Audio Upgrade

[Brandon__]

Originally Posted by Vladror

i come in from washing my car... only to see i've been beaten...

the guy from smac emailed me anyway to told me he's still driving down from joburg.. i hope his boot is full of these things so i'm sure to have one...

Keep me in the loop. They haven't emailed me yet and after @sav's post I've gone green with envy:

[sav]

Thanks, I was up until the early morning hours installing it - ran into lots of issues. Check the time on the one photo.
Big thanks to @GeeTee86 for the help as well.

Paid R8799 and SMAC's got stock but they didn't have a demo. I can promise you though, it's well worth every cent. Came with iGO and SA maps as well which is nice but I've already installed TomTom.


It doesn't fit as nicely as the Chinese radio but I don't mind too much to be honest, the functionality and ease of use makes up for it. Sounds great too!

The fitment looks something like this:

[Brandon__]

I think we still need some daylight pics. Keen to see how the edging looks.

@sav so you reckon a wiring noob like myself could install it?

[sav]

Originally Posted by Brandon__

I think we still need some daylight pics. Keen to see how the edging looks.

@sav so you reckon a wiring noob like myself could install it?

I;m not happy with the way it fits to be honest, I'm looking for a nicer bezel. Will take some pics.

The wiring is actually the easy part - you can get a harness adaptor then it's plug & play. Getting the radio itself to fit is actually quite a mission.

[mit_peid]

Originally Posted by sav

Haha well all I can say is - WOW!! The UI is absolutely incredible. It's Android yes, but it doesn't feel like it - they've gone out of their way to make it as intuitive and easy to use as humanly possible. Everything gels nicely. Ask it to play "And justice for all" and it'll check the SD card as well as TuneIn radio.

Very happy with the unit, it's a pity there is no Android Market or PLay Store but it's easy enough side loading apps.

Anybody know where I could buy a mini ELM327 today?

I just bought the Asteroid Smart yesterday for my FRS. Apologies but I am not much of a Android guy (have owned iOS devices for many years now, but what does side loading apps mean? I would really like to see/make Torque run on this thing. How does it work and sound as a car stereo? Can seem to find too many good reviews online yet. Thanks

[sav]

It actually sounds great - enable the super bass option, or whatever it's called and the system comes alive.

Side loading - download the .apk installer file and place it anywhere on the SD card then install via the settings.

Getting Torque onto the unit is the easy part - we've just tried an ELM dongle and couldn't get it to connect. The unit expects password input from the device so it actually wants you to pair from the phone/device and not from the radio. I've got a USB ELM on the way, I suspect that'll do the trick because it's already got USB to Serial drivers because of the GPS dongle.

[mit_peid]

Originally Posted by sav

Thanks, nope I'm following a simpler route - WiFi Elm327 dongle so I don't need bluetooth.

What's the difference between going ELM327 wifi or Bluetooth?

[mit_peid]

Excuse my last post... Hadn't read what you posted before asking. Sorry.

[sav]

No worries.

[mit_peid]

Keep us informed about whether or not the USB KLM dongle works. I want to do the same thing if it does. As always pictures are always welcomed.

[sav]

I'll definitely keep you guys informed and post some pics.

[Vladror]

Originally Posted by Brandon__

I think we still need some daylight pics. Keen to see how the edging looks.

@sav so you reckon a wiring noob like myself could install it?

Brandon, i reckon we should tell smac that installation should be included and save ourselves some trouble...
you can have yours installed first so they can practice

[sav]

Okay, turns out I'm useless at taking pics of radios - it's damn difficult with all the glare.


The LCD looks skew, it's not - it was me ms-painting a big black block over the glare.

[mit_peid]

It sounds like the ELM USB adapter may only work with Android 3.0 or 4.0 and above. It is a bummer ELM Bluetooth isn't working, would cut down on some wiring and would free up a USB port. Good thing we have four (!) with this head unit. Right all four already be reserved for use.

USB 1 - iPhone 5 charger/Internet tethering - routed to come out at the center console area where my IPhone will likely normally be.
USB 2 - GPS antenna
USB 3 - semi-permanent hard-drive in glove compartment
USB 4 - routed and connected to stock USB port for anything else

http://torque-bhp.com/wiki/Bluetooth_Adapters