Sunday, March 14, 2021

Adding and Review of the Boss Backup camera for 2003 Jeep Wrangler JK

 Hi All,

Thought I would share how I added a backup camera to my Jeep Wrangler JK. 

What I used:

Here is a video of the Review and Install


Happy Round Trip!

Here are just some of the pics I took during the install but the video contains more detail.








Monday, February 22, 2021

Forscan Mods that work on my 2013 F150 Crew Cab

Here are the features I enabled or disabled on my 2013 F150

Chimes, Buzzers and Alarms – I hate them so turned them all off

  • Key in the ignition
  • Door Open
  • Seatbelt
  • Panic Button 

Daytime Running Lights – Fog / Parking Lights turn on automatically when truck is put into drive

Bambi Mode – Fog lights stay on with High beams

Blinkers set to seven to allow more time for lane change / quick turns

Previously I added a backup camera on a Sync1 4” screen

You can watch the video below of the ForScan Mods


ForScan Settings

Key/Reverse/Overspeed/Door Chimes
 – IPC 720-01-01 xxxx-xx*x-xxxx *=1 EPAS only

Seatbelt Reminder off
 – IPC 720-01-01 x*xx-xxx-xxx * = B OPI HS-CAN, OL, RSCW

Panic Button/Alarm off
 – BCM 726-20-01 x*xx-xxx-xx *=0
              726-22-01 xx*x-xx *=0

Daytime Running Lights
 – Fog               BCM 726-11-01 x*xx-xxx-xx *=2   
 – Parking          BCM 726-12-01 xxx*-xxx-xx *=1 

Bambi Mode – BCM 726-11-01 xxx*-xxxx-xx *=2 Enable fog lights with HB

Blinker count set to seven SCCM 724-01-01 xxxx-x*xx-xx *=F 7 flash & OUC True

Links:

Saturday, February 6, 2021

Adding a Backup Camera to a 2013 Ford F150 Sync1 4" Screen

I am back again with another "Macs How To Tip".  This time it is about upgrading my 2013 F150 with a backup camera.  There are many videos and forums I spent countless hours researching but none seem to work, or be about other vehicle types and years.  I found most of the material being about 2015 vehicles and later with Sync2-4 systems!

You can watch the video here!

Here is what you need:

Forescan for windows




Installing the Camera on the Tailgate:

You first must remove your existing emblem.  I used a heat gun to slowly heat the emblem.  It is held on by glue.  Slowly heat up the emblem and wedge a plastic putty knife behind it.  Slowly start to pry it off.  Once you have enough room, I was able to stick a metal hook behind it and pull it off.  

You will not use this again so don’t worry about the emblem.   Worry about peeling the paint if you use to hot of heat!
Once off, heat the glue and continue to scrap it off with the plastic putty knife.

Again – don’t use to much heat.  Start at a low temp.

The camera kit came with regular bolts and nuts.  Thinking I could access the back of the emblem area from the tailgate access hatch to mount it – NOPE!

Now What????? 
You will either have to go find some snap in nuts or come up with a different idea.   I did not have snap in nuts!

I Had an Idea!!!!!!!!

I used my hot glue gun to fasten the nuts to the square holes.   It took me a few times to get the nut to stick as it would break loose trying to get the bolt out.   But only took three attempts.

Use a good glob of glue on the nut!!!!!!

Carefully mount the backup camera.   I just snugged the bolts hand tight until I knew everything was connected and working.  Just in case I needed to disassemble the tailgate camera for some reason.

The cameras cable routes down the tailgate, out the hole, and under the bed of the truck.
Follow the directions to connect the Av and power cable to the switch and  move the slider on the switch to the position desired – line / no lines.

Remove the drivers side rear light assembly.

Under the truck, you can run the camera power cable up along the light cable in to the light assembly.

I later changed my power connection to the camera – rather than connecting to the reverse light as shown here, I connected to the parking light wire that is switched on due to the forscan mod to enable day time running lights.

