edrock200 said:

Wow thanks for that write up ducatiboy! I apreciate it.

I do utilize the bypass trick and I'm not with verizon, so it looks like I'll be in good shape. I have heard complaints about the echoing and voice quality, but since I don't have a BT module yet I have no experience. I will say though that the mic does a good job of relaying my speech since the HU has never had a problem understanding me. I did mount the mic very close to me though. If the voice quality is really bad with the BT unit I will invest in a noise cancelling mic.

Well, you are very welcome... if you don't have Verizon you should be able to transfer your phone book one and a time.

I have the bluetooth unit installed and the voice quality is very poor from what people tell me. My mic pics up my voice really well to, very good job at voice recognition with my set up as well too. But it also picks up the other people's voices which are on the car's speakers and re-transmits them (I think). Everyone I talk to says they hear a really bad echo, their voice echoed is much louder than my voice. Could it be hearing what the unit is playing in the speakers? Or is it some other problem. It's not the phone, the Parrot sounded really good.

I don't know if a different mic would make a difference. I was thinking of hooking up the mic from the Parrot to see if it makes a difference. My mic is mounted at the top of the A pillar which, me being over 6 foot puts the mic really close to me. It's no more than a foot away. And the front door speakers are near my ankles at the bottom of the doors.

If it was as easy as installing a different Mic, I would have one on order tomorrow. I love the integration and if you do the bypass it's usable, but the sound quality is what is still lacking.

I'm no sound expert, but I'm pretty sure a noise cancelling mic would help a lot. Once I get the BT unit, I'll test it out.

edrock200 said:

I'm no sound expert, but I'm pretty sure a noise cancelling mic would help a lot. Once I get the BT unit, I'll test it out.

Please let us know what you find.

Just posted step by step instructions for TR7 bypass here + autoheadlight workaround:
http://www.avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=798#798
Hope this helps.

The installer did the parking brake grounding trick for me so the navigation menu/options are full assesible during driving. However, I can also watch DVD if I do the headlight trick right after I start the car (3 successive On/Off before the AVIC-Z1 fully boots up). True, I have to do it everytime I start the car if I want the DVD to work, but it's a very simple solution, no?

Guest said:

The installer did the parking brake grounding trick for me so the navigation menu/options are full assesible during driving. However, I can also watch DVD if I do the headlight trick right after I start the car (3 successive On/Off before the AVIC-Z1 fully boots up). True, I have to do it everytime I start the car if I want the DVD to work, but it's a very simple solution, no?

Yes, and if you do that trick consitently, you don't need to ground the parking brake, meaning you won't get the extra warning.

Thanks edrock200 ... Not that I don't want a perfect solution, just that I'm technically impaired. Do you know of any bad side effect of the headlight trick? Meaning would it defeat any features of the unit while the trick is used?

Guest said:

Thanks edrock200 ... Not that I don't want a perfect solution, just that I'm technically impaired. Do you know of any bad side effect of the headlight trick? Meaning would it defeat any features of the unit while the trick is used?

As far as I can tell it has no ill effect on other features but I'm still new to the unit.

Ok, I have a schematic made up, I have to build it and bench test it.

It's a module like the PAC TR7 but there will be no programming. You will need to hook it to switched 12V, ground and take the illumination wire going to the Z1, cut it and put this in between it.

It will keep the illumination line to the Z1 low on boot up, make it high for a second then back low and then after that, it will "pass though" the illumination signal that was normally going to the Z1.

I'm going to build one of these for me (spare parts around the office). If people really want these, I would make up a small run and sell them. If no one cares, then I'll just make it for me. Shouldn't be too expensive to make, should be cheaper than the TR7. If you already have the TR7 programmed and working, I wouldn't pull it out to put mine in. But if you are waiting for something and are afraid about the programming of the TR7 and want an easy install option. Let me know.

Thanks for your help!!! I am interested in any other option to replace the TR7 if someone makes one up that doesn't need to be programmed.

jkawar said:

Thanks for your help!!! I am interested in any other option to replace the TR7 if someone makes one up that doesn't need to be programmed.

The programming itself really isn't too bad, it will take you about 2-3 minutes, however the cost might be a little high for some seeing as it's just acting as a simple pulse relay.

^^^ oops, that was me

Can someone give me the instructions on wiring the TR7 and also programing it for the pioneer Avic-Z1

marathonfl said:

Can someone give me the instructions on wiring the TR7 and also programing it for the pioneer Avic-Z1

It's a sticky on the top of this forum.

i only need to flash the headlights 1 time for the bypass to work and i can flash it anytime during the entire boot up prosess with a 100% sucess rate.


should save a little ware and tear on the unit and vehical lights..

