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#307100 - 22/10/02 09:16 AM Re: Car Computer
Zerstauber Offline
Member

Registered: 23/09/02
Posts: 64
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Wow! That looks to be built better that my Mocha! I wonder how much those are going for... wink

Well, I just wanted to update everyone on how the carputer is coming. I got the touch screen last week (pictures to come) and MAN is that thing compact! Very compact...so compact I need to squint to see it. Yes, folks, that's an UH OH! Its size is impressive but its actual viewing area is...not so much. That aside, it's brightness is acceptable and it doesn't have any problems with ghosting when playing a DVD. Speaking of which, when you set the software to NOT keep the aspect ratio DVD playback fits the screen MUCH better. The screen is so small I may even be able to fit the thing into the Xs dash if I remove the radio! We'll just have to see about that one though.

I realize now that a touch screen, while great for selecting things on a big menu, is not very good for doing everyday computer things that I had planned for a full fledged car PC. Yeah, I know, DUH! But it shouldn't be too much of a problem. I have several wireless options laying around the house I can use.

I'll be storing the LCD under the seat now. It turns out that the cable length is perfect for that and I'll have less holes to drill. Always a good thing. It comes with a slide-on backing plate that will make mounting it on the dash easy. I'll post pictures of that as well.

On the Mocha front things haven't moved much further. I'm still not making much headway in the software integration area so maybe I'll look into the nonexistent Cobra software. As far as stability goes, I've had a hiccup. I was doing something you really shouldn't do (xpkey.exe) and kept getting blue screens. I haven't shut down the Mocha properly for the last two weeks because I've been using hibernation or suspend. It kept trying to resume after the BSOD and I guess that screwed it up good because after the fourth or fifth BSOD it wouldn't boot at all anymore. I wasn't too concerned with the software on the system so wiping it out wasn't a problem. I tried reload XP choosing to full format the drive when the prompt came up. It took FIVE HOURS to get to 78% done! Now, I consider myself a patient man but HOT DAMN! I killed it, started the install procedure again, and chose quick format this time around. MUCH better. It's been running great ever since.

I'll try to get the pics up tonight.
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So long, and thanks for all the fish

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#307101 - 22/10/02 10:26 AM Re: Car Computer
xcanuk Offline
Member

Registered: 17/08/00
Posts: 2808
Loc: Mtl. Que. Canada
Still on my laptop trend, I think this would really fit the ticket.. It would resolve the last of my conflicts anyway Acer
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#307102 - 23/10/02 09:19 PM Re: Car Computer
Zerstauber Offline
Member

Registered: 23/09/02
Posts: 64
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Looks like one of those tablet PCs microsoft is touting. Pretty slick!

Here are those pictures I promised...better late than never huh? wink Hope no one's still on a modem out there.

Here's the touch screen in relation to the Mocha.


Here's the front.


And here's the back.


I'll take pictures of the UI when that's done. Hey Xterrian, any news on your virtual dash? Inclinometer? laugh
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#307103 - 23/10/02 09:58 PM Re: Car Computer
Xterrian Offline
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Registered: 08/12/00
Posts: 2014
Loc: Fort Lewis, WA
I received my tilt sensors in the mail and have purchased a book called the Art of Electronics. I've got a lot of reading to do. What I really want to do is get an in dash PC and replace my gauge cluster with LCDs. It is a slow moving work in progress. I'm still using what I have now and it is making me thirst for the system I dream of.
_________________________
"The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right."
Mark Twain

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#307104 - 26/10/02 06:01 PM Re: Car Computer
Zerstauber Offline
Member

Registered: 23/09/02
Posts: 64
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Thanks for the update Xterrain. You're more a man than I to go through one of those dry books!

And now for a update of my own. After a crack of dawn ride in the Angeles Crest Forest (Black ice and gravel! [Freak] ) I spent a bit of time at my not so local dealer. They let me have free reign over one of the Xterras so I used the opportunity to check out placements and fit for the car computer. Here are some pics.

I noticed that there were two unused circle-things. Yes, that's the technical term. Anyhow, they have plastic plugs over them and a hole going through to the inside of the console. I can easily mount the brass bracket shown in the picture below to hold the touch screen. The screen would block the radio but that shouldn't be a problem. The screen might even fit in the double din slot but I don't think I'll get that adventurous for a while. If anyone can chime in and let me know that those holes are off limits I'd appreciate it. It's kinda strange that they're just sitting there. I had one dealer tell me it was an air bag warning light on models with air bags. confused I thought they all had air bags but maybe I'm just smoking crack.


