the basics
unplug radio loom from back of radio , connect one end of Parrot iso connector to radio the other end to the radio loom , now you have the brain of the Parrot in line with the radio connections , when you get a phone call , the Parrot muts radio audio and puts through the speakers the ring tone and calling persons voice , the control unit you see on the dash has a screen that shows who is calling and also contains the mics - 3 in all , so there is no need to site a mic somewhere seperate
simple NOT
our cars
you see with the Astra H and alot of new cars there is now a different electrical system that uses a thing called a canbus , this is a highly complex computer controlled electrical system that senses everything and shuts things down when its not happy , fair enough but a right royal pain when you need to connect non standard equipment like a Bluetooth device ie...the Parrot , what makes life even more difficult is that the VX radio`s in the H DONT have switched lives or Permanent lives ??? dont ask me why , i`m just relaying what i have read and found
wrongly wired
now then , the Parrot ISO connector that is purchased to connect the Parrot to our radio`s is wrongly wired , the 2 fused cables ( perm and switched ) are by default connected to a connector block that wrongly assumes power is fed to them from the car radio loom , of course as outlined earlier , there is no switched and perm live in these locations , what the heck it is drawing and from where , i dont know , all i do know is that is dangerous for the Parrot to draw current from a place that is not correct , damage to the Parrot OR radio could occur , i say could as i`m no expert , but it is defo wrong
how to correct the above
cut the 2 fused wires about 1" from the block they are attatched to and tape up to make safe the remaining 2 stuby ends ( phew safe now ) , DONT cut anymore than the 2 fused wires , one branches of from the block to another location , leave this intact as it is carrying current for the radio from the loom
here is a link to the Parrot web site , wiring diagram ,
http://www.parrot.com/documents/en/s...00_3400.pdfits its more or less wrong from the start so ignore just about everythng except the bottom drawing which shows the ISO connector and how it connects to the parrot loom ( NOTE THE 2 FUSED WIRES COMING DOWN FROM THE CONTROLL BLOCK SLIGHTLY ON THE RIGHT WHICH IS ACTUALLY LEFT WHEN IN YOUR HAND AS THERE DRAWING IS WRONG , EVEN THERE
) these are the 2 wires that need cutting
phew , told you its a long one
ok so now the wires are cut they need to be fed , perm live and switched live ( luckily they are labeled ) if your not happy about any of this , see a qualified auto electrician or Parrot installer , they will or should do a proper install
so where do we find the correct live feeds , well by trial and error , i found a permanent live feeding the 12v accesory socket ( red cable cigy lighter ) and a switched live feeding the car heater ( thick red wire )
the cigy lighter 12v accesory perm live is an easy attatchment , i bought a pigy back spade connector so no cutting of wires needed , this then gives the Parrot the perm live it requires ... 1down 1 to go
the bad news is the heater switched live cable ( thick red one ) is a monster cable which it should be as it draws a fair whack when running the heater and de-mister and whatever else options are on the panel and the block it sits in is a non standard connector block so pigy backing is not an option .... so i bit the bullet and bared some of the cable carefully with a sharp knife , just enough so i could solder an attatchment wire to it , the other end i connected a spade connector , enabling easy removal if necessary later , it was then carefully and diligently covered and made secure with electrical tape
this is not an elegant solution tbh and one i`m not particularily proud of but its very secure and soldered strongly
so after all that we now have a switched and perm live set of connections , solder the 2 cut off ends of the 2 fused wires from the parrot onto the correct cables , replace the fuses that fell out somewhere in the car
and switch on the ignition
Tada , it works ..... comes on with the ignition and when the ignition goes dead , the Parrot says goodbye and goes off properly
the pics below show how i have done things , i am not a proper electrician and wouldnt say anything i have done as proper , but it works and is safe for me , at least now there is some info on the net on the 3200 LS colour plus and it may help peeps that have bought one and are struggling
oh yes i almost forgot ... the support for the device
my guess is that there arnt enough support peeps and the ones that do try to help are pushed for time due to the mountain of e-mails they get , a real shame as any decent device needs proper and thorough support advice , especialy if the bits are sold to Joe public who reads that it is plug and play ..... which it most certainly isnt