutions, but they all seem to be for the centre console for my car (a citroen AX)
I've discovered that the driver's side vent mount has a removable panel, which means I can easily mount a small piece of wood (effectively a small flat shelf) for mounting a cradle, this also brings the device out of the reflective glare zone in the windscreen during night driving. It also means all I need is a standard xda iis cradle to do this mod.
So with much careful thought I've decided to do the following:
Buy a spare cradle:
http://www.my-xda.com/xda2s_other.html
Which leads me to the next question....
Has anyone got any modding experience with the xda2/xdaiis cradle?
similar to this old posting for the Wallaby...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=256&highlight=cradle
(although I couldnt see any of the images on this old posting!)
In theory, this project has 3 key issues to resolve...
1) Powering the cradle and Bluetooth GPS
Three options seem to be available...
a) The hobbyist approach...I've seen various "car-kit diagrams" like this one,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/files/xda_car_kit_circuit.jpg
but to be honest I have no pcb making experience.
b) 12V to 5dc cigarette socket transformer adapter to provide power to the cradle, and perhaps to the bluetooth gps for charging. This should be easier to achieve!
Anyone have any links for low cost solutions for this, obviously it would need to convert 12VDC to 5DC at 2-3Amps
c) As the xdaiis usb cradle charges directly from a USB power source, this seems an Ideal solution!
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=EXP_USB-CLA
2) Audio out: THE MAIN PROBLEM!
Ideally I just want to get in the car and cradle the device, no other connections being required.
Therefore I need to modify the xdaiis cradle for audio output...
Ideally, the feed for the audio should come from the bottom connector, when the xdaiis is cradled.
With this in mind, I found this article about dismantling an xdaii cradle...
http://en.pdamobiz.com/en/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=42&PN=1
If you look at the images on this web-page, you can see that - at the back of the cradle on the opposite side of the usb cable from the 5volt dc input is what looks like a pcb pinout for a headphone connector...
is this right? Can anyone confirm this.
Would it be possible to solder a connector onto here (assuming the solder pads connect to the 22pin connector!)
As this would be far easier than mucking about trying to solder onto the miniscule pins on the bottom of the 22pin connector on the cradle as it goes into the pcb!
If it works of course!
b) modify a headset
I did consider modifying an old wallaby headset to wire it into my car amp
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/wiki/Connectors , does anyone have any info on the pinout for the himalaya/blue angel headphone socket? I have also tried a friend's xda II headset on the IIs and yet again they have changed the pinout! The audio connections are once again totally different, resulting in the "echoing" effect when one headset is plugged in from the other device. This means that the audio ground pin has changed since the xdaII headphone socket schematic! This difference is also confirmed by looking at the handsfree "pod" on both headsets... The IIs has one button for answering a call, where the II has two buttons, wether it is the same as the XDA1 (Wallaby) remains to be seen....
c) buy a PDA2k 3.5mm headphone adapter...
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=118289&sbadd=118289
Then use a standard lead to connect it to the hi-fi amp in the car.
3) charging the TOM TOM BLUETOOTH GPS
I'm wary of putting anything other than the recommended voltage (5VDC) into this device, so the best option is to supply power using (1b) or (1c) above, perhaps cutting into the supplied RJ cable to minijack psu to hook it up from the same supply.
While I'm on the subject of the bluetooth gps.... Does anyone knopw how long does the tom tom bluetooth gps work with a full charge?
Does it vary based on an active connection, or is it the same as on standby?
Do I need to power it in the car at all? Can I not just charge it as required at home? There doesnt seem to be much literature about the Bluetooth GPS reciever's battery life in the box!
Anyone care to comment on these ideas?
:lol: :lol:
I think the fact that no-one makes a cradle which provides audio-out through the bottom connector of the XDA2 is because the XDA2 doesn't provide this possibility. It's not the car-kit manufacturers' fault. Blame HTC.
