jcbarker

jcbarker

Well Known Member
For tunes in the cockpit I would like to install an i-pod Nano.
Any ideas for mounting the Nano and piping it to my intercomm? There must be after-market components for doing the same thing in cars.
 
maybe simple

but if i were to put a ipod nano (the size of a half a credit card) i would simply use a 1/2" by 1/2" piece of velcro
 
I have used my nano in the RV-8, works really well.

I installed a "music input" jack in the aft face of the right gear tower, which is plumbed into the music input of my PS Engineering intercom. It works very well, although I have the XM radio from my Garmin 396 plugged in way more than the nano.

The plug was a couple of bucks from Radio Shack--I don't recall the size off the top of my head, but it's the same size as the headphone jack in the iPod. You will also need a cable with two male ends.

James Freeman
 
Nano notes

I use an "iGrip" that you can purchase at the Apple store (I think about $15, if that). This creates a non-slip surface like those eyeglass non-slip pads you buy for your car dashboard. The Nano won't move as long as you keep it out of any kind of slick case, i.e., the metal back of the Nano sticks well to it but not the little suede case that comes with the Nano. I placed the iGrip on the flat surface shelf by my leg just ahead of the spar and aft of the gear tower.

For the connector, I bought a standard mini-plug from Radio Shack for about $2 and mounted it on the aft side of the covered vertical thingy that extends up from the forward spar area (you can tell I finished building 'cause I can't remember what they call that anymore). Mine's on the right side because my Intercom is on that side. Anyway, from there run the wires to your PS4000 or whatever you have.

I've found that I have to run the Nano volume all the way up to get good sound, but it works.

Chris
 
Don't know how interested you'll be in sound quality, but you'll get the full range of frequencies by using a cable that plugs into the firewire port at the bottom of the Nano. I can't give you a source for this, however. Of course, you're going to limited by whatever input you need to use for the headset so this may not even matter. If they use a full-sized stereo input then this might be something to look into.

As far as mouting, I'd be going for the velcro route. There's also a company called RAM Mount that makes a system for moutning a number of electronic devices in cars, motorcycles, boats, planes, etc. Very customizeable and you can put the Nano wherever you want it, facing in any direction you want it. I would check out thier site as they do some stuff for GPS systems as well.

www.ram-mount.com

On a side note, I agree with flyeyes above... I used to use my Nano all the time in my car, then a bought a new car with a factory installed XM radio and 3 months free service. I thought I woudln't like it that much but it's all I listen to anymore. The FM radio has been on in my car since the day I bought it 7 months ago, and the MP3 player sees VERY little use - I bring it out for an hour or two on VERY long (10+ hour) road trips.
 
What I learned about Volume....

I have a PS6000 audio panel with an entertainment jack, and initially plugged my 30 Gig Ipod in. It works OK (as long as you stay below 10,000', which is a whole 'nuther issue!), but you do have to have the volume all the way up, and forget about listening to anything "subtle", like the soft passages in classical music. I called PSE, because I wanted to up the gain on the aux input, but unfortunately, that is not adjustable on that unit - only on the newer, higher-end panels. The reason people have trouble with the miniature MP3 players is that they are only running about 3.5 volts, and so they just don't have the input signal strength - earlier audio panels (like mine) were designed to work with portable CD players, which have bigger batteries to drive the motors, and therefore higher voltage in the system.

I still use my Ipod when I want to listen to certain music, but like many others have said, once I installed my 396 and got XM, I find it is easier just to listen to that...

Paul
 
You can get a signal booster such as this offering from Rat Shack. Granted it requries more batteries... once I get all the bugs worked out in plane, I'm gonna try wiring it to aircraft power by getting a voltage regulator.

