Hi all,

I just bought a new 2003 Ford Excursion Limited. I am having my Mark 2 60 G Blue put in there tomorrow, replacing the factory system. This truck has steering wheel controls and rear seat controls for the factory system. Is there any reasonable way to use these controls with the Empeg? Obviously the steering wheel is my primary need, but I'd love to be able to use the rear controls too if possible for long trips. They have headphone jacks back there that would let me veg out while SWMBO drives. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Joe

Since you used the SWMBO acronym, that means you've been around the BBS a while so I don't need to point you to this FAQ entry.

Do the rear seat controls just duplicate the steering wheel controls, or is it some kind of dual-zone system where the rear audio is separate from the front audio?

If the former, then if you can get the steering wheel controls working, I'd bet the rear seat controls would work automatically. If the latter, then there's a whole set of complicated issues to work out with amplification and such, and the controls are going to be the least of your worries.

Hey Tony,

Yes I have been around a little while, and somewhat expected the FAQ dig, but the rear seat stuff put me in a little bit of a special category. I did read the FAQ, but after I posted the above, so I was in FAQ violation, I apologize. SWMBO is not necessarily exclusive to this board however. I belong to a couple of other guitar boards and they use it their as well.

I guess the real question is the headphone jacks in the rear. Where do those get pickep up from, and do you anticipate it would only be available with the factory system? I am very green with this stuff, so I don't know if there are aftermarket adapters to reuse these or not. A nudge in the right direction would be really appreciated. I do have the radio unit and can try to get the steering wheel controls to work with that somehow. Thanks.

I didn't mean the FAQ link as a dig. I meant, honestly, that I figured you'd already read it, I just wanted to make sure we had that as the ground basis before moving on to other stuff.

Do the rear controls only control the volume of the headphone jacks, or do they control other stuff? Do they alter the volume of any of the main speakers?

If they're just volume controls for the headphone jacks, then they might have their own built-in headphone amplifier right there at the jack, and you only need to make sure they're fed with a proper signal to get them to work. But I don't know for sure, since I don't know anything about this particular system.

Ideally, you'd want to find an installer who's familiar with the system in that vehicle, or can at least obtain documentation on the system.

Het Tony,

I was just goofing about the faq dig - you are incredibly helpful and responsive. I will check out the rear controls a little further. The damn thing is brand new and I didn't try them before I had the head removed today for my empeg. It is a two day install, I pick it up tomorrow. I asked about the infrared adapter for te steering wheel controls and they can do that. My issue is that the steering wheel has very few controls; there is a mode button, a next (no back) and volume controls. I have a Sony stalk that I might use in it's place. I'll have to open up the rear console and see what those controls are made up of. I appreciate the help.

Joe

Hey Joe,

I use a device called the SWI-X in my accord and it can pretty much integrate into any car. No doubt it can utilize the mode, volume, and next buttons for use with the empeg. Hondas use one single wire for the commands on the steering wheel. This device recongnizes the resistance of the signal when each button is pressed and sends the corresponding signal to the IR LED transmitting the command to the empeg. What makes this cool is a guy on some forum used some extra resistors that were included to ADD new buttons onto the steering wheel to gain additional remote commands for his stereo. It was cool when I read it. You should look into it:

http://www.go2pac.com/products/swi.htm