Dashboard: Radio & Speakers

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31 Oct 2012 19:57 - 07 Jan 2013 11:27 #1 by dandjcr
dandjcr created the topic: Dashboard: Radio & Speakers
Forum Home > OKA Maintenance > Dashboard: Radio & Speakers

OKA in Africa:
I am planning to fit a radio an speakers into my OKA. I assume I will have to cut the dashboard so I can fit the new type of radio bracket. Any advise how to do that without removing the dashboard? Is there any space in the doors to fit the speakers or is it better do find another place?
I am very interested to see the set up in other OKAs, not only radio and speakers but any custom dashboard layouts. Please post some pictures if you do not mind me copying your ideas.
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March 25, 2012

Hal Harvey:
I have 130mm-ish circular speakers under the dash around knee height - seems to work ok. You can see the driver's side one in this pic:



and you can just see the left one in the corresponding position in this pic:



I'll add some more during the week all going well - I'm installing a new head unit myself.

Almost forgot, there's a tweeter in the top front corner of each side of the dash, the left one just visible as a bump in the pic below. They're just held in with double stick tape, which did prove adequate because they're so light. The stereo guy who did all this installation years ago also put in a headphone jack that switches off all the speakers when a set of headphones is plugged in. Handy when the passenger is asleep but the driver still wants music.


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March 25, 2012

Hank Onthewater:
The dash cutout for a radio/ CD player is in DIN 1 format. If you wanted to fit a (more common now) larger size DIN 2 format, it does not really fit (in my LT), unless I would be happy to have it stick out 20-50 mm depending on model.
However the models for BMW may fit, and still provide a "full" 7 inch screen.

Hank
March 25, 2012

Peter & Sandra James Oka 374:
The big problem with fitting units that have a pop out screen is that it must protrude out level with the top edge of the dash so that the screen can come out and then tilt nearly vertical. The one fitted to 374 had slid back in a bit and wrecked the gearbox that drives the screen as it came out and the screen hit the edge of the dash.
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March 25, 2012

Hank Onthewater:
Peter, I agree the Din 1 units with a motorised display screen are vulnarable, but the link I provided was for a DIN 1 unit with the screen mounted flat, not adjustable. So in the case of an LT, it would cover the 3 horizontal switches below the radio-dashboard opening, permanently.

March 25, 2012

Hal Harvey:
That is described as a double-din unit in the advertising Hank, and the side angle pic certainly makes it look like it would require an additional cutout:


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March 25, 2012

Dandj:
The speakers under the dashboard are hard to hear since they are pointed at your knees, so I blanked them off and built some overhead panels to house them.
I also reversed the rear air conditioner outlets to overhead eyeball outlets as part of the same construction.


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March 25, 2012

Hank Onthewater:
Yes Hal, you are right, and yes, an additional cutout may be needed, but by the looks of it, such unit will fit in the dash.

March 25, 2012

Paul & Sue Crompton:
I too found it hard to get a reasonable sound in the Oka. Certainly the speakers near your knees don't seem to help and I played around with many different combinations. The sound was fine when the car wasn't going but on the open road, no matter what I tried, it didn't seem to work. As a last ditch effort, I ended up putting two speakers connected to each headrest. These are only four inch cheap speakers to try and they appeared to be better as you don't have to turn the volume up to try to drown everything out as the speakers are so close to your ears (my seats are after market). So now I will buy a decent set of four inch speakers and mount them in the same place. I guess it is similar to some of the convertible vehicles that have their speakers in their headrests. I also moved my CD player on to a roof console because it was getting too hot where it would be originally.
Bye for now. Paul.
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March 26, 2012

Rick Whitworth:
Quoting Dandj at March 25, 2012
>> The speakers under the dashboard are hard to hear since they are pointed at your knees, so I blanked them off and built some overhead panels to house them.
I also reversed the rear air conditioner outlets to overhead eyeball outlets as part of the same construction.<<

David,
have been thinking about doing similar, my overhead evaparator puts out much more cold air than the one under the dash.
Like your panel but looking at your pic I can't make out how you have routed the air from the output vent (which opens high up into the bus body) back to your eyeball outlets. All I can see between the light support member and the cowl which houses the back of the AC fan is what looks like the standard headlining or is the duct between this lining and the roof?
Rick
March 26, 2012

Dandj:
Rick, there is a 3 inch air pipe above the passengers shoulder, just out of sight in that photo.
It takes the air from the rear outlets and directs it through a length of rectangular plastic guttering (covered in black material) on which the four double eyeballs are mounted.
The photo below during early development might help, the front uses a similar design. I retained a couple of outlets in the rear so I can use the a/c for both the front and rear cabins. The fans are quite powerful enough.
You are right, the overhead unit is much more efficient than the dashboard one and on a stinking hot day a blast of overhead cool air is very welcome.
I suggest you cover all the pipework with thick material as in warm humid conditions, water vapour condenses on the cold pipes and can drip on your passenger.
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March 27, 2012

