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Kabous1



Member Since: 04 Jul 2011
Location: Johannesburg
Posts: 57

South Africa 2007 Freelander 2 TD4 SE Manual Ipanema Sand
Retrofit Android 7" Tablet

After several month's of reading through the various posts about satnav/car-pc retro fitting, I decided to try and install an Android 7" Tablet.

This is how it turned out...

Click image to enlarge




I started off by ordering a cheap tablet from Ebay that at least had a built in GPS and of which the diameters would fit the space in the Freelander's dashboard. I finally settled on the Freelander PD20 Android Tablet, which I got for $117.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FreeLander-PD20-7-...3ccac0dd87

The tablet was a perfect, albeit tight fit. However the first problem popped up in that all the plugs of the tablet was located on it's side and as such I had to solder the wires for charging and audio-out directly to the circuit board. I also added a wire in for a momentary push button to operate the power button on the tablet.

Click image to enlarge


-Black wire for the stereo audio-out to the Aux of the car radio.
-White wire toggles the power button on the tablet.
-Grey wire is the power feed from a 5v USB charger I installed in the center console.

I then installed the power push button to switch the tablet on and off, and a switch to allow me to separately switch on/off the power to the USB charger, into the back ashtray holder in the center console.

Click image to enlarge


-The blue audio cable is the feed from the tablet to the car's AUX in.
-The red button toggles the power on the tab by holding it for 5 seconds.
-The black switch toggles the power to the USB charger.

Next I added a speaker to the space in the center of the dash board. The plan was to use this speaker for the tablet when using it as a GPS and I would still be able to listen to the radio.

I used and old 3" speaker I had laying around, just had to make a bit of a spacer for it.

I then added a small USB powered amplifier, which I pulled from an old set of desktop PC speakers, to the back of the tablet to power the center dash speaker. The end result works pretty well. Very Happy

Click image to enlarge


Click image to enlarge


The volume controls on the amp are not used as I change the volume using a small widget app on the tablet.

I then installed Sygic Navigator from the Google Play Store for navigation and WinAmp for music. Very Happy

I'm not a 100% done with the project yet, still need to sort out the following:
-Some way to select the audio-out to the center speaker or to the car's aux in. (This is a bit of a manual process at the moment)
-There is a slight bit of background noise when using the AUX in on the car. (I've order an in-line audio noise suppressor, will give it a try once it arrives)

:mrgreen:

Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated Mr. Green

Post #158248 21st Oct 2012 3:07 pm
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Bugblatter



Member Since: 08 Mar 2012
Location: Ilkley, West Yorkshire
Posts: 417

United Kingdom 

Looks great! 2013 RR Evoque Pure Tech
2012 TD4 GS Auto Orkney Grey - gone

Post #158250 21st Oct 2012 3:22 pm
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jon_a5



Member Since: 20 Jul 2012
Location: Hartlepool UK
Posts: 347

United Kingdom 2014 Freelander 2 SD4 Dynamic Auto Santorini Black

Nice project, sounds much simpler than my car computer was!

I had issues with noise on the AUX and fixed it with one of These I also fitted a secondary aux in connecter underneath the exsisting one, so there is no cable pooping out the top, you could possibly do the same, and create something like This to switch the output from the centre speaker to the car aux?

Jon Freelander 2, 2014 Dynamic SD4 Santorini Black

Post #158251 21st Oct 2012 3:30 pm
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Kabous1



Member Since: 04 Jul 2011
Location: Johannesburg
Posts: 57

South Africa 2007 Freelander 2 TD4 SE Manual Ipanema Sand

Great stuff, that's the exact in-line filter I ordered. Hope fully it will sort out the background noise I'm having as well.

Thanks for the details on the audio switch. It seems simple enough, so I'll give it a try.

Post #158253 21st Oct 2012 3:38 pm
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jon_a5



Member Since: 20 Jul 2012
Location: Hartlepool UK
Posts: 347

United Kingdom 2014 Freelander 2 SD4 Dynamic Auto Santorini Black

I have to say I wasn't expecting it to fix anything but went from annoying wine while my computer was starting and noises when accelerating to complete silence (aprt from when you turn the volume up to max, but it does that with nothing plugged in!)

I will be adding some pictures to my thread http://www.freel2.com/forum/topic12711-15.html later on today if you are intersted?

Jon Freelander 2, 2014 Dynamic SD4 Santorini Black

Post #158257 21st Oct 2012 3:42 pm
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Kabous1



Member Since: 04 Jul 2011
Location: Johannesburg
Posts: 57

South Africa 2007 Freelander 2 TD4 SE Manual Ipanema Sand

Sounds like the same noises I'm hearing on mine at the moment.

I'll definitely have a look at your thread, keen on seeing the photo's of your install.

