An interesting radio upgrade perhaps?

WilliamA

Hey all,
In addition to my trailer, I've been looking for a new head-unit (radio) to replace the one in my Jeep. I've been poring over my research for a few months now and have decided upon a 10.1 inch screen Seicane head unit to replace my Jeep radio entirely. I won't go into the full-boat details, but it's basically a 10 inch tablet grafted to a mounting system with a CANBUS to make it play with the car switches and outputs. It's bluetooth, wifi, cellular, multi-input and output (cameras, GPS, DVR etc) and basically upgrade-able with any app that works with Android 8.0 operating system. I'm after it in my Jeep for the on-road/offroad navigation possibilities as well as DVR and a multitude of other functions my Jeep just doesn't have or offers (GPS) but is prohibitively (enormously, stupidly) expensive from Jeep. While this job may not seem to be the cat's meow for trailers, I'm penning this because they also offer a double-din universal unit (in 7 inch screen size) for double-din replacements. I'm posting the information link for the double-din universal here:https://www.seicane.com/2-din-universal-touchscreen-android-radio-gps-navigation-system-with-wifi-bluetooth-music-usb-obd2-aux-radio-backup-camera-steering-wheel-control-s181015e

There is currently a lot of information on youtube in reference to the head unit and not all of it is good. I don't advocate that it would be easy and it won't be for the faint of heart (wiring and swearing and disassembly and modifying etc) but we'll see....
There are some features that won't be needed but it might offer a viable replacement for those of us who are looking into such things. I just received an email that my new Jeep head unit has shipped and should be here as soon as it gets here. I'll do a report on that side of it when I get things tidied up. Depending upon how well I like it, I may consider replacing the Jensen with the same (sic) unit in the trailer. Putz, putz, putz, or as TomD puts it: "the king of cob". lol
WilliamA

TomD

Yep! Absolutely the “king of cob” ......in a great way.

WilliamA

Just checked my tracking number and the head unit is scheduled for delivery tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the install and have done a mountain of research and notes on the radio, canbus and usb hub with switched video inputs. More research is good. This particular head unit doesn't come with any instructions.
I am going to start the spare tire mount tomorrow so the head unit will have to wait its turn...
WilliamA

WilliamA

Well, I got my head unit as promised and in perfect shape. It came airfreight from China, then UPS from the L.A. warehouse to here. I still had late nights and holidays open in my builder schedule so I spent the night last night putting it in. Install was tedious mostly because I was being "surgical" and also had a number of peripherals to mount around the Jeep. Gps antenna, microphone, 3 usb wires etc. Plus, I had to make/find room in the dash for the canbus and 6 video in connections. Keep in mind, this unit does not come with ANY documentation.
It's all tucked in and hooked up. It booted right out of the the chute on the first key on. It took some time to program the canbus to recognize the extra steering wheel key commands but....woah... Sad to say my familiarity with the Android system immediatelyafter became evident. I will get a book or two and work on that shortcoming but this thing is a monster. I ordered a cellular "dongle" (modem the size if a flashdrive with a card slot for my Verizon access) with it but that is being shipped separately so there's no telling when it will show. In the meantime I have been learning to navigate the system monkey-style of simply pushing buttons to see what they do. I like it tons. Especially the maps (google maps currently loaded with "Gaia" topo software downloading as we speak.)
If things go well and my learning curve proves to be up to the job, I'd like to get the double-din version (universal mount) for the trailer...

I'll keep you informed...
WilliamA

BBsGarage

anybody else read "canbus" and immediately think something else?

WilliamA

Holy semi-conductors Batman...
I have no desire to "recommend" anything to anyone outside of the basic rules of safety and etiquette but for myself and me alone, I am so far impressed with the new head unit and am putting it on the short list of upgrades to the trailer. I've been on the road for a couple of days and have had time (while stopped.....mostly anyway) to get to know some of the features and have decided I can get rid of most of my annoying tablets, phones etc with this one unit. Since I spend so much time in the trailer it's worth it to me to have things as seamless as I can. I thought I'd post a few photos of screenshots to give you some idea of the capabilities:
Here's the home screen. All of the programs I have running came loaded native to the unit and I am just spending some time getting to know the basics before I get carried away with more involved stuff, but the home screen is completely adaptable as it comes and I've pulled a few of the icons over so I can quickly access things from the front end. There are 4 complete screens of programs behind this one, but this is where I can go to with a button push to get at my "road" programs. The first is obvious as it's date, time etc. Middle big one is the am/fm radio, third is my offline music, then two native gps apps and my avin (audio-visual in).

The gps screen, in this case I'm running one of the two resident gps mapping programs. It's got google maps as well but I find I quite like this one for the 3d screen. It also scrolls addresses (fire numbers) automatically as you drive, which is either cool or annoying however you want it. I think it's cool. It also has 2d for those who like the more conventional google maps look. The 2d allows zooming in or out but the 3d only has one setting. If I'm running with my hotspot on, I can set the screen to satellite photo ala google earth but it's very hard to see the street names on that. This view takes up a lot less memory. For plotting destinations on the go, just zoom out as you would with a tablet, touch a finger to the screen to drop a pin, then hit "go". None of the annoying putting in the addresses etc. If you want, you can also do it that way.

