Sensolutions' iMIV video iPod Multi-Media Melbus Module

[tvurt]

I will pay and Beta as well - I am a software QA and function specialist - and would be happy to do your documentation (if it get me pushed in line . . .)

Tom

[zombie.woof]

I'm interested in beta testing. I have an S80 (UK Spec D5 SE) with the HU-803. I don't have RTI. The iPod is a 4th gen 40Gb (but it's my wifes), haven't decided on the cabling yet. I may put a cable in the glove box to keep it all out of sight. I also have an mStation jukebox in the boot and use an FM modulator at present. The sound quality is crap so I really want to get an Aux input to my system. If the iPod works well (which it sounds like it will), I'll probably sell the mStation and get another iPod (one for me one for the wife), or maybe have a switch between the two units so she can use the iPod and I can carry on with the mStation. Either way I'm very keen to get some decent audio into my system.

Cheers

Paul

[josh1014]

I am VERY interested in being a beta tester for this product, I have a 1999 Volvo S80 T6 With HU-611 headunit. I also have a 4G ipod, 3G ipod, ipod mini and ipod photo that i can use for testing. I would like to use the dension 3G ipod cradle and am ready to pay for the beta product as soon as you guys are ready to ship it out to me.
The only questions I have are how soon we will be able to pay for and get the beta product, how you would like us to pay for it, and how we would be getting firmware updates and whatnot if they become necessary.

[mrg_Ed]

I am hoping to answer these questions in an email I will send out to all who are interested in the betatest.

First we'll test R-Car's car, which allows me to tweak out any difficulties with US cars. I should be shipping the device next week or the week after. We still have to experience the shipping time (vs. acceptable costs)

[mrg_Ed]

I just sent out an email to all who have opted for the betatest. If you haven't received it, pls. send me an email and I'll add/ update you on the list.

[mrg_Ed]

Here's a picture of the first pre-production adapter. I will send this one soon to R-Car after I've finished my tests.

[R-Car]

Beautiful...absolutely beautiful!! So how long will it take to make a batch for beta testers?? Can't you enlist your wife, brother, inlaws, cousins, Boy Scouts, to help make these adapters in your basement??
Looks like the iPod adapter from USA•Spec has been delayed again. Its showing the expected delivery of April 30 on Crutchfield.

[Somekid]

Sex-y!
Looks much prettier than I thought.
So, what are the two inputs on the top? Stereo and ?

[Piers]

Just spent the last 2 hours following this, Edwine you are a true hero, I would love to Beta test (V70 HU-803). I'm also quite Techy (Systems Engineer) and my work college is a EE. I have a laptop with serial port if you need any diag's etc. I'm also visiting Amsterdam next month. By the way I found a great dash bracket which might be of interest. When I fitted my car kit I looked at dashmount (http://www.dashmount.co.uk/volvo.htm) which I have used previously and have been great, but i didn't want to lose the vent or have to look down so far. I also noticed a Volvo carkit in an accessories catalogue and ordered just the install kit and combined it with a Nokia carkit and a autolead box of tricks for the mute as i don't have a AEM. Anyway It's a genuine Volvo part and looks like this and puts your phone/iPod in perfect view while driving.

[JWB]

Anxiously awaiting the e-mail with directions for sending the money to you (you should have received my e-mail address a few weeks back).

Again, thank you for the great work.

[mrg_Ed]

Quote, originally posted by JWB »

Anxiously awaiting the e-mail with directions for sending the money to you (you should have received my e-mail address a few weeks back).

Which I lost....

[JWB]

E-mail sent.

[josh1014]

1. HU-611
2. 4G, 3G, mini and color
3. No RTI
4. 3G iPod Cradle

[JWB]

My US delivered 2004 S60R config:

1. HU-803;
2. 40Gb Gen 4 & 4Gb Mini;
3. No Nav or RTI (but AEM is in); and
4. Dock cable (to allow either iPod to work).

Thank you.

[cbell25]

US Delivered 2002 XC 70

1. HU-613;
2. Ipod Mini
3. No Nav or RTI but AEM is installed
4. Dock cable, but would install the denison cradle and dock if necessary

Thank you for all the work....

Modified by cbell25 at 9:10 AM 3-14-2005

[Somekid]

1. HU-615
2. 4G
3. No RTI
4. Dock Cable

[Anbo32]

mrg_Ed
Have you seen this page before?
http://www3.sympatico.ca/p_bruno/volvo/

/Anders
Stockholm

Searching further on for the firmware

[adam3914]

I would like to be a betta tester. I have an 04 s60, hu-613 and a navigation system, with and a 4th gen ipod. and would be intrested in the dock cable.

