BA/BF ICC (Radio) Mods and Hacking

[TazzI]

Figured this should have its own thread going on as its of big interest to myself.

The ICC's that I will be foxusing on are the premium colour screen units (single and dual zone units). Ill grab some pics and post them below later so everyone knows whats what!


So my aim, is to either take hostage of the LCD to display whatever or to utilize the inbuilt video connector at the bottom.

Theres a few known ways of getting this done, although both have their down falls.
1) Using carPC setup and use the VGA output by tieing the syncH and syncV togther to produce composite snc. This is a bit of a hack but works as seen by a few setups. Problem which this method is only specific graphics cards can output the correct video resolution, and even then its a bit shotty looking.

2) Use the $240usd converter which seems to output with no dramas. Downfall here is obviously a massive price!

3) Use arcade converter to output correct signal. This is cheap, but a bit bulky and uses a bit of power.

So Im taking it to the next level, and am interfacing with a video decoder chip which outputs RGBS. Hopefully if I can match up the signal correctly I should be able to output a crisp image. This will then allow for outputting a reverse camera image or custom gauges ect on screen (hopefully!).

Alternatively, the option is to go down the arcade converter box, and dump video into that/ Its the matter of figuring out what is going to be the best equipment for the video provider. Either using a custom micro or to use a carPC, and then just make a PC app to do the hard work!

[TazzI]

Had mysterious fellow contact me saying you can get carPC's which boot up within a few seconds.., thats pretty good!
But that appears still to be quite pricey down the carPC way. Could end up with more abilities though,,, hmmm...

Anyways, need to start somewhere! Have done some late night Ebay shopping.. and have ended up with..

Rear view cameras (yes.. multiple..), arcade converter, logic analyser, raspberry PI, few other high speed micros..

And... I may.. or may not.. have one over board and bought one of those expensive converters.

Something has to come of all this stuff all together!.


Soooooo while all that is being shipped, will begin working on something else. I believe I have found the LCD documentations... so.. could.. directly interface with it... but will leave that on the backburner as a last resort.

But something I do want is the ability to detect reverse, mute, ect ect. All of these commands are sent over the communication line, so if I can identify the command, I can then use a simply micro to sit on the bus, wait for the command then use a relay to switch the reverse camera video on!. Then when drive (or any other gear is selected) then switch back to normal screen.

The normal method for this is to hook up to the rear lights.. but.. I want something thats plug and play, no splicing/soldering!.

One thing Ill need to clarify, is what happens in a manual BA/BF Ford.. are the gears detected by the shifter and sent on the BUS... or is it completely ignored? hmmm... otherwise manuals may have to hook into the reverse lights as much as I would prefer not.

The next set of commands to detect, is the good ol mute button. So what Im thinking, is to detect mute being pressed twice within a couple seconds, which then switches over to a second video source? (Maybe!). Could have something like a DVD player hooked up for the kids or possible some other interface. Id personally probably go for the DVD player.. or.. eventually.. use a RTOS micro to output custom gauges and information on screen with a touchscreen overlay. This could also have navigation added on.. bit of work for that one though.

Id love to setup navigation... but... without running a carPC... its going to be one hell of a difficult task. The only alternative I can think of, is to use a device to mirror the iphone or android screen and simply use the input maps on the smart phone. Which todays phones, you could start the car, double tap mute then say "Siri, take me to 123 Ford Street" and it would auto bring up maps and start navigation!

So... time to get some raw logs happening to get the ball rolling.....

If anyone has suggestions.. or wants to chime in, feel free!

[Robertau]

Ive been thinking about getting a colour screen one "hacking the screen out of it" Finding the power inputs and making up a enclosure out of fiberglass to fit it in to a Ef falcon and use up my aftermarket satnav i have that fits AU (with a seperate screen) ba and bf

And... I may.. or may not.. have one over board and bought one of those expensive converters.

I'd like to see many pics of the proper converter that you may or may not have got, How many inputs on it etc.
Rob

[aumatt]

Tazzi there is no mute button on these things.

You have AM, FM, CD, LOUD, MENU, AS, Down, Up, Eject, Volume, Load. These can all be watched.

PID 3152 and 8001 I think will give you those.

B105 on the PAM should give you when reverse is selected

Matt

[TazzI]

Ive been thinking about getting a colour screen one "hacking the screen out of it" Finding the power inputs and making up a enclosure out of fiberglass to fit it in to a Ef falcon and use up my aftermarket satnav i have that fits AU (with a seperate screen) ba and bf

And... I may.. or may not.. have one over board and bought one of those expensive converters.

I'd like to see many pics of the proper converter that you may or may not have got, How many inputs on it etc.
Rob

Yeah will do. The one I got has two inputs. Should be able to drop in a reverse camera on one and something on number.

That would be pretty cool! Hack and slash the BA/BF ICC for a EF. But if doing that... could go that next step further and attack a FG unit. They look pretty snazzy!.

Tazzi there is no mute button on these things.

You have AM, FM, CD, LOUD, MENU, AS, Down, Up, Eject, Volume, Load. These can all be watched.

PID 3152 and 8001 I think will give you those.