Tony Lee:
When I got rid of the crew cab, I spaced the top evaporator forward by a couple of inches to get it clear of the foam (same as on the ceiling) that I had covered the back wall with, and refitted the fan so it blows downwards through a new slot at the rear of the case bottom instead of backwards and fitted part of the original crew cab ceiling air duct below the evaporator on the back wall. Fitted the eyeball outlets in the duct so now have the outlets pointed directly at the occupants if they choose. Hardly a laminar-flow distribution system but certainly does the job far, far better than the in-dash AC system.
At the same time, the speakers originally fitted to the rear wall of the crew cab were moved on to the rear wall of the cab - one behind each headrest. No stereo effect of course just as with the original under dash speakers, but any notion of listening to quality music on the move is a bit fanciful anyway.
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March 27, 2012

Rick Whitworth:
Thanks David & Tony,
Both good solutions to the same problem.
On busbody side the the rear opening in #149 is now partly covered by the gutter for my poptop so shifting the whole unit forward as Tony has done may be good option. Everything is supported on side brackets holding the one SHS cross beam which I have already lowered once to redo the headlining. Just a bit hesitant to play with the unit itself which is working really well.
The original black ABS plastic cowl and cover for the pipes on the passenger side are in perfect condition and I would like to preserve them.
Rotating the fans sounds like a great idea but seem to remember that the bus body version is all bolted up to the cross beam and evaporator as a unit. Rotating them will probably affect the mounting bolts for the cowl... will take it down and have another look.
Rick
March 27, 2012

Ewart & Vivian Halford:
Paul & Sue, I mounted 2 x 4-inch speakers up on the back of the cab behind the driver and did the same on the passengers side, both sides have a left and right and the left side is hooked up to the rear speaker output and the right side is hooked up to the front output. It is a bit ugly at the moment but it could be made to look a bit better and use better quality speakers.
Ewart
March 27, 2012

Tony Lee:
I had to remove the cover, drill out the pop rivets holding the fan to the case, cut a new hole in the case and block the old one off, mangle the flange on the fan a bit and then pop rivet back on to the case rotated 90 degrees from its original position. Can't change the orientation of the whole unit because of water drainage
Was able to do it without disconnecting refrigerant hoses.
Bus body version may be quite different.
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March 27, 2012

OKA in Africa:
Thanks for all the feedback so far. It really does help me to find out what I will do. Do you have some pictures, especially from the last post descriptions?
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March 28, 2012

Dandj:
Oka In Africa, to answer your original query, no I don't think you could realistically fit any speakers in the doors. There is insufficient depth.

I've fitted power windows to our Oka and there was barely enough depth for the drive motors.
--
March 28, 2012 at 12:29 PM

David and Janet Ribbans - Oka 148
Oka148 profile here.
Visit our technical and travel blogs: here.
Last Edit: 07 Jan 2013 11:27 by Hal Harvey.

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07 Jan 2013 12:12 #2 by Hal Harvey
Hal Harvey replied the topic: Dashboard: Radio & Speakers
Just bringing this subject up to the iThing era, the stereo head unit we have installed is a Parrot Asteroid , which is a long-overdue departure from the days of CDs - in fact the unit it replaced in #260 still had a tape player!

The Parrot unit is very up-to-the-minute - apart from operating as a bluetooth hands-free phone with voice recognition (that actually works!), it is not intended for use with CDs at all; everything operates digitally, with no mechanical drives, so the depth of the unit is only about half that of a CD player. There are only 11 buttons on the front panel, and they're proving human-friendly; I had synced the headset to my phone, made my first hands-free call and connected to the phone's music via Bluetooth all within ten minutes of first trying; and that was while driving; and without having looked at the instruction manual (I still haven't).

One day I might plug in the modem and connect to the internet which will then introduce a heap of stuff that probably will require the manual (navigation etc), and I'll probably never use, but that's for later. So far, as a stereo and hands-free phone kit, highly recommendable. Photos below show the head unit (the colour album display works when the iPhone/iPod/iPad/Android is plugged in, not when using Bluetooth), the GPS module on the top of dash in front of the driver (it is low profile enough, and that's a tweeter in front of it), and the microphone up on the driver side grab handle.







I mostly use the iPad app MetroView for navigation, and now when the iPad is plugged into the Parrot, the stereo is muted at the appropriate times and the nav instructions come through the speakers; along with over-speed limit and red light camera warnings. The iPad can still be used for anything else while the Parrot is accessing its music database too; in fact (freakily) the Parrot still happily accesses the iPad even when the iPad is turned off.

