clambert

Hi OverLOAD!

Please put me on your waiting list too! I need this module for my CarPC!

--> rx8aux @ iteconomy.ch

Thanks!

PS: Why am i logged in as clambert? I'm not clambert! Funny...

plasticbiker

Overload,
Would it be possible to send me any data you have on that interface? I'd like to see if I can make something myself. I'm more curious to see if I could do it, not lookin to step on any toes.

Email me Mazda3@CNYElliotts.com

AWillsea

Overload,

Please add me to list. I have been reading all of the posts and this product sounds great!!!!

awillsea@adocservice.com

Thanks,
Tony

Squidward

can we see more pics of it, or a demo of some sort? just keeping my hopes high for the unit

pr5_ipod

I spent several hours the other day scouring the Web for any lead on tapping into the OEM radio for my Protege (which I think behind the pretty faceplate is a similar setup to the RX8, 6 and 3 stereos) and it seems it just might be possible to do it by plugging in an Auxiliary Input Adapter into the jack that the MiniDisc or tape player would plug into. Blitzsafe claims to be working on such a product for the Mazda modular radios.
Feel free to check out what I have learned: http://www.stevedarnley.com/mazda_mp3.html

OverLOAD

That is the goal of this module, in case you missed it.. I am indeed hoping to get the connectors, and still continuing to meet with the brick walls of small business volume. Yes, I want to get this module done. Here it's already practically april and the module still isn't available.

As for pictures, we'll the demo from the first set of pictures I sent is pretty much it. We're not going to order the circuit boards until we have a solid date on a connector, in case we happen across another connector that may work, and we need to change the circuit layout. Still hanging on. I'm going to drill this supplier to find out if they're just trying to brush me off, or if they actually plan to deliver. Right now, they're only stalling.

Otherwise, I'm open to options for the connector. Anyone care to suggest reasonable alternatives? The worst possible scenario, is that we could possibly offer a ribbon cable, or other bare wires that could be connected permanently by anyone brave enough to solder.. not for the faint of heart, and if you mess up, possibly very bad for the radio.. but I know that some of you out there are willing to go to almost any lengths, like me to get what we want out of this car

Regards,

OverLOAD

Tamas

iTrader: (1)

Honestly, I don't care if I need to solder - in case you can provide the unit with the ribbon cable and very clear instructions where to solder, I'm fine with that. As are a good number of your potential customers too, I'm sure :D

bureau13

I'd be in for the solder solution if you haven't found a connector by the time I actually get a car (anyone who wants to hurry me along need only purchase my FD

Maybe you should take a show of hands to get an idea of how many people would be up for the no-connector version?

jds

bureau13

(oops double)

bkrodgers

OverLOAD, have you considered:

- Working with a larger company, such as Blitzsafe, to help through these issues?
- Approaching Mazda themselves to see if they can help?
- Checking to see if the maker of this connector has resellers who will sell smaller quantities?
- You said this wasn't the exact connector, but one that was close enough to work fine. Have you been able to determine who makes the OEM version, to see if you'd have better luck with them?
- Just building the cost of a few connectors into the price of each unit? How much are they, and what's the miminum? If, by adding $5 or $10 to the cost of each unit, we could all just eat the cost of the extras, I don't think people would complain. If it's a cashflow issue for you to make the minimum order, I bet a bunch of people would even preorder to help you out.

Some of those may be obvious, but I just thought I'd suggest them anyway. I think I speak for most people here when I say that, while I really do appreciate your efforts to keep this at a low cost, I'd hate to see the project scrubbed over this. The fact is, anything that comes in under the cost of the tape deck is still a good price that people will pay -- even if it's the same cost as the tape deck, for that matter, since the sound quality (and extra features) are worth something to a lot of people. Of course, I'd love to see it come in around $50-60. But, even if you have to make it $100, with $40 just covering the connector costs, we're still getting off better than we would with the tape deck. So unless you're looking at having to charge $300 to break even, don't let this kill the project if that's the only issue in the way. We'd all like to see it be available for as little as possible, but we'd also all like for it to just be available, regardless!

Good luck, and if there's anything any of us here can do to help, I'm sure I can speak for everyone when I say we're willing!

