Pumpkin Android 8.0 for MX-5 Venture

Hi all, I am looking at replacing the standard TomTom sat nav unit with Pumpkin. I have searched the reviews and guides but majority of people seem to change the stereo from a model with standard/Bose radio but I haven’t seen anything for Venture.

It already has a double din size fascia plate, bluetooth and microphone as standard.

Would I need to buy anything apart from the unit itself? Any suggestions on DAB antenna which I assume I would need? My partner would be doing the fitting himself (I’m a lucky lady!) but just a bit stuck on what we actually need to buy with the unit. I am mainly after DAB and also want steering wheel controls to be connected to the new unit.

Thank you in advance! 

Evelina

That unit requires a separate dab module the connects via USB. I didn’t buy the pumpkin one, but a cheaper one from eBay that came in a nice metal box rather than a plastic dongle. Antenna wise it came with a windscreen mount but I swapped out my normal anetenma for a combined dab one.,which works great and looks more or less standard. I put some pics in the other thread about the pumpkin.

the mic is a little non standard so not sure how well it will work with a built in one from your car, you will need to change connector for sure as for some strange reason its on a phono connector.

sterring wheel controls on the pumpkin are base on resistive functions,must check you car does not use can bus

Hi Ben, thanks so much for your reply.

Is there any chance you could send links for everything you had to buy to fit it or list items that you had to buy? It would be a massive help.

I understand the DAB antenna just replaces the normal antenna on the boot, we were looking at Kinetic ones from dabonwheels, is that similar to what you have?

Thanks again for your help, much appreciated!

Evelina

The main bits I bought other than the obvious radio and facia / fittings etc are (Items clickable to take you to where I purchased them):-

DAB Antenna. This needs a mounting hole slightly smaller than the OEM antenna. So you need to make a little washer to go on the inside when you fit it. Don’t use anythign too thick as you want the sharp bits to go through it and into the metalwork of the car to make sure you get a good ground. I used the lid off a tin can. That bent nicely to the curve of the rear wing as well. I then put some silicone in to make sure there was no water ingress issues.

DAB Receiver. This is the DAB receiver I purchased. Its in a nicer case than the plastic dongle, and I found that it fitted really nicely on the transmission tunnel below the radio. (if you take the trim out below the radio, where the heated seat button are you can get at it easily. I taped it down with some 3M double sided tape). That keeps it out of the way, and does not take up any extra space behind the radio. Also you will be running the antenna cable from the boot along that transmission tunnel, so its in the right place. 

USB DashCam This is a bit hit and miss. Not the camera, but the rubbish software that comes with the pumpkin. It supposed to start it for you every time you turn the ignition on, but in reality it often does not. So I’m considering ditching this and getting a dedicated dash cam. The last thing I want is for it not to record something when I needed it to. For the moment I just make sure its recording. 

Apple CarPlay dongle. I have only just got this and am still playing with it. Most of the time it works really well. Occasionally it has USB problems in the fact that there is a lot of data going on with it and the DAB receiver. If it does that I have to kill the DAB app, and then its fine. If you background this app (zBox) the audio can get a bit choppy sometimes. I think its a pretty intensive app for USB data. I suspect if I could find a way to give a higher priority to the app for background use it would be ok. Other things to note about this is it needs to have its own USB port. I have a USB Hub fitted on the second USB port for the DAB and dash cam. The first USB hub I was using caused me all sorts of problems, but the second one I had was fine.

I fitted this next to the DAB receiver (under the trim) and have a USB socket come out in the centre storage box (cup holders removed, and the more useful storage box fitted as per MX5Parts) that I can just plug my phone into.

Double USB Socket. This is fitted into the centre storage box I mention above. One of the sockets is to the USB hub for whatever (memory stick etc), and the second one is connected to the CarPlay Dongle, so its just a small lead I need to plug into my phone, and not a big bulky dongle.

ISO Adapter. I mention in the other thread that I actually cut this up and soldered it to the Pumpkin harness to save space and make it easier to fit the radio. You don’t need to do this as there is space behind the radio but it makes it a little easier.

Anti glare filter for the screen. I had to cut this to size, Not perfect but its much easier to see in direct sunlight.

4G Wifi Access Point. This just plugs into a 5V power supply, not the USB on the pumpkin. It gives me a 4G wifi network in the car that the pumpkin can connect to for google maps etc. This is because the pumpkin unit can not work with iPhone hotspots for some reason. No issue with android ones as I tried it with my colleagues phone. It also saves you the effort of switching the hotspot on all the time when you get in the car.

I found the bluetooth audio unusable on the unit, it was really choppy, and I like to listen to a lot of podcasts from my phone. So I was using the AUX input but now I use the CarPlay and its brilliant. So much more volume and full control from the screen. Call quality is also much better. That was rubbish via bluetooth as well. I could never hear anybody on it.

I use a really good launcher called FCC Launcher. It integrates well into pumpkin giving a lot of useful features. The link I gave is to a (long) thread all about it. The dev is really responsive and is adding features all the time.

I think thats it, but feel free to ask anything you want to know.

 

Some of the other bits I didn’t list above that might also be useful for people

USB Dash Socket

USB Power Supply

Mazda Facia

I have just installed the latest update, and it’s fixed the iPhone wifi hotspot connection issue. It connects easily now every time so the 4g wifi hotspot dongle I list above is not needed anymore.