Panasonic car stereo CD Changer Emulator circuit
News
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30 April 2013 - Still active
No news is good news! I still make these units and I ship them whenever I receive an order. This message is added to let you know that despite little activity, everything's still as it used to be. -
12 March 2012 - CDCEmu v5 is here
A new version of the popular CD Changer emulator is here! The reworked version has streamlined the manufacturing process but requires more expensive tools (which equals to a higher initial cost of manufacturing). The new version has all circuits embedded in the contact itself, and has thus eliminated the short cable from the contact to the circuit board. -
30 January 2012 - CDCEmu v4 is selling out
I currently have only no units left. I won't be making any new v4 units. -
17 February 2011 - Back in stock
Hi everyone,
I have assembled units ready for immediate shipment. Get them while they're still in stock! -
7 April 2010 - Stock is depleting
Guys, I'm running out of PCBs to make the CDCEmu of now. I only gotfourthreetwoNO boards left! -
26 July 2009 - Back in stock!
Good news everyone requesting a unit the last month, I got a shipment last week and have been busy assembling a dozen units the last weekend. If you're interested in getting one, click the buy now button further down on this page. Thanks! -
11 June 2009 - Temporarily out of stock
Let me know if you're interested in buying a unit. Currently, I'm out of units to ship but am considering to make another batch. I won't be able to ship until mid-July, though.
Background
I have a CQ-DFX301N car stereo in my car, and I lacked the support for reading CD-RW discs and MP3, and it didn't have an auxillary input. What it did have was an input for a Panasonic made CD changer, so I figured I could do something with that.
I found a DIN 8C port marked CDC on the back side of my head unit. After some research, I found out that the port is a communications port for a Panasonic made CD Changer. I figured that this port must enable the (Auxiliary/AUX) RCA inputs marked CD-C-IN, and so the CDCEmu unit was constructed.
I often get the question if it's not just a question of shorting two pins. The answer is NO - never try it, it will not work! The radio must receive a valid signal to enable the CDC inputs. If it does not, the CDC input is disabled within a second.
How to order
- The CDCEmu v5 is available for sale. It is €17 plus €3 shipping (world-wide).
- Your unit is usually shipped the next business day via regular air-mail.
Pictures
Shot of the CDCEmu v4 (development version) and CQ-DFX301N showing test data
Shot of the CDCEmu v4 and CQ-DFX301N's rear side
Protocol details
Read more...Contact
Kristoffer Sjöbergkristoffer.sjoberg at galeno.se