Unfortunately, my GMA-340 audio panel is at the mod level/version where I can't get the 20 db boost.

pRS1C-2266226w345.jpg
 
ground loop buzz

Any of you guys using the XM radio portion of the 396/496 experience a ground loop buzz? I know Dan C had that problem as did I with a Roady XT installed in my -6. Also my iPod Nano (mounted with velcro) experiences the same buzz when the 12 volt power plug is used (no buzz when only using the nano's battery power). To eliminate this buzz a Radio shack ground loop eliminater (Dan's C's idea) was installed between the audio input plug and the intercom (flightcom in my case). Lots of extra wires with the mouse sized Radio shack unit, but it works great (had to do the same thing in my Tundra).
It seems to me that the culpret is the power plugs from Apple and the unit supplied with the Roady XT (the original Roady 2's power plug did not create an audio buzz). Curious if any one else has had this problem.
 
Oh Yeah, the ground loop!

Yup Tom, I've got it bad with the 396 - but do not experience it with my iPod. The audio from the 396 is clean until I plug in the power cord, and then I get the whine - it isn't very noticeable at cruise, but horrible when I throttle back for landing. I was told by a knowledgeable Garmin dealer/installer that Garmin knows it is a design problem, but isn't going to do anything about it.

I might futz around with a box from "the Shack"....can you give us a part/catalog number?

Paul

BTW - in response to the original question about mounting, I just clip my iPod to my kneeboard strap or harness. Before I had a clip, I just tucked it under the strap. Velcro is a fine option!
 
The booster is Radio Shack P/N 33-1109. You can also check out the Boostaroo

I have hangar tested the Radio Shack and it does the trick. However, I have not tried it in flight. Got other bugs to work outa. Will give it a try this weekend. Supposed to be an 'indian summer' on Fri/Sat but not as high temps as it has been in LA lately.

 
You know, I've often wondered why manufacturers of audio doodads don't just put the ground loop isolator circuitry in their units? It's not like those isolators are special -- you just stick them in your audio lines!

I have a Tundra as well and I have an XM Roady 2. I'm using an aux input adapter to pipe the XM's audio into the CD changer plug on the back of my factory headunit. Works perfectly, but as soon as I started the engine the first time I got an awful ground loop noise. I also had to use a ground loop isolator.

I imagine you guys are getting the ground loop noise because your aux power plug is grounded directly to the airframe at the mounting point. Have you tried maybe pulling the power plug and letting it hang (so it's not grounded on the airframe) and then trying it. If it works fine then you can probably just run power directly off your main bus and ground it to wherever your audio panel is grounded (on the firewall, if you're a 'Lectric Bob fan).

This place has 12-24v power adapters (the XM units take 5v or 6v, depending on the unit).
http://store.xmfanstore.com/xmpocoandba.html

The same place also has in-line boosters that you can easily wire into ship's power if you need a higher audio level.
http://store.xmfanstore.com/linedriver.html
 
Radio Shack Gound loop isolator

The Radio Shack Cat. No. 270-054. Dan C hard wired his in. I used adapters like (this one out of my Tundra) the picture below. Too many wires, but effective.


groundloopisolater001ayj9.jpg
 
IPOD

If you have lightspeed headsets you can plug it in directly to the headset, great volume and clarity. The audio panel option does suffer from low power resulting in low quality.

Pat
 
Chino Tom said:
The Radio Shack Cat. No. 270-054. Dan C hard wired his in. I used adapters like (this one out of my Tundra) the picture below. Too many wires, but effective.

]
Click to expand...

You're right Tom - that's a lot of wires! I wonder what's inside that thing.....might have to get one and do a little exploratory surgery...

Paul
 
thats right

Pat Stewart said:
If you have lightspeed headsets you can plug it in directly to the headset, great volume and clarity. The audio panel option does suffer from low power resulting in low quality.

Pat
Click to expand...
this is what i do with the 60 gig ipod. works great and i can have all the volume i want. auto mutes when ever a transmission is sent or recieved. this works great. i just lay it in the velcro of my knee board or put it in my shirt pocket.
 
