Chinese replacement HUs?

Been a member here for 2 years as a lurker and since we took delivery of a 2010 Prius II yesterday, the questions are going to start coming...

I'm very interested in what rolf has done and having just completely read your post from last year regarding the Chinese HU, I would like to do the same. Also interested to find out the improvements (if any) on paja's HU selection.

For now I have two questions:

Rolff - do you have any updates on yours? Is it still the same unit from last Sept/Oct?

Paja/Rolff - this sounds OCD but, do the buttons have an option for green illumination to match the rest of the interior? I'm kinda OCD that way.

Thanks for the help!

- Glenn

 

Jeremy, you are right, to communicate with China is a real challenge. I got the "reply" today morning from Qualir - no install guide avail., AMP means an amplifier, no reply for the illumination wiring. Really usefull . I tried to write to roadrover.cn,who, I believe, is a manufacturer of the HU.
Ad JBL CAN connection, I don't see any connection to CAN from the amplifier. Also CAN schematic doesn't show any connection. See attached pdf for stereo wiring an for our reference.

 

Very good luck with that (getting info).
It may very well be already compliant - they were really good about making the whole thing plug and play via the wires that come with it - maybe just plug it in and it might work (???) - I would guess though that you need the TATO....

 

Mine could go green or red (programmable).

My Chinese thing went away with my last 2010 (insurance gave me a very nice settlement).

For the new 2010, I opted to go main stream (Pioneer Z110BT) as the cost at the time was similar ($670 after rebate). Of course I added wireless steering remote (PAC WRI, Pioneer STR1 - $45), steering interface ($35), MSN tuner (traffic - $85), and XM receiver with 2 yrs XM ($180). So all in all, it ended up more costly.

I haven't played with it enough to give it a proper review - but I will say the general GUI is far better than the Chinese. The Bluetooth audio is also far better (similar to CD/DVD). I was tired from my last go around - I don't know I would ever do that again - especially with how happy I am with everything I'm running now. I even like the GPS (which has a voice recognition function similar to the stock navi)...

 

I went through the Prius Audio documentation yesterday and I found:
The amplifier is made by FUJITSU-TEN, the AMP is ON when AMP+ voltage is more then 8V.
Illumination is connected to PIN10 of L34 on, it is +12V when Tail or Head lights are on. In our local conditions, where DRL are mandatory, the unit will be always in the "night mode". The installation of DRL or HU's SW settings or grounding of the signal wire will solve it.

 

I think there's a whole lot more to it - which is why this PAC TATO thing costs what it does... Bluetooth is done at the amp for instance. I think the mic goes into the amp - just to name a few random things... My money's on the P'TATO.... Or on the Chinese company (since they did get it plug and play for the base system)...

 

Mic harness is connected to the receiver, not the amplifier. base on documentation only conenction between receiver and AMP is 4 speakers and AMP switch-on wire (+ACC and GND). Dash tweeters are in parallel with FR, FL lines (2Ohm+8Ohm impedance -> result 5 Ohm).

 

I stand corrected

Of course the Chinese HU has the Bluetooth. JBL if using their Toyota HU is different... Maybe you really don't need anything (true plug and play)...

 

I'm planning to make a bench test and install HU over weekend. Unfortunately huge lack of time. Stay tuned.

 

