Ford Focus Sat Nav Unit

[Micro]

You may have a dubious copy of the navigation software. There are many free options available on the Play store, or cheap options (Sygic) that will work with the android versions. Depending on what version of the radio you have, there is plenty of third party firmware you can try. Malaysk's firmware is the one I run, makes it more responsive and usable (xda-developers).

[FatHead1979]

On 10/4/2018 at 9:55 PM, Micro said:

You may have a dubious copy of the navigation software. There are many free options available on the Play store, or cheap options (Sygic) that will work with the android versions. Depending on what version of the radio you have, there is plenty of third party firmware you can try. Malaysk's firmware is the one I run, makes it more responsive and usable (xda-developers).

I suspect (from what i can see from the world's tiniest screenshots ) at the bottom of page 1, the unit is a lower spec "Windows CE" unit which would also mean it doesn't run on Android (Windows CE 6.0) so there isn't an "App Store" as such.  Any software will need to be manually installed via microsd/USB card and a bit tricker to obtain.

[Daviddowns]

Thanks for the reply, what i want to know if i get an andriod one will i be able to update this.and what one would you recommend.

[FatHead1979]

4 minutes ago, Daviddowns said:

Thanks for the reply, what i want to know if i get an andriod one will i be able to update this.and what one would you recommend.

With the Android units you can use whichever Satnav software you want, I've gone for Google maps (offline) so I can download the maps beforehand and just my cellular signal to get the traffic/accident updates which only uses a tiny amount of data.  I've gone for the highest spec MK2 Focus specific model they had Xtrons PB78FSFP, they also do it in silver and it's worked nicely from day 1, I've also got the USBDAB01 dongle.  The unit is nice and quick, it also has to memory card slots that each support up to 128GB and 3 USB's on the rear so I'm not going to be running out of storage any time soon.

[Daviddowns]

Thanks for that Damian, I will order one as soon as he is back from holidays, It looks great I will sale the one I have got it works well I just can not update it, Coming back from France It was great all the way there, but coming back I had booked hotel for over night stop the sat/nav coud not find it it went completly wrong.

Thanks for all your help.    David

[FatHead1979]

14 minutes ago, Daviddowns said:

hanks for that Damian, I will order one as soon as he is back from holidays, It looks great I will sale the one I have got it works well I just can not update it, Coming back from France It was great all the way there, but coming back I had booked hotel for over night stop the sat/nav coud not find it it went completly wrong.

Thanks for all your help.    David

No worries mate, because it's Ford specific the loom it comes with has everything already connected up for the steering wheels controls etc it's just a case of plugging it into the quadlock and connecting the antenna(s).

(I bought mine from this eBay listing seller with a UK returns address on eBay and it dropped the cost to £239.99, I did use their support to return a different item and it all went smoothly)

Don't forget to post how you get on!

[Daviddowns]

Hi Damian I have got the same one as you, working fine but I can not get the lights to work on the unit, I can change the colour to red as I want, but they do not come on when I put the lights on,I just wondered if there is a switch some where,  any help would be usefull.

Thanks David

[FatHead1979]

8 minutes ago, Daviddowns said:

Hi Damian I have got the same one as you, working fine but I can not get the lights to work on the unit, I can change the colour to red as I want, but they do not come on when I put the lights on,I just wondered if there is a switch some where,  any help would be usefull.

Thanks David

I thought you'd like it mate.  If I remember correctly, the ACC (ignition) feed (I think it's the red cable) has 2 options when coming FROM the headunit, on the harness there's the ACC cable and 1 or 2 others that terminate in some sort of little "push fit" fitting.  This fitting can either plug into the main loom which ultimately connects directly into the big Ford quadlock connector or it can be plugged into the little canbus (steering wheel control) box, I think the ACC wiring has to go to the canbus box rather than the main loom so that the head unit button illumination is linked to whether you have the exterior lights on.

I've just got mine set to stay on all the time (or at least, all the time when the head unit is powered on).

[Daviddowns]

Thanks for that Damian, I will try that let you know how I get on.

Regards David

[Daviddowns]

Hi Damian, I also got the   USBDAB01Dongle, how did you get on with it I got Mine connected but will not connect to sat/nav or Google. Can you offer any help.

David

[FatHead1979]

1 hour ago, Daviddowns said:

Hi Damian, I also got the   USBDAB01Dongle, how did you get on with it I got Mine connected but will not connect to sat/nav or Google. Can you offer any help.

David

Reyt, well 1st things first.  The dongle is purely for DAB/DAB+ radio, when the dongle is plugged into one of the USB ports on the head unit it should automatically install a stock app called "DAB+", this app may already be installed.

