"Mute" wire on Blinder?

[drb]

Is it normally grounded and goes to +12v when the Blinder is jamming, or what?

[sethy]

I thought the mute wire was to kill the stereo when it is alerting.

[drb]

True, but my stereo doesn't have any kind of "mute" input, so I'm wondering what kind of other trouble I can get in to with that output. (Like laying down an oil slick, or have my James Bond license plate flow down out of sight :twisted: )

More likely example - a relay to kick off the cruise control when the Blinder alerts.

I'm just wondering what voltage is "normal" on that lead, and what the voltage is when the Blinder alerts. My guess is that it's normally "0" and goes to +12v when the Blinder alerts....

[sethy]

The voltage on your car or the blinder itself?

[EastGermanOlympicJudge]

The voltage on your car or the blinder itself?

The steering wheel voltage, he means. Like when it goes off, your hands get a shock. Doesn't yours have this feature??

Actually he's talking, I think, about the blue wire. Most stereos have a "mute" lead, which mutes the output when voltage is applied, just for issues like this. I know the blinder sounds really loud to most people, but what about going 90mph in a convertible with the stereo blasting? I can't hear my X50 at all under certain circumstances.

Give me an hour so I can have my coffee and take a shower. I'll go outside and test with my voltmeter. I can't "make" it go off, so I'll assume that the voltage is applied during the power-on self-test, also. We'll see.

[EastGermanOlympicJudge]

OK I'm not an expert, but I'll tell you what I found. All measurements were taken against the same ground used by the Blinder itself. FWIW this is not a "switched" power; I can have the Blinder powered on even when the key is out of the ignition.

With the Blinder switch turned off, I measure a constant MINUS 0.3V from the blue "mute" lead. During the two-second self test after turning the switch on, I measure a definite spike to MINUS 12V. While in normal operating mode (Blinder powered on, no alert, green light), it settled to a constant MINUS 0.075V (just under a tenth of a volt negative).

All the negatives suggest that I might have had my leads backwards, but I don't think so. Like I said I'm not an expert! Hope this helps.

[mobilecentre]

Most european radios and indeed cell phone kits use a negative mute. Ie the units holds to earth when triggered

[Radar Roy]

Don't connect the blue wire unless you have the same wire for your car radio...

[synmoo]

Stereos with a cyan (light blue) colored wire for mute are anticiapting a short to ground on that lead. If you tap that wire to the ground while the stereo is on it should mute or as some call it, attenuate.

I would ASSUME that if this is the blinder's intention, that mute lead from the blinder should show a short to ground during an alert and nothing at all the rest of the time.

If that is the case, connect a fused +12v to one side of the relay coil and the blinder mute wire to the other side of the relay coil. If you hear a click from the relay during the alert/self test you've done it right.