Ok let me see if I can find it. Is it on their youtube channel?
Hamilton Motor - Apple Carplay Conversion Kit
- Thread starter captainbeefheart
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Here it is
I called a few weeks ago and got the “it’s on a tech’s bench being worked on line.” I’m gonna try to call next week to see if should order the current kit or hold off a little longer.
Ehhhhhhh...I, honestly, think this was just a screw up on their part mislabeling the LX570 unit. This video has been out for quite some time.
Edit: Duh...realize now you were asking about the LX. But I got excited when I thought they were making these for the LC...hence my mislabeling statement. With all the stuff I have mounted on my center channel speaker, it's all a moot point now!
I think offering a LC kit is the goal; it was very briefly on their website but I think they realized there was some tech issues and had to pull it down.
Like I said, I'll try to call today/Monday and see if there's any updates to share
If you look at the video I posted, it's a prototype unit in a LC. It was posted in September but like another poster said they seem to be having issues getting it fully released.
Saw the video back in Sept. Though just noticed the Toyota emblem on the wheel.
I chocked it up to a mislabeled video (despite exterior shots) just due to it a) resembling the LX unit and b) having zero info out there on it. Nothing about it being a prototype, nothing on the site, etc. I lost interest and just bought the regular unit which, ultimately, I would've had to do anyway with my set-up. I was excited about it at first just due to it being a far more modern-functioning, and smoother screen. I went the route of the stand-alone wireless CarPlay unit installed along the top of the dash originally. That thing was buggy as hell and I dumped it for the Hamilton. Much happier despite the dated screen and the horrid glare.
Overdue follow-up. Hamilton ran into compatability issues so there’s no timetable for a LC “premium conversion” product release.
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I just finished my install on my 2017 LX upgrade only, not the screen replacement, and thought I'd share my experience and tips. I've done a fair bit of simple stereo installs in vehicles and this was remarkably easy following the Hamilton video, complicated by my own mistakes which I'll share so maybe you won't make them. I was intimidated by the thought of removing all the leather and wood trim pieces but this was honestly easier than any other vehicle I've worked on. The trim pieces each slide right out for the most part. A trim removal tool helped a bit with the instrument cluster surround and speaker grille, which both took more effort than felt comfortable and were a bit thin/sharp.
My big error was that I didn't notice that the audio connector and mouse connector use the same plug. I ended up plugging the mouse cable into the back of the head unit and the audio into the bottom of the mouse. Both of these connection require a short Hamilton intercept cable and since they're the same (and I'm an idiot) it all plugged in properly. The first time I buttoned everything up, everything seemed to work, CarPlay came on, I was excited! That was until I had no mouse in CarPlay. I could hear it beeping around in the back ground though. I called tech support just before they closed and they suggested I had maybe plugged the original mouse cable back in rather than the intercept, so I went back out glad I didn't have to pull the whole dash apart again, just the panel with the gearshift and mouse, which isn't easy necessarily but better than the whole thing.
I took it apart and took a picture of the connectors, circled in red and with arrows showing I had the intercept cable in there, duh, and emailed it to the tech who had gone home for the night. This morning I woke up to a polite email explaining that the tag on the harness I photographed said "Original Audio" on it, which should be plugged into the back of the OEM head unit. I did have to take the whole dam thing apart again! Once I did that I was able to run the wires a bit better and everything actually went back together better than the first time.
Finally, I was having trouble with it not playing sound through CarPlay immediately or maybe not at all -- at least not until I got impatient and started fiddling with controls. Their instructions said to go into he vehicle and turn off bluetooth but I was unable to find such an option. Ultimately I deleted my phone in the native Lexus system. I believe it was connecting to Lexus bluetooth in the background which took it off the AUX setting so while CarPlay was playing music to the AUX out, the Lexus system was not there in the background.
My big error was that I didn't notice that the audio connector and mouse connector use the same plug. I ended up plugging the mouse cable into the back of the head unit and the audio into the bottom of the mouse. Both of these connection require a short Hamilton intercept cable and since they're the same (and I'm an idiot) it all plugged in properly. The first time I buttoned everything up, everything seemed to work, CarPlay came on, I was excited! That was until I had no mouse in CarPlay. I could hear it beeping around in the back ground though. I called tech support just before they closed and they suggested I had maybe plugged the original mouse cable back in rather than the intercept, so I went back out glad I didn't have to pull the whole dash apart again, just the panel with the gearshift and mouse, which isn't easy necessarily but better than the whole thing.
I took it apart and took a picture of the connectors, circled in red and with arrows showing I had the intercept cable in there, duh, and emailed it to the tech who had gone home for the night. This morning I woke up to a polite email explaining that the tag on the harness I photographed said "Original Audio" on it, which should be plugged into the back of the OEM head unit. I did have to take the whole dam thing apart again! Once I did that I was able to run the wires a bit better and everything actually went back together better than the first time.
Finally, I was having trouble with it not playing sound through CarPlay immediately or maybe not at all -- at least not until I got impatient and started fiddling with controls. Their instructions said to go into he vehicle and turn off bluetooth but I was unable to find such an option. Ultimately I deleted my phone in the native Lexus system. I believe it was connecting to Lexus bluetooth in the background which took it off the AUX setting so while CarPlay was playing music to the AUX out, the Lexus system was not there in the background.
Can anybody say how the GPS in the Hamilton unit works?
Does it borrow the GPS from the phone? Or does it have its own internal GPS? Or does it use the original LC’s GPS?
The GPS in my LC has never worked too well. But there are times I don’t have a phone connected to my LC, so I’m hoping to solve the issue by running Google Maps from the unit itself (if this is possible).
Does it borrow the GPS from the phone? Or does it have its own internal GPS? Or does it use the original LC’s GPS?
The GPS in my LC has never worked too well. But there are times I don’t have a phone connected to my LC, so I’m hoping to solve the issue by running Google Maps from the unit itself (if this is possible).
All CarPlay units use the phone gps, they’re really just a fancy mirror of the phone.
Not exactly. There is a Hamilton menu that displays if not connected to CarPlay. In trying to test that turning off my Bluetooth and WiFi antennae on my phone it came up to this menu. Whether this menu or the actual CarPlay you can always
Digging this out of the archives to ask if you ever got resolution to this problem. I'm having the same issue. There seems to be only one volume for everything and it's too soft for voice or too loud for music. I have to quickly turn it up to hear phone calls and back down when the music comes back on. I can forget about hearing map guidance.
I'll check that out, thanks. Edit: found it in the Hamilton settings app and made some adjustments, thanks.
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Nope. I just live with it.
I was able to make enough adjustments to the volume setting in the Hamilton app to be able to live with it. I had inquired with Hamilton customer service regarding the volume differences and they suggested I use the factory bluetooth channel as the audio source by changing the settings in the Hamilton app. They shared this video, which is for a GX but the process basically is the same. I have not had a chance to experiment with this option.