Belkin Auto Kit Mods/ideas for line out

[bcruze]

Here's what I want to do, take the belkin auto kit, cut the line out wires and wire them directly to an 1/8" female jack so as to bypass the silly amplifier/volume control. I realize the Sik Imp has this already, but i don't care for the two-wires nor the fact that they're each only 8" long before you get to a connector...make it harder to hide.

I cracked open the thing today to get a look at the wires and connections in there and found all of the usual suspects but there are two wires that are confusing me. Here are a list of wires coming out of the cable leading to the ipod (ones in question bolded):

Color - Label
green - L
thick black - RET
yellow - R
white - ACC
black - GND
red - VCC (power)
thicker black - Ground

In theory, I should be able to snip the L, R, GND wires and solder them to a female 1/8" jack, thus bypassing the 'amp' and giving me a true line-out. I'm not sure what thos RET and ACC wires connect to tho, or if they're necessary. They come out of the cable so I assume they're connected to something on the ipod end. Anyone have any clues?

[volki]

Since you identified the cables for the "power" and the "audio signal", the remaining cables should be for something extra, right? Can those be for "communicating" with the iPod? Belkin is the only charger/line out that is able to "pause the iPod" upon cutting the power from ignition. To do that, it should send a signal to iPod to pause it (just like a remote-control). I am no expert on this, but just a thought...
Good luck!

[bcruze]

You may be right. I just got the Belkin and immedietly started taking it apart, I didn't know that it paused on loss of power. Interesting. I would imagine those labels on the PCB mean ACCESSORY and RETURN. I'll keep you up to date with my successes (and probably failures).

[dbett]

Originally posted by volki
Belkin is the only charger/line out that is able to "pause the iPod" upon cutting the power from ignition.

Really? Mine doesn't but I wish it did.

[volki]

Yes really :)
It does pause the iPod unless you have a charger that is "on" all the time. My charger port does not get any power from the battery, once the ignition is off...
Have you tried yours in somebody else's car?

[MOCKBA]

Can you provide pictures and details how to disassembly Belkin adapter? I several times tried to find a brave one who'd do this simple modification.

[MovingInStereo]

I actually brought mine inside tonite for a little project.

I hate the amplifier option. I am also having a problem with the plug on my cassette adapter.

My plan: hardwire the cassette adapter directly to the line out on the Belkin charger.

I'll update when I get into it.

[bcruze]

Here you go...line out added:

http://www.cruze.org/etc/ipod/

[MovingInStereo]

I got all the stuff, gonna get started in a bit. Instead of drilling a hole, I removed the volume wheel and will run it out of there. Pics coming soon.

[dbett]

Originally posted by volki
Yes really :)
It does pause the iPod unless you have a charger that is "on" all the time. My charger port does not get any power from the battery, once the ignition is off...
Have you tried yours in somebody else's car?

Mine is on a switched circuit (tapped off of the cigarette lighter) and it does not pause or power off when the car is turned off.

:confused:

If I hit pause (either before or after turning the car off), the iPod will turn off after a few minutes.

[MovingInStereo]

Before!

[MovingInStereo]

Belkin apart, tried first just cutting the cassette adapter's wire, quickly realized it was difficult to separate the ground and audio wires, abandoned the idea of using that wire and went to Radio Shack to get completely new wires...

[MovingInStereo]

Belkin end completed. I removed the volume wheel and ran the wires out of the hole left there. Just finishing up the soldering on the cassette adapter...

[MovingInStereo]

Here is the completed product, iPod in its cellphone cradle...

[MovingInStereo]

Here's a close-up of the wiring. It's not pretty, just used the sheath that you shrink down and the 3 wires are kinda exposed on each end, but that work out kinda nice in making it less stiff around the ends. It was a little coaxing to get the cassette adapter to load in properly. The sound is great, as I bypassed the charger's amp and jack. Essentially the line out of the iPod goes directly to the cassette adapter right thru the charger. And the iPod still pauses when the truck is turned off.