However, I could be wrong... :roll:
My solution: I bought one of these XDA2 mounts ( http://www.pdamods.com/proddetail.asp?prod=A11XDA2MNT&cat=23 ) which works really well. It charges the phone and my TomTom BT GPS. To achieve audio-out I plan (eventually) to use the XDA2's headphone socket by drilling a hole through the mount's base in the right spot and using a 2.5mm jack adapted to play through the car stereo. Not an ideal solution, but surely must be simpler for you than trying to build a reliable (and safe!) 12V -> 5V convertor and butchering a spare XDA2 desktop cradle?
Just a suggestion... 8) Let us know how you get on. Good luck!
QUOTE 12V to 5dc cigarette socket transformer adapter to provide power to the cradle, and perhaps to the bluetooth gps for charging. This should be easier to achieve!
Anyone have any links for low cost solutions for this, obviously it would need to convert 12VDC to 5DC at 2-3Amps
Just about any mobile phone car charger will do.
Silicon s, you must be wrong :lol:
I have found someone that makes a DSP handsfree set with Audio on your car speakers, separate mic and all with the bottom connector. It even delivers laptopconnection for Dialup and GPS.
The overview
http://www.thb.de/showpage.php?lang=en&mode=show_product&cat=1&pid=2
Car Talk DSP
http://www.thb.de/showpage.php?lang=en&mode=show_product&cat=1&pid=2
The Cradles
http://www.thb.de/showpage.php?lang=en&mode=show_product&cat=1&pid=2
XDA docked
http://www.thb.de/bilder/take_talk/mda2_gps_big.jpg
http://www.thb.de/bilder/take_talk/mdaIII_large.jpg
MDA III - Important Information:
Replace file "Wavedev.dll" on your MDA III and restart the system. Audio response now can be listen via loudspeaker.
http://www.thb-service.de/download/MDAIII/Wavedev.dll
FYI, It appears that the replacement WaveDev.dll file offered by the car Kit company causes bluetooth headsets to stop working at all (not just in the car).
tfletch said:
FYI, It appears that the replacement WaveDev.dll file offered by the car Kit company causes bluetooth headsets to stop working at all (not just in the car).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I'm looking for. Have you found anywhere to actually buy them? I looked over the whole site.
How about this alternative cradle. I bought one for my XDAIIs and it works perfectly. Got one for the birds XDA2 and that work great too.
It provides power to either a wired GPS or charges a bluetooth GPS, it has a built in speaker and a cables provided to run from the XDA's headphone socket to the cradle. THIS THING IS LOUD!
One word of caution, the speakers in my car are shielded so I don't get that warning noise from them that I am about to get a call or text. The speaker on the cradle is NOT shielded and so you do get interference when you are about to get a call or switch cells.
http://www.pdamods.com/proddetail.asp?prod=A1SSSPKMNT&cat=23
i thought about using my 6601 as an MP3 player in my car as well. but since my eclipse cdplayer does mp3, i abandoned the idea
option 1: cut up a 2.5mm headset and plug it into the top of the device
pros: cheap and effective
cons: have to plug it in every time (and unplug it to take a call)
option 2: pair a bluetooth headset with the device, crack it open and wire the speaker to a preamp
pros: wireless
cons: ruin an otherwise good bt headset, music would be in mono
option 3:
http://motorola.digitalriver.com/se...e&SiteID=motostor&productID=36065700&Env=BASE
"transfer audio to hands-free"
pros: wireless
cons: EXPENSIVE, pretty vague description
option 4:
http://www.itechdynamic.com/html/border22.htm
http://xprnnews.xfn.info/itech/nightingaleBSH338/en.htm
pros: wireless, stereo, routes incoming cails through car
cons: i cant find it anywhere
its called the "nightingale BSH338" or the "Bluetooth Stereo Clip Headset"
if anyone finds one, please reply with a link
ok i did some more reading on the subject and i found this (page 2 of the forum)
http://www.seidioonline.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=CK8AG21MXDA3
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=17149
Installation
Well, installed it on Saturday - a professional looking, wires-hidden install took less than an hour - quite impressed as i'm not a 'Pro'
The kit comes with everything needed to install it, so as long as you know which wire is which in your car audio harness, you should be ok.
