Sabre

UPS just delivered mine. Of course, had to open the box to give it the once over. Screen and front face plate look great! Anxious now to get it in and working....but will be sometime next week before I can get to it.

houtex

No.

You *drop everything else* and get that thing in, mister. We want a report, and we want it *YESTERDAY.*

...or... y'know... whenever you get to it, that'll be fine, of course... whatever you feel is best... I guess... maybe... ok...

jim010

I'd like confirmation as to whether the start-up screen can be changed, and if the USB port also charges the iPod.

mrkabc

My Raxiom is here! Just got it about 20 minutes ago! Yeahhhh baby!!!


I opened the box too... looking over the instruction manual right now.





EDIT: Wow, these instructions suck. No mention whatsoever of the antenna or backup camera installation. This is going to be interesting.


Check out the box of all the associated plugs, the GPS antenna, etc.

Hmmmm... this is the backup camera that comes with the Raxiom. It's a EchoMaster VM-201. You can see it here:

http://www.echomaster.com/index.php/...-camera-vm-201

Where the hell do I mount this thing? It shows on the website that I have to drill an 18.5 mm hole. Check out the instruction leaflet that came with it. It says "determine mounting location and install camera (18.5mm hole). Surrrrrrre...

mrkabc

The installation instructions, if anyone is interested in seeing them.


What's missing: GPS antenna installation instructions, backup camera wire routing and installation instructions,


Also, check out the features list, I attached a screen shot. It's available by the manufacturer Rosen Electronics LP for the "Piranha" series:


http://www.rosenelectronics.com/in-dash-multi-media.htm


Jim, I am attaching Rosen's list of supported iPod features. Apparently it will charge all iPods with the exception of the 5th generation iPod Touch.


I am also uploading the Rosen online manual for the NAV operation in case anyone is interested. The manual off Rosen's website is titled "PP1002 Rev A" while the booklet that came with my unit is titled "PP1003-MT", suggesting that it's a newer revision.


In the manual, there's a section titled "Customizable backgrounds and illumination" that reads in part: "...You can customize the style of your unit with backgrounds and illumination. Illumination: Set to Auto/ON/OFF for the unit button" (? Guess I'll find out) ...Illumination Color: Choose white, aqua, blue, red, amber and green to best match vehicle illuminated color. Background: select from several options..."


The good news is that you appear to be able to change the lighting to match your dash/instrument/mood lighting color, but there appears to be no mention of changing the startup screen from "Raxiom". That might be hard coded? There is nothing on Rosen's website to suggest it can be changed.


Getting NAV updates can be obtained here:


https://www.naviextras.com/shop/portal/newLogin


You'll need to register for the site. I've attached a price list for the NAV updates. What's interesting to me is the $19.95/year for the red light camera database.


Note that you'll have to look for updates under the name "Rosen Entertainment Systems Inc., Piranha Series" and NOT "Raxiom".


That's all for now! I'm off to bed. Will start getting ready to install either tomorrow or Sunday.

jim010

Is there DVD in motion and nav input in motion?

Before anyone freaks out, I don't watch it, but on long halls, my boys do. It does take some self training, though, to not watch.

Also want my passenger to access nav function in motion when needed.

Edit:

I found this:

In the AV screen tap the top right corner and a keypad will pop up... type in 7253 and it will bring you to a screen that has about 6 options... the 1st is for Bluetooth.. the 2nd says break, turn that off and bam... u can watch dvd's while u drive...

MadGT

Let the fun begin...woohoo!

lowblustang00

Really looking forward to your reports on this. Let us know guys.

mrkabc

You know it! Going to start tomorrow. Will take lots of pix. Sabre, where are you planning on installing your camera? I am thinking of immediately to the right of the license plate light. Will have to see how to get the wire into the trunk from there. Was wondering if I should pull the bumper cover?

