android stereo Android 10 Stereo £162 AliExpress gamble! Results:

[nickytheshaft]

34 minutes ago, wagster said:

The seller is meant to be getting his friend to email me the factory files so I can restore the head unit using USB as I am hoping that will have all the apps on it so I can set it back to how I 1st got it with everything activated. If/when I get it I will let you know if it works. Not holding out for much hope though. 

Ok looking forward to it.

 

[nickytheshaft]

So the adventure is over for me. I just sold my unit (lost 100 euros but it is better than nothing).

I was honest to the buyer why I was selling it.

The bad phone quality and the parking sensors hanging on me was too annoying. 

I may give another unit a go. A 3GB / 32GB but that can use the cd player. 

I will let myself some time to think about it. 

To be honnest, putting the 5.8 amundsen back  is quite shocking.

Edited 24 March, 2022 by nickytheshaft

[nickytheshaft]

Well after a weak of the tiny amundsen, I bit the bullet again and ordered another model of  android head unit. 

Beware, it is not possible to come back to this tiny screen, GPS looks horrible, takes ages to load, doesn't have acurate traffic info, to find a DAB station, you have to go trough folders, each folder being a broadcast antenna then the staitons are in each folder.... call quality is to pnouch thought.

 

Anyway, I figured that the call quality on the TS18 is bad because the microphone gain is too low and adding an external amp like I did only adds noise as it amplifies all that is comming from the cabin. 

 

Other units have a real microphone gaine adjustment.

 

So, I went with this model https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005003182702197.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2fra&spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.21ef5e5bZf82De the 3GB / 32GB model B that is supposs to let you use the stock cd player.  It is a SDM450 processor: 8-core Cortex-A53 1.8Ghz processor. Qualcom rings great to my ears. And I hope I don't have these sticking parking sensors issues anymore. 

 

got it for 177 euros, sold the TS18 for 140 euros.

 

A also went with a sound compresison and noise barrier board https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/32951018431.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2fra&spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.21ef5e5blbcfvY just in case. As I said, my amplifier board amplifies everything, this board is suppose to eliminaite certain frequencies and enhacnce voices. If the mic of the unit is still bad, I can go this route. 

 

So it is not shipped yet, I will get back once it is installed and tested. 

Edited 30 March, 2022 by nickytheshaft

[patjevrs]

3 hours ago, nickytheshaft said:

Well after a weak of the tiny amundsen, I bit the bullet again and ordered another model of  android head unit. 

Beware, it is not possible to come back to this tiny screen, GPS looks horrible, takes ages to load, doesn't have acurate traffic info, to find a DAB station, you have to go trough folders, each folder being a broadcast antenna then the staitons are in each folder.... call quality is to pnouch thought.

 

Anyway, I figured that the call quality on the TS18 is bad because the microphone gain is too low and adding an external amp like I did only adds noise as it amplifies all that is comming from the cabin. 

 

Other units have a real microphone gaine adjustment.

 

So, I went with this model https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005003182702197.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2fra&spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.21ef5e5bZf82De the 3GB / 32GB model B that is supposs to let you use the stock cd player.  It is a SDM450 processor: 8-core Cortex-A53 1.8Ghz processor. Qualcom rings great to my ears. And I hope I don't have these sticking parking sensors issues anymore. 

 

got it for 177 euros, sold the TS18 for 140 euros.

 

A also went with a sound compresison and noise barrier board https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/32951018431.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2fra&spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.21ef5e5blbcfvY just in case. As I said, my amplifier board amplifies everything, this board is suppose to eliminaite certain frequencies and enhacnce voices. If the mic of the unit is still bad, I can go this route. 

 

So it is not shipped yet, I will get back once it is installed and tested. 

Great to know, let us know what you think of the new headunit, i will hold up a bit before ordering one so might give the one you order a go, i have small radio with no nav or anything so this one is still probably better than my orginal one. I want my audio and woofers back in the car so i went to audio shop and cheapest plug an play unit was like 1100€ from kenwood i belive, not worth it for me. 

