Simon C

Chris, I don't know if you've seen this site http://www.mp3car.com Certainly looks good, can't wait to see the final setup.

cw42

iTrader: (1)

cheers simon C, I've been lurking there for a while, and I'm registered. Some good stuff posted on there, but some bitching too Bit like here really
Met muddy today, and what an awesome car he has, alot of work has gone into his project, and a seriously neat install too. Nice to meet you m8.
Hopefully, my screen should be in its surround by know, although I've not heard from ***** yet
Keep watching for some more updates next week.
chris.

ps, I won my ebay auction for the D-LINK USB RADIO, so that will be going in the same time as the pc.

Simon C

I was thinking about going down the same route as you when a friend put a comp in his punto. He used a full size atx motherboard. I was thinking about putting it in the spare wheel well and doing an install around it. Then worked out that I'd only be spending money on something I already had in various guises. (Ipod, Pda with satnav already on it). So scrapped the idea and just bought an Ipod compatible headunit.

So the project is to make it all look sweet when installed along with the snooper S6

willy

CW... patience,,,, these things take time.
Its gonna be end of the week before I will be ready I think.
It depends on my painter too.
Its gotta look right.

*****
(Carputer Installation bloke)

cw42

iTrader: (1)

Thanks *****, I was wondering when you'd come and join this thread
Have you got any pics of it yet that I could put up?
chris.

willy

Nope, I`m not giving owt away till its finished.

Its not a mega difficult job, its getting it fairly smooth thats tricky and time consuming.

*****

muddy

It was good to speak to you chris.

Thanks for the comments on my install

Made a refreshing change to talk about the Carpc with someone who new what one was

Did you look at your power supply??


Muddy

cw42

iTrader: (1)

Cheers muddy, I would imagine you got a few dumb stares when people found a pc in the car!
I've not had chance to look at my supply, I'll have a look tomorrow, tbh, I'd forgotten about it
Next update coming soon
chris.

cw42

iTrader: (1)

UPDATE: Installed my d-link usb radio today

After following the excellent guide on stevieG's site and then doing it all again cause I screwed up it all works ok now. The only station I can get with the supplied antenae is "tin pot local radio" imagine FM
Centrafuse had no problem with it. Now all that remains is:
phone control (hopefully tomorrow)
dvd playback
sat-nav (end of the month, when I can afford to buy the gps mouse and software)
and then finally, install at least 2 video cams and an external firewire harddrive to store the film on. (that could be a while!)
Hows that screen surround coming *****?
chris.

willy

Cant rush these things... tomorrow I will be spending the afternoon on it somemore.
It`s time consuming stuff.

Mad Scientist

Make sure you charge enough labour *****!

Andy S.

Just seen this on the NBO thread



Thought about you when I saw it.

cw42

iTrader: (1)

andy, thats "muddy's" car, we had a chat about his install
Very nice piece of kit he has there.
chris.

cw42

iTrader: (1)

Muddy, this is the case I bought morex cubid 2699 which comes with a built in 60w power supply. So I should be ok.
heres the spec:
Dimensions:
295mm (W) x 273mm (D) x 63.5mm (H)
Internal PSU:
Maximum output:
53.90W
DC 12V in from external adapter
External adapter:
Input AC 110 ~ 240V
Output DC 12V, 5.0A

chris.

Henrik

iTrader: (5)

If it has 12V DC in, it must be possible to build a simple (cheap) regulator for use with the PSU, right?

I'm thinking that the only things you'd need would be:

1 x 8-18v dc to 12v dc IC (e.g. the maxim ones)
1 x Transistor that can pass 5 amps through at 12v (or maybe you'd use two-three to split the load)
n x some small caps to regulate the IC output.

The above could possibly provide a clean 5 amp at 12v.

chiark

Unfortunately not. It needs about 5 amps, which is beyond a simple single switchmode regulator... And as you say it needs to be flyback, resolving 8v to 16v into 12v. It's not a nice design

There are power supplies on mini-itx.com suitable for in-vehicle use which aren't terribly expensive now - cehck 'em out. Or search for Mastero's latest offering on mp3car.

cw42

iTrader: (1)

Henrik, read the thread from the beginning!
I have a regulated power supply specifically for incar use. This will splice into the lead for the case/motherboard, control shutdown on the pc, and monitor my battery to detect a possible drop below what is needed to start the car when switched off.

Henrik

iTrader: (5)

I have been reading it with interest over the last week(s)

It's just that I thought it might be simple to create one from scratch and save x pounds in the process

Oh well, I guess I'll have to buy a real PSU from someone if I go ahead with a carputer project

cw42

iTrader: (1)

Henrik, I'm no electrician, but I think in the case of your car battery, an off the shelf solution would be the best way to go

UPDATE: Nothing to report at the mo', I've ordered a usb network wireless adapter from hongkong, and I'll get a bluetooth usb dongle and usb hub next week for my phone and extra usb ports, as I'm fast running out
Still waiting on ***** for the screen install, hopefully pics up tomorrow if I get to see it
chris.

cw42

iTrader: (1)

UPDATE: Just to keep you informed I'm waiting on a few things to come together now.
1/ the screen surround to be finished by ***** (hopefully tomorrow)
2/ My wifi usb dongle to arrive (ditto)
3/ My new amp to arrive (ditto ditto)
Maybe this weekend, the install will take place, not sure yet. If the screen surround is done, then ***** may be able to install everything in-car, if not, it's going to be a few weeks before I can be without my car again
On the frontend front , I'm going to stick with centrafuse. I've found it as easy as the rest of them to use, and prefer the look of it over others. I know you can skin some of the others, but thats for another day.
One problem I have at the mo' is the shutdown on my pc. I am going through a normal shutdown procedure at the mo', as it's plugged into the mains. I don't want to be doing that everytime I turn off the car, so I presume the carnetix power supply will shutdown the pc safely for me when I switch off?
I would like the pc to go into hibernation ideally, as that will make it quicker to startup each time, and I use the car everyday, so no worries about battery drain.
Still got to get a bluetooth dongle for phonecontrol, and a usb hub, can't until my finances have recovered though!
chris.

muddy

Hi Chris,

Been away.