I did not run the cables yet through the truck but just left them on the ground for testing.  Once I had everything working, I ran them along the cable assembly to the drivers side rear door, up through a rubber grommet, and under the plastic runners to the front.

Accessing the Sync 1 Display:

This is the hardest part of the install!

  1. Remove the three airbag screws by dropping out the glove box.  Then you can pop out the airbag to reveal the top screw holding in the air condition panel.
  2. Pop open the right air condition panel.  This will reveal several more screws that hold in the display.
  3. Remove the top dash board cover, remove the two screws holding in the panel.  Remove the cover.  There are two screws holding the main panel.
  4. Pop open the left air-con panel.  You cant remove it but lift it open to remove the last two screws holding in the main panel.  
Once the main panel is popped off, remove the two connecters – one at the top, one at the bottom.

The top connector is a bit tricky, it has a small clip you press open with your finger nail to get it to release.

There are four screws to remove the display.
Once removed, remove the connector in the back of the display.

This is a good time to check the compatibility of your Sync1 display.

Using the 4DTech harness, connect one side to the display.

Connect the other to the factory harness.

You must open the lock connector on the cable all the way or it won’t push down into the display.

There is a video on the 4DTech site to illustrate this.   

My factory cable did not have the lock handle so this was a bit tricky, but is does fit!



The camera extension cable was not long enough so I added a 4 foot extension using a male-to-male adaptor.  

Plug the camera RCA into the harness RCA female connector.


Programing the Truck So it Knows There is a Camera

Download forscan and apply for an extended trial license.   There are instructions on the forscan site and many videos on YouTube on how to use it. 

Connect the Veepeak OBDCheck to you OBD port and connect it to forescan.

THIS IS THE TRICK – PAY NO ATTENTION TO ALL THE OTHER VIDEOS TURNING ON CAM OPTIONS IN OTHER MODULES.  THOSE ARE FOR SYNC2 AND ABOVE!


Open the forscan tool programming icon and pick the FCDIM module and play.

This is what worked on my 2013 F150.
Change the 2nd digit from 0 to a 2 or add 2
7A5-01-01 x2xxx-xxxx-xxxx
So in my example :   2221 9008 0087      then write it and hopefully – you will have a backup camera!



Now I have a backup camera on my F150!  The nice thing is it stays on once in drive until you reach 5mph.  Then it switches back to it's normal view!

Until next time - Happy Road Trip!!!!!

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Restoring a Sessions Mission Wall Clock - Early 1900's

This was my grandfathers clock and hung in his wall for many many years. As a small child,   I remember him winding the clock every Sunday and the sound of the BONG on the hour and a softer at the bottom.

It also was in my moms kitchen after that but could not stay running for over a few minutes.  It has been silent for over 30 years.

Since I have inherited it, I though I would try to restore it and get it running again.

After trying to clean it with alcohol, bending the verge wires to see if I could align the tick-tocks - I came to the conclusion I needed to do a total rebuild.

Here is a video showing how I rebuilt the clock and get it running again.


Here are the links to the parts I purchased:

The video doesn't cover everything I tried - just what worked.  Below are all the pictures and more from the video.

Friday, May 22, 2020

Controlling an Elderly Parents TV Remotely

In my last post, I covered how to setup an Echo Show 5 to video conference with my mom who is in assisted living.  It became evident that we needed to be able to mute the TV as sometimes it was way to loud for a conversation and she is unable to use the remote.

If this sounds familiar, read on!

What you Need:

  1. RM Pro Plus ($25) or newer model
  2. Any Smart Phone or Iphone to load the IHC setup and remote control app
  3. Spare router or WiFi phone hot-spot setup for the same settings as your parents (so you need to know the SSID and password of the facility and it must support 2.4Ghz frequency)
  4. The make and model of the TV and set top box
  5. The provider and plan of the TV/cable service channel lineup

Setup and Programming:

There are several different stages in setting up the entire solution to not only mute the TV but change channels, integrate with Alexa and build automated schedules.  This gets complicated quickly but will outline each step in sequence and provide examples along the way.

