Connecting a Sat Nav to your stereo?

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WISHY

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I have a Concert 2 stereo in my 2005 A3 and like the idea of connecting an aftermarket Sat Nav unit (eg TomTom or similar) to the stereo. The idea would be to use the Sat Nav unit to play MP3 music files via SD cards through the car stereo. I would like to use my phone hands free via Bluetooth and have speed camera alerts etc. The sat nav feature would be useful too!

Anyone got a set up like this? Which Sat Nav unit? Easy to install and cost?
Thanks
 
Tomtom have a permanent docking kit for about £80. I had this in my old A3 but never used the MP3 or bluetooth. I would have thought the sound quality wouldn't be very good but could be wrong. The SQ of the instructions was not great.

Go for a RNS-E unless you need the speed camera warnings.
 
Doubt it'll be that cheap as it has to have some electronics on it to fool the HU that a CD changer is connected. If you just wire up a source to the audio input on the CD changer it won't let you go into CD mode. It needs some data on the data bus to tell it a changer is there. This is what the Denison ICELink does. Bear in mind you'll also lose the CD changer if you have one.
You can't play MP3's through the HiFi using the phone input, as it'll be mono and pretty inferior quality.
 
Thanks for the replies - there seems to a device similar to that you have described? Its called a Solisto(?) costing £135. Found the details on another forum reply. It fools the HU into thinking its a CD changer and has a USB port for external storage connection.
 
audi upgrades
Just ordered a Connects 2 Aux Input adapter from caraudiocentre.co.uk to do the exact same thing for 30 quid plus 8 quid delivery.

It should fool my Symphony HU into thinking that there is a CD changer attached to it or something along those lines, I'll see what happens when I fit it.

I'll then be attaching my TomTom Go510 so I can use the hands free bluetooth phone and ipod connection from that. The bonus being that I can choose which tracks I want to play from the ipod, instead of the 6 playlists given with the audi ipod link.

TomTom do a permanent docking kit, but not for the 510, 710 or 910 models , it's for the models before

Denison do a icelink gateway 300 http://www.dension.com/icelinkgateway300.php
Which seems to do a few tricks too, might be worth a look at...

Rich
 
Got the aux connector this morning, fitted it this afternoon.

It does trick the HU into thinking that there is a CD changer attached, so I managed to connect the TomTom and get the ipod and handsfree phone connections working, well chuffed!

I've also found a use for the business card draw too, I've routed the 3.5mm connector into the draw, so I can now fix the suction cup to the bottom of the draw and have the TomTom in a decent position.

Rich
 
Well done Woodster.......was it easy to fit and route the cables?

I had a look at the car audio website but couldn't find the said part....can you be more specific?

Would be interested in a piccy of final installation if poss?

Thanks

p.s I would like a 2.0T as an everyday car too!:laugh:
 
Here's the link to the part Wishy http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product.asp?product=22006

Here's a bit of a blurry image of the install:
TomTom.JPG


The cable was quite easy to route between the radio cage and dashboard, the draw needs a good push to shut now, but I'll live with that :)

Oh yeah, it is quite nice to have the option to go out and play in a canoe fitted with a 250+ bhp V8 ;)
 
Woodster - Final couple of questions for you?

Do you get full functionality through the Sat Nav...such as touch screen operation and the music tracks displayed on screen so its easy to change tracks when driving?
Does the sat nav function work while listening to music?
Has the sound quality been effected?

Rear wheel drive V8 canoe......bet thats an interesting drive!

Thanks
 
Hi Wishy,

You do get all the normal touch screen sat nav stuff with the TomTom 510, have a look on www.tomtom.com for the full spec

You get full ipod control too, listings by artist, album, playlist etc. The same stuff you get on the ipod screen. It's quite easy to change tracks, especially now it's within reach, used to have it attached to the screen.

When you've got a route planned and directions are been shouted out, it will pause the track and tell you where to go then start the track again.

Also the same happens when you're taking a phone call too.

I've got a small problem with the sound quality, the tomtom seems to introduce a very slight crackle to the tracks, I'm going to fit an external GPS receiver to see if that solves it...

Rich
 
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