By the way you explained the pc case i thought it was a morex jobby.

That powersupply should be fine.

The carnetix has a 12vdc output, this should go straight to your power supply.

I'm gussing the power supply requires the 12vdc input via a jack plug of some sorts or can you splice into it internally. *I'll leave that for you to worry about)

The carnetix should do what you want it to do.

As i showed you at NBO i put a switch in line of the ignition 12vdc so I could control it easier.

If you look at the Carnetix instructions (Which you download from their website) you can alter the jumpers inside for certain senarios (Like hibernation etc)

Either way by turning the ignition on or off the carnetix will control the shutdown and power up.

I haven't tried Centrafuse yet.

I hit a problem on my way to Japshow yesterday, my soundcard decided to unistall itself (Or blow up) on my way down, so had no sound for my movies etc etc. Need to strip the car down tomorrow and investige.

Good luck with your project.

Muddy

cw42

iTrader: (1)

UPDATE: got my power amp yesterday £53 off ebay




Still waiting for the wireless usb dongle to come from hongkong.
The screen mount isn't ready yet, hopefully this week, with pictures to follow.


Sorry to hear about your sound car meltdown muddy Looks like you've got some work to do. Yes, my pc case came with a *** lighter adapter for the power supply, and gives instructions on splicing into that using a carnetix or similar from the battery. I'm not sure about putting a switch in, think I'll stick with hibernation or shutdown at the moment, see how that goes.
Good luck with your sound,
chris.

cw42

iTrader: (1)

UPDATE:
Got my netgear wireless adapter today
Installed the software/driver, plugged in and attached itself to the network without 1 click of "ok" result!

this should work over the distance of my wireless hub to where I park the car, my pda wireless adapter does.
Just ordered the 2 more bits of hardware off ebay too, usb bluetooth dongle for the sony ericsson k700i, and a usb hub, both for 99p each (p&p was £12 for the 2)
Just the sat-nav software and gps mouse to go, and guess who got a decent bonus this year
chris.

cw42

iTrader: (1)

UPDATE: I've finally worked out how to get movies on my carpc
First, use a program like dvd shrink to make a backup copy of the dvd.
Then, use pocket divx encoder to shrink the image to around 250mg per film. Put them in the right place on your carpc, point the frontend to where you've put them, and select and play
The quality is much reduced, but it is more than watchable on the 7" screen. You can play around with the quality of the recordings, sound and picture, to suit your taste.
Still waiting for my screen surround and the usb bluetooth and hub to arrive.
chris.

cw42

iTrader: (1)

UPDATE: got some pictures off ***** last night at last, to give an idea of how things are progressing



Hopefully finished by next week, then he's going to install the week after. Still ongoing, stick with us

chris.

cw42

iTrader: (1)

UPDATE:
Got my usb hub and bluetooth dongle wednesday Hub works fine, and gives me 4 more ports to play with, but I'm having trouble getting the phone to work with phonecontrol. I'll have a good look at it this weekend.
***** tells me the screen mount will be ready this friday, so hopefully pictures soon
Keep watching this space,
chris.

cw42

iTrader: (1)

UPDATE:

Finally got it!
Picked it up today, still damp as well, as I found out when I tried to take the screen out
just to recap, this is what it looked like when I got the 2nd hand surround from gradeA:


and this is what ****** filler and fibreglass magic, and nige's spraying magic have done:


side view:


back view:


with the screen in place:


It's a bit glossier (sp) than I thought it would be, and will probably take some getting used to in the dash, but as it's low down, it shouldn't stand out too much. The screen fits in perfectly though, and the cables fit out the back no problem.
It's actually quite easy to remove, with a credit card, and some pushing from the back, so once in the car, should be tricky to get out. Security is uppermost in my mind at the mo', as I make frequent trips to manchester, so some sort of stealth cover will have to be sorted. (Although having my scoobynet name plastered on the back windows of the car probably don't help )


Now one for the techies reading this thread
I know my carnetix will control the shutdown and startup of my carpc, but how do I put my os into hibernation, when there is no option to do that in "power settings" on the "control panel"?
The startup and shutdown from the power button at the mo' is fine, and only taking about a minute, but I'd like to be able to speed that up, especially when doing a quick pit-stop for fuel or a newspaper
chris.

cw42

iTrader: (1)

UPDATE: just to keep this on page one, I'm just waiting on ***** to get some spare time in the next few weeks, then everything will be going in. I'm still having trouble with phonecontrol, and I cant get it to use my phone to make calls, although it does connect and read my sim card and phone book!
Other that that, still saving hard for destinator and a gps mouse. I'm now using the pc almost daily as a jukebox connected to my home hi-fi, which is nice
I've had a go at using it as if I were on a big trip somewhere too, like stelvio for instance , and it's cool to be able to download my pics off my 300d memory card, and edit them on my carpc
Once I get my phone talking to the pc, I should be able to post on here using the phone as a modem.
chris.

jowl

How's this going?

I've abandonded my planned project in favour of a media centre at home.

But I'd be interested in any updates

cw42

iTrader: (1)

jowl, still waiting on ***** to get back to full health, then it's all systems go
keep watching, it is still happening
chris.