connecting MP3 player to Alfa 147 car stereo

Hi everybody,

I suppose I'm not the only one with the following question, but so far
nobody could give me a satisfactory answer:
I own an Apple Ipod 15Gb Mp3 player, and would like to connect it to
my Alfa 147 stereo (Imagine having the equivalent of 150 CDs worth of
music right there in your car without having to change CDs ever
again...). There are different possibilities:

1) Use a cassette adapter - not possible because I have a CD player
2) Use an FM transmitter - difficult to get in Europe (and I think
illegal as well), and bad sound quality
3) Replace the equipped Blaupunkt with a stereo with an Aux input - I
don't want to do this because it won't fit the look of the car
interior.

So for me the only viable alternative is somehow trying to connect to
the CD changer input at the back of the radio (or some other input?).
Now for my question: is this possible, has anybody tried to do this,
what is the easiest way of doing this, hints... Or does anybody have
the list of the pins and their use at the back of the stereo (I looked
at the Blaupunkt website but didn't find any information about the
unit)?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Gromit

"Gromit" <schneider_rol@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:5c2a323e.0308220340.3562f32@posting.google.co m...
> Hi everybody,
>
> I suppose I'm not the only one with the following question, but so far
> nobody could give me a satisfactory answer:
> I own an Apple Ipod 15Gb Mp3 player, and would like to connect it to
> my Alfa 147 stereo (Imagine having the equivalent of 150 CDs worth of
> music right there in your car without having to change CDs ever
> again...). There are different possibilities:
>
> 1) Use a cassette adapter - not possible because I have a CD player

Hello,

goto ww.alfaowner.com, goto to the 147 forum, and search for "Alfa 147 BOSE
system and iPod: done, works great".
basically, the guy fitted an FM modulator, and attached his ipod to it. I
did the same, and it sounds great. Its quite cheap to do as well - FM
modulators are used for fitting DVD players etc to cars, so even my local
car stereo shop here in the UK had one.

HTH


Willie

On 22 Aug 2003 04:40:59 -0700, schneider_rol@hotmail.com (Gromit), wrote:

>2) Use an FM transmitter - difficult to get in Europe (and I think
>illegal as well), and bad sound quality
There is LEGAL EU system for FM transmitter/receiver.
It is low powered and works very good within 10mtr range.

Pete
===================================
<iowna156@clubalfa.com>
156 2.0 TS (2001) - Proteo Rosso (his)
147 2.0 TS (2002) - Gem Green (her's)
===================================

>
> Thanks for the tip. However I don't want to use an FM modulator
> because you do lose quality. What's more, you have to change
> frequencies very often to find an unused frequency.
> I would like to use the CD changer input at the back of the radio
> (together with the Belkin radio kit). There exists adapters, I just
> have to know the pins for left, right and grounding (it is possible
> that Blaupunkt changes the pins on every model so you can only connect
> the expensive optional Alfa CD changer and not any changer you'd buy
> in the shops).
> Is there anybody who has a map of the pins on the Alfa Blaupunkt
> stereo?
>
> Thanks,
> Gromit

your confusing an FM transmitter with an FM modulator !! An FM modulator
plugs in between the "aerial in" connector and the 147 stereo. To make it
work, you tune your stereo to a pre-defined frequency, which is the same
always. Unlike an FM transmitter, you don't lose quality !

On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 21:29:13 +0100, "willie thompson" <wullsy@yahoo.com>,
wrote:

>>
>> Thanks for the tip. However I don't want to use an FM modulator
>> because you do lose quality. What's more, you have to change
>> frequencies very often to find an unused frequency.
>> Gromit
>
>your confusing an FM transmitter with an FM modulator !! An FM modulator
>plugs in between the "aerial in" connector and the 147 stereo. To make it
>work, you tune your stereo to a pre-defined frequency, which is the same
>always. Unlike an FM transmitter, you don't lose quality !
>
Exactly. Well put Willie.

Pete
===================================
<iowna156@clubalfa.com>
156 2.0 TS (2001) - Proteo Rosso (his)
147 2.0 TS (2002) - Gem Green (her's)
===================================

> Thanks, I didn't know about that. I checked out the website
> alfaowners.com (and registered, it's a great forum by the way), and
> found a link to a reseller of these modulators. But they don't come
> cheap (100$ !!), and still they don't give you CD quality (all they
> can give you is optimal FM quality, which is still better than via an
> FM transmitter, but still, it's not that great for that price).
> Unfortunately, in the whole forum I didn't find a single message of
> somebody who was able to connect an external audio device to the CD
> changer port. Somebody said it could be done but only by using a trick
> he wouldn't recommend doing. I found some websites by people who did
> it with other car brands. Why is there nobody who's done this with his
> 147? Does anybody know the wiring of the CD changer input?
>
> Gromit


I think if you search around, you can find an FM modulator for about $40.
Mine was only about £25-£30 here in the UK if I remember rightly.
Sure, the quality isn't perfect - it's certainly better than an FM
transmitter though. I bought an addon for the ipod that charged the ipod
from the cigarette lighter, which also had a pre-amp that boosted the power
before reaching the modulator. That improved the sound substantially.

If you want to wire up to the cd changer, you could try this cable -
http://store.yahoo.com/logjam/pieblauaux.html. There is a European supplier
somewhere on line, but I can't find the details.
This looks like it might work, although I haven't tried it personnally.


Willie

> If you want to wire up to the cd changer, you could try this cable -
> http://store.yahoo.com/logjam/pieblauaux.html. There is a European supplier
> somewhere on line, but I can't find the details.
> This looks like it might work, although I haven't tried it personnally.

Yes, I found a cable like that at my local car hifi supplier. However
they said that Blaupunkt was likely to use a different wiring on their
prefitted radios so you are forced to buy the expensive Alfa CD
changer instead of a less expensive one from the shops.
I wasn't able to try out the cable for myself, because I couldn't get
the radio out far enough to reach the back of it (the connected cables
are so short, how do you do it if you have to disconnect the unit?).
They didn't want to install the cable for me unless I provide them
with a wiring chart of the radio. Which they told me I could get at my
Alfa dealer. And my Alfa dealer told me I could get the wiring info at
a Blaupunkt dealer.