6
Relocating RNS-510 to make room for Tablet
- Thread starter pswhite
- Start date
realcyberbob
Go Kart Champion
Is the tablet removable? If so please post a pic of it removed as well. Looks good!
myfastgti1
Ready to race!
thats amazing
GMP Performance
Ready to race!
:thumbup:Brianjed_TDi
New member
Yes. Details please
Mindfields
Ready to race!
Thats sick, I want to do the same.
Hey all, meant to make another post about it earlier on. It's been a long week between school and work. I've taken some more pictures and will post how I made it happen, hopefully tonight. It's a very much thrown together project, but the end result seems to look close enough to professional for me. With any luck y'all will be able to give me some advice on making the innards of the beast match the appearance on the outside.
--Phil
--Phil
The Details!
Ok so here's the run down:
First off, let me say that I don't have a background in electronics or car audio. Actually I'm a nurse, so if you need a catheter, we're golden. If what I'm doing breaks my car or you try what I did and something goes wrong, my bad.
The route I finally ended up taking was to install an aftermarket head unit using a harness with built in steering wheel controls. This runs the speakers, allows bluetooth handsfree use, and allows me to control the volume with the steering wheel controls.
The Parts:
Sony MEXBT3900U Head Unit - Mid range quality head unit which can do A2DP bluetooth audio and handsfree at the same time, external microphone, and steering wheel controls
Samsung Galaxy Tab - This is the original Galaxy tab, they have another two seven inch ones out now. No real need for the upgraded model, as a head unit the original has plenty of power. The only nice thing about the upgraded ones would be that they might support usbhost, allowing for external storage. This has been updated to CW9 using the Humeros ROM, enabling ICS. Also, adding on the Voodoo Plus app really cleans up the audio.
PAC Audio RP4-VW11 - This is basically the same as the C2R-VW2, except for two things. First it has a steering wheel adapter built in, solid. Second, there's no disclaimer about it not retaining the digital amplifier for dynaudio systems. No idea if this matters because I never actually tried the previous one, but it makes me feel better, and that's what matters.
Metra DDIN Kit - This provides the fascia for the unit, which has been cut to pieces to fit what I need. The two front plates were epoxied together. Good stuff.
Galaxy Tab Car Dock - This does a couple of things. The suction cup mounty thing is gone, the rest of it is used to secure the tablet to the fascia. Nice thing about this is it powers the tablet like a champ, as opposed to the regular USB cable that sometimes doesn't keep it topped off.
USB Extension Cable - This is a ten food extension cable to run the power from the dash to the 12v in the trunk. Just a temporary fix, more on this later.
External Mic for the Sony head unit - Because there's one built into the faceplate of the head unit, but we're about the cover that up with the tablet. Easy fix.
32gb SD card, from wherever. Cheaper the better.
Now that we have all the parts and pieces, we start putting it together. I used 16/18 crimped butts to connect the harness to the wiring for the head unit. The hookups related to the nav stuff was simply taped off. Done.
Next up I ran the power cable to the extension cable down the passenger side, underneath the paneling, then all the way to the back where it plugs into the 12v.
Last bit of prep is the microphone. The cable runs down the driver side paneling up to the steering column where it's mounted.
Head unit gets plugged into the harness, external mic, and the steering wheel control thing. But wait, GASP! There's no real easy way to mount this inside of the cavity where the RNS-510 was. However, if you shove it the hell in there with all the cabling on top of it, it doesn't really move. I told you this was a quality install. Aesthetics of this don't really matter as it will be hidden by the tablet, plus there's enough space behind it for exhaust and cooling. Shove everything on in and it looks like this:
Ok next up is the fascia. The thin front piece was expoxied to the large one, easy enough. Next up, some dremelling. I took the tablet, placed it in the mounting case, held it up against the back of the fascia so everything lined up and started chopping. Eventually I was able to place the tablet against the back of the fascia so it remained flush. Done.