Yesterday I made a test in the car. I found few problems:
1. Antenna connector - there is no standard hole connector on orig. receiver, but special coax placed inside the connector brick, together with ant. amplifier power line. I didn't find some adapter yet, but there is always possibility to cut it off and solder a standard one.
2. Original mounting brackets matched only 3 holes. The original plastic suround didn't arrive yet, I'm not sure how it will fit, the upper spacing looks to be quite small, when I tighted the unit inside. Maybe some hole expansion will be needed.
3. The unit boots in 10sec - it is good.
4. The initial GPS fix was fast, if I compare with my HTC mobile. The unit has a quite fresh iGo install.
5. To my surprise there is no steering wheel control setup menu. Audio SWC work, but Bluetooth buttons are not. . Bluetooth can be controlled only via touch screen - no voice control at all.
6. According to the FW signature - there are ARM11 and SiRF Prima chips inside - really good.
7. The Audio player and DVD player works as expected.
8. I didn't test the FM radio, because -> see item 1., iPod interface - I have not iPod and not planning to have it.
9. Rear USB ports are handy and I will wire them to the center console box.
10. The orig. amplifier is working together with chinese unit. When AMP line is not powered, front door speakers are not working. I re-pinned the connector - moved pin from position 10 to 9 on car side, cut the Illumination wire and soldered AMP output from HU pin20.
I'm attaching few pictere from the test, but the quality of photo is not very good - it is really hard to make a good pictures inside the car - you are close to the object and in the dark and lot of reflexions when flash is used.
Any tips, recommendations from the field are welcomed.

 

Our forummate 'frenchie' published pictures of this connector on french forum P3 antenna few month ago. He simply cut wires. It looks that US version has a different interface connector.

 

That looks like a great install and seems like the issues are minor. Hope you get it all sorted out soon. I'm planning to get a Chinese HU for my 2010 Prius II but I'm looking closely at QL-TYT510 for the following reasons:

- The buttons are lit green to match the rest of the interior lighting (the one you're installing did not indicate that it illuminates in green)
- The font of the labels looks to be closely matched to the HVAC labels
- The price (@ $360, I think it's quite a bargain)

The only thing is, I'm not sure if it will fit the Prius. Can someone take a look at this unit for me? (can't post a link yet)

Looking at the rear picture, it doesn't look similar to the QL-TYT965 which makes me wonder if this is even compatible with the Prius at all.

Any help/guidance is appreciated!

Cheers!

- Glenn

 

I saw this unit (and many others) in the past. It is not bad, but it has old WinCE 5.0 Samsung processor and just a SIRF III GPS chip. Based on avail. data it looks to me as an older chinese HU concept (2 separate units sharing the one LCD). rrolf used the similar unit in his first car, see his post http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...ust-installed-new-nav-dvd-head-unit-pics.html

 

*LINK DELETED FROM PAJA'S SO I CAN QUOTE HIM ON THIS REPLY, I BETTER HURRY UP AND GET MORE THAN 5 POSTS*

Ah, I see... You guys were indeed talking about the older units being potentially slower. What do you mean when you say 2 separate units sharing the one LCD?

Rrolff, what was the model # of the unit you had - do you remember?

Thanks again for paving the way guys. :rockon:

On an unrelated note, I had my first road trip on the Prius with the family, Vegas to Irvine to Glendale to Newport Beach and back to Vegas, $32 in gas and exactly 1,000 miles on the ODO when I pulled in the garage. Awesome trip!

 

Older units had/have 1st WinCE unit for serving navigation SW and 2nd firmware based for DVD, MP3 and etc. functionality. It was the reason why GPS SD card was not visible for the WinCE operating system for example. Unfortunately I never had this unit in hands on the bench.

 

A simple search of pip, gps and Toyota gives you a range of products like my old one. 2Din Indash DVD GPS Navi Toyota Sequoia FJ Cruiser PIP: eBay Motors (item 120536034741 end time Jun-25-10 09:56:58 PDT) has an identical software interface (looks the same), but looks like the GPS 'box' is external. Mine had everything in one.

The other thing is the radio has 8 presets/page - keep in mind, I had a weird bug here - I would make sure it was fixed.

The general size is 200x100mm. This only fits the 'Toyota' surround from England - which adds like $100 to the cost).

$32 for a 1000 mile trip seems a bit extreme - were you descending from some orbiting satellite?

BTW - I do not think the older ARM9 Samsung processor is an issue at all - mine worked flawlessly - quicker than our Lexus. Also, love the customizable GPS (iGO8 is really good).