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Adding an auxilary input into a Ford stereo

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5 comments

Feb 9, 2012. 6:36 AMjaroot says:

Hi nice instructable. Could you tell me what the purpose of the input switch is for? I've got a FORD F-550 that I spend many hours in and would love to add an input for my iPhone. Are you adding the switch because of the exposed male jack that your mp3 player sets on?

Feb 9, 2012. 10:47 AM

rpantaleo (author) says:

When in operation, the truck stereo is set to using the radio as an input. The mp3 player jack is connected to the L/R output of the radio tuner, which is before the stereo amplifier circuit. With the mp3 player connected and powered on, it provides a stronger signal than the radio so only the mp3 player is heard through the stereo.

If you had the mp3 player input direct without a switch, you would have to unplug or turn off your mp3 player if you wanted to hear the radio. I added the switch so I could toggle between the two without having to do any unplugging.

As far as I know, there isn't any harm with having the male jack exposed. If I toggle the switch with no mp3 player connected and the radio on, nothing happens to the sound coming from the radio.

Feb 25, 2012. 5:55 PMjaroot says:

Thanks for the response. I'm going to give it a try!

Mar 13, 2012. 5:10 PMjaroot says:

No joy! Great instructable but unfortunately my radio is way different than yours. Could probably get it done but would have to deconstruct the entire radio to get to the pin outs. Pulled the housing off, removed the CD/Tape assembly only to find the receiver module encased in a tin shroud that was soldiered to the amp board. Don't have the tools for that much work here. Maybe I'll try it when I'm home again with my tools. Oh well nothing ventured nothing gained.

Mar 28, 2012. 6:19 PM

rpantaleo (author) says:

Well that's a bummer. Hopefully you can figure something else out!