1) Setup of the local hot-spot or router to simulate the remote network:

To program the Broadlink RM Pro device, a smart phone that is on the local WiFi is used to configure and connect the RM Pro to the WiFi network.  You can not change the WiFi settings on the RM Pro without loosing any previously provisioned remotes so if you want the RM Pro to automatically connect to your parents WiFi network, you need to simulate the parents network settings.  If you have someone that can install and connect to your parents network, this step is not as critical.  We tried this but did not realize the facilities WiFi did not support the 2.4Ghz WiFi so we ended up installing internet service with a dedicated WiFi router.  My brother stood outside the window due to COVID restrictions and working with the local facilities person inside the room, connected the router and RM Pro manually.

If it needs to be plug and play, then use can use a spare router or your phones hot-spot capability. In either case, you will program the parents WiFi credentials into the device.

If you use a spare router connected to you home network, you need to ensure the spare router is on a different IP subnet. For example, if your home network assigns a 192.168.1.XXX address, program the spare router to assign 192.168.0.xxx address.  To connect a spare router to your home network, connect the WAN port of the spare router to a LAN port on your home router.  Connect a phone or tablet to the spare router's WiFi and ensure you can access the internet.

Also, on any router, yours or your parents, UPnP needs to be enabled.  On most new routers the default is On. If is off, this will block the remote control aspects.   I will highlight this later once the RM Pro is configured.

2) Configuring the RM Pro:

Download the IHC from google play, or search for it on the apple store.  Once installed, you will create an account in the app.  Write down the email and password as you will use this on other devices or share with family members so they can also control the TV when they video conference.  It's best to setup a google family email account to use for this.

Connect your smart phone or tablet to the 2.5Ghz WiFi network setup previously. Open the app, login, and you will add a new universal remote. Here is a 10 min video of how to install and configure the RM Pro.


Install both a TV and the set top box remotes for the make and model.  Pick the 1st IR remote set suggested and allow the remotes to be selected.



Further programming of the remotes for channel operation, scenes, connecting to Alexa must be done once you have identified and installed the correct IR remotes.  This can only be done once the RM Pro is installed at the site.
You can however, check the remote connection. Using another device, either turn off Wifi and connect over mobile data, or connect to your home network if simulating the parents WiFi network.  Install and open the IHC app, login, you should see the remotes you programmed - example in the picture shown here.  If not, logout of the app and back in again.




Click on the RM Pro device in the app.  The two devices should show a status of "Remote"  If not, check out the UPnP settings on the routers.

To get further detail, click on the three dots at the top right, and then device info, you should be able to retrieve the firmware version of the RM Pro.  If so, this means the device is configured and can be controlled remotely as long as UPnP is enabled on the parents router.

STOP HERE FOR NOW UNTIL THE RM PRO IS INSTALLED AT YOUR PARENTS LOCATION!


2) Programming the Remotes in the IHC App:

Once you have the RM Pro mounted across from the TV/Set top box and you have found the IR remote pattern that controls the TV and set top box, you are now ready to enter the TV channels. Double check that you can access and control the RM Pro remotely from a different network during the RM Pro install - refer to the last section.

You can program the rest of the steps remotely and don't need any support on-site as long as you have the remotes controlling the boxes, and can also do so remotely.

A) Creating Channels:

In the remote that controls the channels to the programs, in our case the spectrum cable set top box, open IHC, click the remote you want to program, click the bottom more button to open the full remote, and find the CH button, ours was in the lower right.

You will need the channel line up guide to the provider and plan to know what channels to create. In our case is was Spectrum Silver plan. To create a channel, click on the +, channel name, and at the bottom, select the "I cannot find the TV Channel".  This will allow you to use the actual name of the channels rather than the call sign and will be easier to automate. Enter the channel number and save.  It should start to look like the picture shown here. Once you are done entering the channels, you can save them.  I would recommend you program a few and walk through the rest of this tutorial to ensure all will work for your specific case and then come back to customize.