Here's the resident music player. Right now I'm running a flash-drive with 250 albums on one of the 3 usb plugs. The usb plugs are long enough so you can run them out of the radio compartment and into the glovebox, where I have them while I think of a better place to put them. I've got music (mp3) on one 64 gig drive and misc photos on another. I had the 3rd plugged into my Verizon hotspot but am saving that for the cellular "dongle". It's basically a wireless modem with a card slot. Once I get it, I'll insert the Verizon micro card out of my hotspot into it and just plug it in and I'll have cellular unlimited data. The hotspot I'm using now works well, but I need to turn it on every time I start the car as it shuts off as soon as the radio does. With the dongle, it'll be instant. The head unit instantly recognizes all 3 of my usb devices each time I start the car and there's no messing around (with the exception of my temporary hotspot) to search for anything. It's right there at the top of the screen. Each external device shows up as a little usb icon. Clicking on it takes you to the "explore" menu for each individual device.
The music player has a very nice background screen and I've no need to change it. When I grabbed the music off my son's computer (for "test purposes only") I didn't put them in any order and they burned to the flash drive in the order I dropped them on. Some cataloging is in order here. I'll re-burn the drive from my itunes account, assuming I ever get my own computer back. For now, I'm happy with this music driver. The screen is also animated with the CD icon spinning slowly as the music plays, showing song name, album name and band name.

Here's a screenshot of one of my random images I grabbed for testing the graphics capabilities. You can use any photo of your own to set up the desktop photo and in-app photos. I've only scratched the surface of how this works, but it seems to be pretty straightforward. It better be, remember this thing comes with zero instructions for installation and use. My favorite kind of install and learning curve.

And of course it can do the internet including mail, movies, netflix browsing etc. It's smart enough to know when you're driving and won't let you watch the Kardashian's, but then you don't have to have a room temperature IQ to know that's bad for you...Especially the Kardashian's part....

I have my phone synched to it as well as my tablet, but it occurs to me that I need only one device hooked up for my use. I get all of the same accounts through my phone and tablet so there's no need to hog bandwidth running two devices. Couples could add both of their accounts for mail and phone numbers, etc. It will support a large amount of accounts.

This car-specific version doesn't come with a dvd player, although one is available (usb) for it, however, the double-din universal version of this unit comes with a built-in dvd/cd player behind the screen. That's the one I'm planning to try and get for the trailer. More testing is needed here before I do that, but so far I'm impressed. Your results may vary...

WilliamA

CampHub

Looking good @WilliamA

WilliamA

Well I got surprised this morning by checking yesterday's mail. My usb modem came in! That was a fast trip from Singapore! I got to work installing the micro card out of my Verizon hotspot and it's ready to try out. I was equally pleased to see that in addition to a micro card slot, it also has a slot for a 32 gig memory card. Nice. We'll see how it works this morning when I head to town for a coffee clatch with K. I'll let you know what I find.
It came out of the box looking like this:

I started to panic because it was listed as a usb modem. Hmmmm.. No instructions of any kind so I'll just get a hammer, vice and some chisels and see what's in there...

Voila! The usb plug was under some plastic on the end.

I've been using a Verizon hotspot for data and cellular since I put the radio in and it works fine with that plugged into one of the usb cables, but it's a bit clunky because the hotspot doesn't recognize the radio when I power the car up and therefore, I had to start the hotspot manually and wait until it was hot and ready to recognize the radio input, then set the radio to recognize and allow linking to the modem. This little guy should (should) be able to instantly recognize the radio on power-up and go right to work. That's the plan. It's a 3G modem so is slower than the now common 4G/5G stuff, but I wanted to be more reliable for data transfer in sketchy terrain. It's more important to be able to get email, etc than to go down the road watching youtube. FYI, this same unit is available from the same company in 4G as well. The actual speed remains to be seen, but on the unit box it gives the maximum speed as 3.75G or 7.2Mbs. As the home internet service here is 5.9 Mbs and supports about 375 wireless devices all running Ben Hur while downloading Wagner's "Ring of the Niberlungen" (in 4K!!) I'd be satisfied with 3G speed and happy with half of that. That would still be quite a bit faster than I can type...
Testing, testing, testing...
I've also been doing a ton of additional research on the same head unit I put in my Jeep, but the 2 din version. In addition to all of the capability of the Jeep head unit, the "universal" 2 din unit comes with a wireless remote ala Jensen. A bit more testing and some serious measuring of the T@G to see how it will fit etc, etc, etc, wiring, etc, cooling etc, antenna's, dongles etc, etc, and then I will order the universal 2 din head unit to fit the trailer...
I'll keep you posted.

A side note here: I should do the standard disclaimer that I don't work for or hawk for Seicane or any other company. I'm not advocating that anyone should change what they have and try this stuff. I do it because it meets my own needs and is interesting/fascinating and feeds my obsession to meddle with things that aren't "exactly" broken in the first place.