Sabre

I took a quick look this afternoon...to either the right or left of the license plate light looks to be the only practical position. I'll probably go right, since I'm right handed. LOL Would be nice if it could go dead center of the car, but I don't see any practical way of doing that. It says it has 170 degree angle of view, so I would think hugging the light and keeping it as close to the center as possible, would still be OK. It's obviously a vertical mount...I didn't take time to take the plastic piece off of the inside of the back of the trunk that surrounds the trunk latch...so I'm not sure if there will be acces through there, or if the bumper cover will need to be removed. I guess we'll see. I'm a bit disappointed in the camera instructions...to say the least.

My brother has offered to come and help with the install and he can't come until Tuesday morning....so I will wait until then to start. I'll be sure to watch here in the meantime, to see if you work on yours and what you might post.

jim010

The trunk key hole is the best place for the camera, IMO. That is where I have mine.

Here is the how to thread for that. TacoBill had a bracket made for him, but you can make one easy, like I did. To make a bracket, just go to a hobby store and buy a strip of stainless steel for a couple bucks. Cut to the length you need using tin snips and just bend it to the shape you need. You can drill the hole with regular drill and bits. You will need to remove the camera you have from the plastic casing, though.

https://themustangsource.com/forums/...w-pics-455116/

If you have a convertible, then you'll want to add a trunk release button, like I did:

https://themustangsource.com/forums/...w-pics-476737/

mrkabc

Hi Jim, that looks pretty slick! I do want to keep my lock though. I do have a Vert and if the solenoid ever goes out I'll have no access to my trunk.


Sabre: You'll need to pull your rear bumper cover to install the camera, there's no way around it that I can see. I pulled the bumper cover this evening to look around. Here's how:


THE TOOLS YOU'LL NEED:

• 11mm deep socket and ratchet
• Panel puller
• Flat head screwdriver
• Short Phillips screwdriver (if you have a VERY short one, if not, you'll need the next item)
• 1/4" ratchet, 1/4" socket, and a Phillips driver bit (for a power drill)

PULLING YOUR BUMPER COVER:

1. In your trunk, use your flat screwdriver/panel puller to remove the six plastic retainers holding the rear plastic trim piece. Remove trim piece. (Picture 1)
2. Use your 11mm deep socket/ratchet to remove four nuts indicated by the red arrows. These are your upper retainer nuts for the cover. (Picture 2)
3. Go under the car and use your flat screwdriver/panel puller to remove three plastic retainers supporting the bottom of the bumper. (I believe the V6 has 4? Not sure) (Picture 3)
4. Using your short screwdriver, remove two Phillips screws from the bumper cover at the rear of both wheel arches. (4 total) My short screwdriver didn't fit, so I used my 1/4" ratchet as described above. It was either that or pull the wheels. (Picture 4)
5. Now grasp the cover from the wheel arch and pull out and back. The cover should pop out and move backward. Do the same on the other side. Take the opportunity to detach your marker lights at this point. (Picture 5). Your bumper cover should pull back and off. Do NOT pull too far back, or you will break off the Christmas trees (plastic retainer clips) for your license plate light fixture and your marker lights.

This is where I knocked off for the evening. My thoughts:
Picture 6 shows the back of the car where the wiring harness goes into the trunk. I am thinking of running the camera wire through here by poking it through the grommet that runs the lighting wires for the marker/license plate lights and up the passenger side of the car (although this will require me pulling my Shaker 1000 sub... arrgh...)


Picture 7 shows the view of the inside of the bumper cover behind the license plate. I drew target drill areas in red. The good news is that there appears to be plenty of clearance to accommodate the depth of the camera. I don't like the idea of having an asymmetrical camera, but the secondary option of tossing the license plate light and filling in the hole to mount the camera (and maybe getting some sort of surface mount LEDs on either side of the camera) seems like a lot of work.


Picture 8 shows the camera lead. It separates at this plug thingee, although that's not readily apparent and you have to work at it to pull them apart. That makes the wiring easy (IMO) to push it through the grommet into the trunk. Then the fun of wiring it to the front of the car begins!


What do you guys think? I'm planning on wrapping this up tomorrow. Where should I drill holes? Challenges in running wires through the cabin?

Sabre

mrkabc...

