Sunday, January 28, 2007

January comes and goes

So the first month of the new year has been pretty crazy as you can guess by the lack of posts. It started off well enough with a party at my buddy Mike's place. He lives just upstairs from me and also works at the same company. It was a James Bond-themed party with all the guys done up like gentlemen and the women dressed to kill. Needless to say, we had an awesome time and I'm looking forward to the next event he hosts.

Work came at me without warning. I thought that with our product having launched in late December, this month might be a bit slower but that turned out to be a fantasy on my part. Unwittingly, I took on the responsibility of creating a browser-based rich text editor for use in many of our products. The one we had just didn't cut it due to cross-browser compatibility issues and customizing it for our needs. I can't say too much more about it now but if possible I would love to see us give back to the open source community by releasing this as a project on Ruby Forge.

But my life hasn't been all work. Play this week came in the form of a Washington Wizards game on Tuesday. My buddy Mario invited me and seeing as I had never been to a basketball game before, much less one in our nation's capital, I eagerly accepted. Mario's friend was the actual ticket holder and we had the benefit of sitting in the Lockheed Martin box right on the half court line. They were some spectacular seats and despite the loss to the Phoenix Suns that night, I nonetheless had a great time.

The end of January is nearly here and will mark the one-year anniversary when I came up to visit my (other) buddy Mike. My stay, brief as it was, left an indelible impression on me, one that would factor into my decision to move up here when a recruiter from Revolution Health came calling only three months later. In the time since, I have truly come to call this place home, more so than any other area I've lived in outside of Southern California. I'm looking forward to a spectacular 2007.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Installing Sirius into a Hyundai Santa Fe

This install was performed on a 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe. While my two previous installs had the benefit of being able to utilize the factory radio, the particulars of this vehicle prevented that. As such, it was necessary to replace the head unit with an after-market stereo. I ordered everything I needed from Crutchfield and I highly recommend going through them if you intend to do the same. On orders over $129, they include everything you need to install the stereo and this came in very useful.
  1. Pioneer DEH-P3800MP stereo
  2. Pioneer SIR-PNR2 Sirius receiver
  3. Hyundai in-dash receiver kit (Crutchfield part no. 003HYK1118)
  4. Hyundai wire harness receiver (Crutchfield part no. 120707301)
  5. Extra wire (about 16 guage) and butt crimps
  6. Wire connectors
The first order of business is to disconnect the negative terminal on the battery. Next, remove the components from the center of the dashboard. Start with the environmental controls by removing the ashtray and screws located there. You should be able to reach up and pull this piece out disconnecting the various wires as you go. Now you can remove two vertically-oriented screws that are connected to the top piece. Once this is done remove the piece containing the vents and digital clock.


Taking out the radio is easy now. At this point you'll want to fit your stereo into the in-dash receiver kit and adjust the included trim if necessary. My particular setup required ¼" being taken off of each side in order to get the perfect fit.


Attach the Hyundai wire harness receiver to the plug that was originally plugged into the factory radio. Color match the wires to those on the new head unit and connect them using the wire connectors. Don't worry if not all of the wires are used, just be sure those particular ends are wrapped with electrical tape.


Now we will install the Sirius receiver. You have two options: 1) Place it underneath the passenger seat or 2) Place it underneath the rear passenger seat. There are pros and cons to each but placing it under the rear seat is much tougher.

Attach the blue end of the the IP-bus cable to the back of the receiver in addition to the wire harness and FM radio antenna cable. If are you going for just the passenger seat, route the other end of the IP-bus cable behind the glove compartment, down the side and underneath the door trim which you can simply tuck it under. For those who choose the latter option, the short length of the IP-bus cable requires that you instead route it underneath the center console and carpet leading to the rear passenger seat. You'll need to loosen the center console with a ratchet and run a coat hanger under the carpet if you go with this option.


With the Sirius receiver in place, you now need to hook it up to a power source. While it's possible to reuse the path followed by the IP-bus cable, I highly recommend routing it instead along the driver's side of the car to avoid any possible interference with the signal to the head unit. In addition, this has the benefit of placing the ends of the wire directly next to the fusebox located underneath the steering column on the left side. You'll want to splice in the extra wire at this point so that it is long enough to reach. The wire can tap directly into the fuse labeled "Audio" thus ensuring that the receiver remains on when the stereo is on.


From the rear of the car, route the Sirius antenna wire down through the small space between the rear hatch and the roof. Tuck the wire into the gasket running along the edge towards the passenger side. Have it enter the car through the trim running along the roof edge and snake the wire towards the front. Depending on where you installed the Sirius receiver, route the antenna wire out from the floor through the door trim.


Make sure all wires are attached to their proper components. Reattach the negative terminal on the battery and turn the key to accessory mode. The stereo should start with FM radio selected. Press the volume control knob to select the Sirius receiver as a source. If you see 'SIRIUS' displayed then congratulations, you are ready to activate your unit and listen to the best that satellite radio has to offer.


Questions?
Email me at sean.soper@gmail.com if you have any.

Legal stuff
All brands mentioned in this document are copyright of their respective owners. I am not responsible if your equipment or vehicle malfunctions after following these instructions. You may copy this information as you see fit but please cite this article as a source if you do so.