Monk302

I just bought the the HCB-30 and optional HCE-16. I would like to know for those of you who have the unit where you mounted the control unit, microphone, and other components. Will I have to take many of the panels off? I am particularly curious about how to get the HCE-16 to work with everything. Will I need to pull out the radio?

If anyone has input and pictures (especially some pictures) that would be great. I am hoping to receive the unit in the next day or so.

Thanks guys.

elduderino

IS the HCE 16 the interface cable for European Radios?

Monk302

The HCE-16 automatically turns off sound that is coming from the stereo when a call is being made or received. From what I understand, this device will also allow you to hear the calls from your own speakers rather than from the supplied speaker with the HCB-30 kit.

elduderino

What you will receive (as I did) will be a "T"-harness with male and female Euro-DIN radio connections (like you find on the back of a VW factory radio, and like some Blaupunkts still use). On mine, all the wires were black.

There is a little in-line plastic box on the harness with a tiny relay in it.

The relay breaks the connection for one speaker (not sure - think it's passenger front). The relay does not look like it would take much power - I think it would handle the factory amp though.

I believe the thing has a mute line in it as well, in the pin used by European radios for Cell Mute Input.

In case you haven't guessed, the wiring on Euro DIN plugs ain't the same as everyone elses, and the instructions I got in the box had no wiring at all. I spent a couple of hours calling Sony Ericcson Tech Support, to discover that no one in this country knows the pin outs either.

Then I realized that I could just go get a VW radio harness from a stereo store and that would handle that, and I could use a VMM to test the cell phone mute wire and figure out how to make that work in my system.

Then as it turned out, my new AT&T phone wouldn't work inside my new house, and I went back to my Verizon phone which works everywhere, and I never ended up making the gol-darned thing work, because Verizon has no BT handsets!

So, in summary:

1) The HCE-16 will NOT work outta the box in most US cars.

2) Sony Ericcson at last check-in, is not supporting anyone in figuring out the wiring of the HCE-16 (this may have changed but is not hard to surmount).

3) The mute wire is the big question mark. We don't know the polarity of the OP of the HCE-16, and we don't know the polarity of the INPUT of the Acura. (See http://acura-tsx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10964 )

If you can do something with this info, feel free. If you are not electronically inclined, I can dig out my HCB-30 and HCE-16 and figure it out, and I was planning on tearing apart the TSX and checking the Mute input in some current-limited fashion this week (The original install work was in my CR-V). However, be warned - I will be unreachable all next week, starting on this Friday evening, so if you decide to depend on support from me and the thing doesn't arrive until Friday, you would be on hold for a week.

Let me know if I can help - happy to.

Mr. Lebowski

dnl2ba

The HCE-16 just looked like extra install trouble to me.

How about just the HCB-30? Any recommendations on how to install that?

So they're speaking into his crotch. Oy.

zazen721

i installed the hcb-30 in my tsx....

i have the microphone at the top left of the windshield with the wire running down the pillar. the control module is just to the right of the moonroof switch and the speaker and bluetooth module are both mounted under the steering column... hidden away. ill start a thread and post pics later tonight or tomorrow =)

EDIT: didnt realize someone copied a post of mine and already had it in here

zazen721

lol basically... what a thrill though ;-)

smileyw

I am going to look into the mute issue over the weekend. I may try it. I am going to guess that it is positive trigger from the HBC-30 and positive trigger on the radio as well. It would really have to work that way. I also suspect the voltage is 12v, but that is the big question.
BM, what are your thoughts on this? It seems like this is right up your alley.

elduderino

Uh, dude, I would really expect the mute INPUT to the head unit to be (-)... but I will check it this weekend too.

dnl2ba

So, I got my HCB-30 and I'm at a more basic stage: How to get the power cable to run to the battery? Am I supposed to drill, and if so, where? I'd prefer to keep any irreversible modifications and unsightly HCB-30 components out of sight (perhaps all somewhere in the cavern for the driver's legs).

