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In Dash GPS Options for Prado 150 GXL

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  • #46
    There has much been said both good and bad in this and other forums about the Digoptions in dash GPS units. Maybe more bad than good on balance. Some of the complaints are directed at the failure of the unit to work correctly or towards the manufacture's agent in Australia to solve issues experienced by a purchaser.

    Working on the assumption that you nearly always hear about the bad experiences but so much the good ones, my mate and I are about to order two Platinum Prado 150 AVNP-T150 units, one for a GX the other a GXL. There is no dispute that there are more expensive units available such as VMS and others that don't seem to have the level of negative write ups that the Digoptions have endured. That may well be that there has not been issues with them or that they are not large in numbers due to their price. Anyway we're going to have a go with the Digoptions box and let you know how they go, how easily they install, their functionality, reliability and the manufacturing support. We both have big trips coming up next month so should be a good test.

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    • #47
      I am also looking into this option and will be readying this thread with keen interest.

      What vehicle will you be installing the unit in?
      Regards SAFTGT
      2010 Prado GXL, Engel 40L drop slide, Dual battery, ARB CKMA12 Compressor, Micky Thompson.

      Comment


      • #48
        Originally posted by saftgt View Post
        I am also looking into this option and will be readying this thread with keen interest.

        What vehicle will you be installing the unit in?
        Both are Prado D4D's, mine is 2010 GXL and my mate's a 2013 GX.

        Comment


        • #49
          Cool...... waiting patiently
          Regards SAFTGT
          2010 Prado GXL, Engel 40L drop slide, Dual battery, ARB CKMA12 Compressor, Micky Thompson.

          Comment


          • #50
            I went through this decision process 4 years ago and ended up installing a Parrot Asteroid Smart, there is a detailed description of the process here http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...t-installation. A key criteria for me was to retain the steering controls and to be able to run Android apps.

            I can say that the unit has worked well over the past 4 years. It is not without it's flaws mainly that it is a bit slow at times and the radio could be better. It can lockup if I am running too many apps simultaneously. On the plus side the Phone integration including emails and messages, and the voice control work really well.

            The biggest headache were the steering controls, which work seamlessly now using an interface unit. If I was doing it again I'd also look at some of the eBay units as unfortunately Parrot never release the second generation Asteroid..
            [B]Steve[/B]

            2010 Silver GXL Prado 150, D4D Auto, with a few non standard bits

            Comment


            • #51
              Well, it is installed. Not all went to plan but I'll be the first to admit I'm a bit fussy about things. But please keep in mind, it is a $600 unit compared to the VMS which is $1600, yes that's right $1600. Their fascia is around $600.

              There is little if any detail on how to fit the unit. You can work it out if you look at it a while. One task was preparing the two fascia panels as the moldings were not precise. The clips that are required to be retrieve from the original fascia did not fit all the posts on the new fascia so some careful filing was required. If these clips do not sit correctly, when you go to remove the fascia from the dash the clips that do not lock in on both sides of their posts will come off and fall inside. I lost one never to be seen again. Toyota sell these for $1.95 (part no. 90467-10203). The two clips on the side of the Trip Computer fascia are different, smaller. Don't loose them!

              The GPS antenna I mounted under the centre dash panel that covers the air vents. After removing the Trip Computer from it original position you'll see the air vents, lift up the panel that covers them and two Tinnerman nuts are there where a speaker might be mounted. I cut a piece of Al about 150mm long to pick up on the two nuts and tie wrapped the GPS antenna to the Al. The GPS work fine.

              The original mic is in the map light assembly. I looked at using the original mic but the S100 unit uses a 3mm mono audio socket which produces a small voltage for the electret insert. The original mic appears at the radio loom socket and is 4 wires. I tested the original mic output wires into my AF test amplifier and there was no output which means its an electret insert that requires some DC for the little amplifier in the mic to work. Without spending more time measuring to determine the activation circuit I decided to just install the supplied mic just behind the existing one as this position works well with regard to noise etc. This requires extending the mic cable by a metre. Jaycar cable WB1500 was used. The wife says the Bluetooth sounds better than before.

