Rainy Day Magazine: RainyDayGarage - Harman Kardon Drive+Play Controller Installation

Rainy Day Magazine

"We Entertain When It Rains"

RainyDayGarage...

We decided to install the controller on the panel next to the headunit. There were several reasons for this placement decision. The primary one was there already existed a perfectly sized hole on the panel. The other reasons were: the location is within easy reach while driving and the controller would be next to the volume knob of the headunit.

In order to mount the controller, we had to drill several holes in the cover plate. The outer holes were for the mounting screws. The center hole was fore the controller cable to pass through.

It was easier to finish drilling out the center hole after everything had been mounted because we had something more to hold on to. The center hole must be at least 5/16" in diameter to accommodate the plug.

Note the mounting plate was notched so that the controller would remain attached even if it came loose. In order for the controller to "hang", the notch must be oriented appropriately (180º from insertion). The supplied hex wrench will fit the small anchoring pin at the base...we took care to tighten it just enough to grab.

Now that the controller was mounted on the panel, it was time to install the rest of the Drive+Play. The next segment will show the rest of the installation (display, brain, power connections) in the Boxster.

Harman Kardon

Drive+Play

By Wan Chi Lau

We reported on the the Drive+Play back in June when Harman Kardon announced it at MacWorld Boston.

Harman Kardon recognized that although people want to hook up their iPod to their car's stereo system, controlling it was next to impossible.

The Drive+Play was designed to allow a driver to safely control the iPod's functions with minimal distraction. Of course, the user must still exercise COMMON SENSE while using the Drive+Play... but don't get us started on that :-)

The Drive+Play is now shipping and we got one of the first units available.