Single din unit with remote/separate control screen?

[DonkeyApple]

For the last half dozen years I have been searching for a car stereo that is a mechless single din that can be fitted in an out of site and generally inaccessible location under the dash of a classic car but is controlled by a touch screen that I can either add/remove as required from the dash or instal as a pop-up.

I had originally assumed this was a common product but it so transpired not to be but Alpine now sell the exact car stereo that I require: https://www.alpine.co.uk/p/Products/freestyle-7-in...

The solution for the screen is to retrofit it to the older Volvo pop-up carrier as this mechanism will fit in a small void space in the top of the dash.

Given the cost of this stereo is approaching £1500 and given that I am not interested in fancy stereos and would never normally spend that kind of money on one for a car I was wondering if anyone is aware of any alternate products that are currently available?

I did always assume that all the main manufacturers offered separate touch screen monitors that could be plugged into the back of a standard single din unit. Maybe they do but I simply don’t know enough about this field.

[Sparky137]

Have you considered using a tablet with an external car audio amp? Lots of advice on the net and on YouTube as to how to do this. Many installs cost virtually nothing to do and look factory fitted.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=in+ca...

It will give you far more functionality than any car stereo for a fraction of the price. A secondhand suitable tablet could be bought for less than £50.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?source=hp&ei=A...

[DonkeyApple]

Sparky137 said:

Have you considered using a tablet with an external car audio amp? Lots of advice on the net and on YouTube as to how to do this. Many installs cost virtually nothing to do and look factory fitted.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=in+ca...

It will give you far more functionality than any car stereo for a fraction of the price. A secondhand suitable tablet could be bought for less than £50.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?source=hp&ei=A...

Yes, this has been proposed previously and I have seen a few installs using tablets and it isn’t a route that I would go down. I’d rather not have a stereo if there isn’t a clean solution. The real problem is that you can do less and less with a phone in a car which is pushing me towards needing to fit a stereo to remain legal as much as anything.

[InitialDave]

What kind of car is it? Would a period radio modified with modern gubbins suit it?

[DonkeyApple]

InitialDave said:

What kind of car is it? Would a period radio modified with modern gubbins suit it?

No. It’s a suffix A Rangie so no usable modern stereo slot.

Thr Alpine above is perfect and will do the job but I’m just looking to check if anyone knows of another manufacturer who does something similar.

[InitialDave]

DonkeyApple said:

No. It’s a suffix A Rangie so no usable modern stereo slot.

I thought those had a slot by your right knee?

[DonkeyApple]

InitialDave said:

DonkeyApple said:

No. It’s a suffix A Rangie so no usable modern stereo slot.

I thought those had a slot by your right knee?

Yup. A location that’s totally unusable. You can’t see it because the wheel is in the way and you can’t reach it because your knee is there.

As per the Alpine unit above, I’m looking for a double din screen solution that I can fit in an appropriate position in the centre of the dash.

Just wondering if anyone knows of any alternatives to the Alpine product above.

[InitialDave]

Hmm. I think it depends how much room you have to play with in your mounting location, and how much modification of the unit you're willing to do.

I expect you could probably make exactly what you're after by dismantling an android based head unit, but it does seem you'd be best served by a phone or tablet in a dash cradle, connected by Bluetooth to a head unit squirrelled away elsewhere.

The other option is to negate the inconvenient factory location by not having to actually look at or touch it, instead using a remote control or steering column stalk from something else.

The latter is actually a side project I'm messing with on one of my cars, as I find the touchscreen less than ideal because it's in a lower position in the dash. But I want a "non invasive" one that doesn't involve cutting plastic.

[clockworks]

I had a car with a relatively inaccessible stereo, and I didn't want to make any permanent alterations to the dash.
I bought and fitted an Alpine headunit that came with a remote control (infra red).

I modified the remote control to become a "wired" remote in a fixed position. I took the remote apart, removing the IR LED and extending it with a pair of thin wires. The LED was fixed in a suitable place so that it shone at the head unit.

I bought some tiny push button switches, mounted them on a piece of Vero board, and built a slim box from black styrene sheet to hold it. I picked a switch layout that meant I could operate them by feel to control source, play/pause, volume up/down and track/station skip. I fitted the switch box onto the side of the centre console with double sided tape.

I removed the keypad rubber membrane from the remote, and wired each new switch to the remote PCB. The remote was secured under the dash with tie wraps.

