Permanent fully-integrated car mounting solutions?

texasdiver · 02-25-06, 10:49 AM

Hi guys:

My wife has become addicted to GPS so I'm going to be giving her back her old Axim X5 and Seidio mount for use in her car and get a new X51v for the minivan. My old system which my wife is taking is the standard X5 with Seidio G2500 mount and mapopolis. I haven't ordered any new equipment yet and will continue to use mapopolis as I like it. However I'm trying to figure out in advance how to best integrate the GPS into the car with a minimum of cables and fuss.

Here's what I'm thinking.

1. Get a Seidio G4850 mount and attach it permanently to the dash with a Pro-fit mount of some sort rather than suction cups.

2. Replace the cigarette lighter power cable with a hard-wired circuit that runs into the dash where the mount attaches and ties into an unswitched fuse with an "add-a-circuit" fuse lead. This way I don't have to use up one of the cigarette lighter spots in the car for the PDA mount since I also use them for cell phones, cool-mate coolers and other stuff.

3. Integrate the PDA sound into my car stereo rather than the tiny speaker on the PDA mount by using a casette tape adaptor. I already do this now with the X5 so I can play MP3s and podcasts through the car stereo using the PDA.

Any suggestions on a better, slicker, or more professional way to fully integrate the PDA into my car's systems?

The sloppiest part of this system is the sound integration. I'd love to figure out how to hard-wire the PDA mount into the car's sound system as an accessory so that I didn't have to fuss with wires and the casette tape adaptor. This is primarily for playing MP3s rather than GPS as I run GPS with the sound off and only use it as a moving map rather than for voice guidance. But I'm not sure if that is even possible. I'm pretty certain my car stereo has an unused accessory input. The question is how to wire the PDA mount into the accessory input.

I don't want to re-invent the wheel if others have figured out the best way to fully integrate an Axim into their cars with a minimum of wires. So I'm looking to the collective wisdom of the group.

Thanks!

Clave567 · 02-25-06, 10:59 AM

They do make car stereos that have integrated bluetooth. That might take care of your sound situation. I don't know how expensive they are though. I can't help you on anything else sorry.

Later Dave

02-25-06, 11:11 AM

There are FM transmitters that you can hook into the headphone jack on the pda and then tune your radio to the station that is set on the transmitter and it will play through your car speakers. That way you will not have the wire from the pda to the tape deck in your radio. I use one and they work great

. The one I use is battery powered but you can get ones that plug into a cigarette lighter that you could probally hardwire in also. Good luck and when you get it set up tell us how it went.:approve:

Bagelsnbrew · 02-25-06, 11:32 AM

Fully integrating the PDA might be a fun exercise, but If I had the cash I'd consider a real integrated unit like the Pioneer AVIC-N1.

The main problem with integrating the audio out with a car stereo is that the stereo becomes dedicated to the GPS. No playing the radio and having the GPS interrupt like on OEM units and integrated models like the Pioneer . Personally, I have no trouble with a cheap Arkon vent mount, X51v and a BT-339 GPS. There's 1 wire to deal with. I charge the BT-339 ~ once a month!

Good luck on the project! Post pics!!

02-25-06, 11:48 AM

Try using an all-in-one solution. Here's one from HandNav:

http://www.handnav.co.uk/product_details.php?id=533

It is a powered PDA mount with built-in GPS and audio amplification.

All you have to do is dock the X51 in the cradle.

Another option is to run a wire bundle into the dash like you mentioned.

One pair of wires for the DC power, and a stereo wire for the audio. The audio cable can connect to a DC powered Fm transmitter fitted into the dash, and preset to the FM channel that works best in your area.

Keeping the FM transmitter close to the stereo unit usually provides the stongest signal. I might also sugggest putting a DC "hum" filter on the wires that power the mount and the FM transmitter to keep the signals clean sounding.

If you go for the second option, think about how long you intend to keep the vehicle. It may be worth your time and effort to install modular connectors under the dash for all of these connections, so that you can move your modifications to a new vehicle easily.

Let us know what you choose and how it turns out! Good Luck!

texasdiver · 02-25-06, 01:35 PM

Hi guys, thanks for all the advice.

This exercise is more for the fun of it than anything else. Sure, I could go for a fully-integrated system like, for example, the Eclipse DVD-based NAV systems that can replace my 2-DIN radio. Like the new AVN6600 http://www.eclipse-web.com/ But that's a $2 grand exercise. And I still don't get a PDA that I can pull out and put in my pocket or bring into the house/hotel room for trip planning.

What I have discovered over the past year is that I tend to do two types of driving.

