What's the official solution to bypassing the VSS + e-brake sensor for videos?

[[Cyanide]]

Originally Posted by Foobar

Just a plain ol single pole single throw toggle switch that I had sitting around. You've all seen them before - steel looking lever switch, sometimes has a red guard that you have to lift first to engage the toggle (like on a nuclear launch switch!)

It doesn't match the rest of the interior, but nobody can see it anyway and it responds great to switching by feel since it's out of site but has enough of a distinctive toggle feel to it so I know where it is and what state it's in.

e-brake is grounded to one of the bolts on the head unit.

Ah, gotcha, is there a wiring diagram of which wire is the VSS one? Or can you just tell me? Gonna go pick up a switch and a bit of wiring next week

Originally Posted by Foobar

I'll take a picture when I can, I'm at work and won't be home until after dark so I'll try to get one tomorrow during the day. It's exactly as I've described above though.

All of my movies are either AVI, DIVX, or MPEG. I didn't bother sizing them down from what I had them in and they work fine. There is a size limitation though, I noticed that movies over 1GB in size lock up the index search, so you have to remove those from the USB and restart the car.

Originally Posted by Sportsguy83

Pics??, link to switch??

Lastly, what format of movies work?

Thanks

I found http://www.videotovideo.org/ works GREAT, 100% free, drag and drop a video file, pick DivX, hit convert, (it even converts pretty quickly), put the new file onto your USB drive and it'll play

[Foobar]

Originally Posted by [Cyanide]

Ah, gotcha, is there a wiring diagram of which wire is the VSS one? Or can you just tell me? Gonna go pick up a switch and a bit of wiring next week

Pin 17 of the 20 pin harness, Pink/Green color coding. Just cut it and introduce your SPST switch wiring in between, run the switch somewhere convenient to you, call it a day.

[[Cyanide]]

Originally Posted by Foobar

Pin 17 of the 20 pin harness, Pink/Green color coding. Just cut it and introduce your SPST switch wiring in between, run the switch somewhere convenient to you, call it a day.

What about the e-brake wire?

[[Cyanide]]

Oh, and I have a DivX video file that's over 1Gb in size, the stock headunit reads and plays it just fine.

[Sportsguy83]

Originally Posted by [Cyanide]

What about the e-brake wire?

There is one pin that has a single gray wire coming off of it. Cut that wire and ground it to one of the bolts of the headunit.

Look at my pics

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...6&postcount=39

(Don't use that ground location I don't remember if it works. Since I did that I installed a backup camera and changes the pin altogether. To be sure I would ground it to one HU Bolt which is how I have it now).

[chadstyle]

The reason why the GPS still works without the VSS until you go under a tunnel or do something unexpected by the NAV unit is because the antenna is still triangulating your location to the best of its ability. The little NAV units that people buy and stick to their windshields use triangulation only and is the exact reason they aren't as accurate.

VSS provides a speed pulse to the NAV unit (its also the same wire connected to your odometer, just further down the chain) and keeps the NAV accurate at speed. Most NAV radios also have a reverse wire input, not just for backup camera, so the VSS doesn't fool the radio when you're backing up as the speed pulse doesn't differentiate between forward and reverse.

What most companies sell is a "VIM" kit that allows input of NAV address locations as well as video while driving. Depending on the vehicle and how the radio reacts to the VSS and ground wires it will either send a false signal or just disable the signal momentarily so you can input an address. For the Video In Motion (vim) part it may have to "trick" the radio into thinking the car is stopped but this can also cause funny stuff with NAV locations.

I personally just ground the radio side of the e brake wire permanently and put the VSS on a push button, latching switch. I can push the button once and input my location and once I set my route guidance I push the button again for normal operation. I've set them up on pulse timers before so you push a momentary button and you then have 60 seconds to input your location before the radio returns to the normal state. Some people prefer this as they forget to push the button a second time and then the NAV trips out a little before they realize what's going on. The pulse timer is adjustable up to 90 seconds max so that's usually more than enough time to input an address. In cars that need it disabled to watch video while driving the push button, latching switch is the better option.