I purchased a spare ISO harness (£10) and chopped into that sitting inside, rather than cramped into my car. It also means if i change cars it's easy to move the car kit without taking wires from the car. The instructions aren't really much cop... But there is a chart detailing which wire on the wiring loom should be connected to which on your car audio leads.
It uses your ignition switched ACC circuit to turn on and off the power to your device, so you won't discharge your car battery if you leave your XDA in the charger. If you don't have an ignition controlled ACC circuit or you don't want it controlled like that, just connect both the 12v and ignition sense leads to your BATT lead on your car audio (put a switch in the ignition sense lead on the car kit if you want to control it yourself.
The kit uses your drivers side car speaker (or which ever one you want). You simply split the pair of cables between your head unit and speakers and the control box sits 'between' them. An external speaker is available but not included (despite what expansys' site said for ages) They can sell you the speaker but they don't stock it.
The microphone has a fairly stiff wire so it's easy to pass it through the headlining in your car to hide it. It's not as 'discrete' a microphone as the "bump" ones that come with Nokia car kits - think Tie-Clip mic and you're on the right track. It more than makes up for it's looks in pick up and echo reduction though.
I hide the fairly chunky control box behind the glovebox in my VX Vectra. It's about 2 foot from there to the back of the head unit and there is cable on the loom to spare. There's about a yard of cable from box to cradle as well. Watch out - the box gets quite warm when powered up, so be careful where you place it.
The cradle itself comes with backing plate connected to the cradle by a ball and socket connector that doesn't budge when tightened. however the backing plate can only move through fairly small angles, so for certain cars you'll need right angle brackets or custom made mounting points to put it on.
Sound Quality
The Sound quality on this is excellent. . There's no echo, no hiss, and the tones are natural unlike the usual tinny or dead car kit speakers. There is a car kit speaker for it seperately if you don't want to use your existing car speakers.
The kit doesn't have any problems powering my aftermarket 70W front speakers either - full volume is TOO loud (no distortion though).
The microphone is excellent. there's no need for the usual 'shouting' down the mic so the caller can hear you. On the motorway at '70' mph (!) i can talk softly and the caller hears me perfectly.
No echo or feedback and there wasn't any Dut-Dutde-Dut-Dutde-Dut pickup either (you know what I mean - the interference the phone signal makes)
GPS
The system provides a female PS2 port for GPS connection & external powering. Be warned! The PS2 port is the 'wrong way round' for Rikaline, Holux, Fortuna etc PS2 GPS mice. Expansys list the adaptor cable (female to female PS2 lead) as one of the accessories for the device, but don't regularly stock it.
I bought a Fortuna U2 PS2 GPS mouse - cheapest one they stock - and it's excellent. TomTom 5 accepts it as a TomTom branded wired GPS and cold start to readings on 7 Satellites was about 35 seconds. Perhaps it comes preloaded with some Epheremis data? I dunno. If i drive from home to work (50 miles) with everything switched off and then plug it in, tom tom takes maybe 5 seconds to notice the change. So far it seems spot on. MPH is out by 2 MPH compared to my speedo, but think that's my speedo
Audio Out & Telemute
The car kit has a telemute cord that you attach to the telemute wire on your head unit or car loom. In my case the head unit mutes the sound to the speakers completely and the car kit 'takes over' the front speaker.
As far as I can see the car kit notices the sound coming out of the XDA and mutes the radio then - theres no telemute signal coming from the XDA. The mute lasts for about 10 seconds AFTER the sound has finished. So when you first press TALK on the phone, the car kit mutes, but if the call hasn't connected and given you a ringing tone 10 seconds later, the kit 'demutes' the stereo. As soon as the car kit starts playing the ringing tone the stereo mutes again. A bit annoying when connection takes a while. The ten second pause in my stereo just because i've recieved a text message gets irritating, but not too much.