I think I may just use the little crappy speaker that came with it. I guess you need the music mute to plug it into the stereo, right? Otherwise, the stereo volume control would turn down the sound of the BT car kit, too. :P

zazen721

theres a hole in the firewall behind the pedals... run the wire straight through there... no mods necessary =)

that crappy little speaker is better than you think...

dnl2ba

I had Bay Car Stereo in Mountain View install mine yesterday (Monday) for $90, which is kind of steep but they seemed more competent than some of the other places (some got spooked when they heard "Bluetooth" and said $150). No drilling and no wires hanging anywhere, so it could go straight back to stock.

Microphone: top of A-pillar, with wire hidden in the trim
Control module: left of shifter, kind of obscured by the E-brake
Main unit and speaker: Can't see them, but the speaker sounds like it's under the shifter trim! I can still hear its beeps okay, but I haven't tried a conversation yet.

Monk302

Were you ever able to work on that connection for the HCE-16 to fit into the back of our stereos? I am really interested in getting that to work for my car. Thanks.

elduderino

A four-day business trip turned into a marathon 10-day adventure... I am back now and on Monday will go get the pin from the dealer.

The town I was visiting a client in had no Acura dealer and I never got to go visit the nearest one... sorry about that.

Monk302

No worries, I was just curious. Let me know how it works.

dnl2ba

Damn, I keep knocking the mic off the A-pillar with the sun shade.

zazen721

thats why i have it mounted to the glass next to the a-pillar

elduderino

The latest on accessing the mute pin is that Acura needs me to buy an entire connector repair kit.

Can anyone with a dealer connection get the pin that fits Pin A14 at the radio?

ccarbajal08

why do you need that?

elduderino

See earlier posts in this thread about accessing the MUTE input on the head unit used by the now defunct HF kit...

And how do you live in SJC, Escondido, AND Loma Linda? Are you a clone?

ccarbajal08

oh, oh. i thought that you broke something or something like that. how are things coming? does it look doable? I'm really interested in this idea.

I work in SJC, live in Escondido during the week, and stay with my girlfriend in Loma Linda. I have 6500 miles and I've had the car about 2 months.

elduderino

Man... I lived in Escondido a long time, but I didn't like it enough to do that kind of driving...

Any info will post here...

Monk302

elduderino, if you need a hand with anything let me know. Yeah I in NJ but I thought I would offer. The weekdays are tight for me as I work in NYC but I could lend some assistance on the weekends. Thanks for all the research on your side.

elduderino

THis weekend I will try to build the new harness, just without the radio pin on the wire. Getting married on the seventh so I'm swamped but I will try...

smileyw

All,
I added a "pin" to #14 on the factory radio. if you give this pin +12 volts, it will mute the radio (just like it is supposed to). This is big news!
Now, the strange news...
My HBC-30 does not give out anything from the yellow cell mute connection. Can someone else with a HBC-30 confirm this is correct? I confirmed it with a volt meter, but it doesn't make any sense (unless there is a setting on the HBC-30 I don't know about?)


W

Tsx536

Hey Smiley,

Were you able to sucessfully get the kit to mute your radio?
Were you able to plug into Pin #14 on the harness that plugs into the factory amp?
I have a non-navi and I haven't & don't want to take out the factory radio.

I have the Nokia Car112 bluetooth kit. It's a little different, but it does have the mute wire. I just didn't hook it up to anything, since I didn't where it should go.

Also, what is Pin #14 used for? If I mess this wire up somehow, what would be the side effects?

Thanks a lot!! Props to you for figuring that out!

smileyw

Pin #14 is normally empty. I literally put a pin in it. It does mute the radio, but not the amp, so if you figure out how to wire into the amp (for the speaker), it should play the sound from the HF kit.
P.S. this was on a Navi car, but I doubt it makes any difference.


W

Tsx536

Thanks Smiley...Damn your fast at replying!!

So you plugged into the 20 pin harness?
Also, where did you get a pin that would fit into there perfectly? Radio Shack?

Also, check out this post. It says pin #14 is next to the factory tweeter pin?
Is this correct?
http://www.tsx.acurazine.com/forums/...ght=wiring+amp

How are they pins counted?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Would it be in this order if I was looking at the open plug end of the harness?

