Griffin Auto Pilot (Amazon $19.99!) - Page 2

psylichon · 02-26-2009, 12:59 AM

Yeah, brute force was how I got it be like that. But if all goes well with this Griffin unit, I'm looking forward to popping my dash panels and running it underneath to clean it all up. Two cable all over the place sucks!

seanwes · 02-26-2009, 01:29 AM

Oh yeah, that'd be much nicer. i'm looking at some of the ebay mounts, and a alot of them are adjustable. you said you had to remove the foam for yours to fit with a case, does that mean your is not adjustable? do you think it's better to go with a non-adjustable mount?

psylichon · 02-26-2009, 01:56 AM

Well, mine is adjustable, with a decent spring-loaded mechanism to lock it in place. The problem is it only goes wide enough, with the standard foam, to accommodate an iphone without a case. Barely. I ripped the foam out and instead double-sided-taped half of a small felt disk (the kind you put under furniture) in the front of each side "clasp". Look at the picture and it should be a lot clearer than that paragraph. I slide the phone down behind those thick felt pads and they hold it in place.

If the Griffin works well, I may consider epoxying it (is that a verb?) to the bottom of the holster so the phone slides into it, which I think is what Hawk is desiring. That is the final step though. We'll see....

psylichon · 02-26-2009, 02:06 AM

Originally Posted by Hawk

1) I got the error. I tried every different way to connect and found that the only way you don't get the error is if you connect to the phone and THEN plug the auto pilot into the cigarette lighter port -which is what I did the first time I tried it out. I figure it's something to do with the power. Maybe there is a slight residual charge or something that causes this.

This "Airplane Mode Warning" is a real pain in the butt, and I think it's a needless one. I get this randomly when plugging into our "iPhone-approved" iHome, but I never get interference. All you have to do is hit "no" when plugging in, which is annoying but not a deal-breaker. As long as it doesn't make noise. So have you gotten any GSM interference yet with the Griffin?

My guess on the random warning issue is that every device that can pass audio from an iPod or iPhone has a resistor that determines whether it's "iPhone compatible". Perhaps if those pins hit before the power pins hit or vice versa... who knows... but something about how you physically connect the thing affects whether that warning comes up. This is just my untested hypothesis. The fact that you don't get the warning if it's already plugged in when juicing up confirms this theory for me. Thanks.

I'll just add this to my continual rant about the dock connector for iPods/iPhones. It's not nearly as robust as it needs to be for its usual applications.

seanwes · 02-26-2009, 02:17 AM

Originally Posted by psylichon

Well, mine is adjustable, with a decent spring-loaded mechanism to lock it in place. The problem is it only goes wide enough, with the standard foam, to accommodate an iphone without a case.

Really? a lot of the adjustable mounts seem to open up to wider than 3inches. Mine with a case only comes to 2 5/8in wide.

Originally Posted by psylichon

If the Griffin works well, I may consider epoxying it (is that a verb?)

surprisingly, yes!

psylichon · 03-06-2009, 12:00 PM

Well, my griffin showed up today and I'm very pleased. I do get the airplane mode warning with my V1, but I don't really mind that so much. My main concern was sound quality and getting rid of the second headphone cable to pass audio. The Griffin sounds fantastic... miles away better than the Belkin did. No alternator whine, no hiss, no GSM interference, and a ton of bass! Seriously, I listened to some of my own mixes that I know the sound of very well, and this Griffin sounds awesome.

Thanks again for the tip, Hawk. If anyone needs something like this and can find it on sale like we did, highly recommended.

psylichon · 03-07-2009, 12:46 AM

I listened to Pandora the whole ride to work today (on edge.. I didn't like doing this since my Belkin died because it's a bit of a drain on the battery)... there was slight GSM interference that was audible only in complete dead space between songs. Perfectly acceptable for car use. I can't believe how much better this sounds than my Belkin did.

Keep in mind the GSM interference was only barely noticeable with streaming audio. With the iPod it's totally silent so far as I can hear.

Right now I have the wire running down under the dash into the subwoofer compartment (easy access)... the cord is juuuust long enough, but works great. I don't want to do anything more permanent for now until I have time to properly pop open my dash.

Hawk · 03-07-2009, 01:56 PM

I am very pleased with the Auto Pilot. I am working on the mount for my dice dock now. Unfortunately, I broke the molding around my top vents last night trying to test the bracket I made. I was able to glue it back together, but you can see the crack on the bottom portion.
I should be finished with it this weekend. I have one more piece to my puzzle that I am waiting on. It's the accessory cable for the axxess unit I have. It has ipod functionality, but doesn't work with my stereo correctly, so I am making a AUX out from it. I lose the CD changer in the back of the car, but really, who cares? I have everything on my iPhone.

psylichon · 03-07-2009, 02:17 PM

I bet you can find a way to Y-cable the iPhone and CD changer lines. As long as you don't run both at once you should be fine.

Hawk · 03-07-2009, 03:42 PM

Unfortunately, that's not possible. I did find ( after purchasing everything else) that USA SPEC makes a unit that Crutchfield says will not work with my stereo, but I have found several customer reviews with my exact vehicle and they said it works fine. Maybe eventually... but I already have a unit I like.