[josh1014]

im wondering why this thread has been so quiet as of late. I'm anxiously awaiting the beta version of this product as i'm sure many others are, can we find out some more about the progress?

[mrg_Ed]

josh1014:

You're very right about the silence. sorry about that....it's mainly because I'm trying to figure out how to setup a good business besides running a household and a fulltime job....however I am aware of the fact that I put out expectations.

Since the adapter is ready, there is not much technological stuff to mention as for now. Although I ran into some issues while testing the last couple of weeks, they're all solved now. But it delayed my shipment to R-Car. I'll send the adapter out today or Monday, need to find a little time. It will at least take a week before it arrives and then I can take the next step.

When I proposed the beta, it was my idea to have max. 10 betatesters, which means I could build the adapters myself in spare time. Since I have 30 listed now, it is not doable to build these adapters myself, so I started to look into professional production. I really wanted to get the price down, without losing any quality aspects. The quotes I got here in NL are not that good for a definite GO, which means I still need to find a good production company and decide what to do.

I managed yesterday to find out where to get the iPod dock connector after some extensive searching, which means I don't have to rely on the Dension solution anymore. That's a big cost saving. I'll also look into local (US) production to get a better price. I'm sure you'll understand that this takes a lot of time...and hard decisions.

I can fully understand if someone loses interest and tries to get another solution in the market. That's ok. I'm trying to get the best out of it for us all (fair profit for me, good price and good quality for you guys).

Hope this answers some of your questions...

Edwin

BTW. Thanks for asking!

[mrg_Ed]

Here are some pics of my final install in the car with the Dension cradle.

Here you see the adapter in advanced mode:
- iPod locked showing Volvo logo
- HU displaying playlist (10) and track (95) info

Here you see the adapter in simple mode:
- iPod free to control it by hand
- HU displays no CD / TRK info - "CD TRK99" indicates simple mode

Here you see how I attached the cradle. I made a plate out of perspex and put it behind the mobile phone carkit plate, so I didn't have to crack anything open or damage something..

[fyonn]

so, R-car, you got your adapter yet? d'it werk? give us the gory details, pics, mini review etc.

don't keep us waiting

dave

[josh1014]

Don't worry, I'm absolutely willing to wait for you to get all of this straightened out as I'm still very interested in beta testing your product. I would like to use the dension 3G ipod cradle however, so I hope that will still be an option when purchasing your beta/final unit. Are you still gonna make that an option despite how expensive it is?

[mrg_Ed]

Yes, the Dension option remains available, I will provide the same pin layout and miniDIN connector as Dension has, so the cables are compatible.

For the beta I will provide the Dension cradle at special request, for production you'll have to get one from Dension by yourselves....

[pjnef]

Hello,

I've been reading this forum (and the earlier post) about the iPod with a lot of interest. I am also very interested in the results of the beta test. I am wondering if it works on the HU-1205 on a V40 2004 model as well. I have a 3G iPod and the HU-1205 navigation system installed. It would be very nice to have the iPod connected to the car stereo..

If this is possible, and the beta list is still open, I'm in for it!

Thanks in advance,
pjnef

[mrg_Ed]

Since we have exactly the same setup, I can assure you that the adapter will work right away, when you plug it in.

I sold my first proto last week to someone with a V40 who just wanted an AUX in. We simply plugged the adapter in the HU and it worked fine.

[pjnef]

Hello,

Well, should you need another beta-tester in holland, you can count me in! If not, can you put me on the interest-list when the product is finished, I will most certainly order one!!

P-J

[josh1014]

sounds good, and put me on the list for getting one from you during beta, hehe. I'd rather not deal with Dension again, I had a bad experience with them. Basically they told me the icelink would work with my volvo and if not they would let me send it back for a full refund, obviously the connector didnt fit the back of the headunit, and then when i tried to send it back for my refund, i had plenty of hassles with them in letting me do so.

[KAOS1972]

First off.....It has been enjoyable watching (lurking) this thread & invention develop......Thanks for sharing the experience with all of us.

I am in no-way a "techie", and get lost in a lot of the details, so a simple if not stupid question........Does your development have any current or future application to the MOST (?) audio system found in the XC90 / S40?

Thanks

[mrg_Ed]

No, MOST is not supported.