Hide the wires

.....might have to get one and do a little exploratory surgery...

Paul, Wanted to do that myself. But on a scale of 1 - 10, my electronics ability is a .5 Bought a project box from an electronics store and cut the wires and wired up the box with plugs and such. installed it and walla! still had the buzz. Must have grounded the plugs somewhere. tossed the project box, stuffed (a new isolater, by now I've bought three of em) the isolator in a cordia bag my original GPS (Trimbal) was stored in and clamped it up under the panel. Don't see all those wires now and works great!
 
Well, I've struggled with this quite a bit. I have a PS3000 Intercomm with music input jack. Well, I could never get my iPod to play via this jack. The player doesn't have enough power, as others have pointed out. So I did two things. One, I sent the intercomm back to PSE and they made a change that they assured me would fix the problem. That cost me $60 and three weeks, and it didn't do a thing. Second, I bought a Boostaroo amp. Sorry Charlie, that didn't fix it either. So I finally broke down and traded in my LightSpeed headsets for the newer, 30-3G ones which have a special plug in the power box for my iPod. Now it works great. I actually use the Boostaroo to drive both the front and rear headsets, which you need because there's only one plug from the player, so only the front seat guy can hear music.

If I had to do it over again, I would not go with PSE and just use an audio panel, which have a built-in amp for music devices. Just my opinion, based upon chasing this problem for over 6 months.
 
i-pod

Thanks all for your inputs. Here's what I've learned so far.

-I'll probably need a signal booster.
-Use velcro to mount it where ever.
-Firewire will give me better audio. (does that pose problems wiring to my PSE3000?)
-Don't use one of those aux power plugs.
New Question:
How long do the batteries in a Nano last?
(You can tell I don't have one of these thingys yet)
Do I need one of those docking stations that provide power to the nano?
 
Ironflight said:
I have a PS6000 audio panel with an entertainment jack, and initially plugged my 30 Gig Ipod in. It works OK (as long as you stay below 10,000', which is a whole 'nuther issue!)...

Paul
Click to expand...
Paul,

This is not an issue with the Nano since it does not have a hard drive. It turns out the hard drives don't do well at altitude but the Nano is all solid state (memory chips), thus no issue.

The 8Gb Nano runs around $250 and provide a few days worth of music.

My Sigtronics stereo intercom has a 1/8" "audio in" jack which seems to work fine. Of course, my RV is still in my basement so who knows how it will work once I'm flying.
 
thanks Bill,

A "few days worth of music" should do it ;) If I'm on an extened trip I'll just bring my charger. So the install sounds REALLY simple:
-Put an 1/8 jack somewhere convenient.
-Wire it to my stereo PSE 3000.
-Secure my Nano with velcro.
-Done.
I guess the only other thing to resolve is the issue with the Nano not working with the PSE 3000. I'll give them a call and talk to them about it. I'll get back to the group with their response. Since I haven't bought the intercomm yet I can still change to one that might work better. On the other hand, I hate to let the Nano drive my intercomm selection.

Cheers,

John Barker
RV-8 N891WB
finishing and FWF
S47
 
John,

FYI, I installed duel 12 volt power ports in my -9. One is on the avionics master and the other is always hot. Between the two, I can recharge the iPod in flight.

Don't forget to ground the 1/8" jack at the same place you grounded the rest of the system or it will sound like trash.
 
Belkin

I have a Belkin which plugs into a cigarette lighter socket, charges the iPod and connects the iPod to a Jack (labeled Music Input) which feeds the music to my PM1200 Intercom.
Pete.
belkinipodik2.jpg
 
We just wired up music to a -7A with a Flightcom 403 intercom (some super-mini iPod thingie). Tested it out in flight today and it works great. I don't see a need for a signal booster. YMMV.

As Bill said, make sure that the jack is grounded properly (we ran a wire to ground).. it sounds really bad if it has bad or no ground.
 
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