Relocating Faceplate Using Cat5

[sporty_drew 10+ year member]

I was on mp3car.com and i saw that someone had extended their faceplate using cat5 and i was wondering if there was a certain distance i could extend it? Are there any other variables? I am rebuilding my carputer for my new car, so the monitor is going in the dash and the faceplate will be moved while the cd player is going in the glove box. Thanks, Drew

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[BRZguy 10+ year member]

hey just wondering. can you link that thread? i been wanting to do, but i cant figure how to do the connectors.

 

[sporty_drew 10+ year member]

i'll try to find it again, you basically just solder wires to bothe the faceplate and headunit matching the wires on both ends. I'm planning on putting a connector in the line just incase i need to disconnect it.

 

[sporty_drew 10+ year member]

well this wasn't the one i remembered but it's better he said he had his extended 7 feet so i should be ok. http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=22819&highlight=relocating+headunit

 

[cardinalsfan 10+ year member]

ive used ribbon connectors (from a pc) in the past and it worked pretty well...only problem is flexibility but they have round ones now so it might work

 

[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

You can extend it pretty far id imagine.

 

[sporty_drew 10+ year member]

well this all lead to my next question... can you have tow faceplates one for the front and one for the rear? i wouldn't imagine but it's worth asking.

 

[Joe92GT 10+ year member]

In theory you can extend the wires well beyond the length of the car. 150 feet I think is the limit for cat 5 for carrying signal.

To do two face places, you'd need a switch. I'd get a pcb printed up to match the ribbon cable, so that you can easily solder the cable, and relays/switches to it.

Its doable...not sure how the stereo would react to a live switch of the faces.

Joe

 

[sporty_drew 10+ year member]

can you go a little more indepth with this pcb? It would act just as tho you don't have the faceplate completly connected, right?

 

[Joe92GT 10+ year member]

Sorry for the long reply time.

I would find some small relays, either solid state or electromechanical, and design a pcb board to mount and control everything.

Very simple circuit obviously.. would need aux power. Expensive though in small quantities.

Other way would be a multi pole switch. That may be your cheapest. I found a 6 pole 2 position rotary switch for around 4 dollars at mouser. Don't know how many contacts your face has, but thats a possibility. We sell larger switches with a large amount of possible poles... but they are a lot more money, large in size, and way overkill.

Joe

 

[sporty_drew 10+ year member]

i'm building my carputer so i might just stick to the onee faceplate, but mine has 18 contacts. Could you give me a link to this 6 pole 2 position rotary switch? I've never seen one (or heard of one) before. Also what exactly are they? Thanks