Modifry DCI IR works inconsistently
 

Hey all,

Hoping someone can help me out - I just bought a new Alpine CDE-172BT head unit (woohoo, finally will have Bluetooth Audio) :)

I previously had an aftermarket Alpine head unit installed, unfortunately it was so old the wiring harness changed. I had it hooked up to a Modify DCI, the IR version since my Alpine unit did not have a plug for the remote in the back.

Anyway, I installed everything - and the head unit is working fine. I tested it before I mounted it - and the DCI worked fine, 100% - tested all the buttons and everything.

So I mount the new headunit, put everything back together and the DCI doesn't work. I take it out again - it works. Checked all my wiring connections to the DCI - re-did the red power and black ground ones just to be sure and same thing. After playing around with it for awhile - I found that it works fine outside of the mounting point, and I can get it to work for a second or two, if I touch the chassis of the Alpine head unit, then it stops working. So it sounds like a grounding issue - but the headunit itself works fine - so I don't think it is a bad ground - any other ideas on what could be wrong? I don't think it is a fuse, since again the headunit itself works with no issue.

Yes, the Modifry DCI is an infrared device (there are newer versions of it that allow for a direct connection, but I have the older one).

It allows you to maintain the use of your "steering wheel" (really on the S2K it is driver side) stereo controls.

I had bought the Axxess ASWC-1 from Crutchfield with my Alpine HU, but it doesn't work nearly as well as the Modifry unit and since I already have the Modifry one I figured I'd re-use it. Some examples are the Modifry unit with the Modifry factory harness allows for the Mute / Unmute buttons and it allows for "combo" buttons, like pressing the Source and Volume up buttons together to change tracks.

In any case, I'm not sure what ended up doing it - but I re-wired everything and re-positioned the IR blaster and thankfully everything works now!

The issue was your IR receiver. If not positioned correctly it barely works. Just have to find the sweet spot of where to put it.

The weird thing was that before wiring it, I could get it to work consistently by touching the side of the HU, even after letting go - it would work for a few seconds and then stop. I am pretty sure when I did it, I moved my arm away from the HU, so it isn't like I was simply reflecting the IR signal back to the HU. It also worked fine outside of the mounting area - but maybe it was reflecting the IR off of me?

After re-wiring, that is how I figured out I had the IR blaster in the wrong place. I realized when I cupped my hand over the IR blaster, it worked every time.

My old Alpine HU had the IR receiver on the left side near the volume knob, the new Alpine HU has the IR receiver on the right side next to the AUX input.

Anyway - I'm happy it is all working now!

Yeah it fits just fine. Coming from a CDA-9855 (a pretty old Alpine receiver from 2005, but was the top of the line model) - It seems like there are a lot less options on the CDE-172BT. Media Xpander is one that is missing, seems like Alpine has eliminated that feature on most of their head units now though - maybe it was a gimmick? Not sure if I'd miss any of the other options - I seem to remember the list of options was way more extensive on the CDA-9855 though even though I probably didn't use most of it.

Haven't played with it much other than to confirm I could stream Spotify and Waze directions through to the head unit though. Overall I'm happy with it though!