Your results may vary....

Here's a link for the head unit I am currently looking at for the T@G.
https://www.seicane.com/2-din-universal-touchscreen-android-radio-gps-navigation-system-with-wifi-bluetooth-music-usb-obd2-aux-radio-backup-camera-steering-wheel-control-s181015e
The website is a bit of a scavenger hunt to navigate but there are a number of additions and upgrades both for their head units and for stand-alone electronic bits and bobs. All I can say is that so far, my experience with these folks has been good. The head unit shipped from L.A. where it was in stock. The modem shipped direct from Singapore and took about a week more than the head unit. Not bad. It would appear that all of their orders direct from Singapore are shipped by air...Good to know.

WilliamA

TomD

FYI
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5tqw-7_JZb4

WilliamA

Tom,
Good info. Thanks loads for that. I've gone through the video but am currently stalled in place by hardware. My hotspot (verizon 4g) has the sim card I need to transfer my account but it's the wrong size for the dongle. I need the big card. I had talked to my Verizon wonk previously and she said if I need another (trade-in, of course! No "free" access sims floating around!) card to fit, she'd get me the appropriate size if I bring in my hotspot. I'll swing by there tomorrow and see what I can come up with.

WilliamA

WilliamA

Well, things are moving forward with the trailer and Jeep radio upgrade. I've sorted out enough of the operating system stuff to be comfortable with it and am starting to fine tune my apps. I've got the topo maps apps sorted out and am working on the free music player (mp3) apps. I have the basic app running and have tried 2 others but both have failed to clear the bar either because of periodic crashes ("Phonograph") or because I just don't care for the graphic interface. Anyone have any suggestions for a solid, Android based music player for offline listening?
I have the video interface up and running with 1 camera. It works fine. My plan for the trailer is to have an external camera so I can record "dash-cam" style into a dvr file and be able to review night visitors like a trail cam. I am mounting the camera in a cool housing that I'm working on. Just need to select a camera.
More later...
WilliamA

Michael

I use a Android player named GoneMad music player for my offline music. It works for me.

WilliamA

@Michael said:
I use a Android player named GoneMad music player for my offline music. It works for me.

Thanks Micheal, I'll give that one a try. I've just been methodically going through the players on the play store. The head-unit (radio) comes loaded with a generic player called; "Music" which works really well but has no catalog, so the songs just come up and play in the order I put them on the flash drive. While it's probably the most efficient way to carry music, it's something of a problem if I'm actually looking for a particular song. In addition to that, it doesn't load music from the same album in order either, but sprinkles it through the selections. Not a problem if I had a few dozen songs, but nearly impossible to remember where they are now that I have a couple thousand in there. I am currently running both the preloaded 'Music" and whichever player I'm experimenting with and can switch back and forth. Once I've decided that the current "temporary" player isn't what I'm looking for, I just go to the app settings and delete that particular player and try again. It's actually kind of fun. It may come down to paying a few bucks for a no-ads player, but I want to go through a few free ones first.

On to the big news:
I have been doing my tech sleuthing on the hotspot issue and have found what might be a cool device for everyone. As I wrote in my original post in this thread, I ordered and received a usb modem for my radio. As it turns out, none of the major cellular suppliers want to play nice and make me a sim card for it so it will work with my Verizon unlimited net access. To be fair, Verizon told me (and I have no reason to believe they'd lie) that they no longer have the "standard" size sim cards to offer. Sim's come in three sizes and they now almost exclusively use the tiny one, with occasional calls for the medium one but the large "standard" sim that would fit my chinese modem is no longer available. Makes sense. In any case, not to be deterred by mere hardware foibles, I've sallied forth and kept digging. It turns out that Verizon also has a usb modem for sale buried in their hotspot selections. I talked to 2 different Verizon dealers and neither had ever seen nor heard of anyone using one, so of course I had to try it. It's a tiny usb plug modem that just plugs into a usb port or cable in my case. It's supposed to be plug-and-play with no software needed, although there is software available once you install it. The modem information on the Verizon website states it will work with OS10 and all of the new Microsoft systems, including Chrome, but says nothing about Android. I had read a few posts on the net about folks using it with wifi only tablets running Android so I ordered one up to try. I picked it up this morning.
I don't know much about it yet save to tell you that it works. I plugged it in to my usb cable and it took a few seconds to sort things out and then just hooked up. It never said a word, but just hooked up. I saw the icon come up on my radio but still didn't have any net until I went into the settings menu for my radio (similar to the pull-down windowshade menu on a phone) and turned on "hotspot". Then it hooked me up to the net in my car and I have fast internet and all the features one would commonly have with any home computer. It runs fast net speeds for youtube, netflics etc and seems to be quite at home without any handshaking protocols.

