376c Install

[danbrew]

Very cool stuff. Wish I had more time to play this afternoon - but am running out the door. About a two hour install time.

http://www.titleii.com/images/376c/index.htm

:)

[jpalamaro]

Hmmmm, now I am confused. The mini-plug out of the 376C I thought was STEREO. I have not yet wired it to VOICE II and just may not, but that's another story.

Feel like an idiot since I saw that plastic white thing and wondered what it was for; duhhhh, a drilling template. Thought it some exotic antenna mount.

I am quite sure the puck antenna is the XM 8 character unit ID. Got an e-mail to Darrel of TVNAV.COM to see if one could order multiple antennae???? Dealing with XM is painful . . . my times on the phone could not get anyone I could understand; India, the Caribbean, and Ghana. GMA*B . . . and while my statement appears to be PC incorrect, don't these companies that use offshore personnel see if they can be understood???

Rgds,
John

And, glad to see you are helping the GNP and the consumer index!!

[DaveDragon]

I had the same issue with XM several months back. They couldn't give a shizit less. The White funnel shaped thing is a puck antenna mount that slides over the end of a mast or pole mount.
The puck base is magnetic and sits on the metal base. Use the two included screws to secure it.

I'm heading off to Home Freak Show for some shrink wrap to do my perm wiring for the 376C and remove the SPIII wiring.

[danbrew]

yes, the white thing is a marine mount - and, as Dave notes, slides over the end of a pole and then you slap the antenna on top of it. I used it as a template to drill the holes.

It's 75 and beautiful here in Chicago. Am kind of hoping for some crappy weather so I can go play with my new toy. Am doing a BBG on Tuesday night and am certain I'll find some interesting weather along the way.

:)

[jpalamaro]

Will decide later if I want to remove the SPIII, so have them both for now. I made a 'coiled cable' with parts from Radio Shack, so I can move the 376C from bike to bike on a RAM Mount. Looks a bit bizarre with 2 units, but who cares.

[DaveDragon]

Well I mounted the 376C permanently with the locking Tourateck mount. I mounted the metal base for the Garmin Puck Antenna on the short right wing attachment on the BMR Co-Pilot.
I mounted it with the screws that held the magnetic plate to the mast mount.
I then used the screws that passed through the attachment arm and base plate into the screw holes of the Puck.
I removed the XM Radio and Marine Case and Left mount attachment arm from the Co-Pilot. I used the audio cable that had been plugged into the XM cradle to get the audio from the 376C.
Discovered something about the XM FM Modulator. To make it power up the modulator I installed a 50 ohm resistor inline with a switch and looped it through the power connector output of the modulator.
When I close the switch the modulator senses the load on the power output and switches on the FM modulator and Viola! XM Radio from my Garmin 376C.
Not only that but Bitching Betty's new voice is very clear and natural sounding. She also speaks through the speakers using this setup.

Tomorrow, if I get home in time I'll remove the Billy Club Terk Antenna from the trunk mount. I have to remove the left tupperware to get the coax out.

I picked up some sheet aluminum today to fashion another sun visor.
Actually what I got was a beware of dog sign for 1.99 that was twice the size of the sheet aluminum that was 4.99 so I had to sand and prime it anyway so I went with the BOD sign.
The Tourateck locking mount grabs over the top of the GPS so it will be tricky but I think I got it worked out.

[danbrew]

are you getting mono or stereo output? i'm using the garmin cable with bare ends and a dongle for the audio output - and it's only picking up one channel. stupid stupid stupid. me or garmin - not sure who just yet.

i went and got a mono/stereo adapter, and know that stereo on a bike is probably not gonna be that big a deal - but, dang, what a shortsighted thing to do...

[ClearwaterBMW]

i plugged simple headphones into the back of my unit and i got stereo. now, xm (or sirius) has inherently HORRIBLE quality stereo with relatively LITTLE separation. the reasons behind that have been covered ad nauseum... but, my sound is stereo, substandard stereo, but stereo nonetheless.

greg

[DaveDragon]

Stereo here as well. :)

[DaveDragon]

Here is a diagram showing how I wired in the XM-FM Modulator to work with the 376C.




http://www.bmwlt.com/gallery/files/2/6/0/7/376C-Wiring.JPG

[danbrew]

very nice. thanks for all the feedback/comments - I appreciate it.

i've been getting mono out of the dongle from the power cable & have not yet tried the audio port on the back of the unit. i'll try that this evening.

my current challenge is in figuring out how to integrate the radar & the 376c with a tesseract mixer. it's not at all working the way I thought it was... hmmm...

:)