1994 Ford F350 CC BLOW THROUGH - DC and Soundstream

[scooter99]

So on the tablet install. I've been asked how I chose my converter, by a couple of people. I kind of touched on it in my civic build, but since that's done and this has started I'll go over it again here.

The tablet is the wifi version of the Samsung Galaxy 10.1. It, like all the others now seems like, is very similar to the Ipad. "Why didn't you just go ipad instead of having to do all this figuring on a new unit"? I've been asked this about 1000 times, not exaggerating!

I'm not a "go with the grain" type of guy! I don't go out and try something cause it's the "rage" or the "newest greatest" thing. In my believe, apple has cornered the market, and that's great, but I don't want an i anything for that very reason! I like the under dog, I like to experience other things rather than what "everyone else has"! So thus I went with the Galaxy cause everyone and their mother is putting an Ipad in their car! But do a google search and you'll find only a handful of Galaxy's going in.

So I decided I'd put together a component system for it and do it on my own with no real help. I've gotten some from MP3.com and they've been a great help as well as other people here and other sites. That's where I've gotten answers about things I've found and whether it would work or not without spending thousands of dollars just trying things out.

So when I first started this project I was trying not to do it with a head unit. I wanted the tablet to be the head unit so to speak. I didn't want it running through a separate unit into the system. When I started it I was also using an Audison Bit One Processor as well so I had a way to achieve my volume control other than the buttons on the tablet itself.

Now I'm not using that, I'm using a Pioneer DEH-80PRS to operate my system, and it has a processor built into it. I'll go over a diagram on how I'm wiring the system up another time. It's kind of complicated.

So lets go over the tablet install! I'm actually going to cheat a little bit and just quote the tutorial I posted on another site! This will make things a lot easier on me!

So I did two attempts with trying to get my goals met. The first one ended up with some good results with the exception of the fact that I needed video out and that DID NOT work. I'm not going to go through all that, but Ill skip to the second version and tie in the non monitor version.

Here we go.

Things needed:

Tablet - Samsung Galaxy 10.1

7" Multimedia Docking Station with HDMI output

10" Docking station

Mini HDMI to HDMI adaptor

HDMI Cable

Samsung Car Charger

Octava 1 x 2 HDMI Splitter and Distribution Amplifier

OPUS Point Of Load Module x 2 or a bigger one instead of multiple like the Mini Box M2-ATX-b

HDMI compatable head rest monitors x 2

The Dock Swap:

First you're going to take your docking stations and swap the cradles for them. The 7" dock has the HDMI port on it, and that's what we're looking for. So the cradels on these both, just snap off. Snap them off, and then swapt them for each other. The 10" cradle goes on the dock with the HDMI port now. Like so:

As you can see here one has the HDMI Port and the other doesn't.

Next you're gonna need your Mini HDMI to HDMI adaptor.

Now that I did that I took it to my nearest HDMI tv to make sure it would work.

[scooter99]

Now that we have the docks switched we can get to the actually install (or bench test in this case) procedure.

Now then lets get our OPUS Point Of Load module hooked up cause we need power to our converter. You're also going to need power to your car charger if you don't want it to be in your power point all the time, which I don't cause it's just unsightly. (Now in this new install, I'm no longer using this, I've had a power point made up for me to put all my components onto one power point. But this is still a good module to use if you're just doing a basic set up as we're doing in this tutorial.)

Now I tried to do this with the usb cable for the tablet, but the tablet did not register it as a compatable cable when I clipped off the usb cable portion. So if someone knows about this I'm all ears. If we could get this to work, you'll only need an extra 30pin usb cable for this, but it has to be samsung compatable. (For this I think I've found the solution which is to connect the data cables, I just haven't tried it yet.)

Here's before I put it in the dock, notice the battery is at 34%:

And then here it is docked. Notice the red thunderbolt through the battery:

Now according to this site: Pinouts.ru/slots/USB_pinout.shtml these are the wire colors and codes. Not sure but I think if I take the two center wires (2 and 3 Data - and Data + white and green) and splice them, it should work. I just haven't tried it yet. So if anyone can confirm this, I'd appreciate it. Then we can change this up.

Ok so things switch up a little bit here cause I've kind of combined version one, which was that previous to this, and version two to complete the bench test and tutorial etc. If you have questions feel free to ask!

So to start off here's all the components ready to be set up.

Stinger SPP1200 Battery (this will be changed out, I'm going to be using an XS Power D3100 in the set up now)

Audison BIt One for processing, Hertz HDP5 (in the picture representing amps)

Samsung Galaxy 10.1, the new custom mount,

Hertz Components (for the bench test only, these are going to be sold, no longer using rear fill)

[scooter99]

Finally, a Samsung HDMI capable monitor, Octava 1x2 HDMI Distribution Amplifier, KnuKonceptz HDMI cable, KnuKonceptz Optical Cable.

Here's my stockpile of wire!

Next I got it all hooked up and ready to go.

First up I connected a distribution block with the battery. I used this cause of the different sizes of wire and cable, and I had it on hand. Ran the power and ground to the barrier strip to distribute the power (yellow), ground (black), and create an ignition source (green) as well as sent an 8ga cable from the battery to the amp. Got the processor hooked up as well. In the fore ground you can see my "ignition source" or switch. The power constant was ran into the switch, then out of the switch creating an ignition source. Pretty simple.