              Initially the connection confused me as there were two white 'Toyota! type plugs that fitted into the original radio's loom, but there were still 3 loom connectors not used. Speaking to the Dig Options guys they told me that there was another one for the steering wheel control but as I didn't have it, they would send me one. Much to my embarrassment, that night while cleaning up the shack I found the missing harness hiding under the bench. Email sent confessing to my guilt. The car loom has 5 connectors for the original radio, just 3 are used for the S100 in the GXL.

              I ran the USB and iPod leads to the glove box ustilising the card reader to house them. This required removing the glove box and the trim behind it to gain access to the rear of the card reader. I removed the centre part of the card reader, turned it around and refitted it. I needed to drill out two holes to fit the screws back in this new orientation. This allows the USB sockets to sit in the card reader and when required, can be pulled out slightly. When I get back from our trip north I'll make use of the connector at the radio that feeds the USB/audio fitting in the centre console of the GXL.

              The radio antenna socket in the S100 is the standard Motorola type about 9mm. The radio system in the GXL has two antenna plugs that connect to the original radio, one the standard as above, the other a smaller 6mm version of the same thing. This is the Diversity Antenna system Toyoto used to overcome fading issues with the one antenna only. The lead supplied by DO has a white molex type plug with two antenna cables coming from it connected together into one standard Motorola plug for fitting into the S100. This white connector also has a 12volt wire presumably for the antenna amplifier in the vehicle. The GXL does not have that connector. I removed the two antenna cables from the white connector and connected each of them to a standard Motorola socket to suit the two plugs already in the car. The S100 radio worked with just the standard Motorola plugged in but I decided to parallel the two antenna cables anyway. We set off next week for North Qld, so this will be the test.

              So, to how well it works. I have to say it's not too shabby. Audio quality is good. Light on the screen is an issue but as it is with many TFT devices these days. The Street Nav is very good and the Off Road with Ozi Explorer looks good too. Ozi Explorer is a complex program which takes time to learn, and I'm still learning. It is a sufferer of the limitations of Windows CE and as such is a bit clunky, but once you master the menu and set up as you want things, it does the job quite well.

              I have my mates GX to do when we get home so that should be a lot quicker after doing mine.

              About Dig Options, I must say that they have been very cooperative throughout the process. We did go and have a look at the unit working at their office before buying. I am disappointed in the user manual though. Apart from the obvious translation errors, there is a lack of much detail of the functions and set up. However searching on the net under Smart S100 Series navigation comes up with some insight into the terminology of some of the functions.

              If I can figure how to do the picture thing on this forum, I'll post a few shots I took during the install. Now to see how it performs on a trip.

              Pictures:

              GPS antenna mounting

              http://postimg.org/image/9xegiq09v/

              Original radio connectors (5), the one on the right is the steering wheel control. The DO harness for this has just three wires in it. Also the 2 antenna plugs for the Diversity system.

              http://postimg.org/image/6h2b6ujuz/

              This is where I positioned the S100's side brackets so that it sits correctly in the facia.

              http://postimg.org/image/gt7vtb9ib/

              This is my antenna harness during the mod. One side not yet fitted with heat-shrink.

              http://postimg.org/image/x1sw2olnr/

              The mod harness fitted. Note the 2 soft rubber sleeves on the blue plug to keep it centered as the socket must be squashed out of round to fit the smaller plug.

              http://postimg.org/image/g6ichf5bb/

              Swapping the clips over to the new fascia.

              http://postimg.org/image/6pwhj8dfl/
              Vk3zgw
              Junior Member
              Last edited by Vk3zgw; 05-04-2016, 10:55 PM. Reason: Insert pictures

              Comment


              • #52
                We're back after a few months on the road with the Digoptions in dash S100.

