Stereo/DVD: SC-xxx AUX INPUT HACK

[bobbych]

ok after trying to find a solution that does not cost the earth, i found the AUX hack trick, and decided to try it myself. So here is how it is done.

It basically allows you to tap into the TAPE DECK sytem, by soldering in some external connections.

This is ONLY FOR THE SC-XXX series of VOLVO HEAD UNITS


Firstly, remove the Stereo, and remove the TOP 4 screws



then you will see the TAPE UNIT. remove the 4 corner screws shown

Remove the tape unit by LIFTING up the unit gently. it will come out of the connector at the rear as shown



now, have a look at the connector. it sits on what is known as a RISER. it is a small circuit board. Simply pull up the rider shown, and remove it.



now you have the card out, have a look at the labels. You will see 3 items listed as L[eft] R[ight] and A-GND[ground]

these are the areas where the Stereo takes the TAPE DECK L+R outputs. So we are simply going to tap into these

Get yourself some PHONO connections. I plumped for some female ones, so i can connect normal male ends to it once in the car

Solder on the two connections to the pins. Solder your RED connector to the L and the WHITE to the R. then both EARTH wires to the A-GND. Then apply some tape over it




now refit the RISER CARD to the stereo. you will then have the two connectors. you have some options to get these OUTSIDE the stereo now.


the way i did it, was to remove the back plate, and cut out one of the oval slots. this way you can feed in the wires.



next, fit back in the tape unit, and screw in the 4 screws. Now replace the lid. and you are ready to refit to the car





once back in the car, connect your ext source, in my case an IPOD

Now, here you need to fool the system into thinking you have a tape in, before it will let you select it. What i did, before i replaced the top lit, was manually put the tape deck into the LOADED mode. this way you do not need anything in the deck, and you simply select TAPE and it will play. You will then hear your external source perfectly.

However, if you press the eject button it will eject the mechanism, and you will then be stuck to get it going again

so the other way, is get an old cassete, OPen it up, and remove all the magnetic tape, and assmeble again, so you have a blank cassette case. THen simply slot this into the player. this will allow you to select TAPE but no sound will come from the cassette. Simples!!!




with this hack, you do NOT tie up your CD Changer port. it does also allow the TAPE to be used also, so you do not loose that function.

so, now i have TAPE, RADIO, CD Changer, AND EXT AUX inputs on my SC-801!


the whole process took me 1 hr to complete.

I have a spare SC800, so if anyone wants this, with the AUX sockets let me know, and I can mod it, and sell it to you.

[AndysR]

Excellent post, I now have an MP3 player and was wondering what the best way to play sound through the stereo was without either loosing the CD changer or broadcasting the music via the FM transmitter on the MP3 player which is tempremental. I shall have to go and get me some phono leads now and get this done :thumbs_up:

[bobbych]

it is an easy hack mate, and works a treat!

[bobbych]

here is the original post, that I used to do it with

http://www.tadfad.com/2007/09/15/volvo-radio-hack/

[dave.robbo]

Excellent post... Now... If only I could do something similar to my HU803!!

[ShadeTek]

Does anyone have a schematic for one of these units available? It's doubtful anyone uses their tape deck any more, so why not completely disable the tape deck and use its audio channel for a full time aux input. Would mean disabling the motor full time...IDEA, why not put the tape deck into loaded mode and then disconnect the motor, this would stop the tape carriage from being ejected and thus the subsequent dismantle and manual re-load. I would assume that there is a mode switch on the deck theat tells the system that it is loaded so it would be in "tape loaded" mode all the time? Only down side I can see is when pushing the eject button it mutes the tape deck, but that might not happen if the mode switch still says "tape loaded" or the system may detect a tape jam error if the carriage does not reach an unloaded postion. Why not give it a go bobbych?

(P.S I was an audio engineer for years repairing things like this).

[rabbitsworld14]

Does anyone have a schematic for one of these units available? It's doubtful anyone uses their tape deck any more, so why not completely disable the tape deck and use its audio channel for a full time aux input. Would mean disabling the motor full time...IDEA, why not put the tape deck into loaded mode and then disconnect the motor, this would stop the tape carriage from being ejected and thus the subsequent dismantle and manual re-load. I would assume that there is a mode switch on the deck theat tells the system that it is loaded so it would be in "tape loaded" mode all the time? Only down side I can see is when pushing the eject button it mutes the tape deck, but that might not happen if the mode switch still says "tape loaded" or the system may detect a tape jam error if the carriage does not reach an unloaded postion. Why not give it a go bobbych?

(P.S I was an audio engineer for years repairing things like this).

As for the eject problem... could you not just disconnect the button itself so that it doesn't have any affect?

[ShadeTek]

As for the eject problem... could you not just disconnect the button itself so that it doesn't have any affect?

Yes!.....

[bobbych]

Does anyone have a schematic for one of these units available? It's doubtful anyone uses their tape deck any more, so why not completely disable the tape deck and use its audio channel for a full time aux input. Would mean disabling the motor full time...IDEA, why not put the tape deck into loaded mode and then disconnect the motor, this would stop the tape carriage from being ejected and thus the subsequent dismantle and manual re-load. I would assume that there is a mode switch on the deck theat tells the system that it is loaded so it would be in "tape loaded" mode all the time? Only down side I can see is when pushing the eject button it mutes the tape deck, but that might not happen if the mode switch still says "tape loaded" or the system may detect a tape jam error if the carriage does not reach an unloaded postion. Why not give it a go bobbych?

(P.S I was an audio engineer for years repairing things like this).

i dare say yes, this is very easy to do. Like i said, i have the spare sc800 i can practice on, so I think next week i will look at how to disable the tape desk eject

[bobbych]

i will also look at disabling the motor, as presently, it all spins up just like a tape is installed too, so you hear it whiring away

[AndysR]

i will also look at disabling the motor, as presently, it all spins up just like a tape is installed too, so you hear it whiring away

That's one downside I guess but at the end of the day just turn the volume up as it's no different to the noise it would make if you were actually playing a cassette :thumbs_up:

[BillB]

I've been thinking of doing this for a while - your post has now got me thinking much more positively about it - thanks. It does seem a simpler solution than the CD changer input. It could be that some of the lines on the riser could be cut so that the motor doesn't run - maybe "MOT-CONT" and eject disabled with "EJECT-SOL" perhaps. Although the HU still needs to think a tape is present - that could be "RUN-DET" (run detect I'm guessing). But I could be wrong........Do let us know how you get on. Regards.

[bobbych]

That's one downside I guess but at the end of the day just turn the volume up as it's no different to the noise it would make if you were actually playing a cassette :thumbs_up:

when i say you hear it, it is only when there is no music, inbetween tracks, it is not loud otherwise, and you dont need to turn up the music to drown it.

[bobbych]

I've been thinking of doing this for a while - your post has now got me thinking much more positively about it - thanks. It does seem a simpler solution than the CD changer input. It could be that some of the lines on the riser could be cut so that the motor doesn't run - maybe "MOT-CONT" and eject disabled with "EJECT-SOL" perhaps. Although the HU still needs to think a tape is present - that could be "RUN-DET" (run detect I'm guessing). But I could be wrong........Do let us know how you get on. Regards.

i will have a look. i think poss the best solution, is to disable the motor, via a wire, and stop the Eject system by disabling the button. that way, the motor will never spin, and you cannot eject it.

[bobbych]

it is also a LOT cheaper than the Blitzsafe etc too. thay can cost upto £70. this way, it costs about £4 for the price of a phono lead, and a bit of solder, plus you get to keep the Changer connected.:thumbs_up: