So.....I'm not entirely pleased with my plan B for the receive audio portion of my mobile shack. If you read my earlier posts, you'll see that I was shocked to find out that my 2016 Ford Fusion does not have a standard 1/8" Aux input for the stero like all of my prior Fords did (a 2012 Fusion, a 2013 Fusion Hybrid, a 2014 Fusion Hybrid, and a 2015 Escape.) Why the folks at Ford would have taken this out of the newer model, I have no idea - but I'm stuck with it.
My plan B, that I am using now, is a bluetooth adapter that plugs into the 857d's audio output, and then transmits the audio via bluetooth to the Ford Sync Bluetooth Audio input. Here's what I'm finding I don't like about this arrangement:
1. For some reason the Bluetooth Module never connects back up to the car right away, even if it was the last device I was using. Also, for some reason, it only seems to work if some other bluetooth signal was already communicating with the car first. This means that every time I get in the car I have to turn on the little bluetooth module, connect my phone via bluetooth audio to the car so that it starts playing music through the bluetooth stream, then I have to switch the bluetooth source from my phone to the module, while playing, before I can hear the receive audio. That's a lot of screwing around before I even get out of the driveway!
2. The bluetooth module needs to be charged every so often, or used while plugged in to USB power. No biggie I thought - there is a 12v power jack behind the location that I mounted the remote head. I figured I could just plug everything in, and leave it plugged in. NOT! The noise that is introduced in the audio while the bluetooth module is charging is horrific! this means that I can't use it and charge it at the same time, unless I want to listen to all kinds of noise on my receive audio.
3. The audio quality is noticeably worse through the bluetooth module. If I tune the car's radio to an FM broadcast station, and then tune my 857d to receive the same broadcast FM station, the sound quality is noticeably worse when I switch back and forth between the two.
4. The audio through the bluetooth is delayed. I'm used to pushing a button on the radio and getting an instant beep, confirming my button push. Going through the bluetooth, there is about a 1/2 second delay.
While I'm sure I could adjust to item 4, the combination of all of these things made me decide to attempt Plan C.
My plan B, that I am using now, is a bluetooth adapter that plugs into the 857d's audio output, and then transmits the audio via bluetooth to the Ford Sync Bluetooth Audio input. Here's what I'm finding I don't like about this arrangement:
1. For some reason the Bluetooth Module never connects back up to the car right away, even if it was the last device I was using. Also, for some reason, it only seems to work if some other bluetooth signal was already communicating with the car first. This means that every time I get in the car I have to turn on the little bluetooth module, connect my phone via bluetooth audio to the car so that it starts playing music through the bluetooth stream, then I have to switch the bluetooth source from my phone to the module, while playing, before I can hear the receive audio. That's a lot of screwing around before I even get out of the driveway!
2. The bluetooth module needs to be charged every so often, or used while plugged in to USB power. No biggie I thought - there is a 12v power jack behind the location that I mounted the remote head. I figured I could just plug everything in, and leave it plugged in. NOT! The noise that is introduced in the audio while the bluetooth module is charging is horrific! this means that I can't use it and charge it at the same time, unless I want to listen to all kinds of noise on my receive audio.
3. The audio quality is noticeably worse through the bluetooth module. If I tune the car's radio to an FM broadcast station, and then tune my 857d to receive the same broadcast FM station, the sound quality is noticeably worse when I switch back and forth between the two.
4. The audio through the bluetooth is delayed. I'm used to pushing a button on the radio and getting an instant beep, confirming my button push. Going through the bluetooth, there is about a 1/2 second delay.
While I'm sure I could adjust to item 4, the combination of all of these things made me decide to attempt Plan C.
Audio Plan C
So, I was skeptical about plan C from the start, but I stumbled on these things while poking around Amazon. They are basically ment to be a small USB sound card, so I figured it would only work when connected to a PC. This one in particular though, said that it was completely plug and play, and would work without the need to install drivers in a very extensive list of operating systems, inluding various forms of Linux. Maybe, just maybe, the SYNC operting system is based on one of those operating systems? As a bonus, someone had actaully asked the question (as you can do through Amazon) "Does this work in a car?" To which there were various versions of the answer "Yes." Several of these yes answers were more like "It should" or "I wouldn't see why not" but it was worth a try, right? This little guys does have a mono mic input, so I figured I would try connecting the radio's audio output (which is mono) to the mic input on this guy (which is mono) and then I would plug this thing into the USB port for the Sync system that is designed to take audio from an iPod or MP3 player or something similar. I plugged it all in, fired up the radio, hit the button for USB input and got this message:
"Unsupported Device"
Darn.
I quickly jumped on the Amazon listing and added my answer to the question - as someone with personal experience - this will NOT work with a car - at least not a Ford with Sync.
"Unsupported Device"
Darn.
I quickly jumped on the Amazon listing and added my answer to the question - as someone with personal experience - this will NOT work with a car - at least not a Ford with Sync.
Plan D
As much as I wanted to run the audio through the car's audio system, I think I'm just going to move to Plan D. I'm just going to by one of the small communications speakers, and stick it in the empty space behind the radio control head. It will be hidden from sight, but I should be able to hear it just fine. Besides, if I do that I'll be able to listen to Broadcast or Sirius radio AND monitor the Amature airwaves at the same time! Does anyone have any suggestions for a mobile speaker? I'm considering the standard Yeasu model, because it gets decent reviews, and is reasonably priced, at less than $50 from HRO.
RSS Feed
