Ipod, Iphone, GPS, DVD for Under $50!

[clay282]

I am new to this Forum but I have been watching it for awhile. I had been casually shopping for a car for sometime and was ready to trade in my Taurus that I had been driving for the past 10 years (2000 SE) and then I stumbled on the 2007 Mazda 5 Grand Touring by accident at a dealer in Little Rock, AR and had to have it! 1 owner, clean freak, dealer maintained, SPOTLESS. The only problem... No aux jack and no GPS but I still had to have it. Drove it home that night and got to work finding a cheap and easy aux integration solution. I am not one of those guys that's into ripping out the head unit and installing some high end equipment... I like the factory equipment so here's what I came up with. Again, first time posting and I hope I do all this right.

I hate FM transmitters and had one that didn't work worth a crap... An old Belkin Tunecast. I went and got a spendy Monster cable and it wasn't any better so I took it back to Best Buy. In my internet search I found this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsZw_youJAo

I followed the video, added a simple wire and eureka! Suddenly the Tunecast broadcast enough signal to not only sound clear and loud but is strong enough to broadcast on channels that have local stations and kill them off as well! It was actually an amazing difference and it really shocked me and I can NOT understand why they wouldn't just add the wire at Belkin. They are battery operated and also have power supply cord AND... they auto shut off and on when they detect a signal so you don't even have to toggle them on and off. In my case I found that I get a great signal with it just put in the glovebox with the added antenna wire run around in the glovebox.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...ff25465&itemid=120595379559&ff4=263602_263622

$8 from Ebay isn't bad at all! The mod took me maybe 15 minutes to do and I am sure everyone has some old wiring laying around.

Next, I needed a mount so I got this one for $8 on sale. It's actually selling now for $14 but still, totally worth it. It also rotates and swivels so you can turn it and watch movies or use the phone in landscape mode for the GPS etc... very handy.

https://www.amazon.com (commissions earned)

Next was the cable. I needed a cable that was shielded so I didn't get the GSM phone buzz when I was listening to music and running my GPS and stumbled upon a thread somewhere (can't find it now) that talked about aux cable with the iPhone. One of the discussions talked about how certain cables would still let the iPhone microphone work while the aux cable was plugged in... This would allow you to hear calls through the stereo and have a handfree speakerphone. I picked up a cable from Radio Shack for $9 that was shielded and by God it worked! LOL! The windshield mount has to legs on the bottom that are cushioned and keep it in place but the adjustable side clamps (also padded) keep it centered so the microphone on the iPhone is always free and open as it the power plug. It actually works great. I can listen to music and when a call comes in I just accept it and talk away and the caller can hear me fine. This cable is a 6ft one but the one I got AT the actual store was 8ft and was the same price and was the Radio Shack brand. The headliner, trim and rubber A pillar weatherstripping had enough play in them that I just tucked the cable under the lip of the headliner at the windshield and then tucked it where the headliner and A pillar trim meet and then down in the rubber weatherstripping and into the glovebox where the fm transmitter sits. Other than enough cable coming out by the passenger visor to let you plug in and rotate the phone, you don't see any cable.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102949

I know there are free iPhone apps for navigation that speak or give turn notifications and I kinda shuffle between 3 depending on my need at the time. Here are two...

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mapquest-4-mobile/id316126557?mt=8

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id370144231?mt=8

But I personally like the Motion X one the best. It's free always but the turn by turn voice navigation part is like $2.99 a month and you only buy it when you need it or you can get it for a year for like $24 a year but I think it's worth it. It integrates iPod controls INTO the navigation map, it automatically goes into night mode and darkens when the phones light sensor and time see it's night out. Voice is clear and concise, reroutes great and quickly and can if you don't have an unlimited data plan you can "simulate" the trip on your home wifi and it will download the maps of your trip in the phone so it won't even need data unless you reroute. It can store up to 2GB of maps your choice though on how much it can store, 512MB etc and if you need space you can clear the maps. 3D look is great as well. When a turn comes up it mutes the music, gives you the instruction and then picks up the music where it left off. You can search points of interest or it will pull up your contacts in your iPhone and grab their address so you don't even have to type it all in. Also, when navigating it doesn't dim the screen like some other mapping software.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/motionx-gps-drive/id328095974?mt=8

If you do happen to have an unlimited data plan, a good 3G signal and a good dual core computer at home with a good home service you can get AirVideo for free and install it on your home computer and it will stream movies from your home computer to your iPhone so you don't have to keep movies etc on your phone taking up space. I have a TV tuner card in my PC and mainly use it as a DVR to record my favorite shows etc and I shared the recorder TV folder with AirVideo and Where ever I am I can watch my shows on the iPhone. It will convert the videos on the fly to be compatible with the iPhone so you can leave them in whatever format you prefer on your home computer.

So... This is my first post and I hope it wasn't to painfully long and boring for you. I took some pictures this afternoon and I will see about uploading those and if you have any questions just ask.

 

[KBrian]

Thanks for the excellent links and info!

 

[Silentnoise713]

Appreciate the write-up. I see you spent some time writhing this and it will benefit others.