                There are some annoying issues with the unit that are software related.
                1. If you select one of the GPS navigation programs to run and then you want to swap to the other nav program, the port 2 that the GPS uses is not released. The effect of this is that you must fully exit the running nav program via menu/exit/yes for example if leaving StreetMap before Oziexplorer will be able to use port 2.

                2. If you have to reset the unit by the reset button on the front, the default baud rate is set to 4800 baud. The GPS module requires a baud rate of 9600 so you have to go into a nav program and set the baud rate. It is accessible via StreetMap/settings/step to page 2/GPS.

                3. Setting some colour schemes in StreetMap caused it to crash.

                4. Depending on what file version you get of StreetMap, some of the voice options are missing from the 'regional' files, as are the help files. For example I found the Ozzie voice options in the UK file along with the .hlp files. If you are having issues with missing files being flagged, look at the StreetMap folder and the files in its sub folders and if you find the missing files, copy them to the folder you have chosen for your 'Region'. Take a copy of your SD card and save it on your PC as a back up. I've had StreetMap fail after a crash where it's written something to itself which bricked the software.

                5. There are two volume levels shown on the bottom of the screen in Radio when a change is made by the volume pot or SWC buttons. One for the radio the other for the GPS voice. Often the unit goes into a mode where you cannot change the volume on the radio as it seems that the control is not released by the nav once the message has been played. I found that selecting out of nav and going to say video, then back to 'Band' released the volume control.

                Also, to adjust the StreetMap nav voice volume, do it while the message is playing.

                6. The radio sensitivity is not as good as the OEM radio. This was known as Digoptions had said this already. The diversity antenna system in the Toyota has circuitry in the OEM radio that detects the selected frequency and sets the antenna system accordingly. This circuitry is not in the S100. Still, paralleling the two antenna plugs into one to fit the S100 is better than just using the one.

                A nice to have would be a light detector on the unit that allowed you to turn your headlights on during the day without having the unit then change to night dimmed display. This requires going back to the main menu, tapping the bottom RHS of the screen 3 times to restore daytime setting.

                That's the comments so far. Interested to learn of others experience with the unit. I'll continue to report other issues as I find them. Haven't hooked up iPod or external audio yet nor video.

                In my contact with Digoptions they have been helpful in getting some information on the unit. Both Matt and Sam are usually easy to reach by phone/email.

                Geoff

                Comment


                • #53
                  Originally posted by Vk3zgw View Post
                  We're back after a few months on the road with the Digoptions in dash S100.

                  There are some annoying issues with the unit that are software related.
                  1. If you select one of the GPS navigation programs to run and then you want to swap to the other nav program, the port 2 that the GPS uses is not released. The effect of this is that you must fully exit the running nav program via menu/exit/yes for example if leaving StreetMap before Oziexplorer will be able to use port 2.

                  2. If you have to reset the unit by the reset button on the front, the default baud rate is set to 4800 baud. The GPS module requires a baud rate of 9600 so you have to go into a nav program and set the baud rate. It is accessible via StreetMap/settings/step to page 2/GPS.

                  3. Setting some colour schemes in StreetMap caused it to crash.

                  4. Depending on what file version you get of StreetMap, some of the voice options are missing from the 'regional' files, as are the help files. For example I found the Ozzie voice options in the UK file along with the .hlp files. If you are having issues with missing files being flagged, look at the StreetMap folder and the files in its sub folders and if you find the missing files, copy them to the folder you have chosen for your 'Region'. Take a copy of your SD card and save it on your PC as a back up. I've had StreetMap fail after a crash where it's written something to itself which bricked the software.

                  5. There are two volume levels shown on the bottom of the screen in Radio when a change is made by the volume pot or SWC buttons. One for the radio the other for the GPS voice. Often the unit goes into a mode where you cannot change the volume on the radio as it seems that the control is not released by the nav once the message has been played. I found that selecting out of nav and going to say video, then back to 'Band' released the volume control.

                  Also, to adjust the StreetMap nav voice volume, do it while the message is playing.

