Alpine KCA-420i question....

[sully]

I know they do a long cable to postion the Alpine and iPhone at the front of the car. But not sure I want to do this.... so wanted to know roughly what the length of the ipod dock cable is that's supplied with this unit? Just trying to work out possible places to position my iphone.

I'm also wondering if it's worth holding off until they update this unit to provide charging options for iPhone 4 etc..... it surely must be in the pipeline....

Cheers

[dgm]

Although there's a decent amount of cable provided with the KCA-420i, I doubt whether it would be enough to run it to the front of the car. Personally I wouldn't bother trying, it's much simpler to mount everything behind the firewall carpet and then run the iPod cable into the central cubby hole between the seats. You can mount the Intravee in that area as well, as PVR has, but he has more room there as he doesn't have a CD changer. What I've done is conceal the Intravee and KCA-420i in the firewall area and leave a serial cable attached to the Intravee. This cable is concealed behind the battery cover and can be readily accessed to update the device.

With regards to Alpine updating the KCA-420i, my understanding from the Intravee forum is that this is an obselete device as far as Alpine are concerned and won't be updated. The simple solution for Apple devices that don't charge via firewire is to buy a charge converter like the Scosche Passport for about £20.

Here's a photo of my set up behind the firewall carpet although I've also installed a KCA-410c to allow the retention of a CD changer and the addition of an Alpine DAB unit.

[sully]

Cheers dude, well Intravee and Alpine unit is all ordered and got a Scosche Passport on Amazon too, also ordered one for a friend with a 2010 spec Range Rover Sport who can't charge his iPhone through the installed iPod connection ...... many thanks

[daz05]

Although there's a decent amount of cable provided with the KCA-420i, I doubt whether it would be enough to run it to the front of the car. Personally I wouldn't bother trying, it's much simpler to mount everything behind the firewall carpet and then run the iPod cable into the central cubby hole between the seats. You can mount the Intravee in that area as well, as PVR has, but he has more room there as he doesn't have a CD changer. What I've done is conceal the Intravee and KCA-420i in the firewall area and leave a serial cable attached to the Intravee. This cable is concealed behind the battery cover and can be readily accessed to update the device.

With regards to Alpine updating the KCA-420i, my understanding from the Intravee forum is that this is an obselete device as far as Alpine are concerned and won't be updated. The simple solution for Apple devices that don't charge via firewire is to buy a charge converter like the Scosche Passport for about £20.

Here's a photo of my set up behind the firewall carpet although I've also installed a KCA-410c to allow the retention of a CD changer and the addition of an Alpine DAB unit.

Dgm please can you explain how the dab tuner integrates with your system, I would like to add dab to my existing intravee. What parts would I need to buy and how does it connect up? Thanks

[dgm]

Daz, assuming you have the Alpine KCA-420i and Intravee only with no additional devices, you will only need an Alpine TUA-T100DAB and DAB aerial to get DAB up and running in the car.

The TUA-100DAB is long since discontinued and ebay is pretty much your only option to get hold of one. The going rate for them varies quite a bit, for example when I bought mine a few months ago I paid £190 and others around the same time were between £170 and £230. There is one on ebay presently but the bidding is at £300 with 5 days left!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... SS:GB:1123

For a DAB aerial solution I went for a JVC HAL-1 MkII which cost £34. It has to be fitted vertically to the vehicle glass, mine is on the windscreen at the far edge of the passenger side and is reasonably discreet.

http://www.dabonwheels.co.uk/JVC_HAL-1_ ... erial.html

For installation you have to have a permanent live feed to the TUA-100, below is a link to the intravee site showing the necessary connections on the first illustration:

http://www.intravention.co.uk/forum/ind ... pic=1626.0

If you look at the images I've posted you'll see a KCA-410c in the centre of the picture. If I'm correct in assuming you don't have or need this on your set up then I think you'll be able to mount the digital tuner at the same location. If you have any other questions I'll do my best to answer them but it's quite straightforward. The biggest problem you'll have is sourcing the tuner.

[daz05]

Cheers mate, most helpful.