The downside for me is that the device plays everything the XDA2s outputs. TomTom, phone, WMA, notifications, the lot, and therefore mutes the stereo while this is going on, so i can't use the headphone socket to play MP3 into the Aux In on my stereo. I'm sure, however that i can figure out some way to 'switch' the wires into a WMA mode where telemute and speaker leads are disconnected. I'd have to switch it back for calls though...
Summary
Excellent car kit , let down slightly by the telemute and audio out function, but fantastic sound quality and nice connections. 8/10. Considering the opposition, there's no contest.
Fortuna U2 GPS seems an excellent receiver, made all the better by the £50 price tag...
Pics later in the week
Links (on Expansys)
Car Kit: http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=122685
Extra Speaker: http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=124130
Fortuna U2 GPS: http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=108897
PS2 Adapter cable: http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=122674
Hi
I use my wizard in the car, and have an adapter (ebay,£3) that goes from the headset out to a microphone and has a 3.5 socket - this then plugs into the mp3 input on my car stereo to give me a full hands-free solution - works great, but I have to unplug the headset connector to use TomTom, otherwise I can't use my stereo while I'm driving!
Anyhow, I've seen a car mount with built in charger and speaker on ebay and at http://www.pdamods.co.uk/products.asp?cat=125 - I was wondering if anyone else had got one and what they thought of it.
My main question is whether it has a built in microphone so that you can use the phone when its in the mount, or does it render the phone useless while it's in there?
** BTW, if anyone want's an easy to install copy of TT6, mail me!
No, that mount does not have a built in microphone. But it works well in combination with a BT handsfree.
That looks a lot like the i.Trek mount offered by Semsons. That mount has a microphone mounted in-line on the cable connecting the Wizard speaker to the mount's powered speaker. It's not shown in the photo but it's on the right side of the mount.
Now if they only made one that powers it and connects an external antenna in one step!
I really wonder if engineers who design stuff like this never get out or get to play with equipment they develop?
I have had a Nokia 6340i for many years and had the handsfree cradle in my vehicles and they were absolutely the best thing since sliced bread! Now however, the newer Nokia's aren't compatible with that kit, so I couldn't upgrade the phone. I was forced to finally buy a new phone and got a Cingular 8125, but now I see there's no powered cradle with antenna connection!
It's really a shame they don't think designs through to the end users needs! I also bought the Pioneer DEH-9800BT stereo, but it doesn't look like it's going to be worth it since I have to tell it to connect evertime I get in the vehicle, which means I have to remove it from my belt case and dork with it to get it connected. The radio also has a limit of 350 contacts for the primary user and I have in excess of 600 and growing so I guess it's going back.
Any other choices anyone can suggest for a Cingular subscriber? I really just want a hands free method for using the phone in the vehicle without having to meddle with the phone or the HF device and also be able to pick up external antenna connection like the Nokia car kit provided for many years of reliable service!
Thanks for any help!
ITADMIN
anyone know where I can get this in Canada?
http://www.pdamods.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=A111UCRIJAMMNT&cat=125
Thanks!
So I'm thinking about turning my old Touch Pro 2 into a GPS for rental cars. That way I can save a few bucks because all the car rental companies charge extra for GPS.
I was thinking there has to be something like this already, and just hoping someone could point me in the right direction for the best one.
Something like a car mount that is not permanent, but sturdy. So I won't have to screw it in or anything, and can easily remove it when I am done with the rental car, but don't have to worry about it falling when I am driving.
It would ideally charge the phone (and connect to the cigarette lighter for power) and also have a built in amplified speaker. That way I could actually hear it when it tells me to turn.
Possibly have an external GPS antenna to connect to it also.
Anyone have any suggestions?
I have a generic mount that attaches via suction cup to the windshield. It has a gooseneck with a mount on the end that will hold anything the approximate size of the TP2.
I purchased it at Microcenter in Dallas a couple of years ago.
