Adding bluetooth dongle to Autocom SuperPro Avi

Fellow Autocom users

Any idea how to enable power to the 4th pole of Aux 1 an an Autocom SuperPro Avi?

Wild72 lent me his Autocom bluetooth adapter which is powered by the fourth pole. I have a pre-2007 that requires me to 'link' the power-up connection within the Autocom system.

Thanks

Rick

SPORT said:

Fellow Autocom users
Any idea how to enable power to the 4th pole of Aux 1 an an Autocom SuperPro Avi?

Wild72 lent me his Autocom bluetooth adapter which is powered by the fourth pole. I have a pre-2007 that requires me to 'link' the power-up connection within the Autocom system.

Thanks

Rick

Click to expand...

Since he loaned it to you, you won't be able to cut off the plug and replace the connector. My adapter (which is the 1276 . . for pre-2006 systems) has the power lead hanging off the 3 pole plug . . .

Does the Superpro AVI have a 4 pole connector? That interface was only introduced in the post Pro-M7 days. If it does and if the power output has to be enabled, you will need the manual - and I checked th UK Autocom site. there is no manual there for the model you mention.

If your unit doesn't have a 4 pin socket what you'll have to do is make up a 4 pole jack to 3 pole plug adapter -that 4th (power) pin will need to be routed to a wire.

Note that you cannot use an isolating mixer with the adapter on any system, because you need continuity for both signal and ground.

bramfrank said:

Since he loaned it to you, you won't be able to cut off the plug and replace the connector. My adapter (which is the 1276 . . for pre-2006 systems) has the power lead hanging off the 3 pole plug . . .
Does the Superpro AVI have a 4 pole connector? That interface was only introduced in the post Pro-M7 days. If it does and if the power output has to be enabled, you will need the manual - and I checked th UK Autocom site. there is no manual there for the model you mention.

If your unit doesn't have a 4 pin socket what you'll have to do is make up a 4 pole jack to 3 pole plug adapter -that 4th (power) pin will need to be routed to a wire.

Note that you cannot use an isolating mixer with the adapter on any system, because you need continuity for both signal and ground.

Click to expand...

Bramfrank,

I am running on some assumptions here. Namely that my 2005 model Superpro Avi has a 4 pole socket. I have a 4 pole wire coming from the Autocom unit to my GPS, but that 4th pole serves no purpose. I am under the assumption that all I need to do is 'jumper' Aux 1 to enable power to that 4th pole. If this is not possible, then I guess I'll need to purchase the externally powered bluetooth dongle from Autocom. I was just hoping to test the dongle and see if it might pair with the GPS and the GPS to a cell phone.

I am unwilling to modify the donge, nor buy more 'stuff' to make it temporarily work.

any insights would be appreciated

I notice there are 3 yellow circuit jumpers. I 'assume' one of them controls power to the 4th plug, but I don't have a schematic to indicate what those jumpers opperate.

Anybody with a schematic?

A little more research revealed that the yellow jumpers are not a 4th pole power. However, I did find an article within the ZUMOforum (must be a member to view) regarding this issue. The article guided me to two small holes right next to Aux 1. These two holes needed to be jumped in order to make the 4th pole hot. After scrounging through my Snap-on tool box for a 1/2hr, I found a wire to be nearly the right guage. Another 1/2hr just feeding this extremely small guage wire into the equally small holes using needle nose pliers and a pair of 40 year old eyes. Although I don't have the equipment to solder the jumper, I was able to at least temporarily make the connection bringing the dongle to life. now to pair it with my Nuvi 780. Yet another 1/2 hr was spent just trying to pair the GPS to the dongle. However, the best I could get was for the nuvi to locate the Autocom Dongle, but never officially paired with it. So, I guess the next step is to wait for the ZUMO 660???

Any ideas?

Rick,

Looky here for the internal adjustments, (go to page 11) and the position of the link you need to install to power up Aux 1.

The yellow jumpers are for other adjustments. (Lesson #1, never assume anything!!! ).

I would give you a call, but I seem to have misplaced my bluetooth adapter. Don't suppose you've seen it???

Pete

Got'r wired, but now the GPS won't pair with Dongle. Guess I should'f bought the Tom Tom Rider

No, I haven't seen a bluetooth dongle anywhere...

Perhaps my dongle is too big for your box?

Have you tried resetting the Nuvi, and re-pairing?

And also make sure the dongle is actually in discovery mode. I think you have to press and hold that little button until the LED goes out, then press it again until the LED blinks rapidly. It took me a while to get it figured out initially.

If you are still having problems, I'll come over at the weekend and assist.

Lord, both my eyes and my brain are hurting listening to Sport's investment on time with this. More accurately, indigestion because my failing eyes have to do the same shortly in my garage.