It's bigger than a thumb drive and has a folding tab for the usb plug. According to the Verizon website, it has to be folded out at 120 degrees or it won't work, but It seems to work in just about any angle I've folded it to. Weird... One downside; I wanted to just put it in the glovebox and forget about it, but it can't get out. Meaning once the glovebox is closed, it loses signal. It wants to be on the dash, or at least hanging out in the open. I have a spot for it on my dash (I'd kind of suspected this would be the case so I made a provisional mounting spot) but my research through the manufacturer as well as personal inspection says that there is an antenna and antenna port for it so if one desires, an external antenna is available. The antenna plug is like nothing I've seen as it's tiny and has a tiny plug as well. I'm going to try putting it up on the dash for now and see how I like it but assuming it works as well going forward as it did today (yesterday?) I think I'd rather put a dedicated antenna out on the Jeep and bury this thing where no one (hot-fingers) can find it easily. I've not seen the antenna in person, but the photo looks like a short FM stinger and the info says it comes with a 5 ft cable. I'll experiment. If I end up putting this same rig in my T@G, which is the ultimate goal, then I'll need an external antenna.
Here's a photo of my dongle-gaggle currently stuffed uncerimoniously in a glovebox wad. There are 3 usb plugs from the radio. One has my modem plugged in, the other is my music mp3 files and the 3rd is as yet unused. The website for the radio company (Seicane) offers a usb dvd player for this radio but I've no need for that in my car. The double-din radio of this company that I plan to put in the T@G has a dvd hidden behind the front fold-down 10.1" screen so there's no need for an external there either. I hope to use the 3rd usb plug for an external camera but that's down the road on this project. For now, it's all working.
On the modem in this photo, you can see it has 2 led's to let you know how it's doing. They are multicolor and have different modes etc. It's pretty easy to work out what's what, but basically, once it powers up via the radio, give it a few seconds and it shows a green led for internet. Easy. As I mentioned, once the radio sees it, I also get an icon on the radio screen so there's no need to be able to see the thing anyway.

For those of you just looking for a cool small modem for internet while camping, this modem would of course, simply plug into a laptop or tablet with an OTG ("on the go" small cable that has standard usb on one end and device plug on the other) adapter.
Right now, the only foible is that it won't automatically hook up if I'm on roaming. I have to spend the three seconds to pull the radio menu down and select it. There is software for it but I've not installed it yet.
I'll keep you informed as things progress, but I'm getting closer to installing this same system in the T@G....
THAT....
will be interesting.....
Actually, this whole process is getting a lot more interesting.....
WilliamA

For anyone still following this tedious diatribe, the "target" radio head unit I'm looking at for the T@G is here:
https://www.seicane.com/hd-touchscreen-2-din-android-universal-radio-dvd-player-gps-navigation-system-bluetooth-phone-music-wifi-support-digital-tv-dvr-usb-steering-wheel-control-backup-camera-s161000g

LuckyJ

It is defenetly coming along.

About the sim card size, do not know what kind of support it had in you device, but I once fitted a small sim in an I phone sim card tray, simply by using scotch tape and then inserting the tray back in. It work just fine.

Keep it coming!

TennTim

Would a SIM card adapter like this have solved your problem? I once used something like this to use a nano on a micro slot. But it also comes with adapters to standard.

https://www.amazon.com/iSYFIX-Card-Adapter-Nano-Micro/dp/B00R25GJJW/

WilliamA

@TennTim said:
Would a SIM card adapter like this have solved your problem? I once used something like this to use a nano on a micro slot. But it also comes with adapters to standard.

https://www.amazon.com/iSYFIX-Card-Adapter-Nano-Micro/dp/B00R25GJJW/

Tim,
I tried the adapter but the modem slot design requires the sim card to be installed backwards in the slot which won't allow the adapter contacts to mate up. It's weird...I know...
The verizon dongle, although NOT approved for the Android system I'm running, seems to work perfectly fine. The reason (I suspect) that it's not rated to use with Android is there's no
Android driver for it. The driver software is just for setting preferences for roaming etc and doesn't seem to have any effect on actual of the modem. I'm going to keep scratching around for a driver but regardless, it's up and running fine as we speak. So far, so good.
The only downside is I had hoped to hide it in the glovebox but it can't get signal in there. I mounted it on top the dash and it all good.
WilliamA

WilliamA

Now that the Jeep is put back together I am switching back to my radio upgrade project. One of the things that I have been unsatisfied with in my trailers' interior layout is how far the radio is from being accessible. I've been wanting to move it out to the front edge of the cabinet instead of buried back on the wall. In preparation for ordering my new radio, I first wanted to satisfy my desire to move the location.
Today it was cold and....cold, so I decided to run to Fleet Farm and pick up a few pieces of wood for the upgrade. I got a 2'X4'X3/4" piece of red oak veneer, a 2'X4'X1/4" red oak veneer, a 10' stick of 3/4"X3/8" red oak trim and a 10' piece of red oak shoe mould in 3/4"X5/8".
I got to work measuring and figuring and then got to the cutting. Here are a few grainy, crappy pics of what I have so far:
This is the new shelf mocked up in front of the current setup. I am going to bring the radio, my small digital voltmeter and 2 other switches out into the new face frame, leaving the 110 outlet and my timer switch for the furnace back in back. I am ditching the gaudy white vent switch in favor of a double switch in black. One is for the vent blower fans (cowbells, now reversed) and the other will be for my underglows. The new radio face frame sits about 8 3/4" out further than the old one, which doesn't seem like much but feels MUCH better and more accessible. I had narrowed it down to 3 different designs and today just picked the least intrusive one. I had a good idea of how it would look but now that it's in there I'm even more pleased than I hoped to be.

