[BeeYouZeeZee]

Well, it's not as elegant as I had originally wanted but I completed my Sirius radio install today.

The first thing I did was design and build a really dumb AUX jack. It's a box in-line with the CDC. This box has a relay that flips between CDC audio and Sirius audio when a control line goes active. I then installed the Sirius SC-FM1 in the trunk (spare wheel well for now) and wired the control line to the Sirius "on" wire. Finally, I ran the remote control head (which matches the console plasic as if was designed specifically for the Maser) from the trunk, through a gromet with other wires (oh yeah, I had to remove the rear seat back to get to the wire holes) to the ash tray area (I also removed some of the center console). Antenna is magnetic and sits on the trunk just under the rear window (with a microfiber cloth piece in between).

So to make a long story short, you select the CDC. If the Sirius unit is off, the control line is inactive and the CDC plays normally (pass through). As soon as the Sirius unit is turned on, the CDC audio goes away and the Sirius audio switches in.

I can't really explain how I mounted the control head without pics. It's AWESOME! I keep the small remote in my cup holder but the head is very close and easy to use/read.

Pics this weekend.

Buzz

 

[maserati of minneapolis]

Looking forward to seeing it.

I don't suppose you would want to publish a schematic of the in-line switching interface you made?

 

[BeeYouZeeZee]

Looking forward to seeing it.

I don't suppose you would want to publish a schematic of the in-line switching interface you made?

Of course I will! Blaupunkt's line-level audio is a little hotter than the Sirius units, so there's a slight volume difference between CDC and Sirius. Good fidelity (MUCH better than FM modulation) with no whine. Good news is battery and switched (ign) are both present in the CDC connector so everything is tapped from there.

Someday I'll figure out true integration with the NIT (if Bundas ever sends me that NIT he has). Until then, I'm tuned to "Hard Attack". First song that popped up after the install was Pantera'a Walk. It's now stuck in my head "You talkin' to me?"

 

[maserati of minneapolis]

Pantera put on a great live show (5x). Too bad Phil can't keep a leash on the booze and drugs and some crazy guy blamed Dime.

 

[BeeYouZeeZee]

Pantera put on a great live show (5x). Too bad Phil can't keep a leash on the booze and drugs and some crazy guy blamed Dime.

Living in their hometown, I used to run into Darryll and Vinnie a lot. They used to have a Hold 'Em tournament at the club every week; that was a lot of fun. I've seen them live 5 times. I also partied with Dave Mustaine at the Longboard Pub (Korn's joint) in Huntington Beach. I tought my 11 year old daughter to play drums and she and Dave Silveria were sitting at the table trading licks with spoons. Totally cool people!

 

[quentinc]

Please please post the schematics to your switching interface. We need to get someone to build a set of these!

 

[BeeYouZeeZee]

Please please post the schematics to your switching interface. We need to get someone to build a set of these!

I promise I'll publish them with pictures here in the next day or two. Unless someone is going to do exactly what I did, I'm not sure the box will be much help. Although, I guess you could hide a switch in the center console to switch between AUX and CDC. Oh well, if nothing else, I cracked the Blaupunkt wiring connections.

 

[dchao]

Hi Buzz,

Great to hear that this project is going well. I have a question.

So did you end up slicing the original Blaupunkt cable?

I have a Blaupunkt iPod AUX cable with the blue plug on the end, I want to use the new cable since I don't have CDC in my trunk. So I open the center arm rest and still could not get access to the NIT connectors on the bottom row because they are obstructed by the rear A/C vent tubes (hard plastic not flexible).

I am not up to the job of removing the whole centre tunnel. Is there another way?

Thanks

 

[BeeYouZeeZee]

Hi Buzz,

Great to hear that this project is going well. I have a question.

So did you end up slicing the original Blaupunkt cable?

I have a Blaupunkt iPod AUX cable with the blue plug on the end, I want to use the new cable since I don't have CDC in my trunk. So I open the center arm rest and still could not get access to the NIT connectors on the bottom row because they are obstructed by the rear A/C vent tubes (hard plastic not flexible).

I am not up to the job of removing the whole centre tunnel. Is there another way?

Thanks

Yep. I sliced right into the CDC cable and lengthened it while I was at it.

The blue connector is an 8-pin mini ISO connector, which plugs right into where the CD changer normally goes in the trunk (behind the driver-side panel in the trunk). I would plug it in there since it's so easy to get to. I hear ya on the NIT. Anyway, I don't believe it's the same connector on the NIT side.... What kind of AUX is it?

 

[dchao]

The blue connector is an 8-pin mini ISO connector, which plugs right into where the CD changer normally goes in the trunk (behind the driver-side panel in the trunk). I would plug it in there since it's so easy to get to. I hear ya on the NIT. Anyway, I don't believe it's the same connector on the NIT side.... What kind of AUX is it?

The NIT side has the 8-pin mini-ISO (blue plug)

I believe the CDC side is 8-pin DIN, correct me if I am wrong, since I haven't got to the truck to fish out the cable yet.

The cable I have is just a simple line-out level cable, one end has the blue mini-ISO, and the other end, the iPod docking connector. No control signals are transmitted. It says it's compatible with all Blaupunkt head unit with AUX input. I am not sure the CDC input on the NIT is counted as the AUX input though. (because on some cars, AUX input is different to CDC input)

With this cable, control is done directly on the iPod, so I have to plug to cable into the NIT, and my plan is just to leave the iPod in the center armrest.

 

[BeeYouZeeZee]

The NIT side has the 8-pin mini-ISO (blue plug)

I believe the CDC side is 8-pin DIN, correct me if I am wrong, since I haven't got to the truck to fish out the cable yet.

The cable I have is just a simple line-out level cable, one end has the blue mini-ISO, and the other end, the iPod docking connector. No control signals are transmitted. It says it's compatible with all Blaupunkt head unit with AUX input. I am not sure the CDC input on the NIT is counted as the AUX input though. (because on some cars, AUX input is different to CDC input)

With this cable, control is done directly on the iPod, so I have to plug to cable into the NIT, and my plan is just to leave the iPod in the center armrest.

I guarantee the connector in the trunk is for a blue 8-pin Mini ISO. Not a DIN. If the NIT is also a Mini ISO then the cable to the trunk is a big extension cord (wouldn't surprise me). Easiest way to test yours is pop the trunk cover and plug it in. If it works you can go from there. I hope your unit isn't a Dension because they now specifically state that Maserati is NOT supported and have no future plans to do so. They had horrible reliability problems in the Maseratis for some reason (although it's supposed to be a generic Blaupunkt interface).

 

[Troesma]

Someday I'll figure out true integration with the NIT (if Bundas ever sends me that NIT he has). Until then, I'm tuned to "Hard Attack". First song that popped up after the install was Pantera'a Walk. It's now stuck in my head "You talkin' to me?"

Elloooo... Bundas.... Buzz calling... where's the NIT... where's THAT FU****G NIT

If Bundy get's his spare NIT to Buzz bet he'll crack the juice out of that sucker.

Buzz, now on a more serious note, it sounds great mate (no pun here). Wonder if the new GT have a Bluckpunt NIT? Because if it is a design from the Marelli Bros stable...

As an alternative, maybe we could go for Dip's ultra-switched-cabled solution

Ed

 

[dipakp]

photos of

dipak's ultra-switched version (patent pending) will be up soon.

 

[quentinc]

So are you guys going to fess-up on how you pulled this all off?

 

[Robert Greenberg]

Pics? Schematics?