Stereo/DVD: How to link RSE / DVD to car's audio system

[rpdmallett]

I love my XC90, as it is highly refined, has some great features, a DVD (RSE) player with LCD screens and 7 seats - so great for kids.

However, I was surprised to find that you couldn't pipe the DVD player audio to the main audio system - so everyone could listen to it.

As I have 2 kids and my girlfriend as 3, I wasn't particularly wanting to buy 3 more headphones. So the alternative was to work out how to link the DVD to the audio system myself.

A quick look in the manual shows that Volvo use the Thomson RF headphone system. I expected to find that only the Thomson headphones were used with Volvo doing the transmission from some central electronics, but right next to the DVD player under the rear floor cover is a Thomson RF transmitter.

There is also a 2nd one under some floor-cover trim just to the right (which is easier to connect to). To get to this, it's best to remove the vertical panel just to the left of the DVD player, effectively behind the rear-left lights. There's a clip at the bottom that releases it. Then you can more easily remove the near-triangular carpet/foam combination to see the 2nd one.

These 2 Thomson transmitters use radio frequencies (863MHz) to link to the RF headphones. However, both transmitters have connectors going into them for 12v power and stereo audio from the DVD player (on a normal 3.5mm audio jack). So the plan was to buy an FM transmitter (which are now legal, by the way) and hook it into this audio source.

I popped into PC World and found the perfect combination of items:

"Belkin TuneCast II for iPod" £19.99
"Belkin Splitter" £3.99

The Splitter is basically a single audio jack plug, linked to 2 x audio jack sockets. The TuneCast is a neat little FM transmitter, complete with a short audio lead with audio jack plug at the end. It also comes with a lighter-socket power cable, and Duracell batteries.

So, to link it all together, you simply remove the audio jack plug that's plugged into the Thomson DVD transmitter, plug it into one of the audio jack sockets on the Splitter, and plug the Splitter's jack plug back into the Thomson DVD transmitter. That leaves you with one audio jack socket to link the TuneCast to. Link the TuneCast to this socket and tuck it away somewhere, securing it with some tape so it doesn't disappear into the bottom of the car somewhere.

That's it - no other connections are needed. The TuneCast takes 2 x AAA batteries and automatically powers up and down when audio is detected, so there's no need to get to the unit once linked up. Apparently, the batteries should last for 8 hours of playtime. I don't know how long they'll last when in standby.

(In my own car, I've split the 12v DC power that goes into the Thomson headphone transmitter so that it powers the Belkin TuneCast as well. Belkin very nicely provide a power cable, so it was easy to chop this up and wire it up in parallel with the 12v power to the Thomson transmitter by using an extra 2.1mm DC power plug and socket I have (I'm an electronics engineer). I fused the whole lot at 0.5A. BUT ONLY DO THIS IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING - 12V FROM A CAR COULD BE AT A VERY HIGH AMPERAGE!!! DON'T CUT INTO ANY OF THE CAR'S CABLES.)

Once hooked up, it's just a matter of setting the Belkin device to transmit on an unsused frequency (I chose 88.3MHz) and tuning the car's radio to the same frequency. I get a bit of noise but it generally works well.

I hope this info helps others. Wiring the Belkin FM transmitter up using batteries is very easy - just make sure you connect to the Thomson headphone transmitter under the carpet/foam foam to the left of the DVD player. The one just next to the DVD player is difficult to get out (the connections are on the underside, and it's all bolted down).

Needless to say, technically you might negate all of part of your car's warranty in doing any of this and anyone who follows my advice above does so at their own risk. However, it's all reversible, and if you use the battery solution it's very easy to do.

If people are interested, I'll take some photos of it all.

Richard

[Gurj]

Excellent and informative post !

I've bought an FM transmitter and was planning to do the same thing.

Your're post will help me.

I did buy a 3rd pair of headphones cheap off ebay for the occasional 3rd passenger. I tried some similar RF headphones first, but none worked well
(auto-tuning ones were especially problematic).

Now, if I could just figure out how to Region-Free the DVD changer!

[rpdmallett]

Hi,

Well I had a good look at the DVD player, and it appears to be made by Audiovox and is model MVCH10A. The pics here look identical (but without the name):

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/ele/302395054.html

On a region-free hacking site, it lists a whole load of methods for other Audiovox players (but not this particular one):

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks.ph...&Search=Search

I've tried a few, and most involve entering 9653, although none worked for me. If anyone has time to try them and figure out if one will work, then please let me know!

Richard