16.08.2003 Saab telephone harness The first, and the most expensive part you need is the Saab telephone harness. Part #30567734, price $17.49. My dealership didn't have it in stock, and I was the first customer to ever ask about it. The warehouse also had it on back order, so it took them over a week to find the part for me. The harness comes in a rather large box and has a manual in 7 languages containing brief installation instructions and connection specifications.		16.08.2003 A phone plug and a switch Your next stop is Radio Shack. If your phone has a 2.5 mm jack, the plug is $3.99 (part #274-298). Typically, the tip of the connector is the microphone, the middle contact is the output, and the big ring is the ground. If don't want to bother soldering, or if your phone has a proprietary connector, just get a cheap earpiece or a hands-free set and cut the wires off. Also, if your phone does not support muting the radio, a push-button switch will cost you $4.79 (part #275-1565).
	16.08.2003 Cell phone The essential part, a cellular phone. This one can be obtained for free with a year subscription from a local provider (Rogers AT&T).		16.08.2003 Dead mouse A dead mouse, $0. I get a long flexible cable, my two year old son gets a new toy. He's already got a keyboard of his own, so this would be a logical addition.
	16.08.2003 Cradle A $10 phone cradle from a local hardware store. It comes with a swivel base that sticks to the dashboard.		16.08.2003 Cradle dissection The cradle is taken apart to cut a hole for the switch.
	16.08.2003 Cradle with cable The cable has five wires -- three for the telephone (microphone, output and ground) and two for the mute button (the signal and the ground). I wonder if you can get away with four wires by combining the grounds (they are separate on the harness though).		16.08.2003 Cradle with cell phone We have two telephones, one has a handsfree jack on the right side, and another at the bottom. I had to leave a rather long piece of cable attached to the plug to fit both phones (and who knows what we will get next).
	17.08.2003 Cradle Many phones perform the "answer" or "dial" action depending on the context, when you short circuit the microphone signal to the ground. If your unit supports this feature, you can install a second (momentary) switch to take advantage of that. Out of my phones only one does it, so I didn't bother.		17.08.2003 ACC head removal To remove the ACC head unit, use a flat screwdriver or another tool to gently pry out the edge, then another edge, and then the unit pops out easily.
	17.08.2003 Connecting the wires Unfortunately, you cannot solder your cable to the harness at home since the wires have to be pulled through a tiny hole (through the "On Star" button socket in my case), and neither it's easy to solder them when in the car. I ended up simply twisting wire ends together and wrapping them with electric tape. If you have OnStar in your car, there may not be a telephone connector available, so you might need a different kind of harness or a Triad splitter.		17.08.2003 Harness closeup Before plugging the harness in, note the red locking tab on top of the socket -- you need to pull it up before inserting the connector. Connect pin 3 (microphone ground) and pin 8 (output ground) together to the ground from the telephone. Pin 10 to the microphone signal, and pin 7 to the output signal. Pins 4 (ground) and 5 (radio mute) should be connected to the wires from the push-button switch (or to the appropriate pins on the proprietary phone connector if the phone supports the mute feature).
	17.08.2003 Cradle base I did not want to damage the wooden trim by sticking the cradle directly on it, so I attached the base to a piece of thick transparent plastic (which I cut off the packaging of the cradle itself ;).		17.08.2003 Base installation Then I bent the plastic and inserted it between the wood veneer and the dash. There's enough adhesive in between them to hold the cradle well.
	17.08.2003 Base in place The job is done.		17.08.2003 Cradle mounted This picture shows the cradle and the wires -- the phone connector hangs down freely, and the other end disappears between the button plugs.
	17.08.2003 Passenger view When you push the button on top of the cradle, the SID displays the "TELEPHONE" message, and you can talk on the phone. If you were listening to the radio, it will be turned off temporarily. Pushing the cradle button off brings back the radio and the information the SID was displaying before the call. Curiously enough, it works even when the car is not started -- the SID wakes up showing the time and the "TELEPHONE" message, you make the call and then turn the whole thing off by releasing the cradle button.		17.08.2003 Driver view The sound quality is quite good, definitely better than through the earpiece that came with my phone. I did not have to adjust the microphone in the car, and I'm not aware of what setting is it on, high or low. The sound on the other end of the line is OK as well. You might also want to increase the default volume of the telephone mode -- there's a setting in the stereo unit setup mode (you can invoke it by turning the stereo on with the "WB" button pressed).

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