• If you currently own, previously owned or want to own an Avalanche, we welcome you to become a member today. Membership is FREE, register now!

OnStar is now GONEstar ! bluetooth integration

Mike Mercury

Full Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2009
Messages
146
Location
Dayton, Ohio
(mods, this is specific to the 2007 & newer Avy)

my free one-year OnStar subscription is up in a few days; called to see what my options were.  I only use the built-in cell phone... and nothing else.  As all of you probably know - you can't just renew the cell phone portion... you must also have OnStar as well.  Ya know, GM could of continued making a small profit selling me more minutes without OnStar; but instead decided to get nothing from me (since I will not pay $15/month additionally for OnStar AND buy minutes as well).

Like many, I have a perfectly good cell phone with bluetooth capabilities.  My goals for integration into my 2008 Avalanche were:

*hands free operation
*dialing by voice - speaking the name of a contact list entry
*dialing by voice - speaking the actual telephone number (AKA: digit dialing... just like the OnStar cell setup)
*no additional  external speaker - integration into the existing car radio (similar to OnStar cell)
*no external microphone
*no external controller

a totally hidden installation.

First; the bluetooth car kit (integration to follow later below)
I found two bluetooth handsfree car kits that would allow for digit dialing; and decided on the Motorola IHF1000 model after reading reviews.
moto.jpg

(yep; I know you see the external controller, external speaker, and microphone... I'll get to those reworks later below)

The IHF1000 comes as a complete handsfree bluetooth solution; minus the integration into an existing car radio system. The unit has flying leads that can mute a radio and provide L/R audio to a car radio input -  if you can figure out how to connect it into your existing radio.

moto-control.JPG

Below is a description of the supplied buletooth  controllers operation; though in the final  configuration ? the Bluetooth controller is not used; instead the existing steering wheel buttons will do the controlling. 

the blue buttons on the right are receive volume control.

To answer the call, you push the typical green button.  To hangup, you press the red button.  When receiving a call, the IHF1000 bluetooth girl announces "call (followed by the phone number)".  If you don't recognize the number or don't want to take the call regardless...  press the red button and  the bluetooth girl speaks "call ended".
To make a call, you press the center "M" button, the BT girl says "ready for command" and then you hear a beep (meaning the unit is now listening for your voice). your voice command choices are:
* "dial number" and it prompts you to speak the actual phone number
* "phone voice tag (name)" this will use voice command already in your cell phone (assuming it has the capability)
* "call (IHF1000 contact name)"  The IHF1000 allows you to store a contact list within itself; along with it's own voice tags. Although my cell phone probably allows for voice dialing, I've never set it up.  And I don't have to now because I elected to use the built in voice-tag contact list of the IHF1000.  In this setup I say "call Yvonne work" or "call home".  It repeats it and asks for a yes/no confirmation.

during an incoming call, the BT girl says either "call from  936-827-1234" or "call from: Yvonne work" if that number is stored in the contact list.

This IHF1000 car kit is exactly like the reviews I read, very capable, extremely clean audio in both directions.  The setup config, bluetooth pairing,  and contact list insertions are all done via voice. If more indepth  vehicle integration is not on your want-list... you need go no further !

The only wiring was a ground, batt, and ignition connection (although there are line-level audio wires and a mute wire for advanced integration).  
The device syncs-up with your phone as soon as the key is turned to start the engine.

Vehicle Integration
I located two interfaces that would connect the IHF1000 bluetooth car kit into the existing radio system... that used existing buttons already in the vehicle (no need to use the external controller supplied with the hands-free car kit).  

One used the existing OnStar mirror buttons and the existing microphone; which at-first sounded perfect. Sadly though, it required the disabling (unplugging) of the OnStar module; thus rendering the OnStar system inoperative.  I wanted OnStar to still work.

The other integration system used the existing  radios steering-wheel buttons to control the bluetooth when on a call... and switch back to radio control when not on a call.  With this setup ( the PAC BLU-GM29):
PAC-LOGO.JPG

it did not disable Onstar... they both still work; and this is the  unit I went with. Although; it still requires the use of an external microphone (but I hid it anyways in the factory location - more on this later below).
One cool thing about the PAC BLU-GM29 is it sends  operational text to be displayed on  the DIC... using the vehicles data bus (more on that later).

The PAC BLU-GM29:
pac.JPG

has a radio harness with the necessary male/female radio connectors for my 2008 Avalanche.  Installation was quick, easy, no cutting of wires. It also has a harness to connect to three different hands-free car kits:  the Motorola IHF1000, the Parrot CK3000, and the EGO Talk.  During a phone call, the callers voice is heard through the radios front speakers; the car-kits supplied external speaker is not used.