Principal advisor to the Minister for Tourism, Liza Harvey MLA
... OKA 260 ... "I'm not leaving any sooner than I have to!"
www.byles.net/OLDportal/members-vehicles-public/5-oka-260
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07 Jan 2013 20:22 - 07 Jan 2013 21:45 #3 by OKA in Africa
OKA in Africa replied the topic: Dashboard: Radio & Speakers
I finally installed a JVC radio with Bluetooth connectivity for the iPhone.
Model: JVC KD-R721BT CD car radio

Hands free phone calls are possible and I can play my songs on the phone wireless via the loud speakers.
Model: Canton QS 2.130

Had to drill/jigsaw/file to enlarge the existing openings for the radio and speakers. Tweeters are installed in the door.
Good sound. I am happy with my set up.

Thank you and best regards

OKA #327 in Africa
www.oka4wd.com/forum/members-vehicles-pu...47-oka-327-in-africa
Last Edit: 07 Jan 2013 21:45 by OKA in Africa.

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08 Apr 2014 14:04 #4 by Moose2367
Moose2367 replied the topic: Dashboard: Radio & Speakers
Hal,

How's the Parrot unit going, i bought one a while ago and will fit it when i eventually get the truck back.

Have you used the GPS through it yet? I was wondering if it was possible to use the GPS from the stereo and bluetooth the screen images etc to a tablet, or would i be better off with a standalone tablet with GPS? Any idea which tablet has a GPS that work without mobile signal, preferably an android, samsung would be good, same as my phone then.

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08 Apr 2014 15:20 - 08 Apr 2014 15:21 #5 by PeteFox
PeteFox replied the topic: Dashboard: Radio & Speakers

Moose2367 wrote: Hal,
Any idea which tablet has a GPS that work without mobile signal, preferably an android, samsung would be good, same as my phone then.


Moose

I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1" that has an internal GPS that works without a phone signal. Runs OziExplorer (android).
I hate it though because android is such a crap operating system, only put up with it because of Ozi.
Pete

Pete Fox OKA266 MultiCab
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www.byles.net/www.oka4wd.com/forum/membe...oka-266?limitstart=0
Last Edit: 08 Apr 2014 15:21 by PeteFox.

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08 Apr 2014 16:31 #6 by Hal Harvey
Hal Harvey replied the topic: Dashboard: Radio & Speakers

Moose2367 wrote: Hal,
How's the Parrot unit going, i bought one a while ago and will fit it when i eventually get the truck back.
Have you used the GPS through it yet?


Moose,

Timely - it clagged a few weeks ago - just the volume control knob, funnily enough pretty much the only mechanical bit on it. It all looked alright but ceased to serve its purpose. So I rang them up for a warranty, wanted to know if they wanted the whole unit or just the faceplate, and the first thing the guy asked me was 'single din or double din?'.

Well they didn't do a double din when I bought it, but I can easily fit one in; so I figured the bigger screen could only be better, and the new one doesn't have a mechanical volume control, so I went off the warranty idea and will just replace it with the new one. I haven't done that yet. www.parrot.com/au/products/asteroid-rang...rrot-asteroid-smart/

I haven't used the GPS function at all as I have mini iPads lower down on the dash and was already familiar with their apps; and the new iPhone's maps app does excellent spoken directions too. But the Parrot was very good for hands-free phone stuff, and music.

Principal advisor to the Minister for Tourism, Liza Harvey MLA
... OKA 260 ... "I'm not leaving any sooner than I have to!"
www.byles.net/OLDportal/members-vehicles-public/5-oka-260

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09 Apr 2014 04:47 - 09 Apr 2014 04:47 #7 by Moose2367
Moose2367 replied the topic: Dashboard: Radio & Speakers
Righto thanks Hal, hopefully the next one gets a better lifespan.

Pete, what about the android system don't you like, is it in regards to the GPS or something else, as that's all i want the tablet for, definitely not going the Apple route, couldn't be happier with the android phone over the iphone.
Last Edit: 09 Apr 2014 04:47 by Moose2367.

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09 Apr 2014 05:50 #8 by PeteFox
PeteFox replied the topic: Dashboard: Radio & Speakers
Moose
The GPS works well though it does take a bit to fix a location from a cold start. It sits just below the dash without any external aerial.
Android just seems to take about ten 'key strokes' to something I can do in iOS in two. I guess it's just not intuitive.
Pete

Pete Fox OKA266 MultiCab
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09 Apr 2014 07:08 #9 by Paul Scherek
Paul Scherek replied the topic: Dashboard: Radio & Speakers
Pete, if you think Android is bad don't ever be tempted by Windows 'phone. It is a total dud. I have gone from Windows to Android and it is sooooo much better. Next time I might try an iPhone.
Cheers, Paul

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09 Apr 2014 07:24 - 09 Apr 2014 07:26 #10 by TH
TH replied the topic: Dashboard: Radio & Speakers
Running memory maps on both iPhone/iPad and Galaxy note 8.0. I find the galaxy has a more accurate gps.