B) Creating Scenes -  Part 1 for Automation:

If you want to manually control the channels, the rest of these steps are optional but if you want to automate channel and program switching, the following steps are required.

Once you have tested all the channels and know they are working, it is time to create scenes.  As a side note, I did a video chat through the Alexa Show and listened to the TV channel to know what I programmed was correct.

For every channel or groups of things you want to control, you create a Scene in the IHC app.  These scenes can be used in Alexa Routines and is how you program the automation later in this guide.  The individual buttons of the remotes are not accessible through Alexa Routines and creating scenes is the work around!

Go back to the main screen of the IHC app where you see all the devices.  At the bottom, you see four icons - Home -  Scenes -  Device - Me. Click on the Scenes icon.

Click the + to create a new Scene.  I named all mine Watch XYZ.  You browse to the remote, channel section, and then pick the channel to match the name.  Make a scene for every channel you want to watch, and also create a Mute TV.  Once complete, you are ready to connect the devices/Scenes to an Alex device such as Echo Show, Dot or other.  This also works with Google and other smart home devices but I have Alexa so only will cover that.

3) Connecting to Alexa and Creating Routines:

IHC has a smart app for Alexa. If you have setup an Alexa device, or your parents have an Alexa device, you will need their account info to program and connect the IHC and RM Pro allowing routines to be created for automation. You will also need to have an Android 6.0 or Iphone tied to the amazon alexa account/app to program routines as this feature cannot be accessed via the web browser.  An alternative is to load BlueStacks for Windows to emulate a smart phone on a PC.

A) Enable the IHC smart skill on the Alexa Device.

Using the device or a web browser, log in to Alexa app or web site (www.alexa.amazon.com) and use the account info that is tied to the parents alexa device. Click the 3-dot menu icon, pick smart skills, and search for IHC.  Enable the skill and enter the IHC login credentials you created in step 1.

Once it recognizes and signs in - it should auto-detect the new remote devices and scenes.  If not, or  you create new scenes after you connect the smart skill, you can discover new devices and scenes at the bottom of the screen.

A) Creating a Routine.

Creating routines you must do in the Alexa App. Again, click on the 3-dot menu icon and select routines.  You create a routine by clicking on the + at the top right of the screen.

Enter a name for the routine - I changed the names of the routines half way through my programming as I could not keep track of what time/day something was programmed.  I found that the following naming works well to keep things straight after you sort the routines by name.

DayType Time   scene name - for example     Weekdays 11:30PM watch NBC


To create a timed routine, you pick from when this happens [time] type of routine. Then you add an action to the routine.  So add action, Smart Home, Scene, pick the scene Watch NBC. I also added a wait command and then repeated the scene selection three times.  This seems to wake the RM Pro and helps ensure the cable box sees the IR command.

In order to know what to watch when, use the channel line-up and enter the provider name and zip code on this on-line TV guide site.

Here is a snap shot of some of the automation routines programmed in Alexa routines.  If your parents are savvy enough, they can say Alexa, watch CBS....

Good luck and happy programming!



Friday, March 20, 2020

Setup Echo Show 5 to Video Conference with an Elderly Parent

If you have an elderly parent and they are unable to answer the phone, setup technology, or have any other reason that you need a way to video chat with them - read on!

I needed a way to do just this and researched many options, fire TV, Facebook Portal, cell phone accessories, and Alexa devices.  I choose the Echo Show 5 as that could help with more issues than just video conferencing down the road.

Issues Faced With Setting Up the Echo Show 5: (don't worry - I found work arounds!)

