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Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2002 20:16:27 +0100
From: "Simon Crabb" <lists-news1nopsamncrabb.com.S-P-I-M>
Subject: LONG HOWTO: Fitting an Nokia 8210 wired hands free kit to 2002 Saab 9-3 Aero


Fitting an Nokia 8210 wired hands free kit to 2002 Saab 9-3 Aero (UK) Simon Crabb (saabnopsamncrabb.com) April 2002 I recently took delivery of a 2002 Saab 9-3 Aero, and needed to wire in my Nokia 8210. This model has 'TEL 1', so it is pre-wired for telephone, with the sound coming through the audio system, and a microphone in the roof near the rear view mirror. Here is a an account of how I got it all working. It's not totally comprehensive, you'll have to have some 'gumption', but it will help you on the way - I gathered all this info from various sources - so as thanks to everyone I thought I'd post this. It would be useful for anyone fitting any kit, probably. E&OE: I wrote it quickly, didn't check for spellings or grammar. Parts needed: 2002 Saab 9-3 Aero Nokia 8210 THB Comfort Kit for 8210 http://www.thb.de/english/liefer/comfort/comfort.htm I bought mine from eBay for a much reduced price of £84.99 - search for 'THB' on http://www.eBay.co.uk Saab Telephone Mounting Console - £30.56 from any Saab dealer Saab Telephone Wiring Loom - £17.03 from any Saab dealer 3.5mm Mono Jack Plug - Maplins under 50p 2.5mm Mono Jack Plug - Maplins under 50p (Total cost, about £140? Took maybe 3-4 hours total, but should only have been two - had some problems, see later! Saab dealer offered to fit something similar for £325...) Preparation: Remove the passenger side kick panel, there's only two screws, the first one can be found by opening the glove box, it's the nearest one to the panel, and screws into it. The other one is at the bottom in the middle, in the netting. A bit of careful wiggling and tugging this should come out - watch for the three lugs on the centre console, these slide out of the panel. Inside, locate the square 18 pin 'VDA' plug and loom, this is probably clipped to the side panel, unclip it to remove the panel entirely. Locate the mobile antenna cable, probably tucked down nearby. Note the gap where there control box can fit, mine fitted vertically on a metal brace, behind the AC controls, another place could be at the very bottom, if you don't have the AS3 Audio upgrade - the amplifier is there. Screw the THB mounting bracket to the Saab Mounting Console - use the self tapping screws, you'll have to make small pilot holes in the console first. Preparing the loom: (This bit basically makes up a THB cable which doesn't seem to be available in the UK, and would be £25 +vat to bring one in - to order: http://www.thb.de/english/akces/avda/avda.htm ) The only wiring prep to be done using the Saab Telephone Wiring Loom, to enable the whole thing to just plug in, and out, of course. This saves cutting into the loom in the car, and means a different kit can be fitted in future, either in my ownership of the car, or someone elses. This has a mating VDA socket, 8 cables coming ouut of it, and some instructions. Firstly, cut the THB power cable to about 12 inches long. Then, connect: Function - THB - Saab Telephone Wiring Loom Audio Mute - Yellow - Yellow (I soldered and heatshrunk this) 12v Power - Red - Red (Using the THB 2A fuse connectors) Ground - Black - Black (Using the THB 2A fuse connectors) 12v Switched Power - Blue - Red/Blue (Using the THB 2A fuse connectors) Now the two jack plugs, for speaker and microphone connectivity. Connect these to the remaining 4 wires on the Saab Telephone Wiring Loom. (I soldered these, if you don't solder, you could just chop off the THB ones and connect the wires some other way. But, beware, having the THB microphone intact is very useful for testing later... You could also get some short leaders with the plugs already on the end? But, soldering isn't hard.) 3.5mm center - Speaker/line out signal - Saab Loom Grey/White 3.5mm outer - Speaker/line out ground - Saab Loom Blue/White 2.5mm center - Microphone signal - Saab Loom Brown/Grey 2.5mm outer - Microphone ground - Saab Loom Green It should all now plug together. Time so far, 30 minutes. Testing: Plug it all in, and make a call (to a *very* patient wife/ girlfriend/ friend/ parent... ). They may or may not be able to hear you, and you may or may no be able to hear them. This leads me on to... Note that it behaves differently when the phone holder is 'hung' on the bracket - there is a magnet in there. Basically: Phone holder hung up: Audio mutes, TELEPHONE appears on SID, audio comes through car speakers, Saab Microphone in use. 'Car' appears on phone. Phone holder in hand: Audio mutes, TELEPHONE appears on SID, audio and microphone through phone as normal. 