So far the Blackberry Playbook running Magellan Compass from O2 Interactive is the best combination I have found for offline mapping allowing me to cache Bing satellite imagery as the base map (Google works but you can't cache the imagery). It works as a spoken urban navigator and an outback planner/tourer. Unfortunately it is only available in Blackberry OS which has a very limited suite of apps. But for $150-$200 a 16Gb Playbook is pretty good value as a stand alone navigation system

If only it, or something similar was available on Android

Cheers, Tony
Last Edit: 09 Apr 2014 07:26 by TH.

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09 Apr 2014 09:49 #11 by PeteFox
PeteFox replied the topic: Dashboard: Radio & Speakers

Paul Scherek wrote: Pete, if you think Android is bad don't ever be tempted by Windows 'phone. It is a total dud. I have gone from Windows to Android and it is sooooo much better. Next time I might try an iPhone.
Cheers, Paul


Not quite a phone Paul but I am seriously considering buying a Windows 8 tablet just so I can do my all mapping with the full version of Oziexplorer, but it involves an external GPS because I can't find a Win tablet with an internal one. That might make for better GPS positioning though because there won't be any restriction on the GPS dongle placement.

As far as Windows goes, it's a dud period. I spent three years managing a Microsoft Server environment with three servers and 250 PCs hooked up. Too much management required and too difficult for end users. But as a platform with only one program loaded and disconnected from the internet, I can live with it.

Pete Fox OKA266 MultiCab
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09 Apr 2014 20:50 #12 by Kav1050
Kav1050 replied the topic: Dashboard: Radio & Speakers
My 2 cents worth... being an XGen used my first puter when i was about 14Yo in the 80's still have commodore 64 and Amiga 120's in mint condition from that era, grew up with techno stuff, OZI explorer platform when mastered, is pretty damn cool and well worth the time and effort involved in learning how to drive it. I have used it to plan trips before owning an OKA, with a few friends that were for a few weeks and was able to convert the route details and way points to various platforms they were using with ease.
Not saying it the be all and ends all, i have memory maps on ipad, VMS platforms on 5" display and all sorts, me old 210 Magellan still serves me well, but master OZI and its a breeze.

OKA 423 Shane and Lisa :)

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10 Apr 2014 19:44 #13 by Ewart and Vivian Halford
Ewart and Vivian Halford replied the topic: Dashboard: Radio & Speakers
I like ozi explore but what I did not like was the drama every time I had to get a new computer and it had to be set to the new program and my old garmin gps was a pain to convert to USB. Nothing stayers the same for long these days.

Ewart oka 365
0428911147

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11 Apr 2014 22:02 #14 by Kav1050
Kav1050 replied the topic: Dashboard: Radio & Speakers
Too right mate, nothing stays the same..Just keeps getting better :-)

As far as GPS stuff goes, we all try our own stuff i recon and we learn what we buy and live with it.

The good thing these days for most of us that can drive a pooter and can read,there are forums and user comments now that we can take in and influence what we buy.

Its like Hop Hog beer, i have seen it on the shelf, but if i hadn't read that it was no 1 out off 100 beer tasting comp. just recently, i wouldn't have grabbed a 6 pack tonight ..*hic*

Regards
Shane

OKA 423 Shane and Lisa :)

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12 Jun 2014 22:21 - 12 Jun 2014 22:22 #15 by Hal Harvey
Hal Harvey replied the topic: Dashboard: Radio & Speakers
I got around to fitting the new unit this week. Parrot Asteroid Smart, double din size, mainly for the music connectivity and hands free phone. If the iPhone or iPod is plugged in, it shows album covers etc; doesn't do quite as much if connected by Bluetooth. There's navigation as well, if I ever get around to figuring it out. So a double din fits an OKA dashboard pretty neatly. The Parrot is all-electronic in the sense that it doesn't have a CD player, so it's only about half as deep as it is wide; if it had a CD player in it, it probably wouldn't fit in under the dash without some serious rearranging of the heater etc. All touch-screen stuff now, no mechanical bits.



It did get a bit hot where the cutoff disk was run through the metal, so I'll need to do a spot of repainting one day.

Principal advisor to the Minister for Tourism, Liza Harvey MLA
... OKA 260 ... "I'm not leaving any sooner than I have to!"
www.byles.net/OLDportal/members-vehicles-public/5-oka-260
Last Edit: 12 Jun 2014 22:22 by Hal Harvey.
The following user(s) said Thank You: PeteFox, TH

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