Initially I left the sliding power connected in, but after trying to mount it, this got in the way. With a flat head screwdriver, this part can be pried off and opened up. The actual power board is super small. Pulled that out, wrapped it in electric tape and it was good to go.
Finally, the mount had to be attached to the fascia in some way. This in turn would mount the tablet to the cavity in the dashboard. Otherwise every time you tried to use it, the tablet would fall back into the hole. Being that I'm fancy and refined, I used zip ties. Yup, zip ties, they're friggin amazing. This is the main reason for needing the auto mount, as it gives you something to attach to the fascia. Check out my handiwork:
The lower left mounting hole was removed in order to make room for the 3.5mm out jack in case I needed it. Didn't make a difference in the stability of the mount after being screwed in.
Ok, so the power cable that's hooked to the extension cord is plugged into the makeshift adapter. This provides ACC power when the car is on, check.
With the car on, the bluetooth A2DP is linked to the head unit and the steering wheel controls are set up. Also, my iphone is linked to the head unit at this time. The equalizer settings were taken care of and all the other settings on the head unit, etc etc etc. Main point is: everything is adjusted so I never need to mess with the head unit. Now it's time to shove everything in and mount up the tablet. As such:
Lovely. Finally we put the stock fascia on around the metra fascia:
Maybe a little music?
For the tablet, here's what I used:
Bluetooth A2DP link to the headunit - Provides audio and allows steering wheel controls to change tracks.
GPS Nav - Sygic, Navigon, and Copilot - All three of these have onboard maps, meaning I don't have to waste data from my 2GB AT&T when driving around. Still trying to decide which one I like best. Google navigation is great but the maps are downloaded over 3g as you drive around.
Amazon MP3 - Has a pretty good interface and all my music is on the cloud drive, ready to be downloaded.
Pandora - Cause it's nifty
Spotify - Wouldn't it be great if Spotify displayed in landscape? Renders it useless, one day it'll be cool though.
Google Listen - Pretty good podcast downloader, in order to get Wait Wait Don't Tell me and This American Life
Sirius Radio - Haven't fiddled with it too much as I only used it for NPR and the new wave station anyways.
And finally, the app that brings it all together...Tasker!
Tasker is a great app that can create profiles based on certain events. For instance:
When my tablet senses that it is charging: The screen will turn on, remain on with a timeout of 23 hours, go to max brightness (depending on the time of day), and turn off airplane mode
When the power is disconnected it will: Set the screen timeout to 7 seconds (this is the minimum), turn off bluetooth (this forces the music to pause), turn on airplane mode (saves lots o power), and goes to the homescreen (don't know why, but bluetooth won't automatically connect if it's in an app.
So, when the car turns on...the headunit turns on, my phone connects handsfree to the headunit which is hooked to the handy external mic, the tablet senses power and lights up (staying lit up), connects to the headunit for sound, steering wheel controls are routed to the head unit to control volume and change tracks, and this is all seamless.
Sorry this was fairly long and wordy, but hopefully if anyone wants to do the same, it's shed some light.
Things I'd like to do:
Splice the power into the harness (I've seen this around but have never tried to do it before)
Figure some way to make a backup camera work
Get FM radio working on the tablet
Clean up the fascia (I don't like the gap there is, would have to fill it in, sand it down and paint it. Not very good at that stuff but willing to try)
Get spotify working in landscape mode
Find a 3G hotspot or SIM card with unlimited data so I don't have to worry about going over
Figure a way to make the tablet easily removable (been running this through in my head and have a few ideas, would clean the entire look up as well)
Move the faceplate of the head unit to the glove box. I've seen this done before, looks like it requires a bit of soldering and some CAT5 cable, nothing too fancy. Then I could adjust head unit settings without removing the tablet.
So that's it! Again, sorry if it's long and kind of a messy install, but I'd like any advice from the experts or questions from people who want to do the same. There's no need to settle for a subpar head unit when you can get really creative with something like this! Just think of all the options!