So far I think you're right on target with everything. This is pretty much how I was expecting to have to do it.

I have a back seat delete in my car, so in my mind I was exploring the idea of maybe being able to run the camera wire to the front, via under the carpet and up along side of the console/tunnel...straight shot to the front, as it were....but won't know for sure until I get into it. I guess the only other option...as long as the cord/wires are long enough...would be to go to one side or the other, under the door sill, behind the kick panel and then back across under the dash to the center stack.

Have you figured out yet, if the camera actually ties in anywhere so that like a factory system comes on when going into reverse? Or is it live all the time and you just access via the main control panel? The included camera instructions seem to be crap and my short look at them did not indicate to me that there were any connections to make for a "reverse on" feature.

mrkabc

RAXIOM NAV INSTALL DAY TWO:
I decided to not deal with the backup camera today and concentrate on the head unit. I'm not finished - decided to knock off when I ran in to a snag - details below!


TOOLS REQUIRED:

• Panel Puller
• Phillips screwdriver
• 7mm nut driver
• 8mm combo wrench

Disassembly:

1. Remove the top of the center console by opening the lid and removing the two Phillips screws at the very rear.
2. Now use your panel puller and pop the shift boot away (assuming manual, don't know if you have an auto what to do) from the trim. The Raxiom instructions say to remove the shift **** and boot, I didn't bother.
3. Grasp the edges of the console top and pull up and back. Be sure the e-brake is in the up position and your shifter is in 2nd gear. (Picture 1)
4. Grasp the edges of the side trim pieces and pull toward you firmly. They will pop out. Set them aside. (Picture 2)
5. Now remove the six 7mm bolts holding in the bezel. Use your panel puller and pop the bezel forward. You'll need to disconnect the wiring to the 12v power point, the hazard lights, and TCS (3 plugs) above, and two large plugs for the HVAC below. (Picture 3 and 4)
6. Now remove the four 7mm bolts holding the old head unit in. When done, pull the radio forward. This might be a good time to note that if you haven't pulled your CDs from the head unit, you won't be able to get them.
7. Your dashboard should now look like this. (Picture 5) Note the location of your AM/FM antenna wire. That's about as far left as it will go. The problem (and the aforementioned snag) is that the AM/FM antenna won't reach the plug receptacle in the Raxiom head unit! I pulled on it and tried to get a bit more length but it was a no go. Will need to go buy a short extender. Where is Radio Shack when I need them?!?

PREP THE NEW HEAD UNIT

1. In the meantime, I decided to continue as far as I could without an AM/FM antenna. On the Raxiom head unit, pull the shipping screws with your Phillips screwdriver and cover the holes with the provided labels.
2. Now it's time to tackle the wiring harness. It arrives in no less than 12 parts wrapped in plastic bags, including the backup camera. Start by matching up the plugs with the back of the Raxiom head unit. The largest clips into the left. On the right top row from left to right is black, EMPTY (this will be for your handsfree microphone, it's a purple plug but you don't want to plug it in right now), green, and brown. Bottom row is black, empty, and yellow. Plug them all into the head unit, and plug the "DW-RESLINK" (foam surrounded plug thingee) into the wiring harness. Not sure what the other, smaller plugs are for in the other end but they appear not to be used? Bottom line is that before leaving the bench, your wiring should look like this. (Picture 7)
3. Don't forget to add the screw mount to the back! This requires an 8mm open end wrench to tighten. (Picture 8)

Now to test... (continued next post...)

mrkabc

We have a heartbeat! The unit powers up just fine. I decided to call it a night at this point (have to work in the morning!).


I have more comments about its functions, some good, some less so.


Very quickly: The unit powers up fine. No clock when you turn it off. Also, the unit itself is quite noisy. I wonder if it will be as noisy once the dash is put back together. Since I have no AM/FM antenna and no Sirius XM, I elected to play a CD. It runs the Shaker 1000 amp just fine, and the speakers sound great! (with the exception that I think one of my door speakers is going bad so it rattles, but that's not the radio's fault). I tested the NAV with my factory NAV antenna that was still in my dashboard from my disastrous 2007 factory NAV installation, and I got a signal, albeit weak. Not bad for being inside my garage. I'll test it outside and if I get a decent signal, the Raxiom NAV antenna will go in a drawer. Note that my Ford OEM NAV antenna is glued to the inside of the dashboard between the two center vents.


