XM on Carputer THE GUIDE - Page 6

tbird2340 · 06-28-2005, 10:12 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by jcdillin

dont forget if your going to use that serial header you will need a mating db9 connector and hood

I was just going to snip off the DB9 off of a modem cable and solder the wires from it and the 8 pin mini-din.

That would work wouldn't it?

jcdillin · 06-28-2005, 10:21 PM

it would work, but it's going to be messy and a pita, just go to radio shack and spend the $2 for a proper connector

that way you can just snip one end of the din off and solder the wires directly to the DB9 and to whatever your going to use for a power connector

tbird2340 · 06-28-2005, 10:23 PM

I just find it a lot harder to solder directly to the DB9 compared to soldering two wires together. Why do you say it would be messy and a pita? Just because the wires are so thin?

jcdillin · 06-28-2005, 10:25 PM

because the wires are thin, and then you end up with a cable that is connected in the middle instead of one end.

But if you feel more comfortable soldering the wires together then go for it. It should still work fine

tbird2340 · 06-28-2005, 11:05 PM

Yea, thin wires do suck when trying to solder them. When I tried making my home brew IR receiver I had a heck of a time with the wires on the DB9.. Maybe I'll try again.

tj!2k4 · 06-28-2005, 11:17 PM

just make sure you use a very fine tip and have a good soldering iron, as well as the proper solder for the job.

Seriously, i was messing around with one of those rs soldering iron jobbies and ripping my hair out everytime i had to solder something. then a coworker of mine turned me onto one of those portable butane soldering irons w/ changeable tips.. They are well worth it.

Weller Portasol irons

Weller Portasol tips

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tbird2340 · 06-29-2005, 08:15 AM

tj!2k4, which model do you have?

Yea, I have one of those crap jobs from Ratshack. The tip isn't very thin and it's friggin hard to solder with it on small areas..

kamikaze2112 · 06-29-2005, 12:39 PM

So if i am reading the earlier posts correctly, you can communicate to the XM with the serial port?

I'm writing my whole frontend in VB and would be really impressed if i could integrate and write my own 'XM reciever'

Does anyone know where I can find more information about what sort of codes you can send/recieve or other general info about the software side of this?

Thanks

tbird2340 · 07-01-2005, 08:14 AM

So I'm totally stupid and didn't think of this.. I got my XMD1000 yesterday and see that it has RCA outs on it.. How does everyone hook this up? RCA's to Stereo mini jack to soundcard?

jcdillin · 07-01-2005, 08:52 AM

yup, thats how I have mine setup

tbird2340 · 07-01-2005, 09:03 AM

So what does someone do that has a mic (line in on sound card) and xm (also line in)?

jcdillin · 07-01-2005, 09:06 AM

well my sound card has 2 lines in, one for mic and one for line in

depending on the mic though might have to just go with a usb style microphone if your sound card doesnt have the extra input

tj!2k4 · 07-01-2005, 11:06 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by tbird2340

tj!2k4, which model do you have?

Yea, I have one of those crap jobs from Ratshack. The tip isn't very thin and it's friggin hard to solder with it on small areas..

Sorry, didn't see your post til now.

I have the P2KC kit.

If you look at that soldering iron, you grip it fairly close to the tip. This is something we're more accustomed to from writing, so it is more natural and decreases the shake factor. Also because it's cordless, you don't have the weight/tension/resistance of the cord messing with you while you're trying to get the job done. The flame/heat is adjustable at the back of the iron, and they are now self-igniting.

It comes with a couple of tips, (PPT6, PPT10, PPT12, PPT13), but it doesn't come with the fine tip, so I would recommend getting a fine tip such as the PPT1 or PPT5.

tbird2340 · 07-01-2005, 11:13 AM

Where can this be purchased? B&M or online only?

tj!2k4 · 07-01-2005, 11:17 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by jcdillin

well my sound card has 2 lines in, one for mic and one for line in

depending on the mic though might have to just go with a usb style microphone if your sound card doesnt have the extra input

the difference between the mic and the line-in is that the soundcard amplifies the mic port, whereas it does not amplify the line-in.

most have 3 plugs: a green one for the speakers, a pink one for the mic, and a blue one for line-in.