Post #158259 21st Oct 2012 3:48 pm
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djwhyte



Member Since: 24 Aug 2010
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 336

Australia 2007 Freelander 2 i6 SE Auto Tambora Flame

I saw the same tablet when I was looking into doing the same thing, I thought the naming was ironic Razz

I then decided to use my Galaxy Tab P1000 since it had 3G and I was hoping to use Google Nav. The project lost steam when I had the same problem of all the connectors being on the short side (i.e. protruding too much to fit in the gap) and then the tablet got 'lost' when I lent it to my brother.

I might look into this again and get a cheap Freelander tab. I might need more detailed info from you so I can do the same hackety-hacks on the cabling Smile

Nice work though, it looks very posh! 1st time FL2 owner. 2007 SE i6 in Tambora Flame.

Post #158312 22nd Oct 2012 8:11 am
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Kabous1



Member Since: 04 Jul 2011
Location: Johannesburg
Posts: 57

South Africa 2007 Freelander 2 TD4 SE Manual Ipanema Sand

Must be because of the naming that it's such a great fit Razz

My reasoning behind using the cheaper tablet was because I knew I would have to solder some wires in.
Specs-wise at least the Freelander tablet was not that badly rated and you do get some of them with built in 3G as well.

Give me a shout when you start your project and I'll gladly share my hackery tips and tricks Very Happy

Post #158315 22nd Oct 2012 8:39 am
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djwhyte



Member Since: 24 Aug 2010
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 336

Australia 2007 Freelander 2 i6 SE Auto Tambora Flame

Have a look at 'Tablet Talk' (assuming you have an Android phone too). It gives you a pop-up on the tablet when your phone is receiving a call.

Can't route audio through the tablet unfortunately, but that would be nice. 1st time FL2 owner. 2007 SE i6 in Tambora Flame.

Post #158337 22nd Oct 2012 10:45 am
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johnny_22_83



Member Since: 04 Dec 2010
Location: bucuresti
Posts: 182

Romania 2008 Freelander 2 TD4 SE Auto Sumatra Black

judging by the connectors, there's no way in connecting a rear camera to the tablet. Am I wrong?

Post #158429 23rd Oct 2012 9:07 am
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Kabous1



Member Since: 04 Jul 2011
Location: Johannesburg
Posts: 57

South Africa 2007 Freelander 2 TD4 SE Manual Ipanema Sand

I'm not sure, the tablet has a USB host port which can be used for an external device such as a 3G modem.

I'll have a look on the android forums to see if the tablet supports an external camera, will let you know if I find anything.

Post #158431 23rd Oct 2012 9:12 am
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jutrem



Member Since: 14 Mar 2008
Location: Burlington
Posts: 144

Canada 2008 LR2 i6 HSE Auto Tonga Green

Nice install, I was also looking at the Freelander 7" Android GPS /Tablet, glad to know it fits. Did the screen line up with the space in the dash? No hidden pixels or visible plastic bezel?

On the HSE Alpine audio system there should be a rear auxillary (aux) audio connection at the back of the "in dash" changer/head unit (I'll have to look that up). For power you can split the power connectors under the center console (the 2 different LR Rear Entertainment systems for the LR2 come with cables that do this.) You can also power the GPS/tablet from the fuse box, as others in this forum have done. Does the Freelander tablet have an "auto power on"/ "turn on when power detected" feature?

Post #158720 25th Oct 2012 5:58 pm
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Kabous1



Member Since: 04 Jul 2011
Location: Johannesburg
Posts: 57

South Africa 2007 Freelander 2 TD4 SE Manual Ipanema Sand

The screen lines up perfectly with the space in the dash, there are no hidden pixels. It sits perfectly flush at the bottom of the space in the dash and has a tiny gap of about 0.5mm at the top which is hardly noticeable. It also only has about 1mm of plastic bezel visible at the top.

Power for the USB charger that I installed was split from the bottom of the front power socket in the center console, which works well as this power socket in my car is switched through the ignition.

Unfortunately the Freelander tablet does not have an "auto power on"/ "turn on when power detected" feature, however I am looking in to perhaps using a 555-timer circuit for this task.
-The timer will in a sence "keep the power button pressed" for 5 seconds at ignition-on
-And "keep the power button pressed" for 7 seconds at ignition-off

If you do find the rear aux connection details, please let me know.
It will be a lot easier to connect the aux-in directly to the back of the radio.

Post #158755 26th Oct 2012 7:29 am
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djwhyte



Member Since: 24 Aug 2010
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 336

Australia 2007 Freelander 2 i6 SE Auto Tambora Flame

Given the Freelander PD20 was such a tight fit, do you think a tablet with an extra 5mm height (the long edge) could squeeze in too? 190mm vs 185mm. 1st time FL2 owner. 2007 SE i6 in Tambora Flame.

Post #160896 13th Nov 2012 7:42 am
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Kabous1



Member Since: 04 Jul 2011
Location: Johannesburg
Posts: 57

South Africa 2007 Freelander 2 TD4 SE Manual Ipanema Sand

185mm was a tight fit but I still had space for double sided tape to sick the sides in place.
Give the 190mm tablet a try, just maybe it will fit. Thumbs Up

Post #161001 14th Nov 2012 8:27 am
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