Sabre, to answer your question, there is a green wire labeled "backup +" that appears to tie in to the reverse light. However, the instructions say "green wire not used." I'm going to short it to 12v tomorrow and see what happens once I get the camera hooked up.


Oh, and you'll need to pull the ENTIRE center console, not just the top of it as I said earlier - if you don't, you won't be able to run your pink wire to the e-brake. Not hooking up this wire to the e-brake results in an ANNOYING AS HELL message "Driver is prohibited by law from viewing a video signal on any in-dash monitor while the vehicle is in motion." The hell of it is, the car wasn't moving and I was playing a CD. THERE WAS NO FREAKING VIDEO SIGNAL. My first step will be to hook this wire up and see what happens. Hopefully that will get rid of the message. Stupid *** lawyers.


May I mention once again that THE DIRECTIONS PROVIDED WITH THIS UNIT SUCK DONKEY *****.


I'm off to bed! More soon!

Sabre

mrkabc....

Yep...I agree....was hoping for a LOT better and more detailed install instructions!! The limited instructions leave a LOT to be desired.

I was ready to start on the install this morning. Separated and put everything out on the bench to see and get a feel for what was what and what went where and what I was dealing with.

Then, I realized I'd made the #1 big mistake....I had assumed something. I had assumed the GPS and SiriusXM satellite signal would be picked up by one provided antenna. From what I can tell from the pieces included, the GPS antenna is just the GPS antenna. For the SiriusXM to work, I would need to have the factory antenna on the car already and use the adapter to go from the antenna into the back of the Raxiom unit. I don't have factory SiriusXM with the factory antenna mounted on my car....so I'm short an antenna. Having the SiriusXM was a pretty big portion of the deal of getting this unit. I'm looking into work arounds for this now. Wonder if the factory antenna and wire harness to the radio can be bought from Ford? Can't recall off the top of my head, where the antenna was even located on the Mustangs for the 2007 model year.

Interesting about your factory Nav hooking up. It had the same connector to plug right onto the back of the Raxiom unit where the GPS antenna they provided was supposed to plug into? Did the factory Nav that you put in, have the SiriusXM antenna wire connection too? Or was it just the Nav? Pretty sure only SiriusXM was available when I bought the car in 2007...no Nav. But, if an antenna from say an 09 contained both the Nav and the SiriusXM wiring, then maybe it could be made to work. If it's available that way, it might allow both the Nav and the Sirius XM to be plugged into the factory antenna. Guess I need to make a trip to Ford and start picking the parts guys brain and computer! I COULD get by with not having the SiriusXM through the Raxiom unit and reverting back to my portable radio...but that really defeats a big part of the purpose for purchasing this in the first place!

Still not understand how hooking into the emergency brake safety switch wire works or what it's function is...other than if I don't, I'll get the annoying message. I understand the idea of tapping into the reverse lights to power the camera on...but where do we find that wire? Are there any reverse switch wires coming up from below the console area, from the trans area? The "features" section on American Muscle says of the backup camera:

Back-up Camera. The included full color back-up camera features an "Instant-on" mode when the gear selector is placed in reverse, which automatically displays what is behind your Mustang when backing up. You also have a touch screen option to activate the camera whenever you desire, whether in park or while driving.

Still not sure how we're achieving this...unless the transmission reverse switch for the backup lights is somehow tied into the main wiring harness that were plugging into behind the unit....but I really don't think so. You're suggestion of tapping into the backup lights makes much more sense...but where? It's all as clear as mud!

Also, the brief ( and I use that term loosely ) instruction that came with the camera is confusing too. Not at all understand what they are meaning about the white and green wires and to cut or not to cut? Again...clear as mud.

