Radio Changes
 

So I made some changes.

I wanted take pictures of the things I do for you guys but I'd never get anything done if I logged as much detail as I wanted. I took my factory radio apart and wrapped the board up in a cloth and a plastic bag. I then wired it in with my after market android radio. The only thing the factory radio gets is positive/negative and canbus data.

The left speaker runs out to a $3 speaker I bought at princess auto. It fits perfect into the styrofoam crash pad, knee level to the driver. I was all excited. I had factory chimes again and an after market radio. Then the $3 speaker started intermittently popping. It is 16 ohm. I figured I could get away with it because the factory rears were 16 ohm (I think - maybe they were 8ohm). I unplugged it until I find another speaker. I hope that is the problem. I do not have a piece of metal to use as a heatsink on the electronics of the factory radio circuit board. I cannot see chimes needing much cooling.

But the real reason is that I am just lazy, I want to get things moving forward otherwise I might find a piece of metal to take the heat away from the chips. I wasn't even planning on using this radio. I had bought a different one to use for chimes but it's programmed wrong. It needs an amp. I had it reprogrammed to need an external amp because I originally planned a different setup. Anyways, I cannot see myself going back to factory even though I like the factory radio - so piss on it, if I ruin I ruin it. Looks like I am going to have to destroy the cd mechanism to get an audio setup cd removed. I forgot to eject it again.

Aside from that, I now have an after market radio and RAP. I can take the key out and still work the windows for ten minutes. Although the after market radio shuts off immediately.. I wonder how I can work around that? Have it stay on with the RAP? It's controlled by a tiny external chinese controller. I do not know. I am wishing more and more that I never bought this radio and I went for the full meal deal. Just install a screen and then hook that up to a small computer. From there I could install what ever I wanted and make it work. I could even test on my home pc. That dash is such a pain in the ass. I don't know why GM had to do that. A five foot chunk of plastic to warp and bent around the wheel, gearshift and turn signal switch. What a total pain in the rear. I was going to leave it out, but I put it back in. I forgot to hook up the microphone... I gotta pull it all apart again.

I do not like the dash in these trucks. I was temped to cut mine in half to make changing things easier.

Yeeeaashhh, that knee knocker is in the back under the seat. Got tired of putting it back.

I just want to say that rubbing plastic and fabric together is recipe for electrostatic discharge that will fry your electronics.

Great point. I would have used foam that I was saving for projects like this, but I threw it out. It's all just temporary like everything. If I fry it, I fry it.

Sounds like you know a bit about stereos. It's been many years since I've shopped for one.

Are there any that have a rear USB connection for hooking up an external hard drive with music library?

I would think most stereo's have that these days. Mine has three USB ports capable of doing that kind of thing, but even better is that it can play files straight off the internet. I was planning on selling it after an upgrade down the road, but just the other day I decided to snip off the spaghetti bowl of unused connectors to clean up the loose wiring in the dash. I do not really know much about the big name brand units, except that they are very expensive and flashy.

https://dan.berladyn.online/onyx-black/mekede/

There's no internet in the bush lol. And even if there was I wouldn't want to pay for A) data B) music service

How many video inputs does yours have and can it record video?

Yes it can record video. Off the top of my head it has Front Camera, Rear Camera, Video In, TV in and maybe PVR in. Realistically you only need one video in. You can an eternal video splitter/selector. I have a TV module for it too that is not installed. I think I pick up for two, three or four digital channels here in Vancouver. I forget it's been three years since I played with it.

Wow ok they are more sophisticated than I thought.

If you buy one, be careful of the specs. It so easy to get them all them mixed up. They sell five year old models right next to new ones. It's not easy to comprehend the features and specs at first either. If you want to buy this one you can.