technical diversions

a place to document my current project of connecting an iPod to a Saab 9-3 convertible with the factory audio system.

Friday, February 11, 2005

i have the PCBs

early this morning i received the prototype PCBs, i ordered 4. They look great. It is such a difference, i remember etching my own PCBs with ferric chloride, it was impossible to obtain very clean traces, and do not even think about 2 sided circuit boards. Not only the design, then the etching but then the drilling.

From my computer a few clicks and a credit card i have a very high quality board. Here is a picture of it. I will fit the components today and the hope to complete the project by this weekend.

here is a picture of the board:

posted by gatoAlfa @ 12:49  

7 Comments:

  • At 13 February, 2005 17:32, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    please keep us posted!

     

  • At 13 February, 2005 18:32, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Great job!!!

    I was wondering if you thought about adding another input for a cell phone for saabs with on star. Also, I was curious if you were able to see the traces/leads for the steering controls.

    Thanks!

     

  • At 13 February, 2005 22:31, Blogger gatoAlfa said…

    IMHO adding another cell phone input is not difficult but probably needs another approach, probably using a microcontroller. This circuit is designed to be fail-safe and the onStar can override the iPod at any time. Some additional priority rules will have to be defined to include the phone. Also to use the built-in (in the car) microphone will complicate it more.

    the steering wheel controls talk to the radio via the saab bus. this is a computer network running inside the car and it is very difficult to hack. On top of this all the devices interchange secret codes so one radio/CD-changer will not work in another car, part of the anti theft protection system.

     

  • At 20 January, 2006 16:23, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I was wondering if you could possibly add a link to the place where you got your custom PCBs made? It would be very kind of you as I am looking for such a place that can make small ammounts of custom PCBs that look as well made yet frugal as yours'.

     

  • At 20 January, 2006 16:41, Blogger gatoAlfa said…

    the company that does the PCBs is http://www.expresspcb.com/

     

  • At 20 January, 2006 17:22, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I was so excited when I saw the photo of the PCB I jumped straight to making a comment instead of SCROLLING DOWN FURTHER ! hehe How silly of me to jump the gun!

    ty for superfast reply

     

  • At 20 November, 2011 22:19, Anonymous pcb assembly said…

    I like it and i want to share this with my friends. The layout design of this pcb look awesome.

     

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