[nickytheshaft]

14 hours ago, patjevrs said:

Great to know, let us know what you think of the new headunit, i will hold up a bit before ordering one so might give the one you order a go, i have small radio with no nav or anything so this one is still probably better than my orginal one. I want my audio and woofers back in the car so i went to audio shop and cheapest plug an play unit was like 1100€ from kenwood i belive, not worth it for me. 

Ha ha ha 1100€ for a head unit... Don't worry, I will let you know when it has arrived and is tested.

[Di_Greenio]

On 01/12/2021 at 18:08, wagster said:

Fakra Z Female to SMA Male Plug

 

This one is on if you want to go Amazon 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eightwood-Antenna-Tracking-Navigation-Receivers-Fakra-C-Stecker-auf-SMA-Kabel/dp/B01E565LRG/ref=dp_prsubs_1?pd_rd_i=B01E565LRG&psc=1

This is the cable I ordered to connect to the factory gps, but I don't think there's any way at all it will reach, it seems to be wildly short. The blue connection is in the glovebox quite a bit away from the sma on the rear right hand side of the stereo (steering wheel/right-hand side).

Any suggestions or handy hints on how to get it to reach would be greatly received before I look for longer replacements..TIA.                      Cheers.

 

 

[nickytheshaft]

6 hours ago, Di_Greenio said:

This is the cable I ordered to connect to the factory gps, but I don't think there's any way at all it will reach, it seems to be wildly short. The blue connection is in the glovebox quite a bit away from the sma on the rear right hand side of the stereo (steering wheel/right-hand side).

Any suggestions or handy hints on how to get it to reach would be greatly received before I look for longer replacements..TIA.                      Cheers.

 

 

It should work, wagster has a rhd as uses the same cable. In fact he was the first to do it.

 

Also you must move the whole harness from the glove box to where the screen is, between the 2 seats

Edited 1 April, 2022 by nickytheshaft

[wagster]

2 hours ago, nickytheshaft said:

It should work, wagster has a rhd as uses the same cable. In fact he was the first to do it.

 

Also you must move the whole harness from the glove box to where the screen is, between the 2 seats

Yes if you are planning on using that one for the GPS then yes it is a bit too short. I use that one which is 15cm long to connect the USB dab dongle to the factory dab aerial.

 

For the GPS I went and bought this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07YXP1JP1?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title which is 30cm and plenty of length.

[Rollonanon]

If I can join in on the Ebilaen installation trip, I found the 15cm long Fakra lead too short for my RHD car ( would be OK only for LHD ). If you have a DAB dongle then you can use that 15cm Fakra. I had to get a 30cm Fakra to reach the GPS connector.

 

My car has a heated windscreen and reception through screen was not very good for FM, DAB and GPS so was driven to try to use existing car aerial system. So DAB & GPS via Fakra and then connected AM/FM to twin white factory aerial via an eBay double Fakra to aerial connector with amplifier/blue wire power feed ( I had to modify the double Fakra slightly to fit  the narrower spaced factory twin white Fakra ). FM reception now good.

 

I was replacing my MIb1 Amundsen 2014 and if 4/64GB was better than 2/32GB then I went for Ebilaen unit 8/128GB - about £230 plus DAB dongle. Nearly all installed

[nickytheshaft]

32 minutes ago, Rollonanon said:

If I can join in on the Ebilaen installation trip, I found the 15cm long Fakra lead too short for my RHD car ( would be OK only for LHD ). If you have a DAB dongle then you can use that 15cm Fakra. I had to get a 30cm Fakra to reach the GPS connector.

 

My car has a heated windscreen and reception through screen was not very good for FM, DAB and GPS so was driven to try to use existing car aerial system. So DAB & GPS via Fakra and then connected AM/FM to twin white factory aerial via an eBay double Fakra to aerial connector with amplifier/blue wire power feed ( I had to modify the double Fakra slightly to fit  the narrower spaced factory twin white Fakra ). FM reception now good.

 

I was replacing my MIb1 Amundsen 2014 and if 4/64GB was better than 2/32GB then I went for Ebilaen unit 8/128GB - about £230 plus DAB dongle. Nearly all installed

 

is your 8/128 a TS serie? I decided to stay away from the TS.

