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I got me one Pioneer AVH-P4100 (wow, price went up 40 bucks since i ordered it).

the plan is to install it this weekend, but one thing i know i'm going to need to do, is to bypass the switch needed to be able to use the DVD while the car is NOT parked. Did some search, and this one *seems* like it's a novel idea to bypass it without having to manually switch it every time:

writeup


since the thread has no reply, and i suck at electronics, can someone take a look and verify that this will indeed, work rather than blow stuff up?..

Should work assuming the parking brake is supposed to provide a ground. But not sure why just putting that wire permanently to ground wouldn't work.

thus my "not electronically savy" question..

i would imagine that the typical brake switch under the parking brake lever would a normally closed, providing continuity to ground when the parking brake lever is up and not in contact. and then the circuit gets cut when the level is lowered onto the switch to open the circuit?

i hate electronics.

I used a relay for my pioneer. It works perfectly, unless you turn the key too fast, then the unit doesnt see the correct signal. This may just be my car, not sure. I think I remember connecting 3 wires, and the green wire, (normally the parking brake) needs to be the one that is switched.

*edit* Just grounding that parking brake wire doesnt work anymore, the units have gotten smarter over the years. I needs to see the on/off switch.

Jeff Shyu wrote:I got me one Pioneer AVH-P4100 (wow, price went up 40 bucks since i ordered it).

the plan is to install it this weekend, but one thing i know i'm going to need to do, is to bypass the switch needed to be able to use the DVD while the car is NOT parked. Did some search, and this one *seems* like it's a novel idea to bypass it without having to manually switch it every time:

writeup


since the thread has no reply, and i suck at electronics, can someone take a look and verify that this will indeed, work rather than blow stuff up?..

I'm confused. When you enengize the relay, I assume by turning the head unit on, you connect a ground to the parking brake? Doesn't really make sense to me.

How is the unit powered? Is there an interlock in the head unit that you're trying to defeat?

The units have a *feature* that will not allow DVDs to play while the car is moving. What the makers want you to do is connect this wire to the parking brake. By doing that the head unit sees a ground from the brake when it is up and allows you to watch. A few years ago, all you had to do was take that wire that is supposed to go the parking brake and ground it. NOW, pioneer has made them smarter and if they see ground right away they go into a safety lock. But using a relay the head unit does not see the ground signal right away so the feature is unlocked, then once that parking brake wire sees the ground again, you are good to go... just don’t crash

Nicole Nagler wrote:The units have a *feature* that will not allow DVDs to play while the car is moving. What the makers want you to do is connect this wire to the parking brake. By doing that the head unit sees a ground from the brake when it is up and allows you to watch. A few years ago, all you had to do was take that wire that is supposed to go the parking brake and ground it. NOW, pioneer has made them smarter and if they see ground right away they go into a safety lock. But using a relay the head unit does not see the ground signal right away so the feature is unlocked, then once that parking brake wire sees the ground again, you are good to go... just don’t crash

Thanks for the schooling Nicole.

Nicole Nagler wrote:once that parking brake wire sees the ground again, you are good to go... just don’t crash

as Aaron will atest to, i don't really "watch" movies, i usually just listen to them.

with my (more and more) frequent trips up to san jose to see my dad, the dvd player will be invaluable in keeping me awake as i , 90% listen, 10%, movies.

alright, install went smooth, no hiccups.

next question:

is it possible to hook up one of those x-10 cameras to a car battery?

i found the old one i had for motorcycle, but it was powered off a 9v (which i don't have the adaptor for anymore anyways).

the camera uses 8v, 80ma.

Jeff Shyu wrote:alright, install went smooth, no hiccups.

next question:

is it possible to hook up one of those x-10 cameras to a car battery?

i found the old one i had for motorcycle, but it was powered off a 9v (which i don't have the adaptor for anymore anyways).

the camera uses 8v, 80ma.

You could use something like this:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2102592" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Or since you're into do it yourself electronics it's pretty easy to wire up an LM7809 to make 9 V out of the 12-15V you get from the cigarette lighter. Hmm I see RS no longer carries them, but they are easy to find online.

steve

Steve Collins wrote:Or since you're into do it yourself electronics it's pretty easy to wire up an LM7809 to make 9 V out of the 12-15V you get from the cigarette lighter. Hmm I see RS no longer carries them, but they are easy to find online.

steve

Just make sure your cig lighter is indeed 12v - I don't know about newer cars, but most older cars have 5v cigarette lighter ports - plugging something in that requies 12v sometimes blows fuses... not that I know anything about that

i found this site that had a good write up on it (link is at home)

but now i'm having no luck finding capacitors:

1000uF 25v cap
10uf 25v cap
1uf 15v cap
0.1uf 15v cap

guess no gimmick backup camera for a while..