  1. Having access to parents cell phone to receive text authentications - Alexa App, Voice, etc.
  2. Having access to parents email - again for authentication
  3. Not all setup can be done on the Show itself - the communications portion of the show - the main feature I bought it for - can only be setup within the Alexa app 
  4. Supported phone - Alexa app only works on Android 6+ and iPhones.  Most parents probably don't have a new android phone, or just have a flip voice phone with simple text!
  5. Setting up on WiFi once shipped to parent.

What you need:

  • Compatible phone for Alexa App -  use yours to log in with a new Amazon account.  I used my old Android 6 phone and just setup on wi-fi
  • Parents email account - or setup a new gmail account
  • New Amazon account if they don't already have one. (prime is not required but you can add them to your prime account).
  • Google voice account - setup to receive text message to the linked email account - use this to authenticate the phone use with amazon.  You could use your Google number but if you want other to be able to call them using amazon devices, you need a separate number.  I linked this temporally to my wife's cell phone as google voice sends a text verification.
  • Hotspot or spare WiFi router with the same SSID/Password as parent's WiFi, or someone to set that up.  I had someone local setup the Echo Show 5 to the facilities WiFi network.

Steps to setup:

Setting up the echo show:

One important step NOT to do - DO NOT import contacts in the Alexa app unless you have the parents phone - or you setup a spare phone with the parents credentials!!!! If you allow this on your phone - Alexa imports all your contacts and you can not delete them from the app.  You have to call google support to reset the service.

  1. Get access to the parents email account or create a new gmail.
  2. Get Amazon account info - or setup a new Amazon account using the email from step 1.
  3. Setup the Alexa Show with the information requested during the setup sequence. If you setup a hotspot, or sub-router with the same Wi-Fi credentials as the parents network, enter those to connect the Alexa Show. Here is a good overview of the setup options.

Setting up Alexa App for Communications:

  1. If you don't have the parents phone, or it's not compatible with the Alexa App, use yours, or an older phone to download the Alexa app.  If you plan on using the calling features - you will need a new google voice account to authenticate the Alexa app.  I used my old android 6 phone and setup on WiFi.  Since I already had a goggle voice number, I used my wife's cell number to setup the Google voice account as it also sends an authentication text to provision the service, as you can only tie one cell phone number to google voice.
  2. If you are setting up a spare phone, download the contacts on to the duplicate phone and setup with the same credentials as the parents phone.  (Not sure this works on iPhone as I used Android and just sync'ed the contacts)
  3. Download the Alexa App on the phone and enter the Amazon credentials previously setup. If you are using your phone, DO NOT import contacts in the Alexa app/ If it is a clone of the parents phone, import the contacts.
  4. To setup the communications, click on the chat icon at the bottom of the phone.
  5. To access the contacts, or to manually add contact, click on the person icon at the top right of the phone.
  6. To allow "Drop-In" you must edit each contact that you want to allow, and enable the "Drop-In" permission.  If you do not see the Drop-In permission, that contact does not have an Alexa app or device, or the number is not tied to their Alexa account.

Summary

Once you have enabled the "Drop-In" feature for the contacts, you should be set to go and ship the Echo Show 5 to your parent or person who will be adding/setting up the local Wi-Fi.  Don't forget to test it out a bit to make sure it's fine tuned for the services you want to setup in addition to the Drop-In feature.

Here are some things you can say to the Alexa Show to get you started:

Alexa, Play Pandora
Alexa, Stop Music
Alexa, what Is the News
Alexa, what is the Weather
Alexa, tell me a joke
Alexa, what is the weather in Dallas Texas
Alexa, Call [Contact Name]
Alexa, whats on tv now
Alexa, whats on tv tonight

I hope this helps you out.   Now that I have been using this a while to video chat with my mom, I now realize that I need to find out a way to remotely control the TV and mute it when I "Drop-In".  Sometimes the TV is to loud and the TV remote is across the room and she can't get to it!  But that is for another day!

UPDATE:  To control the TV Remotely - check this out!