Ok so here's the run down:
First off, let me say that I don't have a background in electronics or car audio. Actually I'm a nurse, so if you need a catheter, we're golden. If what I'm doing breaks my car or you try what I did and something goes wrong, my bad.
The route I finally ended up taking was to install an aftermarket head unit using a harness with built in steering wheel controls. This runs the speakers, allows bluetooth handsfree use, and allows me to control the volume with the steering wheel controls.
The Parts:
Sony MEXBT3900U Head Unit - Mid range quality head unit which can do A2DP bluetooth audio and handsfree at the same time, external microphone, and steering wheel controls
Samsung Galaxy Tab - This is the original Galaxy tab, they have another two seven inch ones out now. No real need for the upgraded model, as a head unit the original has plenty of power. The only nice thing about the upgraded ones would be that they might support usbhost, allowing for external storage. This has been updated to CW9 using the Humeros ROM, enabling ICS. Also, adding on the Voodoo Plus app really cleans up the audio.
PAC Audio RP4-VW11 - This is basically the same as the C2R-VW2, except for two things. First it has a steering wheel adapter built in, solid. Second, there's no disclaimer about it not retaining the digital amplifier for dynaudio systems. No idea if this matters because I never actually tried the previous one, but it makes me feel better, and that's what matters.
Metra DDIN Kit - This provides the fascia for the unit, which has been cut to pieces to fit what I need. The two front plates were epoxied together. Good stuff.
Galaxy Tab Car Dock - This does a couple of things. The suction cup mounty thing is gone, the rest of it is used to secure the tablet to the fascia. Nice thing about this is it powers the tablet like a champ, as opposed to the regular USB cable that sometimes doesn't keep it topped off.
USB Extension Cable - This is a ten food extension cable to run the power from the dash to the 12v in the trunk. Just a temporary fix, more on this later.
External Mic for the Sony head unit - Because there's one built into the faceplate of the head unit, but we're about the cover that up with the tablet. Easy fix.
32gb SD card, from wherever. Cheaper the better.
Now that we have all the parts and pieces, we start putting it together. I used 16/18 crimped butts to connect the harness to the wiring for the head unit. The hookups related to the nav stuff was simply taped off. Done.
Next up I ran the power cable to the extension cable down the passenger side, underneath the paneling, then all the way to the back where it plugs into the 12v.
Last bit of prep is the microphone. The cable runs down the driver side paneling up to the steering column where it's mounted.
Head unit gets plugged into the harness, external mic, and the steering wheel control thing. But wait, GASP! There's no real easy way to mount this inside of the cavity where the RNS-510 was. However, if you shove it the hell in there with all the cabling on top of it, it doesn't really move. I told you this was a quality install. Aesthetics of this don't really matter as it will be hidden by the tablet, plus there's enough space behind it for exhaust and cooling. Shove everything on in and it looks like this:
Ok next up is the fascia. The thin front piece was expoxied to the large one, easy enough. Next up, some dremelling. I took the tablet, placed it in the mounting case, held it up against the back of the fascia so everything lined up and started chopping. Eventually I was able to place the tablet against the back of the fascia so it remained flush. Done.
Initially I left the sliding power connected in, but after trying to mount it, this got in the way. With a flat head screwdriver, this part can be pried off and opened up. The actual power board is super small. Pulled that out, wrapped it in electric tape and it was good to go.
Finally, the mount had to be attached to the fascia in some way. This in turn would mount the tablet to the cavity in the dashboard. Otherwise every time you tried to use it, the tablet would fall back into the hole. Being that I'm fancy and refined, I used zip ties. Yup, zip ties, they're friggin amazing. This is the main reason for needing the auto mount, as it gives you something to attach to the fascia. Check out my handiwork:
The lower left mounting hole was removed in order to make room for the 3.5mm out jack in case I needed it. Didn't make a difference in the stability of the mount after being screwed in.
