JeRKy 8 Owner

I don't know why everyone was saying in those old threads that TV tuner reception is pointless in the car. I get about 12 - 15 local channels that come in great, and even when I'm driving the car, the channels are still decent 90% of the time.

When I have my DVD player/TV tuner active, I switch onto my AuxMod, which brings up "TAPE PLAY" along with an arrow pointing upwards on the LED display. That's compliments of the AuxMod. I like that a lot better than "EX 1" or whatever PIE displays when you switch to that audio mode.

Here's a pic of pre-Heat game coverage sponsered by my camera phone WHILE the car was moving:

LiL BenNy

what tv tuner do you have? are you using factory nav?

presequel

how do u set that up? i want tv on my nav.

JeRKy 8 Owner

LiL Benny: Yes this is factory nav. I'll try to take better pictures later on this week with a real camera instead of my cell phone.

I'm using the Blaupunkt ME-3 DVD player. It has a built in tv tuner that you can switch to, and includes an antenna you connect to the back of it, and then place wherever you want. Right now I've just got the antenna hanging inside the ceiling of my trunk, but it'd probably be a better idea to put it up by the rear glass. I'll tinker with that later on.

presequel: In order to play DVDs and watch tv on your nav screen, first you need to buy the video switching unit that taps into the nav unit's DVD drive...the AVElectronic video switcher. You can get it from mazdaparts.com (they sell it for a little less and they're a forum vendor), or directly from the manufacturer at avelectronic.com. There's two versions of it: a smaller, less expensive one that is meant for installing 1 audio/video device and 1 reverse camera, and then there's the "regular" version which allows you to hook up more devices than you would ever need, plus you can connect additional outputs in case you want to add more screens to your car (like behind the front seats).

I went with the smaller version since the standard one is definitely overkill for my needs. All I wanted was a DVD player and maybe a reverse cam. (Plus, the DVD player I bought lets you connect two other devices to it that you can switch to, so technically I have a DVD player plus the ability to connect 2 more things if I ever wanted to.)

Anyway, truemagellen posted some helpful instructions for installing the video switching unit (with some pics of the installation) here. You have to cut open 4 of the wires from behind the nav unit's DVD drive, and then tap into them with the video switcher's wires. It was a nightmare for me since I don't have a lot of experience with this line of work, but somehow I pulled through and got it done. (EDIT: By the way, I also wired a switch next to the DSC button so I could go back and forth from the DVD player/tv tuner to the nav display whenever I want. Having a DVD or tv channel on while I'm driving is distracting as hell, but I haven't crashed yet. )

thew from mazdaparts.com might be releasing a plug and play version of a video switcher some day, which would eliminate the need to cut into your car's wires, but no one knows when that might happen.

Once the video switcher is wired, you're done with the worst part. After that, all you need to do is connect the DVD player you bought/XBOX/whatever...draw power to it...and then plug it in to the video switcher. You're finished after that in the video department.

The very last thing you're going to need for your DVD player/whatever is a way to connect it to an audio source so you can hear your DVDs/tv tuner.

You can either take the cheap route and buy a little FM Modulator, OR you buy an auxiliary device like the AuxMod or PIE..which connects directly to the head unit. The difference between FM modulator and the other two aux devices are the sound quality. Once you have that up and running, you're completely done. Do a search on those two things for more information about that.

At the end of the day I spent somewhere in the $500 range for the budget video switcher, Blaupunkt ME-3 DVD player, and AuxMod. Would have probably cost closer to a grand if I had a shop install it.

Still trying to find a decent backup camera for reversing so I can finally complete this project, but haven't had the time. Right now I've just got a shitty eBay camera that I'm ready to trash.

JeRKy 8 Owner

I had to drive 10 miles on the highway today and noticed the tv tuner reception got pretty bad in some areas. Guess everyone was right after all. But around the 5 mile radius of where I live and work, the reception is great though so I can't complain about that. I guess results do vary after all. Perhaps an antenna booster would help some.

coolstorm92

iTrader: (1)

Well if you get a GOOD tv tuner and GOOD antenna you can actually get a decent reception even while moving in most big cities, and a VERY GOOD reception while parked. Of course it varies station by station and proximity to the stations antenna. I have used clarion, kenwood, and sony tv tuners with their dvd headunits and find them all to be remarkably better than the blaupunkt and similar cheap units I have tried. The best antennas are by far the kind with 4 mini inputs that have 2 antennas that attach to the upper corners of the back glass and extend vertical and horizontal from each antenna.

JeRKy 8 Owner

At $130 I really can't complain about the Blaupunkt. Its DVD player is great (which was top priority for me), and the tv reception is somewhat decent. I wouldn't doubt that there are other units out there with better tv reception, but since this is merely broadcast television we're talking about here with less than 25 channels to choose from, I'm satisified.

In a year or so when those in-car satellite units come down in price, I may buy one of those. I won't even have to worry about shitty broadcast reception anymore.

presequel

thanks for the breakdown jerky. i think i'll wait for that plug n play thing. O_O i really don't want to cut the wrong wires lol.