Ahoy All,
I've always found that factory car radios pick up stations that other units won't get, and we have a new local station that plays good oldies and does RDS. (WGLD in Conway SC, USA) My usual boom box for lounging in the kiddy pool does not get this, so I found a Flea Market pull head unit which ticked off the boxes, ie: $15, no theft prevention, and RDS. I tested it on my bench and it fired up fine so I built this box.
Added marine rated 6.5 inch Polk speakers, jacks for plugging in PA speakers if I really want to crank it, jacks for recharging with a solar panel or wall-wart, a 7.2 Amp hour battery (like what you'd find in a UPS), a voltmeter I can switch off to conserve power, and a recessed jack for a motorola type antenna. The battery is connected full time to pin 44 to retain the clock and radio memories. On the bench I discovered that when turned off the radio continues to draw about 10 watts for a minute, and then drops to near zero. There is a large flush mounted washer on top for a mag mount antenna. (Had to run an adaptor to the proprietary GM jack). The mag mount antenna I found can be moved to the grill as a better ground plane.
The radio is listed as a U58-8UH78U2K aka GM95375734 with manufacture date of March 19, 2013.
My oops was not exhaustively running the radio on the bench, and I have discovered that it has a built in Retained Accessory Power function. So when the power button is pushed, it runs well for 10 minutes, and then shuts off. Press it again, another 10 minutes (untimed, but about that).
I have searched a lot and have found some pinouts that I hoped would respond to a +12 V signal, but the shutoff still happens. Such as "Integrated center stack wake up signal" and "Entertainment remote enable signal".
Since this was designed for me to chill out by the pool it's not meeting that function.
I am a bit hesitant to just slap +12V on every pin (and waiting to see if in worked....) but that would be the best of all worlds if someone could tell me about it.
In addition to the 44 pin connector and antenna coax jacks (this unit is Sirius enabled) there is something like a USB port and a smaller multipin connector. (20 pin)
Am I going to have to feed it some sort of digital code, and if so do I do this with something like an Arduino? I have seen references to "serial data from BCM" and "class 2 message via 2,3 serial link from BCM".
To sum up (and this is why I'm not seeing the answer in my searches) I am trying to use a Factory Head unit out of a car and have it stay on.
Thanks to All!
Rob
PS yes I know it has lousy stereo imaging with the speakers on the sides but it has fair bass and power, pulls in stations, and beats the pants off my Sony boom box except for weighing 23 pounds. And the sound spreads out around the backyard.
I've always found that factory car radios pick up stations that other units won't get, and we have a new local station that plays good oldies and does RDS. (WGLD in Conway SC, USA) My usual boom box for lounging in the kiddy pool does not get this, so I found a Flea Market pull head unit which ticked off the boxes, ie: $15, no theft prevention, and RDS. I tested it on my bench and it fired up fine so I built this box.
Added marine rated 6.5 inch Polk speakers, jacks for plugging in PA speakers if I really want to crank it, jacks for recharging with a solar panel or wall-wart, a 7.2 Amp hour battery (like what you'd find in a UPS), a voltmeter I can switch off to conserve power, and a recessed jack for a motorola type antenna. The battery is connected full time to pin 44 to retain the clock and radio memories. On the bench I discovered that when turned off the radio continues to draw about 10 watts for a minute, and then drops to near zero. There is a large flush mounted washer on top for a mag mount antenna. (Had to run an adaptor to the proprietary GM jack). The mag mount antenna I found can be moved to the grill as a better ground plane.
The radio is listed as a U58-8UH78U2K aka GM95375734 with manufacture date of March 19, 2013.
My oops was not exhaustively running the radio on the bench, and I have discovered that it has a built in Retained Accessory Power function. So when the power button is pushed, it runs well for 10 minutes, and then shuts off. Press it again, another 10 minutes (untimed, but about that).
I have searched a lot and have found some pinouts that I hoped would respond to a +12 V signal, but the shutoff still happens. Such as "Integrated center stack wake up signal" and "Entertainment remote enable signal".
Since this was designed for me to chill out by the pool it's not meeting that function.
I am a bit hesitant to just slap +12V on every pin (and waiting to see if in worked....) but that would be the best of all worlds if someone could tell me about it.
In addition to the 44 pin connector and antenna coax jacks (this unit is Sirius enabled) there is something like a USB port and a smaller multipin connector. (20 pin)
Am I going to have to feed it some sort of digital code, and if so do I do this with something like an Arduino? I have seen references to "serial data from BCM" and "class 2 message via 2,3 serial link from BCM".
To sum up (and this is why I'm not seeing the answer in my searches) I am trying to use a Factory Head unit out of a car and have it stay on.
Thanks to All!
Rob
PS yes I know it has lousy stereo imaging with the speakers on the sides but it has fair bass and power, pulls in stations, and beats the pants off my Sony boom box except for weighing 23 pounds. And the sound spreads out around the backyard.
