| pacpal1 |
Has anyone had any experience at all with the Peripheral PESWIX or PAC SWI-X units that allows you to retain use of the MDX steering wheel controls in a system that utilizes an aftermarket head unit with remote control capabilities?
Note that the PESWIX unit is actually manufactured for Peripheral by PAC...so the Peripheral PESWIX and the PAC SWI-X are identical products.
I've installed a Peripheral PESWIX...I've complained to Peripheral's tech department that the unit acts in a very delayed fashion, if at all. They insist that it should function as a seemless interface between the MDX steering wheel controls and my Alpine head unit. I haven't found this to be the case. My next step is returning the unit...the Peripheral tech support guys think I may have a unit with a defective emitter. Anyway, I'd like to hear some feedback from someone who has experience with these products. |
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| MDXBOX |
I get a delay as well. Before the buttons would work even if I half-depressed them, now I have to push the button all the way down to make it work. For a while it seemed the buttons randomly worked or did not work. It turns out the ground wire came loose. A little solder and now it works every time I press a button.
My head unit is a JVC SH99. |
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| pacpal1 |
I received my second PESWIX unit in the mail yesterday and installed it in my MDX. The unit may have actually worked a bit better than the first (see posts above), but I still lacked any intended usage from the "Mode" steering wheel control button. In addition, since the new unit seemed a little more responsive, a new problem cropped up: my stereo now intermitantly reacted to the signal stored in the "Mode" signal when the steering wheel was rotated in a certain way.
My next step was to call PAC's offices in Santa Ana, CA this morning. Their tech guy was VERY helpful...after reaching him on the phone, he agreed to have a look at my MDX, take some resistance measurements and optimize the PESWIX unit for my vehicle. I gladly drove the 50 miles (each way) to get to the bottom of my quest for PESWIX/SWI-X perfection.
Unfortunately, his resistance measurements revealed that the MDX's steering wheel controls exhibit fluctuating resistances 1) as the steering wheel control buttons are depressed and 2) as the steering wheel is rotated (even when the buttons are not depressed). Consequently, the PESWIX/SWI-X unit has some trouble figuring out if there's really a been a change in resistance due to a steering wheel control button being depressed, or if the change in resistance is simple due to a random movement of the steering wheel. Apparently, this situation is found in some other vehicles and PAC has imparted a 500ms delay to allow the PESWIX unit to guage whether the resistance change is intended, or one of these random fluctuations. From my conversation with the technician, I gathered that the varying resistance levels exhibited by the MDX are worse than most vehicles, therefore, the MDX doesn't seem to be the best platform to adapt to the PESWIX/SWI-X unit.
Nevertheless, based on the resistance measurements he took and some calculations, he advised installing a 4.7K resistor between the white and black wires (i.e., the ground). The best "mode" remains number 3, as indicated in the manual. Since I was visiting their offices/assembly facility, he supplied me with a 4.7K resistor...you guys should be aware that the resistors normally packaged with the PESWIX unit do not include one rated at 4.7K.
On my drive home, I beleive the unit was a bit better at responding to steering wheel button commands. However, I was getting a lot of false "Mode" operations, so I may reprogram my PESWIX to not have any action under the "Mode" button, then when the PESWIX attributes a false change in resistance to the "Mode" button, it won't have any signal to transmit via infra-red to my Alpine head unit.
I know there's a lot of electronic wizards reading these links...please add your two cents...does this assessment make sense? |
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| Curtsan |
| From the onset, I have always felt the system is a bit delayed in the transmission of the signal. And upon occasion, the steering wheel buttons don't work at all, then all of a sudden they work again....I have always thought it was because I extended the remote eye sensor wire....to mount up in the headliner/sunroof area. I am using a Alpine CVA 1005. |
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| mlinarz |
I had Tweeters install the PESWIX unit, along with a Pioneer DEH-P7500MP last week. I think it's basically worthless on a MDX. Half the time the steering wheel controls don't work, and half the time the contols on the cd player don't work, because of interference from the PESWIX unit.
I'll probably just disconnect it. Since I didn't watch the install, where would be the easiest place to disconnect?
I would probably pull it out and sell on ebay, but don't think the effort would be worth the $$. |
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