Remember, this may be illegal in your state so check the laws before modding VSS and e brake wires to your radio. I'm not responsible for any mods you make that could either void your warranty or get you a traffic ticket or even worse, cause an accident. I simply wanted to share "why" these wires are behind your radio and what they're intended to do for those who were asking in this thread. I hope this description helps as I tried to keep the terms as simple as possible.

[Foobar]

Originally Posted by chadstyle

The reason why the GPS still works without the VSS until you go under a tunnel or do something unexpected by the NAV unit is because the antenna is still triangulating your location to the best of its ability.

You've misunderstood my comment. I understand why GPS works without VSS out in the clear, it was when I enter the tunnel that I was stressing that Nav still works without a signal due to VSS.

My Nav works in the tunnel because of VSS. As soon as I disengage VSS (by way of a SPST switch much like you've described), my GPS is useless in a tunnel since it can no longer see the satellites. With VSS engaged, I still get Nav because it remembered where it last had GPS signal, and based on the speed signal and the map, it figures out how far down the road I've driven (it assumes I'm continuing down the road I was on).

[chadstyle]

Originally Posted by Foobar

You've misunderstood my comment. I understand why GPS works without VSS out in the clear, it was when I enter the tunnel that I was stressing that Nav still works without a signal due to VSS.

My Nav works in the tunnel because of VSS. As soon as I disengage VSS (by way of a SPST switch much like you've described), my GPS is useless in a tunnel since it can no longer see the satellites. With VSS engaged, I still get Nav because it remembered where it last had GPS signal, and based on the speed signal and the map, it figures out how far down the road I've driven (it assumes I'm continuing down the road I was on).

Yes, this is correct. I was explaining why for those who don't understand. The VSS is exactly why your NAV continues to be accurate when it temporarily loses signal. I wasn't stating that anyone in this thread was "wrong" I was just trying to explain for those who don't understand why/how the NAV actually works. Some people have complained of poor satellite reception with this car but I haven't experienced that problem at all...maybe cause we have 0 elevation change throughout the entire state and no mountains of trees to get in the way...

[Sportsguy83]

Originally Posted by chadstyle

Y Some people have complained of poor satellite reception with this car but I haven't experienced that problem at all...maybe cause we have 0 elevation change throughout the entire state and no mountains of trees to get in the way...

I have thought the same and wondered why but your theory actually makes total sense!

[Foobar]

Originally Posted by Sportsguy83

Pics??, link to switch??

Lastly, what format of movies work?

Thanks

Sorry for the delay, I completely forgot about this.



Will probably replace it with something like this to better match the rest of the interior:

[[Cyanide]]

Originally Posted by Foobar

Sorry for the delay, I completely forgot about this.



Will probably replace it with something like this to better match the rest of the interior:

Ohhhhhhh that's really good location, I'm going to have to stick it there as well I think

[chadstyle]

Mine is a small push button in the back of the little pocket between the start button and USB connector port. I'd take a picture but you wouldn't be able to see it...which was my intention visible switches are nasty.

[chadstyle]

I wired this one up with a relay so the light is on when the VSS is bypassed. That way I don't forget to push the button again after I input the address or I'm done using the bypass. Leaving the switch on for long periods with lots of turns, tunnels, mountains, etc can really throw off the NAV unit so this is an easy reminder when I notice my pocket by the start button is glowing red like the rest of my dash lights...

[kuhlka]

Originally Posted by chadstyle

I wired this one up with a relay so the light is on when the VSS is bypassed. That way I don't forget to push the button again after I input the address or I'm done using the bypass. Leaving the switch on for long periods with lots of turns, tunnels, mountains, etc can really throw off the NAV unit so this is an easy reminder when I notice my pocket by the start button is glowing red like the rest of my dash lights...

Attachment 23944

You need to add this audio file when you press the button.

[ame]http://youtu.be/Fc7xF17O-Ck[/ame]