B105 on the PAM should give you when reverse is selected

Matt

I must be going mad... I thought there was a mute on the headunit.. hmm. I think Iv gotten mixed up looking at my VE utes steering wheel controls!

Riiiight... so... Ill have to look at what to do.. maybe clicking menu twice will be the way to go.

[GoFastBits]

As soon as i get a chance i'll pull that ASL unit out and take some pics, due to a little bit customization under my ICC (took one of those single din pockets, filled it with Bog, carved it out to fit a start button (using an FPV harness), parrot bluetooth screen unit and various hidden switches and knobs), it does make it somewhat difficult to get in and out compared to the standard pocket

FYI Re: Manuals, AFAIK manuals are pretty basic, it only has a mechanical reverse light switch (and a Reverse lockout solenoid on 6 Speeds to stop you selecting reverse over a certain speed, unsure if 5 speeds have the lockout)

Autos have a Range switch Giving you P/R/N/D, with the sports mode being detected by 3 magnetic sensors on the side of the T-bar its self)
Aswell as a Inhibitor and Reverse light switch, obviously blocking out the starting circuit in anything other than P and N, and turning the reverse lights on in R.

Again, AFAIK, the manuals don't "signal" any computer that its in reverse, i think the manual gearbox wiring is purely just switching the 2 "reverse light" circuit wires in the enginebay wiring harness (which should all the wires regardless of Auto/Manual)

Oh, and the reverse light wire is in the passengers kickpanel plugs if you're looking for it (not sure if it goes up past/into the BCM or anything but its definitely in the rear harness plug behind that kickpanel, Its a Red something i think (Red w/ Blue stripe at a guess? i can look it up if you want it)

[Robertau]

As soon as i get a chance i'll pull that ASL unit out and take some pics, due to a little bit customization under my ICC (took one of those single din pockets, filled it with Bog, carved it out to fit a start button (using an FPV harness), parrot bluetooth screen unit and various hidden switches and knobs), it does make it somewhat difficult to get in and out compared to the standard pocket

Sounds good. I'd love to see Pictures of your "custom" Fascia too. I have just finished making up the exact same kind of thing with one of the fascia's except to hold some gauges!

Pic from my Iphone might get a better one later

12418090_10153826656119054_6353564379852779391_n.jpg

Oh, and the reverse light wire is in the passengers kickpanel plugs if you're looking for it (not sure if it goes up past/into the BCM or anything but its definitely in the rear harness plug behind that kickpanel, Its a Red something i think (Red w/ Blue stripe at a guess? i can look it up if you want it)

Close on the colour there Red with a black stripe , i got a reverse wire that runs right around the car back up into my drivers seat XD (for the memory mirror and mirror dip in reverse) function, then from memory i have continued it on into the Roof loom to pick up for my electromagnetic rear view mirror.
The wire In the left Kick panel for the reverse lights power is located in the smaller grey 14? pin plug nearer the floor.

That would be pretty cool! Hack and slash the BA/BF ICC for a EF. But if doing that... could go that next step further and attack a FG unit. They look pretty snazzy!.

Would only be the screen if i did, the rest would make the junk pile, except fot the black buttons. i would likely use them on my really good black icc and have black on black buttons.
Did the FG take the same style of sat nav plug? if they did it may be a option maybe being the key word.


Rob

[TazzI]

As soon as i get a chance i'll pull that ASL unit out and take some pics, due to a little bit customization under my ICC (took one of those single din pockets, filled it with Bog, carved it out to fit a start button (using an FPV harness), parrot bluetooth screen unit and various hidden switches and knobs), it does make it somewhat difficult to get in and out compared to the standard pocket

Ahahah. Thats alright.

Do you remember if the module looked like this? (Direct from ASL site)



If so.. would be very interesting to see what the main processing chip is. Been looking at heaps and heaps of decoder chips, although not sure which one to try designing with first.

[GoFastBits]

Close on the colour there Red with a black stripe , i got a reverse wire that runs right around the car back up into my drivers seat XD (for the memory mirror and mirror dip in reverse) function, then from memory i have continued it on into the Roof loom to pick up for my electromagnetic rear view mirror.
The wire In the left Kick panel for the reverse lights power is located in the smaller grey 14? pin plug nearer the floor.

Hah, sounds like my car, down to the chromatic mirror (i stole mine off an FG G6E after some junk on the road smashed my window, really a god send since that rattly BF mirror was quite literally driving me insane)

I like that fascia, mine looks pretty similar, contemplating redoing it to fit a boost gauge too, is that made out of one of those single din mounts (how did you fill yours in?) or is it just metal bent/styled like it? (i'm thinking of bending up some metal, styling it like the ICC but making it longer to fit more stuff)

Do you remember if the module looked like this? (Direct from ASL site)



If so.. would be very interesting to see what the main processing chip is. Been looking at heaps and heaps of decoder chips, although not sure which one to try designing with first.

Thats the unit (i just didn't have the wiring other than a short bit from the main plug they destroyed and another short bit with the ICC plug on it)

[TazzI]

Ah awesome. Im pegging the the als box uses a motorola video processor, since it appears they are a perfect implementation for this kinda stuff..

Those triple gauges look mint by the way!.