Radio upgrade

[GWSteppin]

Here is a video I did of the 'radio' project in my dearly departed Excursion. I apologize profusely for the nauseating detail.

With the X sitting in my garage harboring a dead 7.3, I've decided to pull the guts of the sound system out and put them in my Explorer. I'm going a slightly different route this time - instead of the Nexus 7 tablet, I'm going to use a Raspberry Pi and Android Auto.

Here is what the radio opening looks like at the moment. Notice the knob in place of the cigar lighter:

A close up of the knob:

This knob is the gain control which will be connected to a JL Audio TWK D8 digital system processor.

Fits in there pretty nicely, and almost looks OEM.

Here is the plan - my phone will be connected to the Raspberry Pi, which will be emulating the phone display on a larger 7" screen in the double-DIN hole where the radio once resided. With Android Auto, I get music, phone, nav, and I'll even have a backup camera.

The audio from the Raspberry PI will be sent to the DSP where the knob already installed will control volume. From the DSP, the audio will be sent to an Alpine amp and then out to the speakers.

It's really quite simple and almost elegant.

I'll post more as I go along if anyone cares to see it

 

[96eb96]

Here is a video I did of the 'radio' project in my dearly departed Excursion. I apologize profusely for the nauseating detail.

With the X sitting in my garage harboring a dead 7.3, I've decided to pull the guts of the sound system out and put them in my Explorer. I'm going a slightly different route this time - instead of the Nexus 7 tablet, I'm going to use a Raspberry Pi and Android Auto.

Here is what the radio opening looks like at the moment. Notice the knob in place of the cigar lighter:

View attachment 166580

A close up of the knob:

View attachment 166581

This knob is the gain control which will be connected to a JL Audio TWK D8 digital system processor.

Fits in there pretty nicely, and almost looks OEM.

Here is the plan - my phone will be connected to the Raspberry Pi, which will be emulating the phone display on a larger 7" screen in the double-DIN hole where the radio once resided. With Android Auto, I get music, phone, nav, and I'll even have a backup camera.

The audio from the Raspberry PI will be sent to the DSP where the knob already installed will control volume. From the DSP, the audio will be sent to an Alpine amp and then out to the speakers.

It's really quite simple and almost elegant.

I'll post more as I go along if anyone cares to see it

Why not just buy an android unit? They are cheap and work very well. I'm sure they work even better than the one I got almost 3 years ago. It could use a bit more memory but blows away even new car infotainment. A passenger was doing full web browsing while I was driving.

 

[GWSteppin]

The short answer is - and I mean no disrespect here - is because I can.

Besides, the Raspberry Pi was $38, the 7"display $72 and the sound card $47. So for less than $160 I have the brains of a system that is better than any comparably priced head unit, and I have a keyboard for that ultimate in geek functionality.

Besides, the JL Audio DSP has only an optical input, and finding an optical out in a head unit is rare, indeed.

 

[Dono]

i enjoy others ingenuity. I'm really looking forward to this, please detail here as you go.

 

[GWSteppin]

I've mocked up the Raspberry Pi display in the radio opening and after driving around on sunny days concluded there is just too much glare to live with. There are ways to address the glare with film coatings, but the display is a touchscreen and those just don't work well.

Also, one of the features I was planning to incorporate was a backup camera, but I've discovered if there was ever a vehicle with absolutely no need for a backup cam, it's an Explorer Sport.

So, slight change of plans. The audio electronics are still going in, but I'll just use my phone as the front end. I bought a wireless charging pad that will mount in the radio opening. It will hold the phone magnetically and a bluetooth receiver will interface between the phone and the audio system processor for music. I'll still be able to use Google maps on the rare occasion I need 'em.

I'll save the Raspberry zip for other projects around the house.