Turn on the ignition or in this case flip of the switch (lit up blue), and everything powers on. Audison Logo is lit blue, Hertz Logo on the amp is lit up orange.

Now that we know those work, we'll go to the next step. We need to hook up all the signals. Let's go through that. This is kind of running backwards from the destination to the main source, but you'll get the gist of it.

Starting at the Processor:

We have the input from the main source, in this case the main source is the tablet, however we are getting the signal distributed and analyzed by the converter (HDMI distribution amplifier). So I have the RCA's for this going into the channel 1 & 2 input on the processor. This will be my "main" source input. The secondary input will be the Optical input. I did not have the processor set up for the optical input previously and I didn't have time to get it set up for that now, so I left that out. However, you can see on the right hand side in this picture, the optical cable will plug into the port second from the end where it says "optical" and is light grey in color.

Here you see the power, ground, and ignition source for the bit one. On the right of that is where the USB cable plugs in for the computer to run your set up.

Then here we have the outputs from the processor. I chose to use channels 3 and 4 for this application because from the previous set up, those were my mid range channels and for this it was the best application. These RCA's go out to the amplifiers. On the left side you see the phone cord looking wire, that is for the Bit One DRC or Digital Remote Control. That is what controls volume etc from the front of the car.

As stated before I ran power from the battery straight to the amp, then you also see the green remote wire. Also, pretty self explanatory, you see the speaker wires.

[scooter99]

Here you see the RCA's from the outputs of the processor into the amplifier.

Now that we've covered that side of things, lets take a look at the other half of life in this set up!

Here you see the RCA's that are running from the Distribution Amp to the processor. This is the Analog signal from the Distribution Amplifier which will be converted from the HDMI signal from the tablet.

Getting it all hooked up, this is how the Distribution Amplifier works, or looks. Getting the signal from the tablet, it goes into the D.A. via the HDMI output, which is the second HDMI cable from the left (black). It then takes that signal, and distributes it (hence the name) into several different signals, analog audio, digital audio, and video. This was the major kink in this whole set up was getting the best signal out of the tablet and into the system. The HDMI figured in to be the best for my application simply because it was the only way I could get a video signal from the tablet.

So for the Audio portion, it goes out via the RCA's into the processor, as well as optical. They are both active all the time. You'll see that in a few minutes.

For Video there are two ports. I was originally going to install two head rest monitors in the car, but since that time my daughters got their own tablets and no longer seem to need the dual monitors back there. I have different "custom" plans for that, but I won't go into those now. Anyway, so I decided to only use one monitor for back there so that I can still have the ability for them to have video from the main source in back. This is in fact a mirrored monitor source as you will see later. So the HDMI Cable to the left (blue) is the video out and the open port is the second video out, should I decide to go with dual monitors anyway.

The cable out on the far left is the power source. This is what will eventually have the 12v source which is converted down to 5v via my regulator which is being finalized now.

Now, again, I have this particular one, because I have headrest monitors. The NON MONITOR set up, or a set up where you don't need a monitor, is the same thing, but it's using this converter instead, which is a single HDMI out but everything else is the same. You can see the difference.

Here you can see the whole set up pretty much ready to go. The tablet in front, the monitor is leaning against the box, and those simply get plugged into the HDMI ports, or the tablet into the dock.

So now we'll turn it all on, and i'll show you the monitors etc. It all works!

Ignition on,

Processor on, here's the lit up DRC

Slide the tablet into the dock

[scooter99]

The distribution amplifier is auto on. The black button on the right hand side is the power button, however it senses power and turns on automatically. If you want to turn it off, you'd have to press that button to turn it off, or turn off the car/ignition/power source. To turn back on, you can either press the button, or turn the car/ignition/power source back on. Simple. Also has a pretty blue light! LOL So that's on

Turning the monitor on.

Here's where you see the mirrored image on the monitor. I have to adjust color etc, but you can plainly see it works!

Here's a video I played off of Netflix, I think it was a Jeff Dunnam video. But the point is you can see it working on both screens. I don't have any videos downloaded onto the actual media center on the tablet, so I don't know if this will work the same way or not, but I like this alot better, being able to see up front on the tablet as well as on the monitor. I'll be downloading a video soon to see if it will work that way.

I decided to see what it does with the volume by testing it with the DD1. I downloaded the DD1 cd onto the tablet for this reason alone. It all works great. So I got it all set up and as you'll see, it's at max volume and no clipping! SICK!!

DD1 powered on and hooked up ready to go.

Track 1 - according to the DD1 instructions for headunit testing.

Volume all the way Maxed out!

NO CLIPPING!!

Here's a little pandora radio for you, coming from the tablet as well as the monitor.

And finally, a picture of the lit up optical cable!

So now all that's left with this is to get some music and videos downloaded onto the media hub of the tablet and test that way and see how that works with the tablet being on or turning the screen off on only getting the video out of the rear monitor.