*edit - in case anyone is curious, i run the cable into my ashtray there, and then up to the iPod. All the excess is just stored in there...

[MovingInStereo]

Originally posted by MOCKBA
Can you provide pictures and details how to disassembly Belkin adapter? I several times tried to find a brave one who'd do this simple modification. It's very simple. The metal end unscrews, revealing the fuse. The metal ring left there pops off and the whole front end splits open. Everything else just pops out.

[thrlride]

I did a similar mod with my belkin kit. I had some engine noise from the iPod so I took apart the cigarette lighter part and soldered in a longer ground and power wire. I then hard wired this into my Tahoe. From there I used a headphone to RCA wire for the line out purposes. I then plugged the RCA wires into my PIE GM9-AUX that I bought from logjam electronics. Sounds great! I just need to find a spot to mount my ipod now.

[boister77]

does the belkin mod remove most, in not all, of the annoying ground noise? i tried wiring my belkin to same ground as my head unit with no luck. it's obivious the belkin is the cause of the noise. anyways, i just want to make sure the belkin mod removes a majority of the noise before i attempt the mod. thanks!

[MovingInStereo]

i have no engine noise.

[bcruze]

You need a Ground Loop Isolator from Radio Shack...that'll take care of your problems.

[boister77]

Originally posted by bcruze
You need a Ground Loop Isolator from Radio Shack...that'll take care of your problems.

already tried that. i installed a scosche ground loop isolator between the belkin output and my head unit rca input with no luck either. i believe the ground loop isolator doesn't work for me because i am using the same ground and power points for the belkin and head unit. so, there is no loop in the electrical circuit. correct me if i'm wrong, aren't ground loop isolators are handy if you have different grounding points? also, i know it's the belkin because when i connect the headphone out of the ipod to my head unit i get zero noise. thanks though!!!

[boister77]

i decided to go ahead a mod the belkin. to my surprise, the mod dramatically reduced the noise! unlike the mods above, i didn't take any pics because my mod is very crude. it's completely hidden when installed, so i took no care in cosmetics. anyways, thanks to the people above who provided excellent info.

[albamac]

Just tried it also. Great idea. Dont notice all that much improvement in sound quality but certainly helps neaten up the wiring. Also removed the line out connector and ran cable through the hole then tied with cable tie inside unit to secure. Looks like it was made that way.

:D

[mgb123]

Has anyone managed to figure out what those other lines are for then?

The power, left and right audio and ground seem to be figured out. It's the remaining ones that are unknown...RET and ACC (thick black and White)

Would belkin be forthcoming on what these might be used for?

I wish they'd just make a non amp'd version...
m.

[thatvan]

Color - Label
green - L (1) Left audio out
thick black - RET (2) Audio signal return shield ground
yellow - R (3) Right audio out
white - ACC (4) This is what controls the pause feature
black - GND (5) Ground
red - VCC (power) (6) Power 12VDC to Ipod
thicker black - Ground (7)Cable Shield ground

Still tring to figure out the ACC line. Just took a very quick look.

Pinout on the dock if looking at the pod dock connector with the LCD facing up. x213xxxxxxxxxxxxxx664xxxxxxx57
5 and 7 are summed as well as 6 and 6.

[hongkongrr]

I was wondering if the belkin auto kit could connect to the back of the dektop ipod dock? I am trying to use the dock in a car project and I didn't want to buy a auto belkin unit unless it would work. Thanks

[bcruze]

It would give you power at the dock but not line out. You'd have to go from the dock's line-out connector for audio. You'd be better off buying a simple (cheaper) car charger if you're going to use this method.

[syko82]

The ACC line (4) is for serial transfer to the ipod.

dock pinout (http://stud3.tuwien.ac.at/~e0026607/ipod_remote/ipod_dock_pinout.html)

There are all sorts of commands that you can send to the ipod via these connections

Control you ipod remotely (http://stud3.tuwien.ac.at/%7Ee0026607/ipod_remote/ipod_ap.html)