My new Kenwood Head-unit

[StereoInstaller1]

StereoInstaller1 can you link me to a male/male audio cable from my line in?

WalMart, $4.77. They have extensions, adapters, almost always in stock.

Luke

[netcsk]

Luke,
I got the hard drive wired in and set up. It takes approximately 50 seconds from when I switch the unit to USB after power on to when it starts playing a song. Keep in mind, this is 18gb with ~4000 songs. Not bad in my opinion.

I want to rewire it though, which I'll do this weekend. When the hard drive has power, but no interface signal (when the headunit is either not on or set to another source) the hard drive beeps audibly. I'm going to put a relay on hard drive side of the USB cable to give the unit power when I have the source on USB.

Does anyone local (radioshack, lowes, autozone, etc.) sell a relay that will activate with 5v and a half an amp? They may be like this normally, but I've never used this small of power so I'm not sure.

[StereoInstaller1]

You will have to use a "reed switch" which is basically a low voltage relay.

Bummer about the beeper! I wonder why it does that?

Luke

[netcsk]

where can I order one online, Luke? Or where can I order one from you? :)

I guess it's some kind of error beep. Stupid thing. I guess wiring it like this will just keep less hours on the drive. *justification for extra work*

[netcsk]

And how it looks in the car! Mmmm yay! Now just to get it wired perfectly.

[StereoInstaller1]

Chris, that is a farking hawt looking drive.

This is the reed switch.

Are you sure you are dealing with a 50 second boot time? Is that every time you go to USB (as a source)? That seems hella slow...would definately piss me off.

So, no .OGG, no .WMA Lossless? Have you used the Kenwood "Voice Command" bullshit yet?

I just wish someone made a hard drive controller that had USB conncetivity...like that "Music Keg" pile of crap that Kenwood pushed, only good.

Oh yeah...Chris, lay off that Ibuprofen. Rough on your liver. With the R3V Recommended Drinking Schedule, (RRDS) you may never get that hard drive full.

Luke

[netcsk]

Ahh, thanks for the link. Hopefully they stock them so I can wire it in this weekend. And the drive really does look sweet in the car. it's an "inverse" activity light (on solid with no activity, blinks with activity). It's the OKGear OK250AU2-K from Newegg. I paid $10 and I think I picked the perfect one.

I'm not sure if the 50 second boot time happens if I switch between sources (after the initial load). I meant to check that but never did.
I'm willing to deal with the 50 second time (it takes me a few seconds to get movin anyway). It's not as bad as it sounds in my opinion.

I'm not going to waste my time on the voice command. It sounds stupid.

It would be nice if something with a little though was made. Maybe I should shoot some suggestions to kenwood, although they may be too big to hear them.

Hey, ibuprofen (paired with vicodin) allowed me to live during my recently separated shoulder. Screw my liver. And my drinking has been in the toilet lately. I hate 16 hours of Junior level engineering.

[netcsk]

Ok, so I looked at the 5v wire running from the HU to the hard drive. Turns out, that long after the source is switched from USB (or even if the car has been off to a few hours), that wire still has voltage. There must be a huge capacitance on that wire.

In any case, this kept me from putting a relay on it. So I wired it to a switch that I have in my cig. ash tray in the front (under my work ID that you can see in the first picture in the thread. I have two switches from my when I needed them, but they have long been passed, so I just used one of those.

Oh yeah, the unit does reset when you switch the source to another; then back to USB. That's what sucks. But oh well, I might just end up taking stuff off the drive that I'll never listen to.