iPhone with Autocom SuperPro AVi - custom cable but no mic function

[drzep]

Disclaimer - I hate when people drive and talk on the phone. I'm only trying to get this to work for 'emergencies' that involve either my wife/son or the hospital. If I'm on-call and out on the bike, I need to find out asap if I'm being summoned to work. Yes I could pull over if I see the magic # pop up, but this is more of a challenge and I don't like to have my phone anywhere except buried in a pocket, so please work with me here.

 

Okay. I'm not sure if anyone has given this a try but I'm having a problem using the iPhone with my SuperPro AVi. Here is what I did:

 

First I made an appropriate TRRS cable (4 conductor). The Autocom Aux 1 and 2 has stereo/mic for a TRRS plug and the conductors assignments are:

 

T- Right

R1 - Left

R2 - Mic

Sleeve - Ground

 

The iPhone is different (of course):

 

T- Right

R1 - Left

R2 - Ground

Sleeve - Mic

 

So I got a new TRRS cable, cut it open and soldiered the R2 to the sleeve and vice a versa so that the leads would be right. Then I added a SPST momentary switch between the mic and ground so that I can answer and terminate calls with a single push with the phone put away. It's the same thing apple does with their headphone set. This way a small black switch can be mounted somewhere, almost like a PTT.

 

When I plug in the iPhone to the Autocom everything works fine EXCEPT the mic. My vox activates when I speak but no voice comes out of the the other phone. I can hear them fine and the momentary switch works great, but no mic. I took off the insulation and double checked my connections and all was good. Also checked resistance between the TRRS connectors and everything is good as well, with the sleeve - R2 resistance being null.

 

Any ideas why I can't get the mic to work? Am I wrong about the Autocom pin assignments? That's the only other thing I can think of.

[hopz]

Sorry about all that work and still no connection.

 

My solution was a little different, and I do not know if your iPhone has Bluetooth or not, but.... for what its worth.

 

I use my Garmin Zumo GPS, which has Bluetooth. Connect the GPS bike mount to the Autocom system. B/T the phone to the GPS... all works perfectly with the added benefit of having all the phone book, call history, "Call Home" feature and much more visible on the GPS screen.

 

that plus the mp3 player in the GPS gives tunes if you like that...

[drzep]

Hey hopz: I'd love to convert to BT but its a $$$ thing right now. Need to try and make this work as a wired connection first and if that continues to fail, maybe down the road I can go BT.

[drzep]

Fixed!

 

Believe it or not it was a faulty SPST momentary switch. Cut out the old one and the system worked fine. Installed a new switch, and it worked fine. That's what ya get for buying a $0.99 switch...

 

The iPhone is not an ideal phone for the bike (if any phone could actually be considered ideal) because it doesn't have an auto-answer function. But having the momentary switch solves that problem. When you hear the phone ring you can pull over, push the switch once and talk. Then when you are done talking, push it again and go on your way. No need to take out the phone from where it is stored. Again, good for urgent calls but nothing else.

 

I plan to mount a momentary switch on a dash panel and keep the phone in the 'glove box' where it will stay nice n' dry. Bottom line is that the iPhone will work well with an Autocom unit but you need to make a proper TRRS cable.