                  6. The radio sensitivity is not as good as the OEM radio. This was known as Digoptions had said this already. The diversity antenna system in the Toyota has circuitry in the OEM radio that detects the selected frequency and sets the antenna system accordingly. This circuitry is not in the S100. Still, paralleling the two antenna plugs into one to fit the S100 is better than just using the one.

                  A nice to have would be a light detector on the unit that allowed you to turn your headlights on during the day without having the unit then change to night dimmed display. This requires going back to the main menu, tapping the bottom RHS of the screen 3 times to restore daytime setting.

                  That's the comments so far. Interested to learn of others experience with the unit. I'll continue to report other issues as I find them. Haven't hooked up iPod or external audio yet nor video.

                  In my contact with Digoptions they have been helpful in getting some information on the unit. Both Matt and Sam are usually easy to reach by phone/email.

                  Geoff
                  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Hi all, just thought I'd add my 2 cents regarding the dig options unit I bought and installed for my 150 GXL.

                  My experience with this unit and the people that sell them has not been good at all.

                  Before buying, I emailed them asking many questions as I wanted to be sure that I wasn't outlaying $600+ for a dud product. I asked 4 questions in the 1st email and about a week later received a very short 2 word answer to 1 of the questions I'd asked, then had to email them over and over again to get 1 answer at a time (I got the feeling they could only cope with 1 question per email). I should have taken their woeful email correspondence as a sign (but naively gave them the benefit of the doubt) and bought the unit anyway. I eventually called them to ask 1 question, and once again received a very rude abrupt and short answer from someone who sounded like he just wanted to get me off the phone as quickly as possible. Things went downhill from here.

                  One of the main features that was an absolute must was to be sure the Bluetooth voice and steering wheel controls would function as per the OEM Toyota unit - which they assured me would work - THEY DON'T. The voice activation button on the steering wheel is now redundant as this unit doesn't have voice dailing, infact you cant make a call from the steering wheel at all, you have use the screen on the unit to (very clunkily) scroll through your entire phonebook to find a number which defeats the purpose of "hands free" dialing.

                  Next failure is the radio.There are a pile of buttons on the radio screen that I still don't know what are there for, as the documentation that came with the unit tells you nothing nor does their website. It picks up stations ok (despite the fact that Prados have 2 antenna inputs, but the unit only has one).The only way to store radio stations is to let the unit sweep through the band and automatically store every station it finds, which is fine, except there is no way edit these stored stations, so to pick a station you have to scroll through every one instead of having a handful of your favorite stations preset. This may sound like a big whinge for a small problem, but really, in this day and age what car stereo doesn't allow you to preset radio stations?? - especially one that costs $600+?

                  Along with the steering wheel controls being useless, the std USB/AUX connection in the center console is also now redundant. I ended up having to install another 3.5mm stereo jack in the console and the USB port doesn't have the same functionality (after having to muck around modifying wiring looms etc) as it did with the factory stereo. The unit has "ipod/iphone connectivity, but is via the old style 30 pin (iphone 4 or earlier plug) which is literally an iphone 4 cable sticking out of your dash somewhere, which looks very messy and unprofessional. Dig options solution to use later model iphone is to buy the genuine lightning adapter @ $45! - which I bought and still had very limited functionality, not to mention a bulky ugly adapter sticking out of my center console.

                  There are many other small annoyances with the unit (too many to note) - the clock doesn't keep the correct time, even after resetting it over and over - their solution for this was to reinstall the software, which should not have to be done when its only 2 weeks old, and now many months later the clock shows the wrong time again, but its just another thing I've learned to ignore. As the unit I have runs on some ancient windows OS, the unit is generally very slow, clunky to operate and is in no way user friendly or intuitive. I see the new units they sell now are android based, so I asked them if I could run the andriod software on mine but according to them the new units have different hardware so changing it to andriod is not an option (even though the old and new units look identical ).

                  So in summary, I cannot possibly begin to think about recommending this (or any other) dig options product, and will forever kick myself for wasting $600.
                  Last edited by Mcquade; 22-10-2017, 10:08 AM.

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