Hi thanks for everyone’s help. I’m deciding what to do to see movies. Which is better?

Do I buy TR7 and bypass

or do I Use my Backup cam ( I’m not going to used the back up cam)

What are the pro and cons.

Ok, schematic is done, code is done, breadboard is done. Works like a charm and is very robust (few extra parts but is pretty much bullet proof).

No programming and 4 wire hookup. Hopefully the timing I set up (wait 4 seconds, flash headlights for 500ms, wait 500ms and then pass though what ever the illumination wire is) should be good. I'll have to build up a good prototype and hook it into the car and see how it works.

No one is interested on one of these? I'll share the schematic and parts list if people really want to build their own. Or if you want to bypass the TR7 and programming or just want to spend less... let me know. This is just a hobby/diversion for me... I don't want to make selling these a full time job or anything, but if it will help a few AvicZ1 owners out, I would be willing to make some up and ship them for shipping, parts, and my time....

I'm interested

Anonymous said:

Hi thanks for everyone’s help. I’m deciding what to do to see movies. Which is better?

Do I buy TR7 and bypass

or do I Use my Backup cam ( I’m not going to used the back up cam)

What are the pro and cons.

If you just want to watch movies and you don't have a backup cam, then hooking it though that is easiest. But with all the stuff they block out, I think it's nicer to bypass and get all the functionality back. I personally don't want to watch movies, but I do want all the functionality and I don't want to keep putting on the parking brake. And for me the TR7 was a bit too involved with programming (the instructions make my head hurt) :) It's not hard, but it looks worse than it is. And I didn't want to put in a diode or anything, so I came up with my own custom circuit and processor to do a single pulse and debounce on the illumination wire. Personally I like it (and it was a fun little 20% project for me).

ducatiboy said:

Anonymous said:

Hi thanks for everyone’s help. I’m deciding what to do to see movies. Which is better?

Do I buy TR7 and bypass

or do I Use my Backup cam ( I’m not going to used the back up cam)

What are the pro and cons.

If you just want to watch movies and you don't have a backup cam, then hooking it though that is easiest. But with all the stuff they block out, I think it's nicer to bypass and get all the functionality back. I personally don't want to watch movies, but I do want all the functionality and I don't want to keep putting on the parking brake. And for me the TR7 was a bit too involved with programming (the instructions make my head hurt) :) It's not hard, but it looks worse than it is. And I didn't want to put in a diode or anything, so I came up with my own custom circuit and processor to do a single pulse and debounce on the illumination wire. Personally I like it (and it was a fun little 20% project for me).

If you have time please post the schematics.

ducatiboy said:

Ok, schematic is done, code is done, breadboard is done. Works like a charm and is very robust (few extra parts but is pretty much bullet proof).

No programming and 4 wire hookup. Hopefully the timing I set up (wait 4 seconds, flash headlights for 500ms, wait 500ms and then pass though what ever the illumination wire is) should be good. I'll have to build up a good prototype and hook it into the car and see how it works.

No one is interested on one of these? I'll share the schematic and parts list if people really want to build their own. Or if you want to bypass the TR7 and programming or just want to spend less... let me know. This is just a hobby/diversion for me... I don't want to make selling these a full time job or anything, but if it will help a few AvicZ1 owners out, I would be willing to make some up and ship them for shipping, parts, and my time....

I would like this

I would like one of these as well...or at least the schematic...Im pretty handy with a soldering iron.

I don't mind sharing with people who are into learning or making thier own things. But my schematic uses a PIC10F202 (just what I had laying around the office) if you don't have something to program these, you will not be able to use my schematic. I guess I could have used descrete analog components to build this, but what is the fun of that (I'm a software guy by trade). So I have some quick and dirty assembly code which needs to be compiled and loaded on a PIC processor.

And I'm making up an Express PCB layout to make this easy for the surface mount parts I designed this for. The original layout should yield me 18 PCB's (one for me). That's 17 left, this initial run will cost me $60 or so. So if people want some of these I would be more than willing to sell them to try to recoup some of the cost it took to build my first one (probably $100 or so by now). I figure $20 for these (including shipping)? Just a gut feeling, with wires and soldering and parts and all, it didn't sound too out of line. Of course you can get a PAC TR7 for $35ish and program it yourself (and it has way more features). But mine should be way smaller. :)

ducatiboy, I will pm you.

~WW

Just sent you a PM ducatiboy...