The "stock" version of the app is a generic version that is less than great.  A software developer called "Zoulou" has been regularly updating and rewriting the source code to steadily improve the app, it used to have to be manually installed off a USB/microSD card but is now on the play store as an app called "DAB-Z".  So assuming that everything works with the "DAB+" app, the next thing I'd do is uninstall the stock DAB+ app and then install DAB-Z from Google Play store.  The 1st time the app (either app) loads you need to set off a station search, it'll take about 2 minutes or so and then you'll have all the detected stations to choose from.  Zoolou's version of the app is also a lot better for things like if you want to add a logo pack for the radio stations and signal retention ability etc.

Regarding the sat sav, have you got the GPS receiver plugged into the head unit and if so, where have you got the receiver situated?  (I put mine at the inside bottom of the passenger side a pillar, good solid reception and out of sight, with the cable running behind the glove box and up to the head unit).  The head unit has a basic app for testing the GPS signal, I can't remember what it's called off the top of my head but assuming the receiver is plugged into the head unit I'd suggest running the app (you should easily be able to find it in your main app list) to see what reception it's getting for the various satellites it should be picking up.  (At least we'll know if you're head unit is picking up a GPS signal and how strongly).

Regarding the other point (Google), if you mean "connecting to the internet", the head unit has wifi capability and a decent antenna it just needs connecting to a network e.g. home, just like you would with a phone, tablet or laptop.  Xtrons do also offer a 4G dongle that you can put a data sim in but it's really not necessary in my opinion as long as you have a smartphone with at least a few 100MB off data allowance each month.  Just use wifi to do any big app updates and put your phone in hotspot mode when driving so it can ping for data (things like traffic updates etc).  To minimise the data use by the head unit I downloaded a navigation app that allows you to download maps offline i.e. wifi (Google Maps Offline) and then the only (phone/cellular) data the head unit will use is the tiny amount from when it pings for a traffic update.

[Daviddowns]

Hi Damian, Thanks for your reply I have a good GPS signal, if I park right next to my house  I get Wi Fi ok but that is from my modem in doors. What I want is to use the dongle, it should be so easy but it is not, I saw some one install dongle on his unit same dongle I have and it worked ok connected to internet so Saturday I am going to do just like he did and if that does not work my phone in hot spot and see how that works. wish me luck     David

[FatHead1979]

The USBDAB01 dongle is for digitial radio (DAB/DAB+) only, the only "internet" capability the head unit has (without buying the 4G dongle) is through wifi.  For the DAB radio dongle to work it also needs to be connected to the supplied DAB antenna.

[Daviddowns]

Hi Damian Just a head up to let you know that all is well now , Its a great unit and I am well satisfied with it .

Thanks for all your help.      David

[FatHead1979]

1 hour ago, Daviddowns said:

Hi Damian Just a head up to let you know that all is well now , Its a great unit and I am well satisfied with it .

Thanks for all your help.      David

You're welcome mate.  I'm into my tech/gadgets, my day job is a technical IT role and I'm not easily impressed with gadgets but I've been impressed by this unit (especially for the price) so I thought you'd like it once you got it all setup.  Plus, with it being a "plain" Android unit rather than a custom Pioneer/Sony one, you can install any Android app you want without any restrictions (just like an Android phone).

Enjoy 

[davidoneman]

Hi sorry to jump in but ive got a 57 reg focus , is this one of head units some of you have. https://m.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m4084.l1313&_nkw=371975730888 . Will this fit my focus ok and are the reversing cameras easy to fit ? Cheers 

[FatHead1979]

17 minutes ago, davidoneman said:

Hi sorry to jump in but ive got a 57 reg focus , is this one of head units some of you have. https://m.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m4084.l1313&_nkw=371975730888 . Will this fit my focus ok and are the reversing cameras easy to fit ? Cheers 

Assuming you have the "oval" shape head unit then it'll fit, the reversing camera is just 1 cable that plugs into the back of the unit.  The PDAB71FSF that you linked to is a more basic unit that runs on Windows CE (not Android) so you're more or less stuck with whatever apps come installed on it.  It should get the job done but without the bells and whistles.

[davidoneman]

So better off spending abit more on a better unit  , and yes its the oval unit i have cheers 

[FatHead1979]

21 hours ago, davidoneman said:

So better off spending abit more on a better unit  , and yes its the oval unit i have cheers 

Yup, I went for the cheapest Xtrons model with only 1GB RAM and it was SLOWWWW!

 

The next 2 models up are PA77FSFP and PB78FSFP (the one I've got), features wise they're pretty similar.

PA77FSFP:

• Android 7.1 (Nougat)
• Quad core CPU (older version)
• 2GB RAM
• 16GB storage
• 2 microSD card slots that each support 128GB cards
• Multiple USB's on the rear
• Ford specific canbus box so the steering wheel controls should just work
• DVD drive

 

PB78FSFP:

• Android 8.0 (Nougat)
• Octo core CPU (modern version)
• 4GB RAM
• 32GB storage
• 2 microSD card slots that each support 128GB cards
• Multiple USB's on the rear
• Ford specific canbus box so the steering wheel controls should just work
• DVD driver

 

Both can be upgraded in terms of features by adding additional USB modules such as the DAB+ tuner or reversing camera etc.