Take a look here: http://www.macally.com/EN/Product/ArticleShow.asp?ArticleID=290
mrschwarz said:
I have a generic mount that attaches via suction cup to the windshield. It has a gooseneck with a mount on the end that will hold anything the approximate size of the TP2.
I purchased it at Microcenter in Dallas a couple of years ago.
Take a look here: http://www.macally.com/EN/Product/ArticleShow.asp?ArticleID=290
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I've seen these in stores before too. I was looking for something that will charge the phone though and also has an amplified speaker so I can hear the GPS prompts.
Well.. not sure if there is anything like that that is specifically made JUST for our phones... what I have done in my truck though is use a goose neck mount similar to that above. Then I simply have a charger plugged in to keep the phone charged... obviously..
I actually ran a converter box under my seat... the AC/DC converter boxes, and ran that from the charging outlet in the back of the truck for the people in the back (screw them they dont need that). From there I used a regular wall charger cause they seem to be way longer. That runs under my floor mat and up along the drivers side wall and up to my phone. That would clearly be a bit of a hassle to do if you rent cars all the time. I just cant stand wires all over the place and didnt want to have a car charger stretched across the dash. Now granted trucks are much bigger then trucks so this may not be an issue in a car, especially if you put the gooseneck in the middle of the windshield where most people do. For me I keep my phone off to the far left.
I have tomtom on my phone and use it daily so the GPS thing for me is key.
All my audio is routed right into the car stereo via a bluetooth A2DP car adapter, again... cant stand wires!
When I call comes in I can talk and then hear the people over the stereo using car kit feature.. when voice promts come over the phone its routed to the stereo.... when I'm listening to pandora or slacker radio or even music off the phone in general.. everything over the car stereo. I use the MS voice command all the time while in the car too so I just press the button on the phone.. wait for the "beep" to come over the car stereo and then say "call so and so and the phone repeats it back... I say yes.. and it dials then I'm connected. Another pet peeve is driving around seeing people with their cells up to their ears while they are driving 80 mph on the 75
Here's something similar here NEW A2DP Bluetooth Handsfree Car Kit +Mic+FM+MP3 Player
Or even cheaper here: Bluetooth MP3 FM Transmitter Handsfree A2DP
Cant say why the cheap one so cheap. I do know I myself got a mid range one and when there is no audio coming from the phone there is a slight weird pitch that gets transfered from the fm transmitter to the stereo for some reason. I've actually had 2 of these and they both did it... from different companies so. I dont know! The next one I get will be a more expensive one in hopes that that goes away.
Bascially I've got it set up so that it all works like the microsoft sync they put in new cars. I just bought the truck the other year but didnt feel like dishing out 3 grand for the sync stuff to be put in haha.
Interested in getting a car dock for my I777 anybody know of one that works well but allows the use of cases?
I bought Arkon SM410 dashboard dock through amazon prime. a vent mount comes a long with it, but it doesn't work too well on my truck. The mount is universal so you can fit on other phones as well. I like this mount because i can still because the camera lens is not obstructed. I can take camera shots or video record.
I picked a generic mount out at Wal Mart for like 6 bucks, had to rip off some little styrophome things to fit my phone in, but it worked great for my Captivate and my GS2. Only works in portrait mode though.
All-in-one FM Transmitter Hands-free Car Kit For Blackberry Phone
http://www.ebay.com/itm/All-in-one-...ccessories&hash=item43aa70ecc6#ht_2575wt_1139
It works for me...
I just pulled one of the rubber on the side to make space for the case lol.
it comes with a micro usb and mini usb cable for charging phone.. it is universal.
I found this youtube video where the guy uses his Garman Dock along with a case to mount his GSII, I just happen to have a old Garman mount at home just like the on he uses so when I get home from work I'll have to give this a try
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcFOYdKZpo8
BUT honestly I'd rather find one that is not HUGE as most I have seen, I'd like it to be able to charge the phone and has a AUX out built in to work with my car's sound system, luckily my car's sound system has hands-free bluetooth built in which works quite well with our GSIIs..