Converting the factory-fitted Picasso radio connector to standard ISO

Hi,

This relates to my recent post (kindly & successfully resolved over at this topic )

Having now adapted the factory-fitted "Fakra" aerial socket to a traditional aerial plug, I stupidly imagined that the ISO connector would be a piece of cake, what with the S of ISO being "standard" . Sadly no. The signal cables on the factory-fitted "ISO and other things" connector that hooks up to the back of the Bosch "CM RD4 N1 MP3" unit appears to have the two banks of ISO connectors and some more. Possibly steering wheel controls? Our Picasso has those.

So my next conversion / adaption challenge is to take the ISO elements from the factory-fitted connector and plug them into the ISO harness that came with my new head-unit. Does anyone have any ideas?

At first glance I thought the "ISO banks" on the factory-fitted connector for the Bosch were removable, perhaps I could extract them and plug them into my new harness. But on closer inspection it looks like the left-hand-bank forms part of the main connector itself so at best would need cutting out? Unless there's another adapter option I could try? I'd rather not hack the original connector about if I had a choice.

The Bosch connector alongside the new ISO harness:
Bosch connector closeup:

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

Poor etiquette to answer my own question and I should have Googled it first, but is what I'm after? It annoyingly seems to include a Fakra > traditional aerial plug adapter too that i've just bought.

https://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/ct20ct0 ... 6wEALw_wcB

The adaptor you show will do the job, however you will see in the picture there are some fly leads not connected to the main connector blocks. Those are to pick up signals that aren't present on the existing radio wiring, eg a switched live which you'll need to find from elsewhere. Alternatively, fit one of the adaptors I listed on your other thread and the adaptor will generate the missing signals from the vehicle's CAN-Bus. The idea of an adaptor is that it's plug and play whereas a simple harness requires further work.

Got it, thanks. In my rush to get the Fakra adapter ordered up I totally missed your other link.

Following the link it looks like https://www.connects2.co.uk/Product/Prod ... /CTHUE-CT1 is the one.

Which leads (!) me on to an area I know even less about - steering wheel controls for audio equipment. Is there a "standard" for these things? For example will the adapter in that link allow me to use the Picasso's column-controls with my new head unit (Xtrons TCD771L) or are we getting into head-unit-specific territory where I need to research what the unit itself needs from steering wheel controls?

Thanks again for you all you help.

Steve

From the spec of your unit it looks like there is some support for steering column controls.

Steering column controls are read by the car and the commands from them are integrated into the cars control network (CAN-Bus).

There are two main ways to use these signals:-

1) Some radios can read signals directly from the CAN-Bus and have a dedicated input for this, it may be that you need an extra interface to enable this function - if this way is supported by your unit.

2) Or, you can buy a car specific interface from the likes of Connects2 which will read the signals from the car and provide them to the radio in the form of a remote control signal. Many radios support a wired remote for volume and station change although they are very rarely seen today. The interface creates a signal which fools the radio into thinking a wired remote is connected. The signal required is different for different brands of radio, however it's easily selected by choosing or configuring a 'patch lead' to go with the interface eg you buy the interface plus a 'Pioneer' patch lead if you have a Pioneer radio. That's where this method could fail, I have seen generic 'Chinese' patch leads but no telling if your radio has a remote input and if it does what signal it expects.

I would look at option 1) first and see if your radio can support the remote signals directly or if Xtrons can provide an interface, Google may help here.

This is the type of interface you'd need for option 2) click here however I'm not sure if this one is compatible with the Picasso or if your radio has a suitable remote input, you'd need to check on both of these things.

Thanks again to everyone.

Armed with what I've learned here I asked "Dynamic Sounds" and they suggested this:

https://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/citroen ... 12920.html

seems to tick all the boxes and even lists "Xtrons" (my head unit manufacturer), albeit it's a little more than I'd hoped to spend.

Steve