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Re: Car PC project
On Saturday 29 May 2004 11:55, Paul Gordon wrote:
> I've already been thinking about some of the logistics, and started
> searching around various car PC websites for information/inspiration
etc...
> what I'm after from you guys is any top tips from anyone here who's
already
> done it...
www.mp3car.com forums would be a good start.
> I reckon I'm going to mount the base in the boot, right next to the CD
> multichanger, since I reckon there will be easy access to both power
&
> audio input to the car stereo. I don't yet know if there are actually
AUX
> inputs available either at the changer or at the head unit
Most headends have some sort of AUX in adaptor available, but coz they're
wire
protocols are nearly all proprietary these can be on the pricey side. Some
of
them have been reverse engineered - I think the furthest down that path is
the Sony Unlilink protocol (do a web search for Gnunilink). I bought a new
sony headend off ebay and hacked up a gnunilink board so that I could use
the
head-end's controls and display to interface to the PC. Having said that,
I'm
currently experimenting with a VFD display that I'll prolly use in tandem
with it.
I mounted my PC case in the boot instead of the CD player, so I was able to
use the same mount points & power.
> I'm reasonably
> certain I want it to have a built-in 54g WiFi card in it, so whenever
I
> park up outside the house I can be on the house network for MP3
> up/downloads etc.
That's what I have - the car database syncs with the house database
automatically when it's sat on the drive. Make sure you can mount your wifi
antenna somewhere away from the bodywork - it does a damn good job of
attenuating the signal! I use a little USB jobber on the rear parcel shelf.
I would advise giving careful consideration to your PSU requirements:
you're
going to need to either go down the (extremely lossy) inverter route, or
get
a quality DC-DC power supply that can take 10-14v roughly in and provide
all
the usual atx suspects out, with sufficient power to run the board and the
peripherals. I've blown up two homebrew power-supplys and one
"sproggy" psu
off the mp3car forums - I'm now going to invest in a professional Opus car
PSU - which, luckily, linitx are now stocking ;)
The beauty of the opus is that it incorporates a shutdown controller, so
it'll
give you some standby power time after the ignition is switched off, e.g.
for
the above mentioned track syncing.
HTH!
ant
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Megawatt Winged Avenger
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