Installed An iPhone Dock Into My Ride

Last night I finally got around to installing a dock for the Neocell into my Lexus’s center console. Here’s what and why I did it…

I have a stereo that has an LCD screen built in that can play DVD videos and can also play DVD’s of MP3 audio (as well as doin’ other things). But, I never use it for anything other than playing videos or for the radio. That’s because my GPS has a 20 gig hard drive (12 gigs free for media), so I use my GPS to play my entire MP3 collection. The audio out is connected into the stereo. In a nut shell, music plays from the GPS into the stereo and everything is controlled via the GPS’s touch screen (besides volume, muting, EQ, ect).

But there’s times when I’ll wanna’ listen to a pod cast I’ve got on the Neocell, or listen to net radio or whatever… I’d of course like to listen to it hooked up into the Lexus, but I have the audio dedicated to the GPS’s MP3’s and I don’t wanna’ have to unhook the audio from the GPS and plug it into my iPhone and then back when I’m done…

And then I don’t wanna’ run down the power even further when doin’ this, so I’ll wanna’ connect power also. Gotta’ go through the hassle of unhooking / hooking up audio and plugging in power… which is what I was doin’. Big *** pain.

The best thing to do is just to install a normal dock into the center console and hook up power and audio to the dock. That way, all you’ve gotta’ do is place the iPhone down and power and audio is connected. That way, you’ve got something that’ll hold your phone up and keep it from knockin’ around or sliding around getting scratched. It also allows you to connect and reconnect real simple.

Of course I had to create a custom switch to switch between audio from the GPS to the iPhone. And that’s exactly what I did last night. Took apart the interior to install the wiring so that everything is hidden. I simply open the center console and there’s a little switch box and dock sitting neatly there. And it works great. On a drive home, listening to a podcast, and I pull into a gas station to fill up or get a drink… I need to take the Neocell in with me so I can use the Balance app when I use my card. No prob, I just lift the Neocell up and walk into the store and do my thing… makes it all so much better.

Peace, J

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