Rear Seat Audio (RSA): Notes

WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 2007 Chevrolet Malibu. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

The rear seat audio (RSA) control allows the rear seat passengers to listen to a different music source than the front seat passengers. For example, the rear seat passengers may listen to the cassette or CD through headphones while the driver listens to the radio through the front speakers. The rear seat passengers have control of the volume for each headphone. The primary radio controls always override the RSA controls.

When the radio is ON, the radio supplies battery voltage on the RSA enable circuit and 10 volts on the remote user interface reference circuit to the RSA control. Enabling the RSA control connects the 10-volt reference and the remote radio control signal (RUI2) circuits internally. This forms a voltage divider with a resistive network within the RSA control. The voltage signal resulting from this combination is sent to the radio on the RUI2 circuit. The radio interprets the voltage signal as an analog input. When the radio receives the voltage input signal, indicating the POWER (PWR) button was pressed on the RSA control, the rear speakers will be muted. This allows the user to listen to the audio through the headphones.

Using the buttons on the RSA control allows the user to operate various audio functions. The RSA control consists of momentary contact switches (buttons) and a series of resistors. The switches and resistor network is arranged so that each switch has a different resistance value. When a switch is pressed, a voltage drop occurs in the resistor network which produces a specific voltage value unique to the switch selected. These specific voltage values allow the radio to identify which switch has been pressed. The radio responds just as if the corresponding radio front panel button had been pressed. The specific voltage signal from the switch is sent to the radio on the RUI2 circuit.