-Brian

eXentric

I personally agree with everything bkrodgers said. I'm willing to pay a bit of a premium to get this delivered (especiall since I would be one of the first to receive it).

I need this module, and I need it ASAP. My car will have a computer in T - 5 weeks, but I will have no way of connecting the audio without purchasing the tape deck.

Just tell us whatever you need OverLOAD. We'll do our best to help.

Here's another question: What is the manufacturer and part number of the connector you're trying to order? Maybe myself and others can help in searching for an alternate source or similar part elsewhere.

Regards,

eXe

OverLOAD

bkrodgers,

good suggestions. but here's some little problems.

working with a larger company will probably completely kill off the uniquiness of the project, and any control we had over it's direction, such as the add-in modules, and extensibility. That's not necessarily a bad thing if it's the difference between a module, and no module, but I'm not willing to go that route just yet. Perhaps if I was contacted by one of these add-in vandors they could give me some information that would help to change my mind.

Mazda definately won't help. I don't need to ask them to know that. Do you think they helped CanZoomer? I'd love to think that they would, but I just find it very difficult to believe. If they were interested in this module, they could do me a favor and tell me the what the production part is, and possibly even help me source it? I wish. They just don't want to do that. If anyone out there wants to try, please feel free to ask on my behalf, but I doubt that you'll get anywhere.

I've already checked all the resellers I could get a hold of, and I've only found one other one that handles this part, and they're in Russia. They don't answer my messages or emails and I've written them off. the manufacturer is pretty much a direct-only vendor for these types of components. No help there either.

With a 10,000 unit minimum order to get things going, it'll probably cost between $1 and $4 per connector to get these units. I can't cover possibly $20,000 in connectors to get this rolling. I'd have to change an extra $100 per unit just for the damn connector. I'd feel pretty bad having to do that, so I won't.

I can say that I don't want 100 people calling up the manufacturer and saying that they want to buy the connector too. It wouldn't really be helpful. However you have some contacts in the electronics industry and you are serious about looking for this part, PM me and we can discuss the possiblity. I don't have a problem with sharing the part info, I just want to stay on good terms with the part maker, at least until I've completly given up on them. If they force us, Then we can play dirty to get the connector..

Thanks for all the support and positive comments.


Regards.

OverLOAD

mbkowns

I think using a mini-jack for a connection isn't a good Idea. I had a headset phone a minijack plug and it ended up getting bent and the plug ended up getting loose because of constant in a out of my headset. The result of this was a noisy connection and sometimes I wouldn't be able to hear and they would be able to hear me. Now I know I wouldn't be walking around with my Aux Port but just the idea that this can happen isn't something good. RCA Plugs work better since its a more of a stronger plug. I want to build a car-puter in my rx8 I am just working it all out. Maybe you could have 2 RCA's in the back behind the unit so you don't see the wires. Also then have the aux port in front.

I guess I am just ranting but thats what this thread is about.

-KYLE

becks

Hey Overload,

I've been following this thread since the beginning and can you put my name down on the waiting list too? I also know of about 30 other people who want one.

jay_89@hotmail.com

Ped Xing

OverLOAD,

What are the dimensions for the connector you're looking for? What's the size and pin pitch? Maybe we can find another connector that'll work if it was modified. There has to be a card-edge connector that's similar. Something like this or this or something. This guy looks especially good. Or this maybe . I know it's a small space and it'd gotta be secure, but something like this might work.

I know you've probably already looked, but DigiKey will sell small lots of connectors. There are other sources, too. So what's the part you're looking for? What are the dimensions? Set us all loose looking, and maybe someone can come up with the right stuff!

Otherwise, what about a solder-in solution? You could offer them initially to raise some money, get things moving, and offer a special connector later if it works out. I think quite a few folks would be willing to solder it in... Heck, I might want to solder it in even if you do find a sort-of-working connector!

Stephen

eXentric

Here's the pin header that we need. I can't give you exact dimesions, that will have to come from OverLOAD.

Check out OverLOADs hacked cassette module for more reference shots.

Hope OverLOAD can give us a part number to search on...

Ped Xing

OK, so I went down and ripped out my own Miata head unit (a 4H60). All I had was a ruler, so all my measurements are in 16ths of an inch and are not exact. But they're pretty close. Let's go find a connector that matches these dimensions!