Also I have to get the power source finalized and built so I know what I'm working with on size etc. But aside of that, everything is done and works.

I previously mentioned that I had an issue with the dock. The problem is, and you'll hear me talk about this in the video when I get it up, but the dock is sitting about 1/16 - 1/8" too low and the connection is almost not touching and I had an issue with that in the video, where the signal doesn't go through. But that's an easy fix at the moment since I'm still getting the dock and the dash worked on. Aside of that it's working flawlessly and I could not be happier with the set up!

I also was going to do a separate write up on the other cheaper module, or distribution amp, and I tried it and got the same results where the signal was not coming through, not even just audio. SO, I scrapped that one. I'm sure you can try others but I'm not going to take the time or money at this point to do so.

So there's the tablet bench test version 2, a successful one!

I'd be happy to hear any comments or suggestions if you have any, on my build log here: http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/topic/138402-1994-ford-f350-crew-cab-soundstream-dc-audio-build-slowwww/ . Otherwise, thanks for tuning in and happy building!

[scooter99]

Ok I think I've got it! Here's the diagram, not sure if it's big enough or not, I can't figure out how to blow it up!

If you can't see it, I'll run it down for you. Here's the way it goes!

From the Pioneer Head Unit:

Front/tweeter: To Tweeters on the 4.600 channels 1 & 2

Rear/Mid: To Mid Range (6.5's) on 4.600 channels 3 & 4

Sub/Mid Bass: To Mid Bass (8's) on 1.1600

Signal then comes out of the 1.1600 pre out rca's into an Audio Control 6XS 6 Channel Electronic Crossover into the "Front" channels or in 2 channel mode.

From the 6XS the outputs look like this:

"Front Highpass Output" to the rear tweeters on the 4.600 channels 1 & 2

"Front Lowpass Output" to the rear mid bass on the 4.600 channels 3 & 4

"Subwoofer Output" to the Subs on the 2 - 1.2500D's

Now, control. I obviously won't be able to control the rear stage like I was hoping to, but that's the way things go sometimes. I can, however, control the subs from the 6XS, or the amp volume control knob directly. I'm not sure which is best. Anyone have any input on this?

[scooter99]

Ok so good news and bad news! I got my 2 Rubicon 4.600's in today! WOOHOO! But I'm pissed! I understood that they were manufacture refurbished, but here is what the description says, if you've never read it:

"Manufacturer Refurbished: An item that has been professionally restored to working order by a manufacturer or manufacturer-approved vendor. This means the product has been inspected, cleaned, and repaired to meet manufacturer specification and is in excellent condition. This item may or may not be in the original packaging."

So I opened them up and took a look and they're all messed up. They've got dings and scratches all over them, scuffs, dirt marks (like finger prints), and one of them even has the power led missing from it. Needless to say I'm pissed! I've emailed them already to see what they're going to do.

Here are some pics:

I'll let everyone know what happens!

[scooter99]

Ok so here's the latest on the amplifier saga! They're sending me a return label, and giving me a full refund. So I'll happily be going to the other company as soon as those funds hit my account.

[scooter99]

Ok, so I took half the day off to go home and take care of some stuff there. HOWEVER, right before I left, I got a little package! It was heavy, and I thought it was too small to be an amplifier! So what the hell could it be???

Let's open her up and see!

WOOOOOOWWWWWWWW! For the weight I could not honestly believe this is what was in there! Really!

These are bestial tweeter! Let's check em out!

Little lacking in packaging but they weren't moving upon even shaking the box.

I got myself a nice diagram on what to use for components on a crossover if I wanted to make one.

Also included is a cap.

It's certainly better looking in person that on line! These are sweet looking!

So I decided to put em up against what they're going in the doors with. I was shocked. These are just as heavy if not heavier, than the 6 1/2" mid ranges. No bull!

Size comparison!

So needless to say, I'm very impressed with these! If they sound as good as they're built, these are gonna kill the highs! I can't wait! Gonna really have to think about the doors now. Cause I had no real idea they were so large! Not a problem, cause after moving the 8's to the center console, there's gonna be plenty of room!

I also busted out the Pioneer DEH-80PRS, and the tablet. I had the thought that maybe, even if I'm not running the tablet off the usb, that the usb connection on the PRS might charge the tablet. Well, unfortunately, I get the red "x" on the battery on the tablet so that means no charging! Bummer! But that's ok, cause I still have that power converter that was designed for me, and I'll just continue to plan on using that!

That's all for today! Feel free to join in no the behind the scenes chatter and design ideas over on my build log, linked in my signature. Thanks for checking it out!

[scooter99]

Ok guys! Little update! Got my Rubicon 1.1600D today! She's purrrrrrdy! Right out of the box brand new! The way it should be! Check out the pics! As I've said before, you may wanna back away from your computer so you don't get it messy! Just a forewarning! Here we go!!

Ok back up, here she is!!!!

Oh ya money shot!

And a little goodie that came with it!

That's pretty much it for today! I think I've got all I'm gonna get at the moment. Oh no wait, I've got another pair of 6.5's coming in this week. Still waiting to hear on whether or not the same company who sold me the 1.1600 has a pair of the 4.600's.

So more coming soon!