Hat's off to you guys. Thanks for the input.

Hey Sullivan,

Rick has some further updates, which have basically got him almost where he needs to be with this setup, and I am quite sure he will be along shortly to provide the full info.

Bottom line is to make sure any GPS you are thinking of using, has the necessary features available, and that you get the correct cables for your intercom system.

Let us know if we can help out in any way.

Pete.

Wild72 said:

Perhaps my dongle is too big for your box?

Click to expand...

It's Friday, so I won't resist pointing out the naughtiness of that quote.

I know you've already gotten this far, but to summarize for everyone else:

Page 11 of the SuperPro AVi manual, shows what to jumper to enable 9v out for Aux 1 (and Aux 3, if you prefer).

The second red line on the right side points to the Aux 1 power link, and the third red line shows the Aux 3 power link. For newer units, the Aux 1 link should already be in place. Older units will need to link one or both yourself.

Note that once you've enabled power, you should only plug items in that expect power on that output. Namely, this includes your Autocom bluetooth dongle and a very small selection of bike-to-bike tranceivers.

The Super Pro AVi manual is here: https://www.topgearaccess.com/autocom/pdf/S...nstructions.pdf

Incidentally, I built my own bluetooth dongle for my AVi using a torn up Jabra bluetooth headset, a small enclosure, and an LM317 voltage regulator. It's powered off of the AutoCom unit and works quite nicely.

Mangus said:

Incidentally, I built my own bluetooth dongle for my AVi using a torn up Jabra bluetooth headset, a small enclosure, and an LM317 voltage regulator. It's powered off of the AutoCom unit and works quite nicely.

Click to expand...

Wow! That's impressive! I would consider myself handy with tools and knowledgable with mechanical/electrical systems, but I also know my limits. If you have any pics and/or details to this mod I'm sure many of us here would be much appreciated.

As Wild72 pointed out, we have begun to find a solution. I also spoke with Dan over at AutocomUSA who is VERY knowledgeable. Here are some of my findings and fixes:

1) It seems the Nuvi780 will only allow one BT pair at a time (Will confirm this today [saturday]). Wild72 seems to think it should.

2) I was unable to pair the Autocom Dongle with the Nuvi780 (will try again today). I have yet to find the settings window on my Nuvi, but apparently I must enter code 0000 to accept the dongle

3) In addition to the 3.5mm socket, on the left side of the Nuvi, I found the 2.5mm socket on the right side of the GPS mount attachment clip (this is the base used to mount GPS onto suction base and for car charger/antenna). The 2.5mm is ONLY used as a mic output.

4) While hardwiring the GPS to the Autocom I am able to see the GPS display phone info, receive and make calls as I wish. However, if the power cord is plugged in, a ground loop occurs creating a god-awful buzzing in the ear of the receiver (person calling you). This does not occur if the power cord is unplugged. Apparently this phenomenon is common among all GPS’ that connect to a comm system. Autocom has addressed this by adding kit 1299, which creates a common ground between the mic wire and the MP3/GPS wire.

I will be fussing with it more today and let those interested know what I find.

Sport

The 780 will allow you to define multiple phones. Only one phone can be supported at a time.

Unlike Zumo, the 780 cannot in turn connect to another Bluetooth device such as a headset. It IS a headset (or car kit). Zumo looks like a headset/car kit to a phone and like a phone to headet or car kit.

Ground loops occur when you have different power/ground opints for your devices. All your negatives for the audio system must connect to the same point. I use the negative terminal on my Blue Seas, which takes it's power straight from the battery,via a relay that is ignition-controlled.

When I owned a Streetpilot-III I found that the audio output was way too high (even on lower settings, which were somewhat noisy) for my Pro-M1. So I have a resistive divider (potentiometer) installoed to allow me to set the gain - and that works very well.

Thanks for the clarification Bramfrank.

Wild72 & I tried pairing my nuvi780 to the BT dongle with no success; we then tried pairing his Nuvi3XX to the BT dongle. Neither were able to pair to the Autocom BT dongle. However, both his I-phone & my LG phone paired without troubles to the BT dongle. It would seem that Garmin developed Nuvi to be a low-end BT model with many limitations. So I am now left with the following option:

1) buy a new GPS (Zumo 550/660)

2) Hardwire the GPS audio to Autocom and purchase Autom's kit#1299 to stop the groundloop issue.

3) hardwire cellphone to autocom and not have a display of who's calling

4) Leave cell phone disconnected and call back when I take a break

Because there are times that I need to answer the phone while on a trip, #4 is not an option I want to take. #1 is not gonna happen this year due to the expense of an upcoming road trip. So I am really left with options 2 or 3 for now. Time to see if it's available and how much.

You guys oughta ping Odot.

He's got more dongle experience than anyone else on the forum. Maybe even the planet.