So....I'm holding off on even starting the install until I get a couple more questions answered and know where I'm at. I think I want to know what my finished product is going to be, before I start.

mrkabc

Hi all!


Due to work restraints (I have a deadline) I'm not able to do any work on the NAV unit today. Bummer.


Sabre: There is no Sirius XM antenna included with the Raxiom kit. OEM was offered from 2008 on up, and it was a "bump" on the trunk lid. It has always been separate from the GPS antenna. (My friend has a 2008 with satellite and NAV, so I have seen her rig.) Sirius XM wasn't a big deal to me so I wasn't planning on installing an antenna. I would think, though, if you are planning on running the backup cam wire that you could bundle a sat radio antenna wire with it as well if you got the OEM sat antenna and mounted it in the trunk. (This project keeps getting bigger and bigger, no?)



EDIT: I found the antenna on eBay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-OEM-GPS-SATELLITE-RADIO-AERIAL-ANTENNA-FORD-LINCOLN-MERCURY-8R3Z-10E893-B-/361150242759?fits=Make%3AFord%7CModel%3AMustang&hash=item54163b5fc7&vxp=mtr

79 bucks. Yes, this project grows and grows...

Reverse wire: I'm going to be looking for a reverse activated wire to tie the green wire in to. I didn't see anything by the shifter, that must mean it's under the car. Where is Taco Bill when I need him? He knew all of this stuff and where it was. Jim, any idea? In the meantime, I'll hook up the camera without mounting it and put 12v on that green wire. If the screen shows camera output at that point, that's our ticket. Worst case scenario we can tap in to the reverse lights at the trunk wiring harness, but that's a bunch of extra wiring I don't want to do.


E-brake: Once you pull the center console the e-brake wiring is exposed. I'm not sure if it's hot when the e-brake is engaged or vice versa. I'll put a volt meter on it to find out. I assume that we just tie in the pink wire to the e-brake circuit and we are good?


Factory NAV Antenna: I am attaching three pictures from my April 2007 factory NAV installation so you can see what the OEM GPS antenna looks like. One is the Nav unit with the antenna to the side, the other is me attaching automotive adhesive tape to the back, and the third is the mounting point behind and between the two front center vents. The stock plug doesn't "quite" fit the Raxiom NAV unit unless you detach the pink plastic carrier from the wire and plug the metal part of the wire directly into the unit. You'll lose the retainer clip, but it's so firmly wedged in there I'm not worried about it falling out. Before you go try to find one, let me *make sure* that it works. Once I mount the camera and put the bumper back on I'll take the Pony outside to definitively say yes or no.


Camera Wires: The camera as I understand it has options for lines on the screen? If you cut the wires you enable the options? I don't know until I activate the camera exactly what that means. Stay tuned, I'm going to do it. Clip clip...


Ghost Town: Anyone on TMS actually watching this thread or am I writing this for my own health? It seems quiet in here. I'm not going to kill myself writing these updates and taking pix if no one is watching. What do you guys think so far? Advice? Tips? Hints? Suggestions?


How about the guys from American Muscle? Any insight? IMO if me and Sabre are a success you'll sell a grip of NAV units. A bit of moral support and info would be welcome.

jim010

I don't remember what I tied my reverse camera into, but according to the diagrams I have, the reverse wire you can tap into is the white with yellow stripe wire or dark green with orange stripe. This wire goes from connector 2280 D on the SJBand runs to the taillights under the passenger side door sill.

jim010

I'm watching. This will help me decide if I buy this or go with the 2nd gen OEM unit from the Ford SUVs or trucks and use teh kit from 4Dtech. If this has in motion DVD and nav inputs and the start-up screen can be changed, I may go for this rather than 4Dtech.

mrkabc

Thanks Jim! I assume that means removing the kick panel on the passenger side, right? While I'm at it, I might as well do my trunk switch mod that you suggested. I bought the switch from Ford back in 2006 when Taco Bill posted that thread and it's been in my laundry room drawer ever since. Time to finish what Taco Bill started.

I also need to pull the driver side "A" pillar cover in order to run the handsfree mic wire to my visor. Good times!