Want to use click wheel with USA SPEC; how?

[DominikHoffmann]

I bought a USA SPEC interface that connects my iPod through an amplifier into the CD Changer port of the factory-installed radio of my '96 Honda Civic.

It appears that the only way to control playback from my iPod is to set up 5 playlists, each simulating one CD to my radio (it thinks the iPod really is a 6-CD changer), with the 6th CD representing everything I have on my iPod. I have several playlists and many albums on my iPod. I'd much rather use the click wheel to control what's playing back on the radio than the CD changer controls on the radio. For the CD-simulating playlists to manageable, they can't be that large, and thus they don't effectively give me a lot of control over what's on my playlist.

Can this standard setup somehow be hacked, in software or in hardware?

Dominik Hoffmann

[rkmarthy]

Below text is from Crutchfield website

Modes of Operation: With this interface, you have two modes of operation to use it in:

Direct Mode: In this mode, the controls on the iPod are functional as well as the track up/down, fast forward/reverse buttons on your radio for controlling music playback. To use this mode, set the dip switch #2 on the interface to "Off" position. in this mode, the audio will come through DISC 5, Track 1 on the radio.

Playlist Mode: In this mode, the iPod acts as the factory CD changer. The factory radio can access six discs when a CD changer is connected, this is synonymous with six playlists on the iPod. The first five are custom playlists arranged using iTunes software. The sixth playlist is a Play All command which plays all the songs on the iPod. There is no limit to the number of songs on a playlist, but the song number display on most factory radios is only two digits so after 99 the display restarts at 01. For this mode, dip switch #2 must be in the "On" position.

Note: This interface does not support artist, album, or song title information.

Try using Direct Mode. If you have bought is from http://www.crutchfield.com their customer service is very good.

Check this link for more information: http://tinyurl.com/hfnue

[Podette]

I have a similar question about the USA Spec PA11-CHR. The manufacturer told my husband that I could use the video iPod controls in direct mode by just changing the DIP switch setting.

However, the installer says if I want to do that and also charge the iPod at the same time, I'll need to buy an additional $40 cable and a separate charger. This seems to contradict what the manufacturer and Crutchfield say. Does anyone know if I really need all this extra stuff? Thanks!

[Podette]

I thought I would just respond to my own message for anyone interested. You do not need to buy any extra cables for this unit. Everything comes with it, and it charges the iPod while you drive.

Also, for the first poster, I have it set in Direct Mode, and it works great. I can listen to my own playlists on the iPod and change songs using the up/down buttons (or presumably also using the iPod, although I haven't tried doing that while I drive! :) )

[DominikHoffmann]

It turns out that I have the USA Spec PA10, not the PA11 like the poster above. On the PA10 it is not possible to use the iPod for song control. However, it does have two dip switches that when switched off allow the use of an additional auxiliary device. The device has two RCA-style jacks for the left and right audio channels for that purpose.

I was however able to modify cable and adapter box to allow control from the iPod interface. On the cable I opened the iPod connector and severed the wires going into Pin 12 and 13, which are used for digital communication between the PA10 and the iPod (I got this from the iPodLinux Project pages (http://ipodlinux.org/Dock_Connector)). Now the PA10 has no way anymore to disable the iPod interface. I then traced the wires from Pin 3 and 4 on the iPod connector to solder pads on the back side of the PA10 circuit board. I finally took two wires and soldered on end of them to those solder pads and the other to the back of the RCA jack on the circuit board.

Now, when the radio is switched to CD 6 and Track 1, it plays whatever I have the iPod playing, with full use of the iPod interface.

I wish, I had pictures of the modification, but I don't have a digital camera. Perhaps I'll be able to borrow one for the second box I'll modify like that. Then, I'll see whether I can post those here.

Dominik