I Can't Wait!!! :D

Roadys around the world will exult your name in unison!

 

My partners been on vacation all last week, and will be until the end of this week doing work for his folks. He's got the setup and may have gotten fairly far in finishing off the hardware layout. I'm hoping this weekend I'll talk to him and get the low down on what the word is. By the end of next week, we will have production hardware at the latest and will be validating the software in car.

I've made some touch-ups to the software base as well as the WinAmp controls, so it should be working pretty well when we're ready to release the unit.

Regards,

OverLOAD

 

OverLOAD,

I've owned my 3 for nearly a year and have had FM modulated XM for about a month. I can't believe the effort you and your partner have put into this project. Despite some impatient responses , I would rather wait for your (quality) tested AUX-IN module. :D

Please add me to your list. Check book standing by... dfn8lyme2001@yahoo.com

Dfn8lyME

 

def. want one hear also, i think about hooking up my roady xm everyday.. cant wait email me at lonnieschatz@hotmail.com when ur ready.

 

Hi, I have been lurking around for a bit.

I have owned a '04 mazda 3 for about a month now. I have the 6cd changer in my car at the moment, and I've considered selling it for the mp3 player. However, after considering it, I think the line in would be a much better option. I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is and pay a MINIMUM of $75 for a functional unit with a simple headphone/line in jack. Doesnt even have to be RCA for me. I don't need much interaction with the headunit, as long as it accepts line in. It would be nice if it would accept line in just by hitting the tape/md button. I'm not particularly fond of ripping electronics apart and soldering so your possible "part" is of great interest to me. I think your work and dedication speaks volumes and I'm confident that you will have a solution. I am willing to wait for that very product.

Great work, keep it up.

 

Words of encouragement: keep up the good work, OverLOAD!

Now, any words of encouragement for us?

Later!

 

If that's all you need, then why not buy the P.I.E. line-in solution?
It provides RCA line-in and is compatible with the Mazda 3.
Go to RX-8 Garage and you can get the interface box plus the RCA cable adapter for $83.
Or the same can be found at Discount Car Stereo for a little bit more ($94).
You need to hit the CD button to switch (not the TAPE/MD) but that should be no problem :D

 

Extremely anxious for this to be finished... how are things looking overload?

 

I also just want a simple line in for my ipod.
Has anyone used this P.I.E. solution? Could we get some feedback please?
I understand that this solution will disable the CD player, right?

 

Yes- I couldn't wait any longer for this one, so I went the PIE route... works like a charm (and I got to keep my tape deck as well). The only catch is your head unit has to be version 9.55 or higher...

Edit- I dug up this long thread that discusses the PIE:
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-interior-audio-electronics-24/pnp-aux-solution-pie-alpine-adapter-31969/

To display your HU version, press the round "text" button and the "1" stereo preset at the same time.

 

Thanx G8rboy.
So, your CD player does not work anymore?

 

Not at all- the CD changer and Tape deck are left untouched and still work... the PIE plugs in an unused port that is reserved for an external CD changer. The PIE tricks the port into thinking there's an Alpine CD changer attached, and the cable converts the Alpine DIN to RCA's. You just press the "CD" button twice to put the head unit into "EX" mode, and your aux-in device plays.

(Also see some info I appended to my above post^^^^^^^^^^^^^^)

 

That's cool. Thanx.
Where did you place the mini plug input. I'd think in the cup holders area, but it gets really hot in there.

 

Yep... my RCA Lyra fits sideways perfectly over the front cup holder, so I still can use the back one. It's great for security- just slide it shut and everything looks stock. For whatever reason, I don't have a heat problem with my cup holders... even in the summer- although I do keep the lid open most of the time so I can hit the track forward-backward button and see the screen... maybe that allows heat to escape? The TSB for the cup holders came out well after I bought my RX8, so I know I didn't get retrofitted yet...

 

Why is it that the Pie Solution doesn't work on a Mazda6?

 

The P.I.E. works fine for me as well. Firmware 9.55 here.
No idea why is it not compatible with the Mazda 6 - I was surprised about that too, since the radios are supposedly the same - it seems that's not true after all.

 

I'm not using an IPod, but I'm using the PIE adapter for XM. I had Thew upgrade my head unit to 9.67 (I had 9.50 before) and nav and it works like a charm. If you don't want to wait for the custom aux-in, I would go this route. Thew has everything you need.

 

After doing some research, I found this:

http://www.mazda3forums.com/viewtopi...&highlight=aux

Seems to work well with all models of the mazda 3.

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it a lot!

 

OverLOAD,

First off, I'd like to say great job! I'm impressed at how much work you and your partner have put into this project. I, for one, am looking forward to being able to control WinAMP with the steering wheel controls.

Secondly, you may be able to easily extend the PC control to many more programs in addition to WinAMP. I'm not sure if you've seen this before, but a company called Promixis has developed a program called "Girder". With this program, you can control almost anything on the PC, including Winamp, WinDVD, Windows Media Player, etc. Check it out here: Girder. The program itself is $19.95 (it used to be freeware...)

It is scalable in the form of plugins. They already have a "Serial Plugin" that can use a serial device as input. The settings for each device can be imported in the form of an ini file. Adding support for your module 'may' be as easy as creating a "serial extension" ini file with the module's specs, and then learning the signals of each button on the HU. It works just like one of those universal TV/VCR/DVD learning remotes - press learn on the program, hit the button on the remote - very simple.

Below is a sample ini file off of their site. Do any of the settings look familiar?

[Device]
UserName=Remote Point Plus
[Properties]
BaudRate=4
Handshaking=3
ParityBits=0
WordSize=3
StopBits=0
[InputMessage]
Timeout=10
TimeoutValid=1
ShowEvents=1
TermVal=13
TermSize=1
TerminatorProcessing=1
PrefixProcessing=0
Length=4
Translate=1
Type=1
[OutputMessage]
Timeout=1
TimeoutValid=0
ShowEvents=0
TermVal=13
TermSize=1
TerminatorProcessing=0
PrefixProcessing=1
Length=1
Translate=1
Type=1

Just food for thought...

Keep up the good work! Sorry for the long post...

 

spectre3ooo,

I would imagine that it wouldn't be too hard to get the program to recognize the serial messages without much trouble. Depending on what program you would run, I'm sure it could be configured without too much trouble. Obviously, MP3 playing is the most logical possibility. I know that WinAmp isn't everyones favority mp3 player, and it will be pretty easy to use programs like this one to control programs from the information over the serial port.

When we release the unit (Soon I'm hoping), we'll release the message control specification so that it makes interfacing with these programs easier.

Regards,

OverLOAD

 

OverLoad will there be any version restrictions on your aux in?

*Sorry if this has already been answered. I've tried to keep up on this thread and can't remember if this has been brought up before.

 

I was wondering this myself...

 

If OVERLOAD is still planning to use the tape/MD module connector, there will be no version problems. Any HU that accepts the tape or MD module will work.

 

Overload,
I’ve followed up on most of the thread the past few days. I sent you a PM with my email. One question I couldn’t find so far, and I will read further. I am just curious as to how you are planning on producing all these modules. Are you and your partner going to make them all, or are you contracting someone else to do it? Just wondering to get a better idea as to when I might see one after it’s been developed. If you are making them, then god bless your souls, and I will wait patiently. Thanks. Keep up the great work!

BnyBen

 

I hope this will pass as a christmas present *the release date and all*