Here is how the GM-BLU29 uses the steering-wheel controls for the phone:
sw.JPG

pac-cont.JPG


Typical operational scenario:
Steering Wheel buttons are controlling the radio - and then  a call comes in - the radio is muted (and the little cell icon shows up on the radios display).  As the IHF1000 BT girl announces the call, press the SW up-arrow button  to answer- or press the down arrow to reject.   At the end of the call, press the down arrow SW button, the BT girl says "call ended" and then the radio is unmuted and the SW buttons are automatically switched to controlling the radio.  During the call, the SW volume buttons  still control the radios volume - increasing/decreasing the callers voice amplitude.

To place a call, you first press and hold  the SW "SRCE" button until you hear a beep; and the DIC displays:
bt-on.JPG

this lets you know that the SW controls have been manually switched to control the phone.  Then press the right arrow voice-command SW button to speak the dial command.  At the end of this call - once you press the down arrow end-call button, the SW controls again are automatically switched back over to the radio.

During a call the DIC displays this message:
bt-call.JPG


THere is a way to adjust the IHF1000's volume - independantly of the radios volume.  When in this mode the DIC displays:
bt-vol.JPG

but this adjustment is made only one time... trying to match the callers voice level to the radios normal volume level setting.  Once you get it matched - you'll never need to get into this mode again.  From then on, the callers voice level will be adjusted solely by the radio.

The only thing left is the external microphone.  I have to use it (my only other choice was using the other interface that disabled OnStar all-together).  I removed the overhead console and placed it on my work bench:
overhead1.JPG


notice the location of the factory OnStar mic and another identical "vent" (grille) on the opposite side.  Here is what's underneath:
overhead2.JPG

the notches in the unused vent are not punched through. I opened them up,  and moved the OnStar mic to that position - and mounted the BT car-kits mic in the OnStars original location (I removed the guts from the car kit mics  little black housing):
overhead3.JPG


If you're not bothered using the car-kits external microphone as it comes in the kit... then you don't need to go this extra step.  I wanted a totally hidden installation.

Operation of this is almost exactly  to the factory OnStar cell.  In fact,  the IHF1000 BT girl sounds very similar to the  girls voice with the OnStar system.

there was plenty of room under the center console  to locate  the modules:
console.JPG


the only real wiring I had to do was:

IHF1000..........................PAC BLU-GM29
Green-------------------------Red (provides the switched accessory 12v to the Moto BT module...with RAP)
Black--------------------------Black (ground)
Orange-----------------------White/Blue (left audio)
Blue---------------------------Black/White (right audio)
Yellow------------------------Yellow/Red (mute signal)

Red--------------------------- to vehicles BATT feed (I connected to the cigar plugs + wire)

The IHF1000 and PAC BLU-GM29 are still powered  during RAP after you turn off the ignition (until the timer times-out or you open the drivers door).  

 
I just realized I didn't say anything about costs.  I did a lot of searches; bought the IHF1000 BT car kit on eBay for $97, and the BLU-GM29 interface from another web site for $89... $186 total shipped.
 
WOW, excellent example of a great mod worked out and explained very well!  (y)
 
Great mod  (y) This looks like it could be a perfect mod for Av's like ours, 2002 without On-Star, as well. Thanks for posting this up Mike.
 
Chopped_Burban said:
: This looks like it could be a perfect mod for Av's like ours, 2002 without On-Star, as well.

you can do a search "by vehicle" on the PAC website:
http://www.pac-audio.com/
near the bottom of the page.

Here is what they have listed for a 2002 Avalanche:
http://www.pac-audio.com/productDetails.aspx?ProductId=927&CategoryID=25

The bluetooth car kit is not vehicle specific. You only need a vehicle specific interface if you seek  ease of  integration to your factory car radio & possibly use existing controls... and the other geeky features it may offer.

The Motorola BT car kit's controller is not all that large, and is not ugly by any means.  The IFH1000 can be used as a stand-alone system... by itself
 
I may be stepping on your post BUT i have looked high and low for a system for my 02 Avalanche as of the switch to didgal my truck became an orphan and I've found nothing that will work in my truck.
        Sorry for the rant but am loosing hair over this
 
Mike, awesome post but I have a question: does this system override the On-Star network and simply use the vehicle's hardware as a carrier for your phone's signal?  In other words you are not using On-Star at all?
 