Edited 1 April, 2022 by nickytheshaft

[Rollonanon]

Yes TS

 

[nickytheshaft]

On 30/03/2022 at 17:01, patjevrs said:

Great to know, let us know what you think of the new headunit, i will hold up a bit before ordering one so might give the one you order a go, i have small radio with no nav or anything so this one is still probably better than my orginal one. I want my audio and woofers back in the car so i went to audio shop and cheapest plug an play unit was like 1100€ from kenwood i belive, not worth it for me. 

the unit is shipped. Now... patience

[Rollonanon]

On 02/04/2022 at 11:56, nickytheshaft said:

the unit is shipped. Now... patience

Yes, will give feedback on my unit when I am a bit more familiar with it. Have hardly used the phone yet - will my 4Gb a month phone data (using personal Hot Spot) be sufficient for a long drive like Essex to Scotland (600 miles each way) or do I need to increase it or maybe a separate data only sim?

[Di_Greenio]

On 01/04/2022 at 08:42, wagster said:

Yes if you are planning on using that one for the GPS then yes it is a bit too short. I use that one which is 15cm long to connect the USB dab dongle to the factory dab aerial.

 

For the GPS I went and bought this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07YXP1JP1?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title which is 30cm and plenty of length.

 

Thanks, that's great, I've ordered one of these.

 

On 01/04/2022 at 08:58, Rollonanon said:

If I can join in on the Ebilaen installation trip, I found the 15cm long Fakra lead too short for my RHD car ( would be OK only for LHD ). If you have a DAB dongle then you can use that 15cm Fakra. I had to get a 30cm Fakra to reach the GPS connector.

 

My car has a heated windscreen and reception through screen was not very good for FM, DAB and GPS so was driven to try to use existing car aerial system. So DAB & GPS via Fakra and then connected AM/FM to twin white factory aerial via an eBay double Fakra to aerial connector with amplifier/blue wire power feed ( I had to modify the double Fakra slightly to fit  the narrower spaced factory twin white Fakra ). FM reception now good.

 

I was replacing my MIb1 Amundsen 2014 and if 4/64GB was better than 2/32GB then I went for Ebilaen unit 8/128GB - about £230 plus DAB dongle. Nearly all installed

 

I have the heated windscreen too so that maybe explains my occasionally sketchy radio and GPS reception!  Do you still have the link for the double fakra aerial connector and I suppose it will be better with the blue power feed too? 

 

Thanks for all the info folks! 👍

[wagster]

26 minutes ago, Di_Greenio said:

 

Thanks, that's great, I've ordered one of these.

 

 

I have the heated windscreen too so that maybe explains my occasionally sketchy radio and GPS reception!  Do you still have the link for the double fakra aerial connector and I suppose it will be better with the blue power feed too? 

 

Thanks for all the info folks! 👍

Depends on where you want to buy the adaptor from, how much you are willing to pay and how long you are wanting to wait to get it delivered, cheapest is AliExpress but also the longest delivery time, most expensive is Halfords but probably the the quickest to get it if they have it in stock in store, just google Dual Fakra to FM and take your pick from Amazon, eBay, Connects2 AliExpress etc. Just make sure you get the one with the power feed and yes no matter whether you are using the single or double version make sure you connect the blue power feed.

[wagster]

5 hours ago, Rollonanon said:

Yes, will give feedback on my unit when I am a bit more familiar with it. Have hardly used the phone yet - will my 4Gb a month phone data (using personal Hot Spot) be sufficient for a long drive like Essex to Scotland (600 miles each way) or do I need to increase it or maybe a separate data only sim?

Hard to say how much data you will use as it will depend on how you are using the head unit for internet related stuff, if you are constantly streaming music or videos then obviously you will use a lot of data but if it is mainly just for the maps then you wont use much. The best thing to do is go into the setting for the Wi-Fi and you can see the data usage, monitor what you are currently using over a few days as if you are going to use it the same way on the long drive and see how much you use then you can decide. Or you can do a similar thing on  your phone that is acting as the hotspot and monitor the data usage on the phone.

