Alpine CVA-1000R details needed - And no dinosaur jokes please! ;)

[bigal_scorpio]

Hi Guys,

I have just been given an Alpine CVA 1000R head unit and also an Alpine TUE T012 TV Diversity Unit.

The stup was once part of my mates posh car ICE and had an Alpine GPS system running to it, it also acted as the controller for his multi CD unit.

For some reason when he parted with the car he only kept the two parts he has given me so I have not got the GPS part which I believe also controlled the screen.

Anyway I digress, all I want the unit for is to use as a reversing camera screen, but I cant get any info on the connections. I ahve googled to the max and got nowhere, so I opened the unit and discovered that the circuit board in the head unit is marked up as below.

GND 10 o o 20 GND
Batt 9 o o 19 Batt
ACC 8 o o 18 ACC
REM 7 o o 17 Dimmer
G-Cont 6 o o 16 Park
D-Cont 5 o o 15 Mod-Cont
Bus + 4 o o 14 Acc-Cont
Bus - 3 o o 13 B-Gnd
2 o o 12
Video 1 o o V-Gnd

I have hooked up the GND to Ground and the Batt and Acc to 12v, giving me power to open the drawer, but as to some of the other pins I am baffled to their meaning, so if anone can enlighten me I would be forever grateful.

I know its an old unit, my local ICE shop told me that, when they had finally stopped laughing at it, but like I said I only want to use it for a basic purpose and having limited funds it seems like a good way of using both it and an old small camera I have had for ages!

Anyway please give any info you can, it is much needed.

Thanks for looking..............Al

 

[bigal_scorpio]

More info!

Hi again,

Just found out that the G cont may mean Guide Cont, though I'm no wiser as to what to what to do with it.

Also the small list of Pins I posted above came out slightly wrong, the second from the bottom spaces somehow didn't show up, I left them blank as there are no connections to them and no text for them on the board.

Thanks for looking guys, and I hope for a reply soon...............Al

PS if any other info is needed to discover anything let me know and I'll post pictures or whatever is needed.......Al

 

[bigal_scorpio]

Come on guys - Please someone hazard a guess

Hi to all,

Please have a quick look at OP and give me any info or ideas you can.

Thanks..............Al

 

[bigal_scorpio]

A few pictures of inside

Hi again,

I just took a few pics of the machine with its cover off.

There must be someone out there who is well versed in the terminology that's used in this kind of gear.

This is whats at the other end of the ribbon cable that I numbered in my original post, all these pics are of the inside of the actual screen part that slides out to use, whereas the original post gave details of the pins that are fixed to the shell of the machine. There is a clever rollup ribbon mechanism that joins them.

Please, please comment on any pin identification ideas!

Al

 

[Mikebits]

Man... The Alpine CVA 1000R is so old, it walked into an antique store and they kept it Well, you said no dinosaur jokes.
Good luck on your search, wish I could help

 

[phil7890]

Ok lets all help to reboot this dinosaur and get a couple of barrels of oil out of it!! I don't know much, but know enough to be dangerous...

GND 10 and 20 GND -- Connect both of these pins to ground.

Batt 9 and 19 Batt -- Connect both of these to the +12V, +13.8 or +14.4V DC car battery or benchtop power supply. Be sure your bench top power supply can supply 5A to 15A of current if you turn up the volume. This power should be constantly on (ie. to the battery and not to a switched power line).

ACC 8 and 18 ACC -- This is the switched Accessory line in your car. Normally it's 0V/ground when you remove the key from the ignition. When you stick the key into ignition and twist/switch it to the Accessories position, or when the motor is running, this line becomes +12V/+13.8V/+14.4V. For indoor bench tests, hook this pin/line to a switch and this switch to your 12V power supply. Flip this switch to pretend you turn the ignition key.

REM 7 -- This is the Remote output line. Normally, people hook this line to a relay and then to the automatic antenna or the remote/turn-on line of the external amplifiers. Note that this is an output line and not an input line. You can leave this open/unconnected too. Hint... With the use of a relay (to supply larger current), this signal may be used to trigger/supply power to your reverse camera.

17 Dimmer -- This is the Dimmer line for those lights on the dashboard at night. Some headunits accept an analog/variable voltage input. When the voltage is higher, the lights on the dashboard becomes brighter and so will the display on the headunit. Sometimes it's the opposite on other headunits. When you turn on the headlights (and dash lights), it sends the appropriate voltage (either 12V or ground) to this line and will make the display/screen darker. All this is so that the screen does not light up the car's interior at night and we can't see the road ahead. You will have to experiment with this line to characterize your Alpine's feature (have to hook to the dimmer or dash lights line in the car). You can leave this open/unconnected too for initial tests.

G-Cont -- Must be a bus pin. Leave it open - do not connect to anything.

16 Park -- This is an input pin and goes to the Park wire on an automatic transmission. The Alpine lawyers and the traffic enforcement authorities don't want you to watch videos when you're driving. The video is only supposed to only work when you're safely parked (vehicle is stationary). For cars with a stick shift (manual) transmission, some people hook it to the parking brake signal. Ha ha you'll also never be able to watch the reverse camera if you're moving backwards. The workaround is to hook this to your reverse/backup light circuit. Depending on its polarity, you may have to add a relay to invert the signal. For bench tests, hook this to a switch and then to the 12V battery. This is to view if the video shows up on the screen. If it doesn't work, unhook this switch from the battery. Now the same line/switch goes to ground for tests. (Please read carefully - remove the connection from battery, then hook that switch to ground - not hook the positive battery line to ground which will cause a big problem.) After this you'll know which way to hook it up with the reverse light in your vehicle (with or without a relay to invert the signal). Of if you just want to watch the rear view all the time, hook it to a switch (either powered or grounded) and not mess with the reverse line/back-up light line.