I've looked into MOST very briefly and for what I understand of it, it is a digital bus, glassfibre based to support a wide range of devices.
It is rather complicated and I'm sure once this gets more 'commodity' technology more and more standard interface solutions will become available. This basically means that it should be easier to interface (for techies like myself) and that 3rd party equipment could be attached as well (keep on dreaming?? - don't know)

I'm wondering:
The iPod provides an analog output signal only (although it uses digital audio files MP3/AAC) So the audio signal follows this route:

digital (MP3) - analog (iPod out) - digital (A/D converter for MOST) - MOST transportation - analog (HU, so signal can be heard on the carspeakers)

Seems to me like a long (and expensive!) route...

maybe you'd better attach a harddisk, loaded with MP3's, directly (instead of using the iPod's harddisk to stay digital)

[josh1014]

any more updates for us? I can't wait to finally beta test this thing!

[mrg_Ed]

Ok, here's the (long awaited) update.

Currently the adapter is being tested in R-Car's car. There are some issues to solve and it turned out that the sniffer needed a firmware upgrade. I sent a new chip over, which should hopefully arrive next week, so we can test some more. This weekend the adapter will be tested in a 'plain' V70 to see how that comes out.

On the other hand I'm talking to an American company to have the adapters produced and distributed. I no longer need to depend on the iceLink cradle/cable solution, which makes the adapter sellable at a fair price. They are currently in a quoting process, I'm not sure how long that takes. I assume they could start producing in a few weeks time, once we get the deal done.

@holderad:
Yes, you could use this adapter to use as an AUX-in for satellite radio. However I assume you want the sat. radio controlled by the HU as well. In that case I need to know how the sat. radio can be controlled. If anyone could come up with this info, I may engineer an XM satellite radio interface as well.

[holderad]

I don't know of anyone that knows how to contol the XM MyFi. I think it is so new that the after market stuff has not caught up. I would just be happy with an AUX input at this point. However, I would think it was awesome if I could control it via my HU-803 headunit. Until there is something better, I am going with wired FM modulation because it is cheap and easy and sounds fairly decent. Thanks!!

[StaggRLee]

Quote, originally posted by holderad »

I don't know of anyone that knows how to contol the XM MyFi. I think it is so new that the after market stuff has not caught up. I would just be happy with an AUX input at this point. However, I would think it was awesome if I could control it via my HU-803 headunit. Until there is something better, I am going with wired FM modulation because it is cheap and easy and sounds fairly decent. Thanks!!

The XM protocol has been reverse engineered and details are posted in a number of places. The MyFi however doesn't have the control interface port necessary to manipulate the tuner.

Protocol

This was originally done for the USB connected XMPCR before it was discontinued, but was quickly adapted to control the newer Terk branded XMDirect universal tuner.

There are also specs on how to create an XMDirect interface cable by modifying an older style Mac mini DIN printer cable. Although this is commonly used for in-car PCs, the control logic and data is very easily read and manipulated using RS232. Once the control data is handled the audio output is via standard analog outputs which could utilize an Aux input on Mr. Eg's interface.

Cable

The XMDirect tuner is currently available for about $10 after rebates from buy.com and that beats the pants off the Volvo $500 Sirius tuner and XM's better than Sirius any IMO but there are ways to emulate adapt either service; XM is just more popular with people doing the modifications.

[holderad]

OK, So, how hard would it be to add an AUX input to your device Mr. Eg and retain the Ipod functions? The USA Spec device uses "disk 6" as the AUX input. Can you do this? If you could, I will preorder from you and even through some change in for R&R. I would really kill for the ability to plug my Ipod in and my XM Sat radio into my head unit and control the Ipod with the headunit! Your device sounds 1000's times better than USA Specs device! I would throw a lot more change in for R&R if you could get the Head Unit to display the info from any XM Sat radio tuner or (even better) from the MyFi XM Sat radio. If I just had become an EE instead of a MD. Man, I blew it! PS: The MyFi DOES have the port necessary for a wired controler at the bottom of the device similar to an Ipod (8pin data port). I know it is possible to control it, and the functions are built into the devices chip because it comes with a remote control that will control everything. Holy Cow!! I just realized looking at the cable from the last post that it is the exact same that plugs into the bottom of the MyFi!! So that is the cable and protocol for direct connecting it!! WOW Mr. Ed you could change the world if you integrated this into your design. A device to take your satellite radio and Ipod with you that plugs into your head unit! and is controled from the head unit! Man, I need to take a break.

Modified by holderad at 12:59 PM 5-8-2005


Modified by holderad at 1:00 PM 5-8-2005