Sorry for the crappy photos. It was getting late and I was tired. I got it this far and will do some more work tomorrow. I want to get the whole thing finished, pull it out, sand, stain and finish it, then bring all of the electronics across.

I put the 3/4"X3/8" trim across the front of the new shelf so that the overhang is to the bottom. I put my led light strip behind the lip and it does of good job of keeping things nice and comfy without the glare. It works perfectly for that. I just cut a piece of the shoe mould wild and taped it onto the side to make sure it will sit in where I want it. It does. I still have to add more shoe mould to the bottom edge of the face frame so it looks like the same radius as the other cabinets. I picked up some stain in English Chestnut as I've read that it's a good close match to the original cabinets. I'll do a stain test on a piece of the cut plywood first to make sure it's going to work.
In addition to all of the other things I'm upgrading here, I am also putting in new led strips by Patriot. I have them for my overhead valance and in the kitchen and like them much better than the ones I'm currently using. I'll move these down under the trailer and use them for underglows.

Once all the trim is on, the bottom edge of the face frame will still be above the center console section by about 1/2". That was my minimum height for being able to get my big feet in and be comfortable.

The new radio will have the same 2 din cutout size in the face frame as the old radio, but the screen is bigger so I need to do a lot of additional measuring to make sure it will fit and allow the screen to fold down for dvd access. Lots to do but I am really happy with how it's coming together. I'll pull it out of there soon, do all of the gluing so I can get rid of the temporary screws, then apply some finish. Can't wait to order the radio.

WilliamA

WilliamA

More work, more photos:
Shelf on the shelf. All assembled and testing fit. Bottom 4 screws are hidden and I'll use them to remove the bottom cover for maintenance and upgrades. Holes are for airflow both to the radio and also, since I blocked the left side vent on the side of the A/C cabinet, to allow airflow from underneath to my cowbells.

Fitted in are the radio, voltmeter, dual-usb charging port and switch panel for 4 switches.

(Mostly) installed and hooked up a few things to see how it all works. I don't yet have the switches hooked up. I'll wire all that mess when I pull it back out to sand and stain. Ultimately, the 4 switches will be wired for:
Shutoff for voltmeter
Overhead led lightbar
Under-cabinet lightbar
Cowbell fans

If you are creative enough or drink a couple of beers, you can see here the modified side compared to the stock side. The 7" tablet mounted in its holder in front of the power supply on the right is what I currently have my music library in. It's bluetooth'ed to the radio. That will be moved for now over to the blank side left of the switches in the new panel. Ultimately, it will be deleted in lieu of a usb flashdrive for the new radio to hold my entire CD collection. But for now, one beating at a time.

While I wait the 8 hours for the glue to dry, I thought I'd show you a bit of detail about the switches I like to use. The internet is awash with these, or variations thereof so I won't go into too much detail. I really like the modular plug-and stack design and also the fact that you can pop off the actuators and put different ones on. The switches come in different types: spst, spdt, dpdt, dpdt-mom etc. For mounting, you can just use one or hook the mounting bracket together in a chain for as many as you want. What's also cool, for the lighted ones (2 led's each) you can wire the led's in an infinite number of ways as they aren't chained into the internals of the switch, but are wired externally. I really like that.

Various different snap-on actuators. The red tool is used to pop the actuators off for swapping. There are a number of companies on the net that will make actuators in whatever you want them to say. Use their stock symbols or make up your own! Super cool.

If you look closely here, you can see the lower led's that do the illumination work. As I said, they can be wired independently of the switches actuation. Nice.

Back side hookups. The simple no-led on off switches have only the two spades. The multi-led models have 8-10 spades for wiring in any configuration you can think of. Fun stuff!

Now it only remains to let the glue dry on my shelf, sand, stain and reinstall. While I have the shelf out again for staining, I'll wire the harness for the switch bank.

WilliamA

Jms

Wow. That's fantastic. You are a true craftsman. Thanks for sharing all of your upgrades. I noticed that your panel mount voltmeter looks like it is from Powerwerx. One of my favorite places.

WilliamA

@Jms said:
Wow. That's fantastic. You are a true craftsman. Thanks for sharing all of your upgrades. I noticed that your panel mount voltmeter looks like it is from Powerwerx. One of my favorite places.

LOL! I'm surprised you can recognize the small blue blob in the middle of the larger blue blobs! Yep. It's Powerwerx. It's the dual meter with an amp reader but I don't (yet) have the dongle for it. I haven't really done a ton of research into what extra hardware I want to get or where I will put it in line. Lots of peripheral things to do but the rabbit hole is long and winding....