SCOTTS said:
Mike, awesome post but I have a question: does this system override the On-Star network and simply use the vehicle's hardware as a carrier for your phone's signal?  In other words you are not using On-Star at all?

this does not interfere with OnStar (though my post heading may have been misleading).  My Onstar freebie ends tomorrow... and I was able to use the OnStar system and my cell via BT.  Obviously not simultanoiusly... but was able to make & receive calls from both systems.

from everything I've read; if I'm on a BT call and have a crash... OnStar can still "dial out" and report what the sensors have recorded.
 
nfhjr said:
I may be stepping on your post BUT i have looked high and low for a system for my 02 Avalanche as of the switch to didgal my truck became an orphan and I've found nothing that will work in my truck.
        Sorry for the rant but am loosing hair over this

does your 2002 have the "amplified" premium sound system ?
 
Very cool thanks Mike, my subscription is coming up for renew in Feb, I may go this route myself.  But question..I don't have the center console, I have the flip up seat, so any ideas where the GM29 would plug in and/or mount.  I think my On* module is behind the glovebox, but that is just a guess.  How detailed are the instruction with this thing.  Thanks
 
Mike Mercury said:
Red--------------------------- to vehicles BATT feed (I connected to the cigar plugs + wire)

The IHF1000 and PAC BLU-GM29 are still powered  during RAP after you turn off the ignition (until the timer times-out or you open the drivers door). 

Mike,

Great post!!  I also have a 2008 AV and am interested in blue tooth integration.  One question, though...if you provide power to the unit via "cigar plugs" (cigarette lighter plug I presume), then would it not remain powered?  I am confident that both of my lighter plugs are hot all the time.  I may be missing or misunderstanding something??
 
rodderik said:
Mike. Thanks for the great post. This is very helpful information. I want to do this to my Avi too. Could you have a look a BlueSTAR 2010 and tell me what you think about it. Thanks!  www.costartech.com

I looked at the Bluestar; was impressed.  But -as far as I could determine-  you buy the  interface AND the BT car kit from them... as a set.  Problem for me was they didn't offer the Motorola IHF1000; only the 850.  The 850 is a good BT device - except it lacked "digit dialing".  If digit dialing isn't important to you, then this gives you yet another choice.  Having choices is a good thing
yesnod.gif


I contacted Costartech asking about the 1000 that I wanted.  I got back a response that was kinda like "you don't need the 1000; buy ours with the 850..."
rolleyes5.gif


Another thing about the Bluestar was that it disables OnStar altogether.  If that's not a concern... then it's a non-worry for you.

from the Costartech website: Due to the complex nature in which the BlueSTAR communicates with the radio, it is not currently possible to have both devices on the Class2 data bus at the same time.  There are several other issues including interfacing to the audio of the microphone and radio as well as sharing both the buttons and LED.

Their new 2010 product may have some improvements.
 
TexasPilot said:
One question, though...if you provide power to the unit via "cigar plugs" (cigarette lighter plug I presume), then would it not remain powered?  I am confident that both of my lighter plugs are hot all the time.  I may be missing or misunderstanding something??

read reply #19 below :)

My original fear was worrying about the need to re-learn the SW button functions.  But just after a few days... i'm not needing to remember anything.  For receiving calls; it's either up arrow answer - or down arrow  hang-up.  That took about 2 seconds to retain.  :)  Making a call, I haven't done it enough yet to not have to think about it first.  What's nice is the PAC interface displaying operational text on the DIC.

BTW, on the Motorola IFH1000 BT car kit... the BT girl can be too "chatty" at times.  In the setup function you can command  "disable prompts" and from  then on  when placing a call - you only get a beep (which signals you to speak a command... such as "dial number" or "call home" or "Setup menu...").  With the prompts disabled - you still get callerID announce though.
 
Mike Mercury said:
ya know, I could of sworn that the cigar lighter plugs were switched.  But in my 2008, they remained powered... even after the RAP timed out.  I stopped monitoring  after that.  They may indeed eventually power off at some unknown timing interval;  - and if so... it doesn't seem to effect the operation of anything.  So far,  everything has worked perfectly.
I use some cell phone chargers that have lights indicating power.  I can tell you that they stay hot at all times.  I doubt there's enough draw from the bluetooth units to cause any problems, but it may explain why it doesn't have to re-learn the SW codes.  Good stuff!  I'm going to have to do this!   (y)
 
nfhjr said:
Question: how do you tell if you have the "amplified" premium sound system

for the 2002 (and I'm guessing somewhat here) if you show the RPO code "Y91"... then you have the amplified speaker system. And for 2003 & 2004 Avy... either the "Y91" code - or the "UQ7".  If you have the UQ7 - then you  will not also show the Y91 (though it still means amplified speakers).


hopefully; someone else here will be able to offer info that is not guessed-at. :)
 
rodderik said:
Mike.  Thanks for having a look at the BlueSTAR 2010. I think I will be going with it just because it is simple plug and play. Just like me.  