'Headset' appears on phone (I *think*). Problems I Encountered: As I read elsewhere, some people found that the Saab microphone doesn't work well. It works just fine. But it didn't seem to for a long while... You may have to swap a little cable over to make it work. This is pretty simple. Open up the roof light near the rear view mirror, take out the two screws, and then tug down on the whole console by the edges close the windscreen. It should come down fine, then pop out the microphone (careful those slats are fragile...). The cable plugs on the back of it. You will see a brown bit of plastic with 1 2 3 on it, slide this off. Now you can ease up the black plastic slightly to allow the cable to come out. I discovered that: Yellow wire is GROUND not the black!!! Yellow should be in Pin 3, and Black either in pin 1 or 2. Mine is in 1, and it works just fine, but elsewhere I've seen that for Nokia's it should be in Pin 2 - but maybe that is for Nokia kits - not THB kits? Who knows, if it doesn't work, swap the black cable between 1 and 2. So it didn't seem to work, so I tried the THB microphone which seemed to work, so I tried swapping cables, and it working on and off. I finally got a setting that worked - the original one, yellow on 3 and black on 1. Time so far 2.5 hours. So I... Fitting it back together: Tie-wrap the black box to the black brace, use lots to make it sturdy so it doesn't rattle. Tie-wrap all cable safely so they won't rub on any metal parts, or rattle. Test it again. To fit the Saab Mounting Console the instructions tell you to pop out strange plasitc bolts in the centre console and move the top down - I couldn't figure out how to get those out (special tool time!!), so I found another way, the top corner where the console has to be 'hung' from is fairly flexible so gently ease it out and slide the lugs around, it should go on fine - BE CAREFUL - that centre console scratches as easily as anything. Next you'll probably need to remove some material from the front edge of the side kick-panel, to allow the cable to sneak in between the console and the side-panel. Saves cutting big holes, and the THB cable has a big plug on the end, so there is no chance on getting it through the tiny square hole Saab suggests. I just took off the front lip a bit. Then wriggle the side panel in to place, getting the lugs all in, and lining it all up until it looks okay, and fix the screws back in. Screw the mounting console into the hole provided (you did remove the cover plate on the side panel for it no?) 3 hours gone now Test it again. This leads me on to... More problems: It didn't work! Arrrggh, the person on the other end couldn't hear me, I blamed the Saab microphone. Thankfully, I foudn I could pop out the AC panel by removing a switch blank below, and plug in the THB microphone through the hole. I couldn't have placed the unit better if I actually had meant to! It didn't work with that either... Lots of swearing ensued. I was about to pull it all out, then I though I'd try a different 8210, so borrowed my girlfriends and it all worked just fine, with the Saab microphone! Excellent! So I thought I'd just steal her phone, but she was on Vodafone, I'm on Orange, so her SIMM wouldn't work in my locked phone. So, I noticed plugging a headset into my phone that the socket moved around a lot. I pupped off the front, found a small 'jewellers' screwdriver that fitted the TORX screw head just fine, popped out all 6 screws and the circuit board lifts off. The headset socket just floats around in there, making contact via sprung metal connectors. I noticed lots of dust (my phone is 18 months old now...), some beard hairs (a unknown hazard of wearing even a short beard!), and I also noticed the 'spring' had gone out of them a bit. So I cleaned it all up, and made the metal connectors stand up a bit more, so when it went back together they had a better purchase on the circuit board. This would also explain why sometimes the mode doesn't change to 'Car' and only goes to 'Headset', or even just stays the same when the phone was plugged in. Tested again and it all worked just fine. Yippee! Drive around ringing people, just to make sure. Yep, all is well. Conclusion: Nokia 8210's not built that solidly, making me doubt if the Saab microphone was working or not. It was, it is fine, people can hear me just great. The reported bizarre cable swapping in the microphone is a little fiddly, but it can be done if needed. Total time, 4 hours. As I say, should only have been 2, but I learned a lot both about the Saab microphone, the THB kit, and the insides of a Nokia 8210! Would I do it again? Definitely. It was all rather simple really, 8 wires, a few screws and sourcing the right bits in the first place. It saved a couple of hundred quid, which for even 4 hours work is worth it. END

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