April 7, 2004
My H2 Is iPod Equipped
Finally! I got so sick of my FM modulator. That’s where you put something on your iPod (or other MP3 player) and it outputs a low power FM signal that you tune your radio into. Its great technology — in the 1970s! The sound is terrible unless you get it dialed in perfectly. And even then you can’t crank it. Its so frustrating that built-in car stereos are so closed.
Anyway, PAC came out with this awesome device that you plug into the back of your GM stereo and it allows you to use a hidden auxillary feature so you can bring your iPod sound directly into your stereo with high quality. Here is what it looks like.
So with this device finally in hand, I set out to install it. Unfortunately, you have to get access to the back of the stereo and that means taking off the center part of the dash. That part happens to be connected to the center console in between the front seats so that has to come out also.
The Internet is a beautiful thing. A few searches and I found instructions on how to take the dash apart without ruining everything. The nasty part were these freakin’ clips that hold part of the console together. Seems so cheap. I lost one down in the shifter and it only took me a few hours to fish it out.
I ended up hanging the PAC device over one of the air ducts above the stereo. I connected and taped an RCA to stereo/headphone jack to the end and fed that all the way back to the bin inside the center console. I drilled a small hole in the bin and brought the plug right inside of it. Now the iPod can lay in the bin without being unplugged when I am not in the car.
You can see the iPod on top of the center console. Finally, after 9 months of wanting and planning I finally have 10 gigs of songs with me wherever I go!
