Audio 15 head unit reference

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
I would like to start a thread to gather together what is known about the Becker Audio 15 head unit and its interface. For starters, I have been unable to find a picture of the back of this unit. So, I pulled mine (2014 chassis) and took some pics.

Removing the unit is easy. Start by prying off the bezel with a thin blade (like a putty knife). The lower cluster of switches comes off with it:
IMG_0024.jpg

You are popping off six spring clips like this:
IMG_0025.jpg

The unit is manufactured by Alpine, and the actual model number is RY2350:
IMG_0026.jpg

You can now remove four star screws and pull the unit.
 

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
Here is what the back looks like:

There are no apparent "extra" aux connections on the unit itself.
IMG_0027.jpg

I guess this is a more-or-less standard FAKRA connector, so it shouldn't be too hard to sort out.
IMG_0028.jpg

IMG_0029.jpg

the green and black connectors are coax.
IMG_0030.jpg

I forgot to take pictures of the red and blue ones, but they are shielded 4-pin connectors.

I know some forum members have some knowledge of this stuff. I would appreciate any contributions to this thread.
 

padman63

New member
Well what I noticed is that the Audio 15 unit is made by Alpine, not Becker. I think that if the unit has NAVI then it is Becker
 

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
Well what I noticed is that the Audio 15 unit is made by Alpine, not Becker. I think that if the unit has NAVI then it is Becker
This unit DOES have Navi. It is a little cartridge that you plug into a socket in the glove box. it does Indeed say "Becker" on the box (who actually built it, I don't know). The head unit is the same with or without nav, as far as I know.
 

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
If you get a sprinter with audio15 does it come with becker or is that another charge
Separate items.

In 2014, one could order one of two radios:

Option EN6 -- "Radio 10", which does not have a full-screen display
Option EN7 -- "Radio 15", [the topic of this thread]

There is also an Option ER0 -- "Radio prep" which is a prewire for aftermarket radios. N.B.: it does NOT support CAN or steering wheel controls.

The Becker Navigation is Option EV6. It requires Radio 15. The Becker Nav is just a little box--comes separately packaged in the glove box. You open it up and plug it in to the socket that you will find in your glove box if you ordered Radio 15. You can also plug it into a PC (NOT Mac) to get a free update of the maps and software for some period of time (45 days from first use or some such). It plugs into a USB port. This process is fiddly, but I was ultimately able to do it successfully on my Mac using Windows running under Parallels.
 
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Karl2014

New member
I just ordered the color cam on ebay also... seller accepted $650, should have offered $600, lol. Let you know how it goes in a week or so when I get it.
 

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
FAKRA connectors

So, those coaxial connectors are part of the FAKRA standard. There is a standardized mapping of color to standard usage. Here is a table:

fakra.jpg

I found it here:

https://www.vde.com/de/fg/GMM/Arbeitsgebiete/FB1/Download/Documents/MCMS/Schaeffeler_IMS_Automotive_Presentation_GMMWorksho.pdf

Rumor has it that the green connector is the video signal from the backup camera. Green is series "E", which is called "TV1", which makes sense.

I would like to be able to display other video sources on the Audio 15 screen, so I am going to experiment. I found the following dongle from China on eBay:

FAKRA Green.jpg

When it comes, I will use it to try to make an adaptor to let me select other video sources. Stay tuned...
 

Si Nguyen

Member
Thanks for starting the write up on this Avanti. This is very helpful. I also have a 2014 crew van with the Audi15 unit. I just had an aftermarket back-up camera put in and it's working pretty good, but I did not get a good look at the back of the unit. Now I want to put in a CD player in the cubby hole in the console (above the useless cup holder). Is there a way to connect an aftermarket CD player to Audio 15?
 

C O L E M A N F U

King of all Manfu
Curious if you can hook a rear cam to this unit? Looks like the one that came in my van and I am currently running a dedicated monitor but would like to consolidate to a single using the stock radio monitor. I was under the impression this would not accept a cam?

And good write up, thanks.
 

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
Curious if you can hook a rear cam to this unit? Looks like the one that came in my van and I am currently running a dedicated monitor but would like to consolidate to a single using the stock radio monitor. I was under the impression this would not accept a cam?
A backup camera is a factory option, so yes, it is possible. But apparently you need to program the radio through the OBD port in order for it to display the input from the green connector. (I can't confirm this since my van has the factory cam and thus is already enabled).

Check out this thread:

https://sprinter-source.com/forums/showthread.php?p=335367#post335367
 

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
I also have a 2014 crew van with the Audi15 unit. I just had an aftermarket back-up camera put in and it's working pretty good, but I did not get a good look at the back of the unit. Now I want to put in a CD player in the cubby hole in the console (above the useless cup holder). Is there a way to connect an aftermarket CD player to Audio 15?
If you just mean an audio CD player, you can feed it into the Audio 15 via the aux input next to the USB plug up in the shelf above the dashboard. Or, you could use a bluetooth adaptor. But, wouldn't an iPod be easier?

If you wanted to add a video source, wait for the result of my experiment. I don't see why an arbitrary video source connected to the green plug would not display, given that the radio is properly enabled for a backup camera, but we'll see. One would simply press the SYS button and select CAMERA, which isn't too bad. The good news is that the backup guide lines are not displayed in this mode. The bad news is that the "Check Entire Surroundings" text is shown along the top of the screen. It looks like this:

screen backup.JPG

It also looks like the image is not in a 3x4 aspect ratio. It is hard to say whether the image is being letterboxed and cropped or stretched (assuming that the input is NTSC, which it probably is if third-party cameras work). There is also the question of whether the picture is being reversed in the camera or in the head unit. Hopefully it is the former. As I say, we'll see.
 
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chain55105

New member
I just installed an aftermarket backup cam using the green connector on the back of the head unit. Before I used the supplied programmer to tell the sprinter it had a backup cam the sys button would not let me select "camera". The word was present on the screen but I could not select it. After I plugged in the programmer I could select "camera". Not sure this helps but thought I would post it anyway.
 

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
My green FAKRA cable arrived from China:

FAKRAgreen.JPG

So, I cut it in half and made a temporary adaptor from RCA to FAKRA in order to test video input to the green plug on the back of the Audio 15. I fed it from my iPhone using an HDMI dongle and a cheap HDMI to baseband video adaptor. Works great:

IMG_1906.JPG

IMG_1904.JPG

IMG_1907.JPG

IMG_1908.JPG

So, the input from the backup camera is indeed baseband NTSC video, which means that feeding other video sources is easy. Also, the video is not mirrored, as I had feared it might be. There is no apparent way to remove the "Check Entire Surroundings!" message, or the menu stuff at the bottom. The bottom also appears to be a bit truncated in the last image, but I don't know if that is due to the display or to my HDMI converter.

So, this is good. My next step is to make a little box with a FAKRA input, an RCA input, and a FAKRA output. The box will contain a relay which will let me select either the normal backup camera signal, or an external video source. I will control it via a new switch in one of the spare dashboard positions. This way, I will be able to create a VIDEO AUX IN without having to cut any OEM wires.
 
Does anybody have any info on the wiring harness, dash kit, steering wheel control adapter, etc. needed to replace the Audio15 head unit with an aftermarket radio? Have searched around the forums for recommendations and product numbers but can't find anything for the recent model years that have the Audio15 installed.

Thanks.
 

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