This notice is only for folks outside the U.S. who would like to get their hands on one of these remotes (available in U.S. from Crutchfield, but apparently not available elsewhere). I'm posting here in case there are folks other than Archeon and Hybrid8 who are interested.

What I can do (and for how much!):

I would buy these remotes from Crutchfield all at one time (I expect I'll only do this once) and would repackage them for shipment via plain-old U.S. surface mail. Note: no tracking possible; in the unlikely event that it goes missing, there's nothing to be done. It IS, however, dirt cheap. $1.35 U.S to Canada and $3.20 to Europe.

So, allowing for (also cheap) Crutchfield shipping charges, postage charges, and a little $0.90 bubble-pack envelope, I would send these for:

Destination: Canada Europe
KCA-RC600 $32.25 $34.10
KCA-RC700 $37.25 $39.10

[edit: If there's interest beyond that geographically -- say Chile or Oz -- I expect the cost of shipping would be about the same as EU]

Because these are obviously not a letter, I'll have to add a customs form. To help with that, I will take them out of original box and repack them with manual, but no batteries (save weight). One of my other motivations in doing this is to use a whole bunch of these remotes in a very brief (say, 5 minute) piece of performance art that I have composed for some close friends. Nothing unsanitary, I promise, but, since they will be "used" I'll give them a customs value of $10 if that's OK.

If many other folks were interested, then Crutchfield shipping could be lower per unit, but for just for sanity's sake, I'd leave the prices as above. Payment is by Paypal or cash (another postal service trust exercise!!). Way too expensive to do a foriegn draft for something like this. If cash was the only option, I'd take USD or EUR (at next highest EUR5 -- paper money) equivalent.

I'd give this a couple days to let other visitors see this, then order early next week. Probably ship in 10-12 days. Please PM me to discuss payment, delivery address if interested!

(Side note: I did send 20 GBP cash once in the mail last year to pay for a copy of Colin McRae Rally 2 that I won on eBay -- without considering how cost-ineffective a foreign draft would be! I found some really dark newsprint from the Sunday paper and wrapped the bills in that. It all worked out fabulously, but at the time I wondered if I had lost my mind...)

Great New FAQ banner, BTW!!

Jim,

Not that I've tried this, but these are apparenlty available in the UK.

700's here and interestingly, they have something that looks very familiar here too

Good luck with your art - remember the photo's!

Thanks for the link!

If folks are able to source these more directly, then that is completely fine by me -- it should be a bit cheaper, too.

Yes, I know my art will suffer. But suffering is what art's all about, isn't it?

Jim, I'm still in for the 700 model. PM me your paypal details and I can fire money off that way. I'll reply with my address, etc.

Bruno

Same for me Jim. I'll order TWO RC600's (one for in-car, and one for in-house)
PM me with your Paypal details (and maybe a little info on how it works, since I've never used this service)

edit : it looks straightforward enough. Simply create an account, connected to my VISA card and paypal takes care of all the rest, correct ?

TIA Jim!

Great. Yes, it is about that simple. IMy e-mail address is in my profile. I'll PM to get shipping info.

I'm going to let this post sit until Monday in case anyone else stumbles through the BBS who wants to take advantage of this. Come Monday, I'll "close" this and place the order.

Is this the credit card remote? I remember seeing this for a few $ cheaper on some audio site about a year ago....

No, these are two different remotes - one a hand-held and the other a steering-wheel model. To your price point, though, I bet if I searched I might find even these remotes a bit cheaper than Crutchfield (not known for their discounts). OTOH, Crutchfield has this great habit of delivering as promised!

...which is the most important. To me anyway. I really want that remote, and I don't care if I have to pay a few extra $ to get it.
I'm very grateful Jim wants to make this effort.

Do we need to have a tuner to use this remotes ?

Do we need to have a tuner to use this remotes ?

Short answer: No. The Empeg will respond to the Kenwood remotes by default (can be disabled in V2 for folks like me who also have a Kenwood head unit).

And if I dont Have a Kenwood Unit ?

Sorry to muddy the waters....

Either of the two Kenwood remotes (600 or 700) will control an Empeg directly (no other modifications or hardware needed). I only meant to say that this capability can now be turned off in software V2.x if for some reason you do *not* want the Empeg to respond to Kenwood remote codes.

Plus using Hijack you can remate any and every button on those remotes to any supported empeg button/code.

Bruno

In the event that anyone stumbles across this thread, I just wanted to note that this buy is over. Remotes have been ordered, should be re-shipped later this week.

Great Jim! I'm eagerly awaiting them!

Woohoo! The remote was in yesterday's mail! I'll put a picture of it up tonight or tomorrow (the ones already on the web will not convey just how small it is). I'll take a shot next to a Rio remote and a quarter (a Canadian one - though it's worth less than a US, it's the same diameter).

Bruno

Great! Just one more to arrive (Archeon's #2). You *can* trust the Post Office!

I decided to get a RC700 myself if for nothing else but easier volume control. I couldn't help taking a pic! Sing a few bars of "It's a Small World, After All" before viewing the attachment .

Ok, since you've covered the coin pics, I'll post one alongside the Rio remote only. This might make a good post to General or Installs for all the new folk.

Here it is...

Bruno

Hey this looks cool, could it be added to the button map thingy on the remotes page?

I'll forward the list to Loren for the Hijack FAQ. I'm assuming it's what you're talking about. If not, then you should be more specific.

Bruno

I think he's talking about the button guide on Riocar.org, here.

The only logical place to put the details of a 3rd party remote would be in something about Hijack (like the Pioneer you listed). Otherwise its functions are pretty much straight forward (though the FM and AM buttons actually do track seek by default).

Anyway, here's the list of codes. Add them to the FAQ in the appropriate place (as you can see there are a few codes that aren't possible with the flat Kenwood remote).

b9460A ;PrevTrack
b9460B ;NextTrack
b9460C ;AM
b9460D ;FM
b94613 ;src
b94614 ;Volume+
b94615 ;Volume-
b94616 ;att

Bruno

added.