Worked perfectly for me, was barely noticeable, and easily removed.

[Sparky137]

JVC do a phone app that enables total remote operation of some of their stereos via blue tooth:

http://www.jvc.net/car/app/jsmc/

Could be the answer to your problem.

Kenwood also do one:

http://www2.jvckenwood.com/car/app/kenwood_remote/...

Edited by Sparky137 on Tuesday 22 May 20:57

[DonkeyApple]

Sparky137 said:

JVC do a phone app that enables total remote operation of some of their stereos via blue tooth:

http://www.jvc.net/car/app/jsmc/

Could be the answer to your problem.

Kenwood also do one:

http://www2.jvckenwood.com/car/app/kenwood_remote/...

Edited by Sparky137 on Tuesday 22 May 20:57

That’s something that would be ideal and what I originally went looking for. My only concern is how the law is closing in on any kind of use of smartphones in cars?

[Sparky137]

DonkeyApple said:

That’s something that would be ideal and what I originally went looking for. My only concern is how the law is closing in on any kind of use of smartphones in cars?

I struggle to understand the difference between selecting a music track to play on your phone whilst driving compared to having to scroll through three pages of menus on a new car 'infotainment' screen just to adjust the heater controls!!

I would imagine that if this was brought up as a line of defence in court it would have motor manufacturers worried for fear of having to either recall thousands of cars to 'downgrade' to manual, tactile controls, or having to pay huge amounts of compensation to drivers that have fallen foul of the law.

[OldGermanHeaps]

Parrot asteroid tablet. It can work in conjunction with a head unit, but you dont actually need one.

[DonkeyApple]

OldGermanHeaps said:

Parrot asteroid tablet. It can work in conjunction with a head unit, but you dont actually need one.

I’ve looked at this in the past but it is very restrictive on apps and has no traditional radio ability. It’s an option if push came to shove.

[InitialDave]

DonkeyApple said:

That’s something that would be ideal and what I originally went looking for. My only concern is how the law is closing in on any kind of use of smartphones in cars?

I don't see how it's any different to a touchscreen head unit.

[DonkeyApple]

InitialDave said:

I don't see how it's any different to a touchscreen head unit.

I agree and that is the logical viewpoint but the wind is blowing in legal terms seemingly towards total handoff of phone to car rather than this legacy way round of car to phone.

I already have something similar in another car which I had fitted with an Oxygen head unit where you clip an iPhone into it as it’s fascia. It was a great idea for a split moment in time while Apple connectors remained as they were and apps were updated.

But, if this Kenwood app allows total control of radio, satnav, phone etc etc via an iPhone app of a single din unit then it looks to be the best fallback if my slightly optimistic plan of installing a pop-up screen under the coin tray in the dash fails.

[Lazermilk]

Why not just have a stereo that has Bluetooth and get a cheap tablet that does all you need to mount somewhere, that is then connected to the stereo via Bluetooth for the audio?

[DonkeyApple]

Lazermilk said:

Why not just have a stereo that has Bluetooth and get a cheap tablet that does all you need to mount somewhere, that is then connected to the stereo via Bluetooth for the audio?

Because I would prefer an all in one solution plus, I don’t want android. I like to keep life as simple as possible and that means a strong focus on as few gadgets and accounts as possible.

[Lazermilk]

DonkeyApple said:

Lazermilk said:

Why not just have a stereo that has Bluetooth and get a cheap tablet that does all you need to mount somewhere, that is then connected to the stereo via Bluetooth for the audio?

Because I would prefer an all in one solution plus, I don’t want android. I like to keep life as simple as possible and that means a strong focus on as few gadgets and accounts as possible.

Get an Ipad to do the Bluetooth part then

I cant think I've seen something like you are looking for otherwise, but good luck with the search anyway.

[DonkeyApple]

Lazermilk said:

Get an Ipad to do the Bluetooth part then

I cant think I've seen something like you are looking for otherwise, but good luck with the search anyway.

Don’t want an iPad. Just another object to fanny about keeping working and then throwing in the bin when it’s made obsolete for no good reason. . I’ll tolerate an iPhone as a single gadget as it disposes of the need for many other gadgets and sitting at a desk 18 hours a day but that’s pretty much the limit of my tolerance.

The Alpine above does what I’m looking for. I was primarily just asking if anyone knew of a another main manufacturer doing likewise.