Metra Axxess ASWC Universal Steering Wheel Control Interface (Black)
- For Use with Radios Equipped with OE Steering Control Input
- Universal Steering Wheel Control Interface
- Can be Used On Most Any Vehicle with Steering Wheel Controls
- Retains OEM Steering Wheel Controls
- Auto-Detects Many Vehicle Makes and Aftermarket Radios
Finally, a simple solution to retaining the steering wheel controls of a vehicle when installing an aftermarket stereo. Introducing the Axxess ASWC, from Metra Electronics. This universal steering wheel interface is brand new for the 2010 line of Metra Axxess components and is designed to make the installers life much simpler. Unlike other steering wheel interfaces, the ASWC requires no manual programming. After making all the proper connections, this interface will automatically program itself
List Price: $ 75.69
Price: $ 35.55
Radio Controlled Crazy Taxi (49Mhz) | US $24.99 End Date: Thursday May-24-2012 23:14:13 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $24.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
Guide to Gas Powered Radio Controlled Toys
Article by Ralf Kee
As a growing hobby across the globe there is a large collection of radio controlled products available, which include radio controlled cars, planes, jets, helicopters, boats, tanks and trucks. Many changes and advancements in this hobby have happened over the recent years, especially with the increased interest in gas powered radio controlled cars, which are readily available in the market. Despite both being radio controlled toys, gas powered versus electric can be a difficult choice for a purchaser and present big differences in the type of RC experience you will encounter. To understand the differences between these two let us look at them individually to get to know them better. Just for the record, a radio controlled toy has no connection or cable unlike a remote control toy. The signals are transmitted from the handset to the vehicle using radio waves.
Radio controlled toys are based on Radio Control Technology. It was started way back in the 1950s. Radio controlled cars, for instance, are either battery charged (electric) or gas driven (gas powered). The car is controlled by a radio which is set to the frequency of the vehicle. The car is controlled either by the pistol grip or stick type radio control and usually you can select the type, which is more suitable for you. Both the types have their own methods of controlling the car. Recently some pistol types are available that can combine all controls to be held in one hand. Electric cars are usually powered by small electric motors and re-chargeable cells. Electric cars are considered easier to work with than fuel driven models. Fuel cars use glow-plug engines, which is an internal combustion engine fueled by a mixture of methanol, nitro methane, and oil (in some cases a mixture of synthetic oil & castor oil is used). These cars are also called nitro gas powered RC cars.
Both electric RC vehicles and gas powered RC vehicles need a lot of maintenance such as minor repairs and general upkeep of various parts to continue a clean fine tuned toy. In both these categories, both off-road and on-road vehicles are available in the market. A gas powered radio control car is normally a car that runs on a two-stroke motor. It takes the regular gas (which you put into your regular car), but here comes the interesting part, you will need to add a little bit of oil to the gas before you put it in the radio controlled car. Gas powered RC cars do require a slight bit of maintenance compared to their electric counterparts. You have to clean it completely. And no, we didn’t mean only to wash the vehicle with soap and water. You will have to check the oil regularly. Some parts will easily wear off, which have to be replaced. The vehicle has to be treated properly and if you push it too hard, it will wear down faster. So be careful with gas powered RC use and upkeep. They are surprisingly fine pieces of machinery and should be treated with care in order to get your bang for your buck!
As far as electric radio controlled ready-to-fly RTF helicopters are concerned they are only labeled as such but not necessarily ready-to-fly in reality. Even though the majority of the difficult assembly has been done already, you will have to do the setting up, tuning, and some tinkering before it is ready for its initial take off. Be sure to read the full instructions when your toy arrives as to ensure proper use from the very start. This will help avoid any unexpected issues later on. RC helicopters require more preparation than other vehicles and you have to research each one carefully before purchasing, looking at things like the material type of the toy frame and engine type of the RC toy.
Wait! One more tip before deciding on what type of Radio Controlled toy you wish to add to your RC hobby collection: Before you purchase, determine where you wish to operate your RC toy. Where do you have access to large fields or parks that permit RC airplane or helicopter use? Battery operated vehicles can be run inside, gas operated cannot. On road vehicles can’t be run off road depending on the size of wheels and suspension. From the above both gas and electric radio controlled toys have their pros and cons. It is up to the individual to decide which type of toy—whether it is a boat, helicopter, airplane, car, or truck—suits him/her. The fun of having these kinds of RC vehicles comes with responsibility as well. So take care and enjoy the thrills, which all of these Radio Controlled Toys have to offer! Explore new ways of enjoying your local parks and invite friends to watch your skills of maneuvering a RC jet with a 40-inch wingspan or the impressive car handling around sharp turns in your living room racetrack.
About the Author
For all of your Radio Controlled Toy needs check out our wide selection of information and products at http://www.radiocontrolledtoys4less.com!
Toyota Sienna OEM Gray Driver Airbag Steering w/o Audio 2004 2005 2006 2007
 | US $255.00 End Date: Thursday May-24-2012 23:15:11 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $255.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
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A cool invention that doesn’t live up to potential,
Metra’s ASWC adapter is easy to install (just connect one wire, solder a second, and ground a third), conveniently programs itself automatically, and even lets you remap the buttons manually if you feel like it. It mostly works as advertised, restoring use of the steering wheel buttons that would otherwise become sitting blanks after a stereo upgrade. And according to most user reviews out there, this is the first product on the market that does it right, and reliably.
But one big slip of logic made it through the design process. You know those arrow buttons on your steering wheel? Well, Metra gives you the choice of making those buttons work as 1. a combination of STATION SEEK (in radio mode) and TRACK CHANGE (when playing CDs) or 2. a combination of PRESET CHANGE (radio) and FOLDER CHANGE (CDs). Most people, myself included, prefer the arrow buttons to work as PRESET CHANGE and TRACK CHANGE (which is how they always come from the factory), but that combo’s a no-go. As a result, those of us who listen to radio and CDs equally can only use our steering wheel buttons about half the time. Sigh.
Also, Metra could have done a better job writing instructions, and placing the vehicle-specific wiring info where people can actually find it, instead of burying it in some obscure nether-region of their website. Finally, they should have issued a warning that for this device to work, your new stereo needs a 3.5mm jack in the back. Lower-end models (under $160 in Pioneer’s case) usually don’t.
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|Works great,
I don’t know why you would buy the alternative. I ripped out my PAC SWI jack because it wouldn’t work right. Connected the simple three wires on this unit, turned on the ignition, and the unit programmed itself in about 30 seconds. And it works great! I have all my buttons working on my Chevy truck steering wheel. When I had the PAC SWI Jack installed, it took the installer quite a while to program it, and then I lost two of my steering wheel buttons because he said it just wont work. Now I have everything and it only took me about ten minutes to install the whole thing. And I have never done this before. The website instructions were perfect and easy.
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|Much better than SWI PAC interface,
Initially had the SWI PAC installed. Response delay to button press with SWI PAC was irritating. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. AXXESS ASWC has much faster response. Auto detect function worked as described. Easy install.
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