akdoggie

The radio bezel is out of 2006 Ford Fusion SE. I had it lying around and use it for reference for the radio and stuff. It was better than throwing away the thing. I liked the carbon fiber trim, so saved it in case I needed a piece of plastic for something. I just found it before I found my spare Mustang center stack.

I figured I best post some pictures of the pieces, so that people would know for a fact that I am doing this, and not blowing smoke up their skirts/shorts. lol. If you look, I left out the small Sain module for the sound system. I only have the one for the B model right now, and Friday, my B+ s/card should be here. Using the newer B+ is easier also when installing the sound card. The B model requires soldering 8 pins to the Raspi head. The + model is plug and play it looks like. That makes another good reason to go with the B+ model. lol

friedmaster

Yeah, it would've been right around the time when tablets started to become popular -- but people weren't using tablets to power these systems. They were actually using PCs; which were either built compact to fit within the dash, or mounted elsewhere, with a vga and usb cable run to the touchscreen monitor in the dash.

Of course, as you mentioned, the costs have come down dramatically.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what you can accomplish in terms of user interface... can you get your steering wheel controls to work? do you have any plans for non-touch interfaces?

akdoggie

Doing this mod is all new to me, so what I learn as I go will help the next guy, I hope. As far as the SWC's, I don't know of a way to make them work right now, and if I get this to work like I want, in the car, not on the bench, then I'll figure what else needs to be added. There is supposedly a kit to do this, but I haven't had the luck of finding it yet. I haven't really looked yet, but if it is out there, I'll run across it. There is one for the NextBook to incorporate that tablet to the car, so that may be where I look for SWC's. Fun, eh?

So far, I have a working bench set up, that still requires some tweaking, but this is a 100% start from scratch set up, it is slow going. Especially since I am not fluent with using the Raspi yet. Hopefully, I have a couple classes I signed up for, these will help me down the road with this.

If this works out like I hope, then it would be easy for anyone with a simple logic of computing to put together. Alaska has long winters, lol, so this gives me sometime to put it together and hope that everything is functioning correctly and there are no issues with fitment or ratting in the dash. That would upset me more than a nonworking radio. lol

If you think about some of the really high priced heads out there, and their functions, this set up would be much better and more meaningful overall. Another thing that is neat about using this system is that you can add a wireless keyboard and mouse to do your computing. This to me helps make it a much better system than a bought and paid for indash unit. Using WiFi you can have cabin cameras, backup and forward cameras, all run thru a simple minicomputer. Using Bluetooth for the phone link works great, so it is coming together. Do these things in the winter is what I like the most about trying this setup. It keeps me warm inside. LOL.

akdoggie

Remember back at the beginning when I said that an 8 inch screen would be the ideal set up? Well, finally I ran across one an it just was discounted $4.00. of it's regular price. They also have an offer to buy, but I guarantee than they won't take less than $61.00, but you can try. I'm going to get one myself, that way I have a perfect fitment in my dash and with everything having a little room to center things.

Here is a link if you are interested.

Cancelled the link due to not being a touch screen monitor. Just a straight LCD screen.

SeanD

Nice display, but I don't think it is a touch screen.

akdoggie

**** you are right. I had all the parameters loaded and everything matched. Somehow it got through my filter and I didn't catch it afterwards. Good catch Sean. These 8 inch screens are perfect in size. I've got an 8 inch tablet, I may take the screen out of and try it. It already has its power drivers and the buttons can be removed easily for incorporation into the sytem. Like I said before, its a trial and error thing, as it's a new world with the use of the Raspi unit to me, but I'll get thru it. lol. Thanks again Sean.

SeanD

Found a 7" Sainsmart screen kit for $54.44 and right now they have a Halloween 20% off sale, so that brings it down to just $43.55 shipped.

http://www.sainsmart.com/7-inch-tft-...i-vga-2av.html

Is 800x480 resolution good enough? I typically see 1024x600, but that might only be for the larger screens.

akdoggie

That is perfect resolution for that screen. I'm trying to buy an 8 inch right now. I put in an offer, and I get the bid then I'll have a 7, 8 and 9 inch screen to work from. Like I said when measuring, the 8 is perfect fit, but the 7 or 9 will work fine. If you need a fram around the 7 inch screen, AM Muscle has a black 12x12 panel they sell, that can be cut and used for the frame. You might consider that for holding the t/screen in place. Just a thought for you.

I'm bidding on an 8 inch t/s right now. I put in an offer and am waiting for their decision on my bid. I'll let you know if I get it and if so will post some info and pics.
I couldn't believe how popular this has gotten in the past 12 months. If it wasn't for the Raspberry this would be a hard job to do. With this mini computer, it takes all the work out of the system.

Also, I found software that gives your Pi a voice interface and works identically to Siri from the Apple phone. I have to download it this afternoon and try it. Not until the NASCAR truck race is over first.