[Rollonanon]

Thanks Wagster, data use would mainly be Wase satnav. We relied on amundsen but updates stopped approx 2 years ago and of course no live updates.

 

Di-Greenio, bought fm twin Fakra from eBay £7 which had 2 separate Fakra connectors which when held together had a wider pitch than factory white Fakra on car, so filed each plastic body slightly to match and also removed locking spigot on one Fakra, then tywrapped together to ensure both locked by remaining spigot. See photo. I never found a setup with correct twin white one piece connector although twin Fakra connectors are available and didn’t foresee the wider pitch problem. There are cheaper from AliExpress as Wagster described but delivery times means installation goes on forever

[wagster]

I bought this one

 

US $5.89  40%OFF | Vtopek For Volkswagen Wire Dual Antenna Adapter TX
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mPqLGOS

 

The only thing I had to do to it was trim off one of the locator lugs on the side to make it fit, nothing to it just a quick trim with a sharp knife and then it fits perfectly

[Rollonanon]

Wagster, that is a better than my setup except for delivery time.

[Stiiwii]

On 28/12/2021 at 12:00, nickytheshaft said:

So after a lot of discussion and a littl refund, they finally made a custom cable for the usb that they are sending me to test.

Seeing how it is built, it should work.

 

I wil add some heatshrink at the base when i recieve it to secure the cables. 

I managed to get the seller to commit to sending this out to me.

 

It has arrived today, are you able to show / describe how I connect it? 😁

[nickytheshaft]

2 hours ago, Stiiwii said:

I managed to get the seller to commit to sending this out to me.

 

It has arrived today, are you able to show / describe how I connect it? 😁

 

Here you go

 

 

 

[Stiiwii]

1 hour ago, nickytheshaft said:

 

Here you go

 

 

 

Perfect, thanks!

[Di_Greenio]

On 03/04/2022 at 17:24, Di_Greenio said:

 

Thanks, that's great, I've ordered one of these.

Spoiler

 

 

I have the heated windscreen too so that maybe explains my occasionally sketchy radio and GPS reception!  Do you still have the link for the double fakra aerial connector and I suppose it will be better with the blue power feed too? 

 

Thanks for all the info folks! 👍

So the 30cm Fakra to sma arrived today, couldn't wait so fitted it and it made a notable

Spoiler

 

difference to the GPS signal straight away. 👍🏻

 

I also ordered the dual fakra to FM yesterday and unbelievably it arrived today too. That's doesn't usually happen in the North of Scotland!! So now all I need to know is how to connect the blue wires.. what a noob!🤦🏼‍♂️😂  I'll need to trim back the blue coating on the wire at the radio side but what do I need to actually connect them?? Every day is a school day...

Thanks 

[wagster]

36 minutes ago, Di_Greenio said:

So the 30cm Fakra to sma arrived today, couldn't wait so fitted it and it made a notable

  Reveal hidden contents

 

difference to the GPS signal straight away. 👍🏻

 

I also ordered the dual fakra to FM yesterday and unbelievably it arrived today too. That's doesn't usually happen in the North of Scotland!! So now all I need to know is how to connect the blue wires.. what a noob!🤦🏼‍♂️😂  I'll need to trim back the blue coating on the wire at the radio side but what do I need to actually connect them?? Every day is a school day...

Thanks 

Where in the North are you? 

 

It friends on what items you have available to join the two cables together.  You just trim the outer insulation off the end of the blue radio cable and put a female bullet crimp on it and connect that way or cut the crump off the dual FAKRA blue cable and connect using a choc block connector. 

[Stiiwii]

21 hours ago, nickytheshaft said:

 

Here you go

 

 

 

It's probably my being a novice, but I disconnected the original part (the one that connects the female usb adaptor to the male USB A cable that connects to the yellow fakra), then wired in the 5+ in C3 and ground to C4 as instructed, then connected it again to the yellow fakra.

 

Must admit it was much more of a tight squeeze connecting it all up without that previous USB extension being used. Only when I powered the unit on, still none of the USB sockets get any power.

 

What am I doing wrong? 🤓