Folks,

I have been looking for a good quality 12 volt ATX power supply for a while now and have found a rather nice one from PC Power & Cooling Inc.

Check out the link... click

Why a 12 volt power supply I hear you ask?... well, put a cheap pc in the boot of your car, use this power supply, build your own MP3 player, car navigation system, etc etc...

Chiark (Nick) has built his own MP3 car based PC, a Pentium 90, linux and a couple of lcd displays and touch pads... check it out here. (hope you dont mind me linking it Nick :) )

So basically, I am looking to find out how many people would be interested in entering into a group buy for the above power supply. It works out at $119 + shipping + vat.... the costs drop for multiple orders. :D

BTW, for those interested, its 100watt (@ 50'c ambient), ATX, 3 drive connectors, 1 mini drive connector (floppy), 20 pin ATX plug.

Cheers,

Richie.


[Edited by ramdor - 2/21/2003 10:33:27 AM]

Interested. I suspect Robertio will be too.

Where in the country are you? I'm in yorkshire...

Bedford, Bedfordshire :D

Richie.

think I may be interested... Adam M might be as well.. ill point him here...

David

David - you could always have a look at the one that I'll get...

We'll need to add VAT to these prices, too :(

I'd be up for two (probably) please.
I've already got a car PC (one of the VIA EPIA machines) but would have a play with a proper PC instead :)

nick :D

Globbits - that's what I'm using! What PSU are you using at the moment - the Cubid one? If so, is it working fine off 10-16v????

Ooh i've been after one of them for ages. My brother was going to build one but that one would be ideal.

Eyup Nick!

Have replied to your email, but the short version (for those not on Nick's email :D) is that the car-PC isn't in the car yet. The m/b has a basic 12V supply inside it and is being fed by a 240V-12V ordinary laptop supply at the moment. I'm trying to make up a 12V,5A regulator at the moment, so that I can bung it in the car

...and for everyone else again :D

There's a 12v reg DC transformer that I've found that'll do the job for you.

Making your own is possible-ish, but the problem is that the thing has to take from 10-16v, which means that if you're looking for a simple switcher then you're using flyback topology. That sorta limits the current quite a lot if sticking to the national semiconductor range :(

MOSFETs are beyond me!

As Nick said, I'm interested :)

I'll be giving the company another call next week to work out final costs and stuff. As chiark mentioned there will be some vat to pay with customs :(

So far the following are interested....

me - 2
chiark - 1
globbits - 2
SL2 - 1
rebertio - 1

David, are you going to wait to see Nick's? Has Adam M checked it out yet?

Cheers,

Richie.

bttt... anyone else ? ;) Going to be sorting out the details this week.

Cheers,

Richie.

Have you chaps considered Mini-ITX based PC's?:

Basically a tiny All-In-One multimedia PC specification..
You can get Motherboards with built in Lan / 5ch Audio / TV Out / DVD Accelerated Video / Incl Processor etc for 70-100 notes..
What's more... Some of the enclosure styles feature power supplies that run from an External 12v mains adapter.
http://mini-itx.com/store/default.asp?c=9

I first saw them advertised by cpc.co.uk but this company appears to have all the bases covered:

http://mini-itx.com/store/

You may still need or want a 12v DC-DC to stabilise the car's not-so 12v battery voltage...
Still, the Motherboards and cases could be useful to you.

Paul.

Would it not be easy to put an invertor in place, which would give you a 230volt source for PC and other things ? Or am I missing the point ? :)

http://www.inverter-power.co.uk/acat...Inverters.html

Dave.

Paul, yep, that is where most / all of us have got our motherboards from. Mine is sitting beside me at the moment while I try to convince myself to write the software that is going on it.

Dave, that is the cheap and nasty solution and involves more stuff stuck around the car, I'm looking for as little clutter as possible with space being at a premium.

ok.. sorry for the delay on this... too much stuff on the go atm :( I'll give the company a ring tonight (damn time zones).. and wack out some emails.

Richie.

Just spoke to customs... I have the 10 digit commodity clasification code now. The import duty is free, the import vat is 17.5% applied to cost of goods + shipping.

Will talk to the suppliers tonight... see if a deal can be wangled.

Richie.

oh joy :( just called pc power cooling in the states, about the 1u 12v atx power supply.... and they are now discontinued, and no stock left.. *sigh* ... Now to start looking again, sorry folks if you were waiting or holding off projects for this thing :(

Richie.

Have you looked at the power supplies at Mini-itx? I've no idea how stable they are, with different input supplies (ie car batteries). But, if they're stable enough, surely they're a better option - particularly if they'll supply 'em without that 240V-12V supply.......

Richie,

I have one, and it's on my "todo" to test the stability.

Anyone with electronics knowledge want to give me a hand?

Nick.