heres a pic of the fm modulator setup i use to get an aux input into the stereo

http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/7868/amp008sf7.jpg

i use the av70 dvd from veba, good little package, wired it through to the sat nav screen, for when im sitting in traffic jams, sound goes through the fm modulator in the back

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/9...outh055wu8.jpg

the center button in the cigarette lighter socket is the main power feed for screen and dvd, and the toggle switch raises and lowers the screen

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/9...outh059ce8.jpg

the remote sensor for the dvd is behind the center console

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/2...outh053xu4.jpg

its quite good as i have two aux inputs so i can plug in a reversing cam and another video source from my media player with mpeg4 movies and songs

still working on a better method as still not 100% happy with the audio quality the modulator produces

by the way, what is the sound quality like electric? is the hiss and static that you often get with a modulator been eliminated with the kenwood?

The sound quality is not perfect, but in my opinion it sounds good. There is a little bit of white noise, but I usually only notice it when I pause my iPod, or when I'm listening to a quiet song. I listen to a lot of Bob Dylan, and I notice that there is a little more background hissing than if I were listen to a CD. The hissing is barely—and sometimes not—even noticeable when I'm listening to louder, more modern music.

yeah thats what i get, guess theres no proper solution of eliminating it then, (the hiss noise)

Help!!! :(

First I should say that I had ordered a regular wired FM modulator and that I successfully got some AUX audio sound from it. But I was really exited to be able to control the audio with a remote so I order the Kenwood unit.
I received to KOS-A200 today but I'm having few difficulties.


1 > Power: There is a red and yellow wires for power do they both need to be connected. I plug the yellow wire to the cigarette lighter in the trunk as it seems to be turned off when ignition is off. I tried to wire the red one to the front cigarette lighter as power seems to be always available there. Am I right?

2 > The worth is that I don't see any RDS information on the car LCD. I don't know what to do. I look in the manual but it far from clear <_<. By playing with the remote I was able to play an mp3 file from a thumb drive but I can't control much else? The sound is terrible. Have you had problem when setting up yours?

I should say I have the basic sounds system but it does show radio information such as radio name, music group, and other scrolling information depending on the station. I thought for sure that was RDS.

Any ideas?

Greg

PS: I'm quite frustrated considering I made a clean install...

NEVER MIND...I found the problem.

It was a power issue. I inverted the constant power wire with the ignition power wire.

If anyone intend to do the same a here is a small piece of advice.
The red wire (constant) of the Kenwood KOS-A200 should be plug into the trunk cigarette lighter outlet. The yellow wire (ignition) should be plug in the front cigarette lighter. If that is what you intend to use.

I'm almost done with the install!!! It looks really clean so far. Pics to come :grin:

Greg

PS: I was able to reduce white noise quite a bit by choosing a frequency not shared by local radio and by setting the modulation volume lower. It requires to boost the input though so becarfull when unplugging :beer:

The scosche FM modulator I bought prior to the Kenwood unit had no noise. I whish I could combined both in line...

That is interesting; what you wrote is the opposite of mine.

The power outlet in my trunk is the one that is always on, and the front power outlet (next to the shifter) shuts off about 15-20 seconds after the ignition is turned off. I figured this out by plugging an FM transmitter into both outlets when the car was off. It worked in the trunk, but not the front.

Also, according to page 24 of my KOS-A200 manual, the power cables are the opposite; it states that the red cable is the switched, and the yellow is the constant—which is why I installed it the way I did.

It is possible that they changed the wiring of the unit, but be sure to double check the manual because the fuses are different for each wire. The red wire has a 3 amp fuse, and the yellow has a 5 amp.

I think we are saying the same thing as far as outlets of the car... Yes the one in the trunk is the one that stays on, this so you can use it for emergency lighting and less likely to have something constantly plug in, and the one near the shifter is the one that turns off when ignition is off.

However I did plug the yellow wire to the front and the red to the back. I'll have to double check what it says. I may have wired it the wrong way although it did not work the first I did it your way. I also got a low battery indicator at that same time. I had to drive around the block to make sure I wouldn't be stuck the following morning. That's also when I couldn't get RDS reading :huh:

I'll double check the manual and let you know... :thumbsup:

ElectricSilver,

You are completely right. I checked the manual and it is exactly has you said. I wired everything and it works this time. I'm not sure what was the problem before?