Question/Comment.
I though all Mz5 come with the Aux input jack, is this not correct? If not, there should be a way to hardwire one using an existing (empty) connector/harness port. I've done it before with other OEM radios and the basics are all the same (hot, ground, trigger, left +/-, and right +/-). You'd have to do a little bench testing.

If you do have 3G Iphone, you should also get a Slingbox to watch (and remote control) ALL of your cable/satellite TV as well as other home theater electronics that have audio/video output. Also, don't forget Hulu

 

[dishe]

Appreciate the write-up. I see you spent some time writhing this and it will benefit others.

Question/Comment.
I though all Mz5 come with the Aux input jack, is this not correct? If not, there should be a way to hardwire one using an existing (empty) connector/harness port. I've done it before with other OEM radios and the basics are all the same (hot, ground, trigger, left +/-, and right +/-). You'd have to do a little bench testing.

If you do have 3G Iphone, you should also get a Slingbox to watch (and remote control) ALL of your cable/satellite TV as well as other home theater electronics that have audio/video output. Also, don't forget Hulu

Aux is standard only on 08 and later models.
I have an '07 and was very disappointed to find that it did not have the jack (I had test driven an 08 at a dealership, and was told the jack was standard on all models- but he didn't tell me that it was NEW for that year!).

For mazda stereos, there are some boxes like the GROM and the now discontinued Aux-Mod that will connect to the connector for the satellite/tape deck options (does ANYONE even have the tape deck option??). The problem is that the GROM is upwards of $100 for the mod, and the AuxMod is discontinued as far as I can tell (I guess since all the new Mazdas have the aux built in, it wasn't worth producing anymore).
Apparently these mods were more than just connecting wires to a harness... the Mazda stereo receives some kind of signal from a logic chip or something... I'm not really sure, but all I know is even the most basic AuxMod solution required a little circuit board with some integrated chips.

I'm actually in the same boat as the OP as far as wanting an aux (except for the iPhone thing- I actually don't like the fruit phone and HATE having wires anywhere on my dash- why'd you mount that thing so freaking HIGH?! There must be wires all over your field of vision!).
I've decided on a dash mount for my GPS/Phone for now, so it sort of looks like the unit grew out of the dashboard. Eventually I plan to replace the entire stereo, although I agree with the OP as well about the aftermarket look... I feel like aftermarket head units tend to look very, well, aftermarket. Like they don't belong in the car and were superimposed there. Like they don't belong.
But there are other options... I'm thinking about one of those Caska or other custom-made stereos that are designed to look like OEM components, yet offer GPS, back up camera support, DVD, etc... then put some headrest screens in the back for the youngins. But none of this is going to happen for a while, gotta save up and do more research on those units...

 

[clay282]

Your right... the 06 and 07 models did not come with an Aux jack. There are add on units that plug into the factory stereo and work through the "media" button on the stereo but the ones I found were $140+ and the goal was to make something that sounded good but was cheap.

http://stores.channeladvisor.com/hpdistributinginc/items/item.aspx?itemid=3731978

I have a company car and the 5 is my personal car and sometimes it doesn't even get driven during the week so I am not into going buck wild on sound systems LOL. Cheap was my main goal with the whole thing. Since I had the old Tunecast from Belkin and I got the mount on sale... I'm in at about $20 and that's pretty good to me.

Well I would say that I am not a huge fan of Apple either but I have had the phone for quite awhile now and will probably head to a Droid X when my contract is up. That's part of the reason I got the mount I did was so that when the time comes, it's not an iPhone specific setup. The mount actually opens up wide enough to hold a GPS unit so it would work for any phone. Also, I went with an Aux cable setup so that I could use it with any phone or device etc.

As far as being up so high... I'm 6'3" so it's not high to me. I wanted it next to the rear view mirror so that it was easy to glance at when I checked the mirror and also, it's out of the way to passengers since everyone seems to be shorter than me LOL!

The cables aren't in the way at all and that was a major issue with me as well. Like I said... I actually tucked the cable under the lip of the headliner by the windshield and the there was enough room in the A pillar seam where the headliner meets the A pillar trim that it also tucked in there no problem a the rubber weather stripping at the door is soft enough and has enough room behind it that it tucks in there and you can't even see the cable accept where it comes out at the windshield... this is why the 8ft cable was handy, I had extra cable to run and hide it and since there was enough room in the trim... I ran the cable without prying, pulling or hurting the trim in any way. I brought the cable into the glovebox at the door and again, you don't see it. The only time there's a cable in my vision is when I plug the charger cable into it.

I actually have a Slingbox but the area of Arkansas I am in does not have 3G coverage throughout it yet... another reason why Verizon and the Droid X looks so attractive.

 

[Silentnoise713]

There is also the hardwire FM modulator option. The Aux-in signal is hardwired to the radio via the antenna's coaxial cable (make sure you have a good clean ground).
https://www.amazon.com (commissions earned)

You'd lose the portability of moving the music play from car to car but you get clear audio, save batteries, and the car next to you can't steal/conflict with your music (should they also have an FM transmitter). That youtube hack is pretty cool, seems to bypass the FCC signal restriction. I can image someone driving along minding their own business and enjoying their music via plain old unmodded Belkin’s FM transmitter. Suddenly your call pulls up and holy crap, someone overtook my music!! (lol)