The Bluestar uses the existing factory microphone; for me that was their strong point.  That would of eliminated me having to either mount a remote mic somewhere - or modding my overhead console to hide the additional piece.  I was REAL CLOSE to purchasing the Costartech.

As strange as it sounds... I digit-dial a lot more than voicetag dial - and needed that feature.  We're all different; that's why there are variations among similar products.
As long as you know what a product  does (and what it doesn't do) and it still  fits your needs... go for it !  The Costartech has to be the most effortless to install.
 
TexasPilot said:
One question, though...if you provide power to the unit via "cigar plugs" (cigarette lighter plug I presume), then would it not remain powered?  I am confident that both of my lighter plugs are hot all the time. 

I mis-read your question !!!

There are two power wires you connect.  One to a BATT feed, and the other to an ignition switched 12v source.

What was great about the PAC BLU-GM29 interface is that it provided the ignition-switched source... and it was RAP retained.  So the only connections I had to hunt-down were the ground and BATT (constant-on); the cigar lighter had both these wires.
 
I've enjoyed following this thread.  Thanks for the detailed information.  I was curious if you had considered the Scosche BlueFusion device?  I have one in my 2007 and it works pretty well.  It's not perfect, but does get the job done.  Connecting it was a five minute operation.
 
Personally, I think OnStar is the greatest thing since ice cream.  I love the turn by turn navigation and the hands free calling feature.  More importantly, the airbag deployment feature if you are in an accident.
 
Mike Mercury said:
I mis-read your question !!!

There are two power wires you connect.  One to a BATT feed, and the other to an ignition switched 12v source.

What was great about the PAC BLU-GM29 interface is that it provided the ignition-switched source... and it was RAP retained.  So the only connections I had to hunt-down were the ground and BATT (constant-on); the cigar lighter had both these wires.

Gotcha, Mike.  Thanks again!  One last question (I think).  How did you run the wire from the microphone down to the equipment stored under the armrest?  I've never dug under these panels much less the overhead.  Once I solve this question I think I'm going to order the parts and put it all together.  One other thing I think I will do is simply utilize the second overhead microphone vent for the bluetooth mic that way I don't have to relocate the original OnStar mic.  I presume you swapped them out so that the bluetooth mic was closer to the driver position, but please let me know if there's another reason I'm not considering.  I think the alternate position is still plenty close enough.
 
pblake2649 said:
Personally, I think OnStar is the greatest thing since ice cream.  I love the turn by turn navigation and the hands free calling feature.  More importantly, the airbag deployment feature if you are in an accident.

Yes, I think most of us agree on this.  That's why I want to do this mod so that I can keep the OnStar functionality for exactly the issues you mention.  We just don't want to keep paying Verizon for the telephone feature when we can simply use the unused minutes on our cell phones sitting there in the truck with us.  (y)

Welcome to the group.  I'm new here too. :welcome:
 
pblake2649 said:
Personally, I think OnStar is the greatest thing since ice cream.  I love the turn by turn navigation and the hands free calling feature.  More importantly, the airbag deployment feature if you are in an accident.

And that's why one of my goals was to keep OnStar intact.  But I don't know of anyone that doesn't have a GPS these days for driving directions.  Heck; my TouchPro2 cell phone has GPS and Google Maps... with voice directions.  I do understand -though- that many people don't like having to lug around an additional piece of equipment.  The OnStar being built-in... is convenient.

TexasPilot said:
Go  How did you run the wire from the microphone down to the equipment stored under the armrest? 

it wasn't all that difficult.  There's a lot of room already under the drivers side dash  to snake the wire through.  The windshield post trim  came off easily; pry-out a colored plastic plug and remove a single 7mm hex-head screw... then pull the piece loose.  This made the running of the mic wire upwards (to the ceiling) extremely easy.

TexasPilot said:
One other thing I think I will do is simply utilize the second overhead microphone vent for the bluetooth mic that way I don't have to relocate the original OnStar mic.  I presume you swapped them out so that the bluetooth mic was closer to the driver position,


yep; that was the sole reason.  I don't know if I really needed to have it closer or not.  Ya know, if you don't mind the looks of the little microphone in it's plastic housing - just mount it externally; and/or mount  temporarily to that farther position and make a few test calls before you finalize the installation.

Scosche BlueFusion device

I looked at that one - and don't remember why I counted it out.  There's more than one way to get the end result; my selections are just one of many possibilities out there.


 
Back
Top