I'm still getting a lot of noise if I set the modulation volume higher than 1 out of 3 available levels <_< . Even at level 1 I can hear some noise and I get quite a bit of sound loss. It is much worth than what I'm use to when using the FM radio of the car which on the Volvo is quite good.
How is yours?

I'm not sure quite what to do since I'm don't know the source of the noise. I looked around and there are some filters I could add between the car antenna and the Kenwood unit but I'm not sure if it will do the trick. Does anyone know of antenna processing device to improve sound quality of a car antenna reception?

I also read that ground connection affects antenna noise a bit. Could it be the ground wire from the Kenwood controller?

Greg

try some ferrite magnets, get them off ebay, they are supposed to reduce and interferenece noise and distortion in a power circuit, they just clip around the cable

I keep the modulation set to level three. For me the hissing isn't too bad. Like I said before, really the only time I notice it is when I'm listening to an old or quiet song (like Bob Dylan), or if I pause my iPod.

You are using some sort of USB drive right? Are you using a separate cable to connect the device to the KOS-A200? If you are not using a cable, that could be your problem. Page five of the manual says not to plug directly into the USB port, and to use a cable.

The problem that I'm having now is that I now receive a radio station on all seven frequencies that the KOS-A200 works with. I get a little bit of static no matter what the modulation level is set at, or what frequency I'm using. I'm going to try disconnecting the KOS-A200 from the antenna and see if that helps at all.

Yes I am using a USB cable and I got better results once every thing was installed. I tried to move the fm cable away from other thing and it helped very slightly I think.

Most important I played around with it a bit and here are few things I found:
Apparently the frequency selected as quite some influence on the output quality of the sound. I tried few frequencies that did not have apparent radio signal (very few of them as it seems in my area) and some did much better than others.
Strangely it seems that the KOS-A200 actually improved reception of these radio signals. I was able to here faintly some radio frequencies I could not before. May be there is some kind of improved antenna effect to all this wiring? That does not help unfortunately.
I also found that used radio frequencies do generate a lot of noise but using a frequency next to a used fm frequency had little effects unless the reception signal is strong.

Well unfortunately I'm not fully happy with the reception. I'm on modulation level 1 in order to reduce noise to a minimal and it does under power the sound. I have to boost the volume too much and the sound seems slightly distorted. The weird thing is that it is some time better than other.

Anyway I’m thinking on putting a noise filter (Exterminator AS-100-DS) and perhaps a FM amplifier (Signal amplifier AB-150-DS) between the Kenwood and the Volvo modulator. I’m hopping this would help the Kenwood overpower incoming local radio signals. What do you guys think? I might start with the filter first and see if it doesn't cut too much of the output.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-9ErUTp2wVww/c...lter&i=003AS100

http://www.americaninternational.net/paged...asp?SubCatID=73

I wander if it would help or actually make the situation worth by amplifying the radio signal instead?

I have to look into this magnet. the cable is quite long. does it needs to be all over it? :huh:

Greg
Sorry for the long post… :grin:

I'm finally done with my install of Auxiliary audio input to my 2005 S40... :460:
I'm running out of time so I'll just post this teaser image until I can write up about what I have done... :grin:

I'm quite please with the result although I still need to refine the sound quality at the antenna connection. I order an antenna noise filter. We'll see if that do the trick.


Greg

I'll let you know how the filter works; I just ordered one from Crutchfield. I figure that for $10 it is worth the gamble.

Good find, thanks!

I just saw that you ordered the filter too. You will probably get yours before I get mine, so let us know what you think.

As for your install, WOW!!! That looks great! It is really OEM looking.

Thanks! That was my goal...or more like a challenge... It took me a while and I had to machine the USB port replacement for the armrest cigarette lighter outlet.
This way I always have the option to put the old power outlet back which I kept.
Any way I'll give more details and lots of images as soon as I can.

Yes I can't wait to get the filter and see if the noise goes away.
I've notice that when I drive in a tunnel it gets really bad. Probably too many radio interference from other cars...

I made my own fm modulator adapter cables. If the filter doesn't work I'll buy the correct cables from circuit city. There could be noise leak there although regular FM is not affected what so ever.

I'll keep you posted...

Greg