D-Cont 5, 15 Mod-Cont, Bus+ 4, 14 Acc-Cont, Bus- 3, 13 B-Gnd, pin 2 and pin 12 -- Leave all these open too.

Video 1 -- This is an input. Hook this to the camera's video signal. It should be a standard composite video signal. Your camera should have a separate power input too.

V-Gnd -- Hook this to the ground of that video/camera's signal. It has a separate V-Ground (instead of going to the normal ground so that the signal is cleaner).

# include standard disclaimers here. I cannot be responsible how it turns out, but like to see it a success. (I'm probably unable to provide more info than the above here.) Good luck and have fun.

 

[bigal_scorpio]

Thanks Phil

Hi Phil,

Thanks for taking the time to reply mate.

I will go and connect up right away and hope for the best, I had guessed the simple ones, Bat and ACC and Gnd, but was very wary of connecting any others like the Park, so now with the added confidence you've supplied I will connect up and hope for the best!

I will post results and thanks again...........Al

 

[bigal_scorpio]

Hi Phil

Hi Phil,

I just connected up and it only opens an closes, as it did with just Batt ACC and Gnd before.

There is nothing on screen whichever way I connect the Park.

I was wondering if it needed something on the ACC cont (does cont mean continuity) or maybe it needs one of or all of the other conts connected?

I suppose there is a possibility that the unit does not work, even though my mate said it did, perhaps its got altzheimers, its old enough

Any more suggestions?

Al

 

[phil7890]

For the headunit to say hello and play something from the FM/radio, we only need the Batt, ACC and Gnd (and antenna) but at least something should show up on the screen with just these 3 connections. The other connections are not necessary for initial tests. (ACC should be tied to Batt.)

Anyways if there's nothing on the screen, I'm wondering if the backlight of the LCD is bad or something... Can you look very closely at the screen (like from an inch away) after you power it on. Do you see anything on the screen?? The screen may be pretty dark but some pixels will be moving or there'll be something happening if the headunit is still working...

 

[bigal_scorpio]

For the headunit to say hello and play something from the FM/radio, we only need the Batt, ACC and Gnd (and antenna) but at least something should show up on the screen with just these 3 connections. The other connections are not necessary for initial tests. (ACC should be tied to Batt.)

Anyways if there's nothing on the screen, I'm wondering if the backlight of the LCD is bad or something... Can you look very closely at the screen (like from an inch away) after you power it on. Do you see anything on the screen?? The screen may be pretty dark but some pixels will be moving or there'll be something happening if the headunit is still working...

Hi Phil,

I cannot see a sausage (or any other item, meat or otherwise) on the screen, even when I got the magnifier and light on it.

I do however get a beep - bip, bip, bip, before the screen unfolds or closes after I have pressed the open/close button, so does that mean there's a chance still, or do you think something vital has died?

Also I noticed that nothing at all lights up, switches or surrounds even the one at the right that is almost clear and I thought would be lit, maybe this gives more info for a decision?

BTW I just wondered, do you have one or had one?

Thanks................Al

 

[ParkingLotLust]

**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**

Should help ya

 

[bigal_scorpio]

Hi to all,

Thanks for the manuals ParkingLotLust, they have been eyeopening in respect of what I should be getting, but every time I find something new out it seems to cause more questions!

In the manuals it shows the TUE T012 plugging directly into the CVA-1000R but for some reason my CVA socket is not the same as the plug on the harness of the TUE!

Now I'm wondering if a) Something is missing or b) the unit has been modified in some way since manufacture.

I have had the CVA completely apart looking for anything suspect and found nothing that looked burnt or broken, apart from a wire that went from the rear of the main ribbon connector (the pin marked park) to a solder blob on the board beneath, maybe its a mod to let the unit function while driving?

Anyway I am finally nearing the end of what I can try to get this unit working so I guess I will have to forget the idea of a reversing camera and just carry on backing into things! hehehe

But saying that if anyone has any more ideas of things to try I haven't quite given up, but I think the wife has me on suicide watch now and what little hair I had has now gone - isn't electronic repair fun

Also Phil, I dis power up the unit out of its case and I couldn't see any backlight on, so unless it is very well covered from the rear I am assuming that it is not coming on.

Regards.............Al

 

[ParkingLotLust]

I'm not sure about connecting the two units together (pictures might help?). However, I managed to find a wiring diagram for the CVA-1000R:
https://www.electro-tech-online.com/custompdfs/2008/06/IM_CVA-1000R_ML.pdf

Connect everything that applies to you (ie. dont connect the nav wires, eq wires, or speakers) and see if it powers on. If it does, woohoo. If it doesnt, its probably broken.

Also, here is the install diagram for the TUE-T012:
https://www.electro-tech-online.com/custompdfs/2008/06/IM_TUE-T012_ML.pdf

It shows that you need another box (it doesnt just plug into the CVA-1000R).