Thanks a lot..and how did you find that was the pin??
Kenny

Tsx536

Hey Sorry..I found this link:
http://acura-tsx.com/forums/showpost...85&postcount=3

It says pin #A14 is used by the tweeter....I'm a little confused now.

smileyw

This is a different harness than that. It is the one that connects to the radio, not the amp.

Tsx536

Oh I see..that means I have to take out the factory radio.

I haven't been that far over to the dark side yet.....

Haha....I'm going to have to think about whether it is worth it now...

So this is basically the harness that plugs directly into the factory radio from the car.

If I understand correctly, there is another harness that plugs directly from the factory HU into the amp. Right?

I appreciate your help man. Looks like I'm going to be revisted the threads that talk about taking out the headunit!

smileyw

You are right about the two harnessess. However, you might be able to do this without taking out the radio. The harness you need to add to is at the bottom of the radio. If you take out the pocket, you might be able to do it without removing the radio.

Tsx536

Thanks for the phat tip smiley...I'll have to check it out tomorrow...I got a Pioneer N1 coming tomorrow too...If I can't get to the HU harness...I'll just hook it up to the mute of that deck...

Thanks for the help!

Bass Mechanic

you guys are so funny! i installed the HBC30 kit in my car months ago and muted the front speakers just like the navi does by installing a relay between the factory amp and the factory speakers, the HBC30 activates the relay and i tossed the POS ericsson HF speaker and routed the HF kit sound into the stock speakers.
not only is the sound perfectly clear but a lot easier to hear having used the speakers already in the car rather than using some crappy little speaker under the dash.

smileyw

This would do the same thing without needing the relay to do it. Did you just splice into the harness before the amp or after it? (I am thinking about doing that part as well, the speaker it comes with sucks, as you said!)


W

Tsx536

I have a the Nokia CAR112K Bluetooth car set and i just found out that it gives +12V all the time and drops down to 0 volts when a called is received.

I have found pin #14, but it needs to have 0 volts while there is no call and +12 volts when I receive the call. So basically the problem is that I need to invert the signal somehow. Does anyone know if there is a way to do this?

Also, I have installing the Pioneer N1 and connecting it's output the AUX input of my headunit. It also has a mute wire. Does anyone know how the mute wire function works on that deck? Is it expected +12V or 0 volts when a called is received.

Thanks...Kenny

Bass Mechanic

you just splice into the audio path after the factory amp. but you will need to drive the relay with a transistor as the HBC-30 doesnt have enough current output to drive a relay coil directly. i used an NPN transistor to boost the current a little to drive the relay.
it works perfectly. not only does it mute the radio but if you have NAV the voice is muted also. muting the radio like everyone suggested wont mute the nav voice and its is damn annoying when that thing starts talking while your on the phone.

smileyw

So do you know what the current coming out of the HCB-30 mute is supposed to be? Mine seems to just do thing as best as I can tell?
Since I got the cell mute on the radio working, now I just need to get the HBC-30 to output something that will mute the radio. (The radio uses +12 volts to mute, GND does nothing).

Tsx536

I can confirm that Pin #14 on the 20 pin HU harness is indeed the mute pin. I plugged a wire into this weekend and it muted when I sent it 12 volts just like Smileyw had said.

Thanks for all the help smileyw, especially with helping me locate the right pin.

I am now in the same boat as you smileyw as I the nokia bluetooth car set is not giving off enough current to drive the relay that I had wanted to use.

BassMechanic talks about a transistor. Does anyone know where to get one of these?

Is this one from radio shack what I need?
http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...%5Fid=276-1604

Bass Mechanic

yea that transistor will work fine. you have to connect +12 volts to the emittor the relay to the collector and the other end of the relay to ground. then connect the hbc30 mute lead to the base of the transistor.
but i would not bother with the mute of the radio if you have Navi because the most annoying part of the nav when it talks is when it interrupts you while talking on the phone. the mute to the radio wont stop the nav voice because the radio is already muted anyway.
i would tap into the speakers instead with a relay. use a 4PDT relay