Config Ai-Net/Alpine Bluetooth?

[StuartV 10+ year member]

I've got all my new components installed now. That is:

Alpine IVA-W200 head unit

Alpine XM module (actually, Terk)

Alpine KCA-100BT Bluetooth handsfree module

Alpine PXA-H701 sound processor

iPod

Prior to this latest round of installs, I had just the HU, XM, and iPod and everything worked just fine.

Now, the XM shows channel info, but I get no sound. And if I make or receive a call via Bluetooth, the person on the other end can hear me, but I can't hear them.

A *really* weird thing is, if I initiate a call using voice-dialing, I can hear it when my phone talks to me. I.e. I press the button on the Alpine BT controller to start a call and I can hear my phone say (through the stereo) "Say a command". I say something like "call Joe Smith Mobile" and then I hear the phone say "Did you say call Joe Smith mobile". I say "yes", and the phone says "calling". And then I don't hear anything else after that. But, it calls Joe and if he answers, he can hear me talking.

So, I called Alpine Tech Support. The guy I got seemed almost as clueless as my local Alpine authorized dealer that installed the latest equipment for me. He told me that the current satellite radio tuners are not compatible with the BT module and that I would have to pick one or the other to keep, but I cannot use both.

Then he explained that the problem is that the sat radio modules don't have a way for the HU to mute them, so if I get or make a call while listening to XM, it won't mute the music. I could live with that (if it proves to be the case).

But, then I called Crutchfield and they said that the latest BT modules have updated software that will work and the XM module that I have, which has an Ai-Net pass through, will work, so everything should be fine.

So, the way I have everything hooked up is HU thru Ai-Net to XM through Ai-Net to Ai-net port on 701 processor, and then the BT module is hooked to the Changer-In (2nd Ai-net) port on the processor.

Now, I've just gotten a call back from a Supervisor at Alpine Tech Support. He said, flat out, there is no way to make XM and the BT module work together. But, he also could not explain why I can hear my phone talking through BT and I can't hear the person on the other end talking.

He did assert that the reason I can see XM channel info, but get no sound, is that the cables are hooked up backwards on the XM module. He said that the cable that connected to the HU before, when I only had XM, needs to go to the processor and the other cable, which was connected to nothing before, needs to connect to the HU. He said data on Ai-Net is 2-way, but audio is only 1-way, which is why it's doing what it's doing.

So, if anybody has any insight on this, I'd really appreciate it if you could share it!

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[StuartV 10+ year member]

Okay, I think I've answered my own question. I looked up Terk on the Web, called their Tech Support and learned this:

They just released a new XM tuner module about 2 weeks ago that is compatible with Alpine's BT module. Since mine is just over 2 months old, they're going to swap me out for a new module under warranty. That and switching the Ai-net cables to the XM module around should (hopefully) fix my problems.

And, hopefully, this info will be useful to some other Alpinistas on here... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[cyantist 10+ year member]

Good info, thanks for sharing..