95% of my driving is running around town on errands (I'm a stay-home Dad who works out of a home office) and for all this driving I have no use/need for GPS since I can navigate my small city in my sleep. For this 95% of my driving I like to use the PDA as an MP3 player in the car to play music and podcasts since the radio options here in Central Texas are pretty limited if you don' t care for Rush and Dr. Laura.

5% of my driving is on weekend road trips out of town when I use the GPS. On these longer trips we have the kids in the back and I play movies for them on my old laptop which I mount on a stool between the minivan seats and then play through the rear car speakers with the casette tape adapter. Give's the kids 15" DVD screen and car stereo sound. They love it. In front I use mapopolis without sound to find whatever zoo or museum or whatever we are trying to find.

By hard-wiring the mount into the car I can run it off a different DC circuit than the cigarette lighter which is charging cell phones, running the laptop for movies and other things. That's my primary objective.

I'm less concerned about the sound integration. I do know there are various methods that people have used to integrate iPods into their cars and I can probably research that area. But I haven't done so yet. It's really just a question of how far I can take this project for the fun of it.

joghotrod · 02-25-06, 04:42 PM

I use proclip to mount my X50v and it works great. It tilts and rotates to help with glare. Go to proclip.com. Jimmy

Tankman · 02-25-06, 06:27 PM

You might try the Seidio vent mount.

Get the power cable for your GPS and the hardwire cable.

Done! With 4 six-packs of CD's in the trunk, don't need audio from the Ax.

While is doesn't do it all, here's a pic of the Seidio vent mount.

texasdiver · 02-25-06, 08:42 PM

Actually what I was contemplating was the Seidio with the integrated GPS antenna:

http://www.seidioonline.com/index.as...ROD&ProdID=176

And then use a pro-fit LoBoy mount to mount it to the right side of the radio on my Toyota Sienna

http://www.pro-fit-intl.com/loboy/

I currently am using a pro-fit VSM mount that is attached to the dash but it attaches to the left side closer to the passenger and i'd rather have the GPS closer to my line of sight. The only way I see to do that is with the LoBoy.

I have tried vent mounts and find them unsatisfactory in the Sienna. Anything mounted to the center vents will block access to the climate controls. I've also tried suction cup mounts but the Sienna has such a cab forward windshield that you have to mount it really high up on the window to have it forward enough to see. And I just don't like suction cup mounts getting in my field of vision. Since 95% of the time I am not using the GPS for nav but rather just for MP3s and taking notes and looking up contacts. I don't need it in my field of vision but just near the radio.

I just wired a motorola bluetooth speakerphone into my wife's car and that was a bit of a challenge as it was hard-wired into the car. But I also learned how to do it and am not comfortable tapping off fuses to get DC power.

I do have one question. Does anyone know if the cigarette lighter end of the power cable has any electronics that need to be duplicated. Like a voltage regulator or something? Or can I just cut the lighter plug off the power cord and wire it directly into a DC power supply. I'm not an electronics wizard at all. But I like things neat and with a minimum of wires in the car.

texasdiver · 02-25-06, 08:48 PM

Actually forget that question. I see that Seidio has a hard-wire solution for $9.99

http://www.seidioonline.com/index.as...PROD&ProdID=93

So with the LoBoy adhesive mount I should be good to go for everything but the integrated sound.

Jeb Hoge · 02-25-06, 08:56 PM

What kind of stereo? Factory?

texasdiver · 02-26-06, 12:49 AM

Stock Toyota Sienna stereo. It's a 2-DIN size with single CD player above a casette tape. Don't want to replace it because it has nice features like controls on the steering wheel for volume and changing tracks and inputs.

thechiroguy · 02-26-06, 01:14 AM

does it have a cd changer input on it?? If so you can buy a PBus adaptor which plugs directly to the headphone output on the top..

texasdiver · 02-27-06, 09:48 AM

I'm pretty sure it has a CD changer or unused AUX input although I haven't pulled it out to check. That's the impression I got from the Sienna forums though.

Sounds like that will clean up one wire on the dash though. Except too bad that I can't drive the sound out of the USB connection on the bottom. So I still have a wire to fuss with. Except presumably the sound will be better if I'm not using the casette tape adaptor. Although it's not bad a all.

What's great about porting the PDA sound through the car stereo is that I have volume controls through the steering wheel. Very convenient.

Jeb Hoge · 02-27-06, 12:01 PM

Exactly. I use an adaptor with my Pioneer that routes my audio from the Axim headphone jack through the CD changer input and plays back through my stereo on the AUX setting. The input cord comes out through my dash through a blank button panel just under a vent, and if I had the know-how to hardline the power through that same panel hole, I'd do that too.