I have a dvd player in my vehicle that has auxiliary input jacks for a video and an audio source.
I would like to take the Line Out (left and right audio) from my mp3 player, connect it to the audio input (left and right) at the auxiliary input on the dvd console and hear the audio through the vehicle's speakers.
If I make this connection, no sound is heard when I play my mp3 player.
If I add just the video cable connection from my camcorder to the video input on the dvd console auxiliary input and play my camcorder then the mp3, sound from my mp3 player plays through the vehicle's speakers and sounds great.
I would like for this to work without having to play my camcorder video in order to listen to my mp3 player sound through the vehicle's speakers.
What is a simple video input that I can use that will allow this?
Thanks for your replies. It is a factory-installed dvd player in my 2004 Chevrolet Venture mini-van. It will not play mp3 cd's directly. There is no helpful information in the Owner's or Service Manuals nor from GM Customer Support. I have tried just connecting and unconnected video cable with the same negative result. GM will not tell me who the manufacturer is, saying it is, "proprietary", nor can I find any manufacturer information on the visible part of the unit's console or overhead display unit. It's pretty clear that the auxiliary video input has to have some sort of input before the unit will switch to the auxiliary audio input mode. Thanks again for taking your time to respond. Any more suggestions would be gratefully appreciated. Don
You might ask a local aftermarket car stereo and video shop if they have anything that will do this. You might also ask in the newsgroup rec.audio.car , or maybe one of the rec.video groups. Basically you want a little box with a button or switch on top and a video output cable, powered either by an internal battery or by the vehicle 12 V DC.
You might look around for the cheapest web cam, security camera, or single board camera you can find, that has a composite video output and runs on batteries or 12 V DC or less. Hide the camera someplace, put a switch in the 12 V line, and run the video output to the aux input. If you buy new you might pay US$50 plus or minus; if you find an old webcam it might be nearly free.
TV technicians have a box called a "pattern generator" that creates video signals with various patterns for adjusting a TV set. You can get some that will run on a battery or DC and are small enough that you might hide them in the car someplace. The drawback is that they cost US$100 or more which might be prohibitive. Maybe you can get a used one cheaper on Ebay, but if you're not sure what you're buying, it's relatively easy to buy the wrong thing or a broken item.
If you're into experimentation, you might try this. Some VCRs and DVD players will display a blue screen or a menu screen when nothing else is happening (tape/disc not playing, no tuner input). You might verify that a particular model of VCR or DVD player does this, then buy one cheap at a second-hand store and see how small you can make it and still have it work. You might be able to discard the tape or disc mechanism, for instance, and reduce the machine to a relatively small circuit board that still puts out a video signal. Then you have to figure out how to power it from 12 V.
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