You could hack something like this up:

12 volt to 1.5V, 3V, 4.5V, 6V, 7.5V, 9V Volt DC/DC Converter

Of course, once you are spending $20+shipping on just a converter... back up cameras running off 5-volt or 12-volt shouldn't be too much more.

the point is i don't want a cig lighter adaptor.

i want to wire it off of the 12v coming from the battery, to my sub amp in the trunk, and go from that power, to a regulator box, to the x-10 camera, so that the camera always has power as long as the signal is on to the sub amp.

Hobby electronics shop is what you need. A little out of your way, but there's JK Electronics here in Westminster on Westminster right off the 405. They'll have any discrete components you need for resonable price (very resonable compared to Radio Shack). Heck I've probably got all those caps in my stock, they're just buried in the closet with my prosolo gear.

Although, I'm sure there's a PC board 9V voltage regualtor in existance somewhere though for <$5.

Jay W

Jeff Shyu wrote:i found this site that had a good write up on it (link is at home)

but now i'm having no luck finding capacitors:

1000uF 25v cap
10uf 25v cap
1uf 15v cap
0.1uf 15v cap

guess no gimmick backup camera for a while..

for components:
http://digikey.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Another option would be to get a cig-plug 9v adapter and plastic box at ratshack, take the adapter apart, mount the guts in the plastic box with RTV or hot glue, and hardwire it between your fuse box your video gear.

Even easier: buy the regulated adapter in Quoc-Viet's link (or something functionally similar), cut both ends off the wires and splice the wires to your power source and camera.

Greg Peng wrote:Even easier: buy the regulated adapter in Quoc-Viet's link (or something functionally similar), cut both ends off the wires and splice the wires to your power source and camera.

That would do it!

I'm hoping to hardwire my camera before the next event so I don't have to keep charging up batteries the night before. Good thing mine runs off 12 volts.

Quoc-Viet Dang wrote: Just make sure your cig lighter is indeed 12v - I don't know about newer cars, but most older cars have 5v cigarette lighter ports - plugging something in that requies 12v sometimes blows fuses... not that I know anything about that

...what?

I've never seen a 5v lighter port, ever.

Marshall Grice wrote:

Quoc-Viet Dang wrote: Just make sure your cig lighter is indeed 12v - I don't know about newer cars, but most older cars have 5v cigarette lighter ports - plugging something in that requies 12v sometimes blows fuses... not that I know anything about that

...what?

I've never seen a 5v lighter port, ever.

I guess someone made some 6v ones at some point:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigar_lighter_receptacle" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Only ever seen the 11-14v ones myself.

Aaron Goldsmith wrote:

Marshall Grice wrote:

Quoc-Viet Dang wrote: Just make sure your cig lighter is indeed 12v - I don't know about newer cars, but most older cars have 5v cigarette lighter ports - plugging something in that requies 12v sometimes blows fuses... not that I know anything about that

...what?

I've never seen a 5v lighter port, ever.

I guess someone made some 6v ones at some point:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigar_lighter_receptacle" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Only ever seen the 11-14v ones myself.

yeah, but i believe those were only on cars with 6vdc as their battery voltage. I haven't ever seen any of those either.

Marshall Grice wrote:yeah, but i believe those were only on cars with 6vdc as their battery voltage. I haven't ever seen any of those either.

Last time I saw a 6 volt battery system was in high school. My buddy had a 42 Dodge truck. I was a riot to drive. I do recall a lot of cars with 6 volt systems through the first half of the 50's.

About 20 years ago, I was forced to land at a remote strip in Beaver Utah due to a weather front. Temps the following day never got above 15. In the hottest part of the day, I went to the landing strip to try to start the plane. No luck. About then, the local sheriff who lived at the strip in a mobile home, pulls up in his jeep and offered a jump. But here's the odd thing. His jeep had a 28 volt system matching that of the plane. After about an hour of trying, we finally got it started and continued to Salt Lake. I haven't seen a 28 volt system in an automobile since.

George Schilling wrote:I haven't seen a 28 volt system in an automobile since.

if you double a car's "12" system you'll end up with a "24" volt system. the alternators will put out 28V (or 2x 14v of a normal car's alternator) to charge the batteries.

Some heavy duty truck have a 24v starting system for cold weather climates or BIG engines.