Panasonic car stereo CD Changer Emulator circuit

News

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.

Compatibility / Satisfaction guarantee

While the emulator seem to work with almost all units having the 8-pin DIN-style connector on the back side, there's at least one model that is not compatible: CQ-C3301U. If you want to try the emulator with your unit, just place an order and try it out! If it does not work, send the emulator back and have your purchase is refunded!

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

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Contact

Kristoffer Sjöberg
kristoffer.sjoberg at galeno.se