Ok, so the power cable that's hooked to the extension cord is plugged into the makeshift adapter. This provides ACC power when the car is on, check.
With the car on, the bluetooth A2DP is linked to the head unit and the steering wheel controls are set up. Also, my iphone is linked to the head unit at this time. The equalizer settings were taken care of and all the other settings on the head unit, etc etc etc. Main point is: everything is adjusted so I never need to mess with the head unit. Now it's time to shove everything in and mount up the tablet. As such:
Lovely. Finally we put the stock fascia on around the metra fascia:
Maybe a little music?
For the tablet, here's what I used:
Bluetooth A2DP link to the headunit - Provides audio and allows steering wheel controls to change tracks.
GPS Nav - Sygic, Navigon, and Copilot - All three of these have onboard maps, meaning I don't have to waste data from my 2GB AT&T when driving around. Still trying to decide which one I like best. Google navigation is great but the maps are downloaded over 3g as you drive around.
Amazon MP3 - Has a pretty good interface and all my music is on the cloud drive, ready to be downloaded.
Pandora - Cause it's nifty
Spotify - Wouldn't it be great if Spotify displayed in landscape? Renders it useless, one day it'll be cool though.
Google Listen - Pretty good podcast downloader, in order to get Wait Wait Don't Tell me and This American Life
Sirius Radio - Haven't fiddled with it too much as I only used it for NPR and the new wave station anyways.
And finally, the app that brings it all together...Tasker!
Tasker is a great app that can create profiles based on certain events. For instance:
When my tablet senses that it is charging: The screen will turn on, remain on with a timeout of 23 hours, go to max brightness (depending on the time of day), and turn off airplane mode
When the power is disconnected it will: Set the screen timeout to 7 seconds (this is the minimum), turn off bluetooth (this forces the music to pause), turn on airplane mode (saves lots o power), and goes to the homescreen (don't know why, but bluetooth won't automatically connect if it's in an app.
So, when the car turns on...the headunit turns on, my phone connects handsfree to the headunit which is hooked to the handy external mic, the tablet senses power and lights up (staying lit up), connects to the headunit for sound, steering wheel controls are routed to the head unit to control volume and change tracks, and this is all seamless.
Sorry this was fairly long and wordy, but hopefully if anyone wants to do the same, it's shed some light.
Things I'd like to do:
Splice the power into the harness (I've seen this around but have never tried to do it before)
Figure some way to make a backup camera work
Get FM radio working on the tablet
Clean up the fascia (I don't like the gap there is, would have to fill it in, sand it down and paint it. Not very good at that stuff but willing to try)
Get spotify working in landscape mode
Find a 3G hotspot or SIM card with unlimited data so I don't have to worry about going over
Figure a way to make the tablet easily removable (been running this through in my head and have a few ideas, would clean the entire look up as well)
Move the faceplate of the head unit to the glove box. I've seen this done before, looks like it requires a bit of soldering and some CAT5 cable, nothing too fancy. Then I could adjust head unit settings without removing the tablet.
So that's it! Again, sorry if it's long and kind of a messy install, but I'd like any advice from the experts or questions from people who want to do the same. There's no need to settle for a subpar head unit when you can get really creative with something like this! Just think of all the options!
GMP Performance
Ready to race!
Awesome write up. :clap:
hippiesrock03
Go Kart Champion
WOW.
Sherlock997
Ready to race!
That is pretty bad ass if i must say so myself. Now you need the Bluetooth obd2 dongle and the app so you can have all the digital gauges on the dash just like a GTR. Here is a link to what I'm on about.
http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32231
http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32231
Rolling_GTI
Ready to race!
Great write up. This should be stickied.
If you make a custom UI skin for your tablet now it will look like it came that way from the factory. IE: boot animation a VW logo.
I saw a guy do that to his EVO and most thought it came OEM.
If you make a custom UI skin for your tablet now it will look like it came that way from the factory. IE: boot animation a VW logo.
I saw a guy do that to his EVO and most thought it came OEM.