WilliamA

WilliamA

I spent the evening doing some sketches of wiring trying to work out the fine points of what I want illuminated with what. I am going to try and find the wire that goes overhead to the spotlights for the ceiling and put those on a switch. The problem is that the power wire for the overheads also feeds the porchlights. There's no fix for it except to try and fish another wire up into the ceiling. Something tells me that will prove to be a first order, windmill joust. I am working on some possible alternatives to that.
For now, I've decided to run the power wire that currently illuminates the voltmeter through a switch so I can turn it off and on. That same switch will run power to the led's for the entire switch bank so when I turn off the voltmeter it kills all of the led switch lights. This sounds pretty straightforward, but the point of the spear is to have one switch (ultimately) that kills all of the annoying standby/ready lights for sleeping. For example, I could run the television power through that same switch so it would kill the "off" light. (an "off" light? Weird...) Also, the new radio I am planning for, since it's designed for an auto installation, has an extra wire labeled; "lights". If I tie that into the single off switch, it will significantly dim the radio (the "dim" setting is adjustable within the software of the radio) when I turn the voltmeter switch off. Since the radio light wire works the opposite of the power wire (dims the display when power is applied) I'll have to wire it so when the switch is turned off, it applies power to that side. The switch I've selected is a dpst, meaning it has 2 "on" positions for 2 different circuits. That means that by pressing the switch to off, I can have one "on" curcuit to feed the radio's "light" wire, dimming the head unit. If I can find all of the various bits and pieces, I should be able to have it wired where I can kill all of the interior ready lights without having to go through a NASA checklist every time I go to bed. Think of it as the beddy-by switch.....
As to the overhead lights/porch lights. I'm determined to put them on 2 separate circuits. Just need to figure out how to do that without pulling down the ceiling to run the wire. I have an idea but need to flesh it out a bit more.
While I'm in there, I am going to pull off the stock fm/am stir-stick antenna. I've got my 4' fiberglass antenna on the roofrack pulling in fm stations from 60-80 miles away and the AM band will now pull stations from Chicago and Duluth! No need to try and coax in a signal from 20 miles on the stock ink-pen antenna. I will either use that roof hole to put up my cellular antenna for data or just fill it with a small patch and some epoxy. I hadn't wanted to have another hole in the body, but since it's already there and I need to run an external antenna to get decent download/upload speed from my computer, it seems a logical place to put it.
details,details,details....repeat.....
WilliamA

LuckyJ

Wow, lot of work. And very interesting relocation option!
'Thank you for sharing!

WilliamA

The weather and schedule cooperated so I got my wiring sewn up and most of the details put to bed. Here are a few photos:

Switch wiring all put together and tested. No problems here...

Here's a beneath the radio shot. The wiring is mostly wrangled and tucked away with zip-ties. The weird box stuck to the bottom of the radio isn't part of the radio. It's the controller for my RGB led light strips. I'll be replacing this setup for a Patriot led set soon but in the meantime, I can change the color of the lights with this. The controller knob sticks below the radio through one of the two large vent holes I cut in the panel bottom. One of the new switches on the "dash" is for the led's, so the controller remembers the last color it was set to when it was turned off. I only need to get to this occasionally.

After having the dual volt/amp meter for over a year, I finally got around to wiring up the amperage meter so it does something besides use power.

This photo is taken from where the A/C used to be looking over toward the radio. I transferred the large vent hole into my radio box for airflow to my cowbell vents. You can see there are two wires snaking into the radio enclosure; the small one is for my led light strip and the larger one is for the video/audio RCA cable from the back of the radio to the TV.

Here's my slide-in A/C delete insert. It's not fastened in, but simply slides in and is captured by the front face-frame. It makes it really easy to remove things for access to wiring, etc.

Here are the amperage numbers with various switches on;
The first one is with the master (right switch) on but nothing else on. With the master switch off, the voltmeter is also shut off to save energy and also make things darker. Radio and USB charging outlet are wired independently of the master switch and can be used with the master off, although they both go through the ammeter to monitor power usage when the master is on.

From right to left, the next switch controls the led strip.

3rd from right is the switch that controls power for the TV. This circuit could also control other accessories that I want to have switched for power consumption reasons. In this photo, the TV is in the "On" position.

4th switch is for the now cowbell vent fans that pull air out of the cabin and exit it through the cowbells. Inlet air is under the radio on the left side, on the side of the cabinet on the right side.

WilliamA

Jms

Nce! Thanks for the photos and details!

WilliamA

I have been mulling over the shelf upgrade and am really happy with it. I had wanted to move my Kindle Fire over and get it out of the way so I went out today and moved it. I un-stuck the gopro mounting bracket I had stuck to the back by using dental floss to release/cut the 3m sticky and just stuck some hook and loop stick-on strips to the Kindle and the shelf face. It works very well and is out of the way now. I'm jazzed about the whole upgrade.
I had some leftover material from making the shelf and began the process of seeing what I could do to use it up. I decided to make a mirror shelf for the other side in front of the converter box just to see how it would look. It's an exact copy of the left side but reversed so it slants the other way. I had plenty of material and it took less than an hour to cut it out, glue it and screw it up in there for a test fit. After looking at it for about 5 seconds, I decided it looked much better with both sides more symmetrical and even. I pulled it back out, trimmed and sanded, glued it all together and stuffed it back in. While I had it out, I took the door off the converter, then pulled the separate 12V charging panel and the 110V outlet and brought them across into the new shelf. It's all back together and tested. The most difficult job was wrangling the cheesy 110V outlet. The wires press into jaws of death inside the self contained outlet so working the old wires out and the new ones in without wrecking the jaws is something of a tribulation but it's back together and working for now. The next time I get to town, I'll pick up a proper remodel box and outlet and swap it over.
Here's the new shelf all in and tidy. Eagle eyes will see that I have the shoemould trim just taped on with masking tape for now. I'll glue it on after I get the stain on and dry.