Cavero

I was looking over the specs on that audio board and have a couple things:

1) It looks like a really nice DAC

2) You might need two boards to do 4 channels (one for each speaker). If you used splitters on the L & R channels, you could use one 2-ch board, but then you wouldn't be able to do fade between the front & rear speakers ( of course, I don't know how you would fade between the two different boards in the software).

3) I still think you're going to need an amp. For one, it says right in the specs, "The expansion board provides two kinds of output interfaces to facilitate external amplifiers and other equipment.". For two, almost all aftermarket stereos have an internal amp built in (typically 50W peak, or 12-14W RMS). Those that don't have internal amps are geared towards audiophiles that are going to have a big external amp anyway. This DAC doesn't have a built in amp (otherwise it'd say so and would have a big heat sink on it) . Using this without an amp I can one of 3 things happening: it's too quiet, it sounds like garbage (lots of distortion, will sound very "thin" --no bass or midrange), or somethings going to burn out before too long. You can get pretty decent amps, like the Alpine KTP-445U, for cheap. Here's some info on it: (don't be scared by the price, Crutchfield has pretty high markup, you can get it cheaper elsewhere)

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500KTP4...p445u&skipvs=T

akdoggie

Cavero: It is funny. I have this very amp in my drawer and was considering using it. I got a kick when I saw the very same model being shown to use by you. I bought it last summer when I was going to go with the Nexbook tablet to use. I'm thinking, while I have all this out and testing it, that I'm going to set up the tablet also, and see how well it performs. It is just a plug in difference, so why no give it go before deciding which to use fully. Since I have everything in my junk, it would be a good time to try doing both ideas. Who knows, maybe one in the Mustang and the other in hte Fusion or F150's.

Here is the spec out of the B+ model board.

akdoggie

Hey Cavero. I have a question. You seem to know quite a bit about this kind of mod, so as we go, if I have a problem or question on something, I hope that you won't mind trying to answer or enlighten me or flat out straighten me out, if I f-up something. lol. Your assistance would be appreciated. Anyone else, who might have knowledge of somethings as we go along, feel free to jump in. Heck, even if it isn't the right answer, we can all learn as we go along. That to me is why these threads are created.

Cavero

I'm definitely not an expert, but I'll try to help if I can. I did a series of audio upgrades on my DD in the last month, so I'm still fresh on car audio stuff.

What's the question?

akdoggie

I don't have one just this minute, but I'm not much into amps, so with the Alpine amp of mine was a direct fit for my Alpine head. It's not the U version or universal. I went online to YT and found a good vid on what goes where with it, so I should be good at the start. If I run into anything, I'll try and pick your brain at that time. Thank you.

I am waiting for my audio adapter for my swc (Berhinger 202) so as soon as it gets here, I'll lay everything out for a full bench test drive. lol. That is actually for a tablet to be incorporated, but I'm trying my Nexus at the same time. This way, I only have to dig stuff out one time and have it hooked up correctly beforer installing later. I want all the bugs out the first time and not have them pop up later once everything is all installed. For what I've come up with, the Berhinger controller will work with the t/s set up also. I'll find out this weekend when it gets here.

akdoggie

Well, everything is here now, except my volume/gain controller. It should be here by Saturday, and then I can do a quick post on where everything goes and how it works. I have the KTP445 Alpine all ready to wire in now, but I am still having questions on how to break it out for power in, power out, etc. WIth the PI it isn't hard, but when trying the tablet, I have less to work with when it comes to the speaker output. I ordered a short adapter cable, that should cure my problems of attachement right now. Once that is here, I should have both the tablet idea, and the new t/s with the Raspi up and working correctly by Monday. I have to go to a class on these Pi's, as I'm more Windows based, than Linux. lol. We'll know on Monday, IF I'm teachable. lol

akdoggie

I think I'm going to add an ASUS WL330N3G Lan adapter so that I can have wireless internet, like the new Chevy's (hate that word), have added. It is tried and tested item and the use is growing for adding them to cars. They even have a section that is devoted to use in cars. That makes this almost a no-brainer to add, for out of town wireless. Amazon now has one for $48 shipped, so they are coming down. In Europe they are 60 Euro, so they are expensive there. lol

akdoggie

Today I started to wire up my Alpine amp and ran into some difficulties. If you think about a regular radio, you amp it after the radio head. With a tablet or Raspi, you have no way of wiring like a car. You have to take the amp, use the input wiring for power, but the speakers are wired opposite of what you would think. The input speakers are coming from the tablet/Raspi, while regular wiring is from the output of the radio head. What I did, was take the input power and the output speaker harness and hook them together into the same plug. It sounds wrong, but its' not.

The 8 wires for the speakers, on the input side, I added RCA plugs for each set (4). I then, took the output speaker wires and ran them to the input Ford harness plug. This gives me the use of the radio speakers with an amp. I don't know why any of the write ups online, leave out this step. If you notice, at the end of the output harness, there is two USB hubs. I powered them from the amp, so I have my 5 volts for any accessory without going into the harnesses for power. This just seems to be easier and with less clutter.

