true.

how bout....


developing your perfect system!

 

A draft of my new skin for my Auto PC interface....

 

that had better be a typo, my digital cable doesnt even support HDTV yet, if you have it in your Z.... hahaha

 

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I REALLY LIKE THAT!!!!!!!







Chaazg??????

(the longer it takes the more I will find to like!)






edit: what happened with this double post?

 

They do make OTA HDTV PCI cards, you know. It could work (although it would be massive overkill on a 7" screen ).

 

Sorry about that, no HDTV in the car yet.....I just haven't got around to changing the text on this program.

 

Here is my latest working skin....

 

much better, atleast untill you figure out how to strap a dish to your roof. thats gonna hurt the Cf of drag tho.

whats your reasoning for the dash windows program? just for looks? I thought they were mainly for touchscreens to sorta give you nice big targets for your pudgy fingers. or is there a benifit that I dont know?

 

HDTV doesn't require dishes. Regular OTA transmissions from local stations works like regular TV broadcasts.

 

I like the concept of having a clean interace with easy acccess to most of the items I plan on using. Plus, it's kind of fun to do this!

Oh, update.....I'm in the process of building my own 1 amp regulator (for my screen) so keep your fingers crossed because if it works I could just duplicate the effort for 5 or 6 amp setup for the PC. This is still temporary until that damn OPUS power supply comes out!

 

hmmmm I remember a picture from way back when before the Z was released, when we were all bitchin about the radio antenna, someone chopped a full tv antenna on there... perhaps we could go back to that?

 

Audio Question:

Where can I get a small, powered (12v, or 5v I guess) speaker that I can hook up to my car PC's audio out? I'm sure something like this must be available, although maybe for a different application.

Until I can budget in a new head unit for my car, I am probably just going to be using my PC for navigation, and I want to hook up a small speaker to hear navigation directional commands.

Any ideas?

 

do you mean a pc speaker? you can build yourself a small 12v speaker for like $10 from parts at radioshack. i've made one the size of a matchbox once, but speaker was too small to be loud. I think I've still have the circuit. You might be able to use it on one of the stock speakers.

 

When you say 'pc speaker', do you mean a speaker that would hook up to the speaker plug right on the motherboard (as opposed to using a line-out from the sound card?) If so, and if that will get me the navigation voice then I think that is all I need. The price is right too!

Are you also saying that instead of using a separate speaker, I could wire a circuit into one of the stock speakers, and therefore have 2 audio sources going to one speaker? If that didn't adversely affect the other source (the radio) at that speaker, this would be even be a better idea!

 

well what ever audio out you have that fits a jack. Like your desktop speakers.

Heres the chip from radio shack, its LM386 audio amp IC.

http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...Fid=276%2D1731

Heres a sample application from Nation Semiconductors.

http://www.national.com/ds.cgi/LM/LM386.pdf
(page 5, use the 200 gain one)

You'll have to play with some of the cap values to get a good clean output and depends on what kind of speakers you have in your car. You can even adjust the gain from the var resistor to fine tune the output. This is a mono circuit, just build 2 with a stero jack to get stero output. I think it takes 9-12V, i've used it with a small 12v battery so think you can hook it up to the car battery. Its pretty simple to make, just have to play around to with capacitors to get a good sound (or sit down and work it out if your an engineer, like i did for my other project) Not going to sit down and work this out since im going to plug it into my mtx amp.
All the parts can still be found at radio shack, should get a IC socket so you can replace the chip if it burns in the future. If you lay it out right it the size should be no bigger than a pack of cards.

Let me know how it turns out, if it works or not, it only cost you 10 dollars at most for parts.

 

Alright, so I finally figured out what was wrong with my Xenarc screen........NOTHING!

After a good conversation with Xenarc tech support, I had several options to try in order to troubleshoot. I eliminated the power being an issue. Jason with Xenarc informed me that they made some major changes to the power on the units about 3 months back so you should have no problems hooking up to any of the 12V feeds in your car. It should handle 11V~24V, even if it is unregulated. I tested the power lead I was using and it read well within that range. So, then I tried hooking up my digital camera to the video inputs that I have on the screen, worked just fine. So now, I suspected that it was my PC video card screwing up......the final test determined that the problem lies with the VGA extender cable I was using to reach the glovebox. Either it is a bad cable, or not shielded enough thus causing some interference. ARGHHHH!

I just need to go by a new shielded VGA cable and should be fine.

So what have I learned.....although the video connector is not that great on the Xenarc screen, it is a good product and they do have good customer support (FYI, they were willing to work with me even though I had removed the case and voided the warranty!).

And, I learned to practice the KISS principle more often....Keep It Simple Stupid!!!!

 

i'm new at this whole carputer thing ... but i really want to know...what u need to make the system work and what each individual piece does... please explain in idiot terms... i really would love to have a operating computer in the car.... so please help me in my new adventure!

 

Perhaps you should contact chazzg and buy one from him. Lot of info is listed here, on this thread, and lots of posts also. We could explain everything in idiots term, but this involve installation and building a pc. Its like asking someone to tell you step by step how to build an engine and put it in.

Basic PC: Motherboard. Processor. Harddrive. CD/DVD/CDR drive. Multimedia boards or chip (Video card and sound card). RAM (SDRAM, DDRAM, EDO, etc..) Power Supply. Cables to connect everything, switch, leds, etc. And a case

Then Screen (VGA or regular TFT LCD). Keyboard and mouse.

1 to 8 awg pwr/gnd cables. Fuses. mounting materials. Tools.

IF you have no basic knowledge of building a pc or any installation, I wouldn't suggest building your own. There are many ways to mess up the pc and your car doing this, if you have no clue what to do.

 

alpha red is about right, this is certainly not a simple project. I started this with knowledge of how to build a computer, but building a computer is simple, get a case, screw the mother board to it and plug the cards in where they fit, I mean, this is basicly all there is to know about building a computer, you only need to know more if something messes up.

but in a car... well actually building the via computer isnt bad I dont think, of course I havent done it, so I shouldnt talk. but I would imagine its just like building a full sized computer, but easier since almost everything is already integrated.

then you have my insane crazy plan, which I wouldnt reccomend anyone short of a PHD in computers and engineering to try. once I finish my computer I may offer to build them, but Im really not sure, it was ALOT of work.

however to be honest, either way really isnt the hard part, you then gotta dismantle the car, and wire it up, run wires from the battery(atleast I did) into the back, mount switches, splice into wires, hook up the screen ect. this was very difficult, mainly due to the tight space your working in. and sadly, no one can do this for you, not on this board anyway. a shop could install it.

the most we could do is give you very good instructions on how to do it, but it really does depend on how you hook it up, and I believe everyone on this thread has wired their computers differently.

feel free to ask questions or PM me, Ill answer them, but be aware of what it will entail, this is not an easy project.