The new shelf sticks out like a duck in there. It'll blend in much better once I get some stain on. The glue needs to dry overnight before I can do that. I'll do the finish sanding in place and then glue the trim on as the last step.

Here's a "mood-light" photo. Moving the led strips out from the wall has created quite a dark cavern underneath the footwell so when I replace the led's with the Patriot led's, I'll add a string back there just for fun. There will be plenty of lights in the new set and they need only be spliced into a 3 string set from the standard single string. I've spliced them before and it's a putzy affair but not too hard. Each string has 4 wires and the wires are quite small so it's slow work.
There's plenty of room on the new face frame so I think I'll bring the 12V fuses across in a new panel:
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-marine--dc-electrical-panels--P011861556?recordNum=16
I won't move the converter but rather just graft the wires across onto a new boat-style panel. I found this one at West Marine that has 4 switch-style circuit breakers to replace the fuses. They are prewired (that'll be nice) and have led's that glow when the fuse blows.

As I've said before, I use my pirate Kindle Fire for a music player and love the way it works in there. I have it plugged into my charging station outlet so I need to rewire the charging outlet onto the 3rd switch in my switch bank. Then, when I turn off the accessories, it will go off, shutting off the Kindle after a moment or two. When I turn the switch back on, the kindle will come on as well. The kindle is connected to the Jensen via bluetooth so it's easy to manage the connection. So far, since I put it in there, it automatically hooks up each time I select the bluetooth button on the radio. Works great and holds a TON of music files if that's all you have on it. It works off the 12V side so there's no need to have 110V to get things working.

Now to order the radio. I'll do that soon. I have been using a USB stick in my Jeep for music but since this works so well in the trailer, I think I'll keep the kindle setup to use with the new radio. We'll see.....

WilliamA

WilliamA

I've been very busy working on the new shelving and cabinetry. I have the new (right side) cabinet in and stained, although I think I will do another coat of stain. I have the trim stained but it needs to dry a good bit before I can reliably get the glue to stick to it. I don't care for the white outlets on the right side as they don't match the mostly black stuff on the left. I might try to find the same trim pieces in black or just paint the ones I have. It's difficult to get paint to stick to plastic without a lot of prep and special paint. Also, it's cold so doing any painting in the shed is out of the question. It might have to wait.....sigh.....

I ordered my new radio yesterday and am in the bowels of "negotiating" my cabling requirements with Seicane. My Chinese is very weak. That's to say my Chinese is only comprised of curse words uttered by the crew of Serenity, so negotiations of specific cabling requirements may take a bit of time. I'll post a better assessment of the new radio once I've got a confirmation that my radio has shipped.

WilliamA

WilliamA

I just received confirmation that my radio Head Unit has shipped and will arrive on the 24th. This time it shipped via DHL. I'd better get to work making sure I have everything I'll need to get things in order. I need to pick up some connectors and a bit of wire. I have shrink connectors but will need some in a smaller size for all the radio wiring. There'll be plenty of time for the logistics, but I need to scan the internet to see if and where the updates will come into play for the operating system updates.

WilliamA

TomD

I love shrink connectors

WilliamA

@TomD said:
I love shrink connectors

Tom,
I just got a pack of 14-18 ga shrink connectors at Wally-World for $3 bucks off! I also scored a set of Flannel pillowcases for less than that! I feel like I won the lottery! I'm ready to go. Now I'm heading out to the end of the driveway with a folding chair and snowmobile suit to wait for the DHL guy....

WilliamA

WilliamA

As I get ready to do the install, I wanted to get back "home" and perhaps discuss the reasons for what will be a detailed changeover from the Jensen to the Seicane. I will be posting the install as it goes along, but thought I'd do a philosophy post to start:

First, the "Why?"

We all (most, anyway) like to get gadgets and widgets and things to make our experiences our own. There are a lot of reasons for that and most of those reasons fall into a few general categories:

Mechanical upgrade.
Things like more battery power and solar power sort of speak for themselves. Need is based upon intended use.
Structural upgrade.
Occasionally, we run into things that work well but not with our particular Tow Vehicle or where we store our rigs or how much horsepower we have, as in; "I can't lift the tongue".
Aesthetic upgrade.
Just for fun. Lights, curtains, stickers and so on...