This drawing is NOT to scale, and I hope the dimensions are somewhat legible.

So the outer size of the connector should be less than about 9.5mm by 30mm. There needs to be 15 offset "teeth" in a 23mm row with 8 on one side and 7 on the other. The teeth need to have about 2mm between them but not much more than that. And the teeth have to bite less than 4mm from the top of the connector.

I imagine a connector with much more dense "teeth" would work, too, since they could be ganged together...

DigiKey P/N EDC395202-ND is close in size but has 20 contacts. Probably wouldn't work. But P/N S3121ND looks good to me. It has 15 or 30 (?) staggered contacts, fits in all dimensions except depth (which might not matter). Expensive at $11 each, though... See page 2 of this sheet.

Stephen

eXentric

Excellent work Ped Xing. Thank you for taking the time to do that. I'll try to take some time to research myself.

I noticed the document you linked to called the part a "P.C. Card Slot". That sounds (and looks) to me that this part has the same dimensions as the ISA slots common on older computer motherboards. Except this part, of course, looks like its not as wide as a standard ISA port.

If someone had an old 286 laying around, I would think you could rip that port off and see how it fits over the piece comming from the head unit. I haven't seen that part on the head unit, though, so the piece may have to be an exact width...

If it is the same rough dimensions as an ISA port, I've seen some older PC motherboards that had a short connector like the one you linked. They were used for sound or modem daughter cards. Also, my Gigabyte GA-8KNXP has a 6-phase power supply in it that uses a similar funky port. So, maybe we need to look in other places then we might have thought about before...

OverLOAD, had you already thought of these options? Does the port on the cassette deck look like an ISA would at all be a possible replacement (given it were the right width)?

Just thinking out loud here...

bobclevenger

The problem is that ISA connectors have the opposing "pins" in line, while the connector we need has the "pins" offset.
Also, the opposing pins on an ISA connector are (usually) connected together and we need them to be separate.

Tamas

iTrader: (1)

Actually, those shorter slots you are referring to are not THAT old, and even today, they are fairly common on motherboards. They are indeed for modems or network daughter cards, and are called AMR or CNR slots. Not many peripherals are commonly available for them - they were thought mostly for OEMs building PCs.
With that said, by looking at the picture Ped Xing included, it doesn't seem to be likely that they would be even close to what's needed here, unfortunately.

eXentric

Ahh yes, that didn't even cross my mind.

OverLOAD

Ok, here's a the drawing form the Spec sheet for what I've got already. If you want the Part number and manufacturer, PM me and we'll discuss it. I don't want to **** them off with 100's of calls for this part.. not yet anyway.

The pin pitch is 1.4mm offset, or 2.8mm for pins on the same side of the connector. There are 8 on one side, and 7 on the other side. It's a right-angle connector, but we'll work with anything that we can get, right angle or straight through. These dimensions match almost perfectly. The only thing that's different on the Mazda connector is that the pin width is at least 1.0 mm wide instead of 0.8 mm wide.

My best technical description of that part is: A Female, right angle, offset pin, card-edge connector.

edit: PS thanks for all the helpful suggestions. Much appreciated.

m3Momma

I just purchased the Mazda3 and I am VERY intrested in a way to tap into the AUX input. I have the XM Roady and need a way to tie in with a headphone jack at the end. I HATE the FM transmitter. tho I have 8 channels to selct from in certain areas they all override the XM signal. PLEASE include me on the list of those that want a SIMPLE tie in. I am not one to be mucking around with the insides of my car. having enough trouble right now with the AIR BAG light and having the dealer blame my auto start hmmph. BUt MAzda Japan has one that THEY sell for the M3. go figure.

eXentric

Spent some time tonight. Found a really good source for connectors (Hirose).

I'm wondering if this port is really a card-edge port or not... It seems like the ports that look similar are usually referred to as "Board to Board" connectors.

One of the closest I've seen, including the staggard pins, is a DF9 Board to Board. I know it isn't an exact match, but I'm just thinking out loud again. Maybe the connector isn't a card-edge connector after all?

I'll try to do some more searching this weekend.