Wow, I did not realize there was a solution for '18+ vehicles. Is there any way to wire the system to the factory USB and microphone locations?
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How large is the microphone? Is there a possibility of stashing it inside the driver side vent or something like that where it could still pick the voice up, but be discrete? What did you end up doing with it?The microphone is taped to the steering wheel column for now. If you look closely at the last pic, you'll see the wire running along the wood trim. I will fine-tune that tomorrow as well.
Wow, I did not realize there was a solution for '18+ vehicles. Is there any way to wire the system to the factory USB and microphone locations?
So if the car microphone is used for calls, is the Naviplus microphone just used for voice commands to Android Auto / Apple CarPlay? If so, I suppose it could be considered optional. I never used voice commands for CarPlay on my previous vehicle.The system uses the car microphone for calls, so I'm not sure you could share one microphone. You might be able to use the factory USB jack though if you wire it to the unit. You'd have to discuss this with them, I guess. I don't know electronics very well.
The microphone is a good half inch with the included windscreen. I think the vent would be a bad location, because the rush of air would destroy audio quality.
So if the car microphone is used for calls, is the Naviplus microphone just used for voice commands to Android Auto / Apple CarPlay? If so, I suppose it could be considered optional. I never used voice commands for CarPlay on my previous vehicle.
I relocated the microphone today to the area just above the USB port. Also installed a Proclip to hold my phone. Here's my final setup.
The only thing I'm working on is getting a shorter USB cord. The system is very picky about cords. The one I have now is the only one of out of 5 or so cords that work with the system. Charging is very slow. I'm hoping a shorter and different cord can improve charging a few percent or so. (The charging speed is my only complaint about the system so far)
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Which proclip did you get? Do you like it so far?
I thought it was interesting you chose satellite, Have you looked into cellular bonding? Is there a reason you chose this?
Really interesting service. Thanks for mentioning this; I hadn't been aware of it. Will DM.
Installed Android Auto/Car Play today. I used the Naviplus unit with steering wheel controls for the 2018+ LC200. I'm new at this, so it took me a while to install the unit, but after several hours of sweat, I successfully got everything running. I haven't tested Car Play, because I use an Android phone, but the Android Auto integration is definitely outstanding and a huge upgrade to the vehicle's electronics.
In case anyone else is interested, the product is here: https://www.naviplus.com.au/online-store/Toyota-Landcruiser-LC200-2018-Current-Capacitive-Touchscreen-audio-Apple-CarPlay-&-Android-Auto-Integration-p163937243.
Once you've got everything installed, you enter Android Auto mode by holding down the Nav button for a couple of seconds. To get audio, you also have to select Aux as your source. The only annoyance is having to do that extra source selection when starting a new drive.
For Android Auto, you also have to have your phone plugged into USB (I think Car Play is different?). But I don't mind that at all. The quality is higher than with Bluebooth, so it's worth it, and I generally keep my phone plugged in for charging anyway.
What's really cool about this unit is that you can easily access all your phone apps on the car's touchscreen but also switch back to the car's apps by pressing the nav button. So you can switch back and forth between the car's gps and your phone's, for example.
The steering wheel controls work great. I haven't noticed any loss of functionality with anything due to the install, though I haven't had enough time with it to say with 100% certainty that everything is as it's supposed to be.
Here's my car with the panels removed for install:
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Here are the boxes attached behind the screen. I know it looks like a mess, but it's very secure. I used industrial strength velcro to attach the bigger box to the back of the screen and then the smaller box to the bigger box. Then, I used velcro straps on top of everything as an extra support. I like redundancy in my fastenings.
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Naviplus gives you a USB receiver that seems to be designed to fasten into an unpowered cigarette lighter. I drilled a hole for mine and installed it in the side panel, a little below where I intend to install a phone mount. I need to fine-tune how the wire is placed behind the panel. Right now the wire is pushing the panel out a bit; but I'll do that tomorrow.
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The microphone is taped to the steering wheel column for now. If you look closely at the last pic, you'll see the wire running along the wood trim. I will fine-tune that tomorrow as well.
Here we are! Last pic.
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That bluetti has a decent recharge rate, very good for an OTS product. With a custom LiTi battery you can do 5C recharge, so 5x the pack amp capacity (500 amp on a 100 amp pack). The BMS for this isn't cheap, and the cells are famously inefficient; but the technology is certainly available on the mass market. There are accompanying issues to resolve (heat, wire gauge, a 500 amp source), and these multi C recharge rates isn't fantastic for battery longevity . . .One thing I would test thoroughly is your recharge rate, because like me, your electrical demands are higher than most. With the dual battery and the goal zero yeti, you will have good battery capacity, but can you recharge it at the rate at which you use it?
I plan on streaming quite often (up to 10 hours a day) when my setup is done, and that combined with Air Conditioning (5000 BTU Window unit), means that I haven’t found any alternative to bringing a small gas Generator as a way to recharge everything when no shore power is present. I’m thinking for you, run the Goal Zero at night (make sure it has good enough discharge for AC (like the Bluetti AC200 at 1700watts running), and then during the day run the gas generator for long enough to recharge all your batteries, big and small (including the electric generator/Yeti). Long term I will likely get the sportsman 1000w inverter generator (only 25 lbs), and run gas A few hours during the day and electric generator at night/when I need quiet power (during streams).
Also I plan on squeezing out extra recharging anywhere I can - so long term maybe 1-2 solar panels (limited space), bigger alternator and whatever else I can find.
Just my .02 cents because I noticed that the biggest challenge we face when going electric generators/battery banks, is figuring out how to recharge them in a timely manner. With a gas generator it takes a minute to refill the gas.