Sat Nav console

netrover · Post by **netrover** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 1:15 pm

The sat nav console in my imported 350Z appears to be of no use whatsover. Apart from all the writing being in Japanese, it shows the car as being out to sea off the coast of Japan!

Any suggestions as to how this piece of electronic wizardry can be useful, or what could be put in its place?

BRONZEE · Post by **BRONZEE** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 1:24 pm

netrover wrote:The sat nav console in my imported 350Z appears to be of no use whatsover. Apart from all the writing being in Japanese, it shows the car as being out to sea off the coast of Japan!

Any suggestions as to how this piece of electronic wizardry can be useful, or what could be put in its place?

Short answer is replace it with one that suits you. They're not translatable. There are a few threads in General Discussion about different sat navs. Navman ones seem ok, and are update-able in most cases.

netrover · Post by **netrover** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 8:53 am

BRONZEE wrote:Short answer is replace it with one that suits you. They're not translatable. There are a few threads in General Discussion about different sat navs. Navman ones seem ok, and are update-able in most cases.

So would the Navman (or any other unit such as TomTom) unit fit into the space currently occupied by the stock unit, or are they dash mounted?

us2 · Post by **us2** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 9:29 am

We have a Navman, and using the sticker cup we place it on the screen of the unusable computer in our import.
Navman is updateable from time to time, as I would assume all satnavs would be.

disruptiv · Post by **disruptiv** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 3:48 pm

if you spent a little time you could mount it is the same place as the old one, only problem is they need clear LOS to the sky.

BRONZEE · Post by **BRONZEE** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 8:01 pm

What a pity you're not in the UK Netrover, lots more choices that fit the 350 cubby. NZ new ones didn't come with sat nav, so haven't seen behind the unit, won't be much to it. Sorry no help at all really.
Will have a dig on the overseas boards and see what I can find out about the import ones.

BRONZEE · Post by **BRONZEE** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 7:44 pm

Ok, so the answer is: slip the unit out you just unplug the wiring loom connector.

jam350z · Post by **jam350z** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 11:48 pm

Does anybody have any pictures of what lives behind the dashboard? Would like to do something with mine, but do not really want to take the dash out just yet for an exploratory mission.

The way I figure it, the screen itself is most likely to take an input from the satnav unit itself, so it won't have any sort of typical input (composite, vga, etc). That makes it junk, or at least out of the scope of somebody who isn't an electrical engineer, for reverse engineering. From the original unit however, the buttons and little joystick are perfect (ok, not so much the Japanese script, but you can't have everything easy). They're all just switches in the end, so seem prime for reuse.

So that begs the question, what sort of replacement screen? And that lead me to what was I going to do with it. Well, I wouldn't butcher the factory unit without going the whole hog... mapping, entertainment, communications. Easiest way to do that is an Android tablet of some description. But that renders the factory buttons somewhat redundant. Ideally, I would hook the tablet up via USB, through some sort of micro controller, probably an Arduino, to 'fake' the factory buttons are regular keyboard input, then write some custom apps that recognise both touch and keyboard input. How to get the sound into the factory stereo, best I've had so far, stoked, I guess FM would be one way, maybe some other way to hack it?

Hard to beat a GPS unit suction cupped to the existing monitor though... $200, 10 minutes, and you're done.

Sorry, my friends don't really care much about that, so rambled a bit. Really without an existing unit to hack up, it's not realistic. Anyone have one spare/for sale?

ZMAD · Post by **ZMAD** » Sun Sep 29, 2013 10:00 am

There would normally be a communication buss between factory stereo/TV/gps/aircon etc. When I whipped out my Subaru 4 Din unit, I lost the aircon being displayed on monitor which shows what the aircon is doing. It also showed sailing/driving in Japan. Be nice if those Jappa's had a USB stick to update in the GPS units.

Fung · Post by **Fung** » Sat Oct 05, 2013 12:18 am

http://www.rapidradio.co.nz/Product-Cat ... ductId=913

expensive- unsure if this is worth it. hope it helps.

netrover · Post by **netrover** » Sat Oct 05, 2013 8:34 am

Fung wrote:http://www.rapidradio.co.nz/Product-Cat ... ductId=913

expensive- unsure if this is worth it. hope it helps.

Looks like it may do the job, but not sure if our screens are touch screens - never tried it.

Where would this unit be mounted?

It has a plug for a GPS antenna. I guess that means something else mounted somewhere else with a wire running between them?

Fung · Post by **Fung** » Sat Oct 05, 2013 9:28 am

Give rapid radio a call- but if you ask them to install- it would probably cost you around 2 grand...

BRONZEE · Post by **BRONZEE** » Sat Oct 05, 2013 1:43 pm

Fung wrote:but if you ask them to install- it would probably cost you around 2 grand...

Netrover might be a bit far away for them to install it.