Interesting problem linking Note 3 to optical car audio, can I get some help?

Markchip

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Sep 7, 2015
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Interesting problem linking note 3 to optical car audio

Hi all,

I have an interesting problem to pose to the techies amongst you.

I have just managed to get my dream car and now need to integrate my phone without paying the huge sums being asked for by the car manufacturers and some aftermarket electronic suppliers (car ICE specialists too). My phone is currently a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the car has MOST optical audio and satnav systems.

I'm after 3 distinct, yet simultaneous, solutions, which are : -

A/ power supply to the phone
B/ HDMI or RCA output to a dash mounted 5 inch lcd screen for satnav purposes
C/ audio output to link into the car's current MOST audio system (head unit in the dashboard, also running the car's hvac, and the amplifiers are in the boot)

My first thought was to open up the USB 3 cable and to run individual wires to 3 separate plugs for each of the 3 solutions listed above. At this point many of you may be laughing at my clearly very poor understanding of modern electronics, particularly USB, and I would not argue that at all - I'm a complete dimwit here! Obviously (I think...) the clear solution is in the fact that USB can run different objectives simultaneously.

So... I run my USB 3 CABLE from the phone to a (presumably powered?) USB 3 hub and have 3 appropriate cables plugged in and running respectively to A/ a USB cigarette lighter socket, B/ an hdmi (or RCA, or composite?) plug and C/ to a standard stereo headphone jack or socket.

I don't think A/ will work because I don't see power going from the socket back through the hub and into the phone. Suggestions welcomed as I can't see how to get power to the phone at the same time as having a USB cable supplying data out. Or is there power over USB through a hub available?

B/ seems straightforward enough.

C/ the audio then needs to go to an analog to digital / wired to optical adapter and then a 2 into 1 optical switch (so I can still have the existing output from the head unit) before plugging into the amplifiers. These 2 adapters are easily available through eBay, Amazon or Maplins as far as I can see. The issue I foresee here is will the head unit still be able to control volume, fade, etc of the signal coming from the phone? If the control of the amplifiers happens via the optical cables then presumably that won't happen if I've used a switch to change the source? Would taking the output from the phone's headphone socket be of any benefit? I doubt it as the output power from there may be quite a bit higher than from the USB port...

So you can see that I clearly need some knowledgeable direction here or I will be forever going round in ever decreasing circles!

Many thanks in advance for any help given. Cheers, Mark
 

srkmagnus

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May 23, 2010
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Re: Interesting problem linking note 3 to optical car audio

Welcome to the forums!

Good to see you got your dream care! Unfortunately I'm not sure how to fix your problem; however, be sure to let us know if you are able to fix it or not.