Happy chatting!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Wiring a Zongen ATV 250CC

I have had this Chinese Zongshen 250CC quad for  six or seven years now.  In those years, I have re-welded the axial frame, tried to fix the carb many times, but it never really was reliable.  In the past year, getting it started was impossible and recently could not even get the starter to crank.

So I decided to rebuild it.

Parts:

Carburetor Replacement:
This was a one for one swap.  It fit perfectly.  The only difference is the choke assembly.  This has a handle that clicks, where I just have a choke cable to adjust on the old version. I think I can just swap out the assembly and be good to go.  I find that if I take off the seat, it is very easy to adjust the choke.

Wiring Harness:
The harness came with no connection diagram or instructions and was a bit differen. It also had some different connectors for the lights and Stator.  Was planning on just reconnecting the old Stator but since the connections were different, decided to change that out.  Details on Stator replacement below. Here is a diagram I made based on my current connections.  For the lights, I reused the light connectors from the old harness and connected the blue, white and green wires in the front of the new harness.

Replacing the Stator:
This was not an easy task and took me a few hours. I could not find any good instructions so mostly figured this out from looking at many other types of replacement.

Step 1 - Remove the Eight bolts around the Stator compartment. Starting with the top center bolt and working counter clockwise (to the left), remove the bolts.  There are different sizes so keep them in order. And then repeat from the top when putting them back in. You may have to remove you stand and gear shift as well.

Step 2: On the same side - remove the three bolts on the starter casing.  Remove the casing - be careful to note the gear, it may fall out.  The larger gear is on top or the closest to the outside.

Step 3 - Remove the one bolt on the top left in the starter casing where the gear sticks through. On the other side of the ATV, remove the long screw bolts holding the starter to the casing from the .

Step 4 - Using a small tack hammer - lightly tap on the Stator housing to dislodge it and break the seal.  You maybe able to just pull it off without tapping, but mine was stuck on there.

Step 5 - Remove the old Stator.  Cut the cable - remove the three bolts on the Stator.  Remove the two screws holding in the pulse sensor.  This was difficult as they would not come out and I was afraid of stripping the Philips screws.   I soaked them in bolt release lubricant for several hours.  I eventually  had to heat the outside of the casing with a torch before they would break free.  Use anti-seize compound on the bolts before putting them back in.

Step 6 - Install new Stator - Note the color and the position of the wires to the connector.  I marked them with a Sharpe.
Using a small paper clip or piece of hard wire, slide it up in to the connector to push the slide pin down.  This will release the pin, and allow you to remove the wire from the connector.  After all the wires are removed from the connector, slide the wires from the inside of the case out through the cable hole.  Re-seat the runner grommet and the three bolts to the Stator, Put the anti-seize compound on the pulse sensor bolts and install them.  Reset the wires back in to the connector as noted.

Re-install the casing in the reverse order.  Pay special attention to how the wires are routed up from the engine.  Not getting them tucked in good and hidden will prevent the casing covers from aligning correctly.

Still no Start????
After all this and getting the harness connected and all the parts installed, the bike still would not start.  I did not have a spark - why?????    There are two gotchas here!

1) Mid way in the harness, you will find two wires that have matching barrel connectors, join them as this connects 12 volts to your switch.  See the wiring diagram.

2) The kill switch on the new multi-switch is a slider. To kill the engine, you slide the switch to either side.  However, this is a locking slide, you must push in the button to release the kill.  After several hours of trouble shooting this and finding this video on how to diagnose the Stator and CDI, I figured this out.  It came down to the one pin on the CDI being grounded so know that was shorted some where.  I took the harness apart and found the joined wire going back to the multi-switch and by accident, pushed the button in and noticed the change in ohms on the CDI.  After that - started right up!

Connecting the Lights:
Since the connectors on the front are different.  I used the old light connectors and soldered them to the Blue/White connector, and then use the green wire for ground.  Most the other wires on the front or spare connectors as noted in the diagram.  I think some could be used for the back break light that I do not have connected - but the running light works.

Hope this helps someone else - and happy trails!


tim