They all say to wire your speakers with your head, accordingly, but don't say how. I hope this will help others, who have been scratching something, trying to figure this out. I have added a couple of pics to help show how I went about it. If you have a question, ask.

akdoggie

Here's is a better description and breakdown of the way I wired this. This wiring set up is usable in almost any 2005 up Ford (no Escape before 2008) and some models before. It depends on your heads factory wiring. You can use any brand of car, and adapt your harness accordingly by using the correct connector end. The wiring is the same from one car to another.

Remember that there are 16 wires on each end of the amp, 8 on each end for the speakers. The yellow is constant power, while the red is only powered when in run or accessory mode. Red is not needed on the output side, the way I have it set up. You can use the red wire for any power that needs switched on power. I left it out and in the bundle incase I need it later. There is a blue wire, that triggers the amp being turned on (input side), that needs to be hooked up with the factory plug. Otherwise, other than the black for ground, the rest of the wire are useless. If you have a power antenna or want to hook up your e/brake switch, those are available in the bundled group of wires for each end.

I hope this helps out some. More to follow on how to hook up the swc's and setting it up accordingly. Stay tuned.

SeanD

So which touchscreen are you going to use? Did you get the 8" screen you were bidding on? If so, can you post up a link to it, so I can take a look at it?

Cavero

Lookin good so far, although I'm not quite following what you're saying here:
If I'm reading it right, what you're saying is this:

1. Low-level outputs (or pre-out) from the RasPi DACs are hooked up to the input side of the amp, using the RCA connectors you wired in
2. High level (amplified) outputs from the amp go to the Ford wire harness connector, that hooks into the factory wiring harness
3. Factory wire harness carries the amplified speaker signals to the speakers.

Think there are probably different reasons, depending on their setups. If they're just using the new head unit's internal amp, then you just follow the directions to wire the new HU's wiring harness to the vehicle-specific adapter harness and use the factory wiring.

If you're running an external amp, most people end up running heavier gauge wire direct from the output of the amp to the speakers themselves, bypassing the factory wiring. They do it for a couple reasons -- namely sound quality (the factory harness doesn't have very high quality wiring in it), efficiency, and having the proper gauge for the amount of power you're pushing (i.e. not melting any wires). With big amps its definitely much more of a concern. With the 75W amp you've got, I don't think it'll be that big of a deal. I'm running a 75W JL Audio amp in my Focus, and had to run the front speakers through the factory wiring because there was no way to get the wiring to the doors otherwise. The system sounds great and I haven't had any issues with it. It's been about a year and a half now.


Dumb question I should've asked before...you have the Shaker 500, right (or maybe the 1000)? I remember seeing pics of your door subs. If I remember right from back in 2008 when I installed a Pioneer head unit in my Mustang, the subwoofers had their own low-level outputs from the Shaker head unit. Those then go to small factory amps under the dashboard (one for each subwoofer), and after that it actually goes to the subwoofers in the doors. They were separate from the high-level outputs from the back of the Shaker head unit that drive the full range speakers in the upper doors and rear shelf.

The Pioneer head unit had its own subwoofer low-level outputs that were RCA jacks. The Metra wiring harness I got from Crutchfield had the RCA plugs wired into the factory harness connector to carry the low-level subwoofer outputs from the HU to the factory amps.

With this setup, you might have to split off the RCA outputs from the RasPi into a set of splitters. One of those from the splitters would go to the Alpine amp, and the other set would have to go to a couple lowpass filters before going into the factory harness to go to the subwoofer amps. This is all stuff I'm trying to remember from 7 years ago, so I should definitely go look up some wiring diagrams/threads.

akdoggie

Cavero you have it exactly right. Like I said before, I can wire it, but I may not have the correct nomenclature. lol.

Right now I have a 9 inch t/screen that I am experimenting with, for use with the Raspi. This, currently, is being set up for a Nexus 7 tablet. Once I have everything working this way, then going to the Raspi unit should be a piece of cake. With the tablet, I have everything working right away, so once the wiring is correct, and everything is correct layout, then I'll go and install the Raspi unit. I want things set up from the beginning, that way I don't lose interest and put it in the pile with about 100 projects. lol

Sean: I did not get the bid on the 8 inch screen. Actually the seller didn't even get back to me at all. I sent him at least 3 emails, with no reply. He does a have a buy it now and a offer, but I didn't rebid, since I already had the 9 inch and 7 inch t/screens.

As soon as I have the wiring set up, so I can use swc's and everything, then I can finish the Raspi set up. I'm doing both ways, so I can figure which way i want to end up with in the Mustang, and the other way will go into my F150. Both ways are being done. I'll keep you posted on things I'm using.

I did say about using the UCA202 along with the KTP445 amp, and now I'm adding and using a Mass OTG USB hub and card reader in one. It only cost 9.00 deliver and has all the goodies in one hub location, keeping things neatly contained. I'm going to add a redundant controller for the swc, and that will cover the final problem, steering wheel controls. Remember, we use redundant, not digital controls for the swc's in our Fords. The board isn't here yet, and I will post it up when it gets here, with pictures.