When I set out to change my radio, I first spent a lot of time working out "why" I needed to change it. Well, I'm a gadget guy first so that is its own motivation as often as not. So that explanation falls into the "Because I could" category. Not generally a good motivation on its own, so I kept digging to see if I could find a more justify-able position.
I personally think that the Jensen unit is, for all practical purposes, a pretty good unit. It covers a lot of ground and for the money, it's a pretty good piece of hardware. On top of the overall B+ I give it for function, it gets good marks for being a clean looking, easy to use unit.
For me, it falls down ultimately because I want other functions within my trailer and the Jensen doesn't offer them, so I end up with a wad of devices that make up what I want to do. That's not Jensen's fault, but nevertheless, it adds to the chaos within a small space. If I want to watch Netflix or YouTube, I need to add another device and somehow either chain it to the television or just watch on my tablet or phone. But I HAVE a television and radio in the trailer. It makes little sense to watch Ben Hur on my phone when I have the capability to watch on "the big screen". Sure, I could get a bag of cables, controls, translaters etc and make something that patches into the unit, but having done that, I hate the clunky, multi-control mania along with the fact that I never seem to have enough cables to make it all work from trip to trip. So I made a list of what I'd like to have as an ultimate solution, then started working toward that goal.
Here's my list:
Radio...AM/FM, with a good, high efficiency antenna.
Television with capability of watching movies through DVD or online.
Internet to include email, text, surfing, mapping (with GPS locater) and weather
Phone and voice mail.
Storage for Photos.
My ENTIRE music library available without having to bring a carton or 20 of CD's

I also wanted all of this stuff to be permanently inter-connected with few or no exposed cables and controls.
Well, they make such a thing and I in fact have several of them. All of the things I described can be done to some extent on one device. My phone, tablet and computer are all capable of doing most of those things. My phone is too small to comfortably do any of them (I'm blind as a bat within 5 feet or so). My tablet is better, but still too small to be useful for more than casual browsing, assuming I can find my reading glasses first. My computer is nice and powerful and does all that stuff, but at 110V. My laptop did all of those things, but had the problem of cables, cords, power sapping and other things that made it not perfectly suited. Also, as small as it was, it was still a "floating" device that I was constantly looking for a place to put. Even the smallest laptop proves to be a PITA when you have 2 people rolling around in there trying to get comfortable on a rainy or cold day.

So is there a do-everything device? As it turns out, there is. There are many Head-units on the market that work like and fit like the Jensen Radio, but in fact are computers in their own right. I chose the Seicane because it is a cool unit and runs Android OS, but there are also Mac-based units that use an iPad as the front-end GUI (graphic user interface) hardware and have the same capabilities. Get your pocketbook out and dig in the couch cushions, they aren’t cheap. As I’m both a putz and financially declined, I chose the Android unit. I’ve got one running in the Jeep and have found it to be mostly delightful. It’s occasionally annoying but that’s another story, mostly of my own making.

The Seicane H/U running Topo nav out in the wilds of northwestern Nebraska. The sticky-uppy dongle on the dash is the Verizon cellular antenna/modem. Notice that it's hooked up (green light) but has no cel-signal (red light) where I'm at in the canyon. It hooks back up automatically as soon as signal gets strong enough. This modem is MUCH more powerful than cel phone signal or my tablet receiver. It also has a port for using a remote, roof-mount antenna. That will come in handy for mounting this mess in the trailer. I plan to put an antenna on the trailer roof where the stubby FM/AM antenna is now.

More to come....

WilliamA

WilliamA

My radio is scheduled for delivery today via DHL. I just got the email saying that it's out for the route and will be here by 6 p.m. K, Sprocket and I are going to the madcap New Years Eve Chinese paper lantern parade this evening so the box opening and unpacking of the radio will have to wait till next year.

In the meantime, I'm working like a fool (as opposed to sitting about like a fool) trying to run down a few wiring circuits that disappear up into the roof. I want to rewire the ceiling lights and porch lights onto their own circuits, switched from my new console and now is the time to do it. Speaking of coincidence, while tracing circuits with my multimeter, I've pulled; the ceiling lights, switches, ceiling fan and speakers to see if I can see where the wires actually run. Not much luck with that, but I did discover that the ceiling lights and porch lights share the same fuse, but are run, curiously enough, on separate circuits. That's good. Saves me a lot of trouble pulling wire up through the ceiling panels. In addition, I noticed while staring at the dangling speakers that they are wired backwards. The narrow, hot lead from the radio is hooked to the negative connector on the speakers and vice-versa. Now that's not a problem assuming they are also wired backwards coming out of the radio, but if not, that would account for the speakers sounding like they are submerged in and playing through my grandmothers sauerkraut barrel. That's probably not a problem because the speakers are pretty generic and don't have any of the electronics onboard generally associated with more high-end jobs. Nonetheless, it DOES affect the sound quality. I will be pulling the radio tomorrow and starting to do the replacement and will trace the speaker wires with a multimeter to see which is actually which, hot and ground.

While I've had no luck trying to determine exactly where the wiring runs in the ceiling, I have determined what powers what and that will make splitting the circuits that much easier. For now, the inside of my trailer looks like I have been doing maintenance by opening the doors a crack and chucking in grenades.

WilliamA