This is what the screen would look like if I mounted it as stated above. Just pretend my thumb isn't there... wink


The mocha hiding under the seat...


It's a tight fit under there mainly because there's a wire that crosses the underside of the seat. If that wire doesn't need to be there I can mount the mocha on the underside of the seat which would be pretty neat. There seems to be some wiring harness underneath the carpet too so that adds to the cramped conditions.

On a side note, the mocha actually fit in the storage space underneath the radio with room to spare. It'd be cool if I could just slide it in there and have all the connections bolted to the back of the storage space. There are two problems with that. It's not exactly inconspicuous and it sticks out about an inch and a half. Ahh well, I'd better stick with the under-seat idea.

As always (and even more so now) I welcome ideas and insight. I haven't spent enough time in an Xterra to know what's comfortable or right so I'm just going with my gut instinct.
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#307105 - 26/10/02 08:58 PM Re: Car Computer
UTJMAC Offline
Member

Registered: 16/04/01
Posts: 1574
Loc: Nashville, TN
Hey Zerstauber
What kind of cost is in that moniter and smaller CPU? I just bought a new Dell and thinking about setting up my old unit in the X. Just curious what is out there for already put together units. I'vbe gotton a lot of ideas from Mp3car.com.

Xterrain, you need to get on that install! By the way, when you want to run down to Moab, its only a 24 hr drive for me...ouch!
John
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#307106 - 26/10/02 09:39 PM Re: Car Computer
Zerstauber Offline
Member

Registered: 23/09/02
Posts: 64
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
The touch screen monitor with 3 vid inputs (all RCA) is 580 shipped from www.spysupply007.com. Supposedly they're giving a 20 dollar discount to people who purchase and mention mp3car.com but I found out about that after I bought it so I cant confirm it. If you get the monitor with no video inputs except the VGA port it'll cost you 530 shipped.

You might want to skip out on the mocha system I'm using. It's a tad expensive. I got it because I plan on doing 'Big Things' with it so unless you're willing to spend 1500 then I suggest the older P3 models that work really well for much cheaper. Or, if you can find the space, (trunk?) you can always throw in a mid tower or something. smile

And uhhh..YEAH Xterrain! wink
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So long, and thanks for all the fish

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#307107 - 26/10/02 11:43 PM Re: Car Computer
XterraDiver Offline
Member

Registered: 26/09/02
Posts: 308
Loc: Monterey, CA
Dealer was smokin' crack. [Smoking] Those two spots on the dash are empty. I heard they were used on the Frontier for something.

Some questions for you:

Why not a laptop? There are plenty for less dollars and equal power. There are also trays already made for mounting it in your vehicle. They also can be run straight off a 12v power outlet - so no inverter needed. Also they have VGA outputs to connect an external touch screen, built in and very handy mouse and keyboard. Not to mention DVD and MP3 playing. It looks to me that the LCD would be right in the way of my stereo where as the tray mounted laptop could be moved out of the way.

2nd, what about the heat that pc will put out? Under the seat it may not get enough air to the cpu.

What about the keyboard and mouse? The touch screen has to work with specific software and might not be compatible with all you need to do?

Thanks
_________________________
My other truck is an Ambulance
www.scubadivervideo.com/xterra.htm

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#307108 - 15/11/02 11:56 PM Re: Car Computer
jliu34740 Offline
Member

Registered: 07/09/02
Posts: 14
Loc: Redmond, WA
Zerstauber;

I am getting really close to install my carputer now. Got almost everything I need. Doing some final software tunning and integration. I have two questions:

1. Can you recommend a small, cheap, good quality FM modulator to transfer audio from 3.5" jack on PC to my headunit? Preferrably self powered or battery powered. (don't have any spare 12V outlet left)

2. What consideration are you giving to chosing the right HDD? I am trying to figure out how much G can result from daily driving, bumps and all. Most HDDs I looked at takes 30G/Read and 60G/write w/o error. This sounds almost too good to be true. For those who have installed their units, what's your experience about HDD and shock effect?

Thanks,

I promise to post pics as soon as I get mine installed.

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#307109 - 16/11/02 09:36 PM Re: Car Computer
Zerstauber Offline
Member

Registered: 23/09/02
Posts: 64
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Can't really help you out with the FM modulator. I'm going to bypass the head unit completely so I haven't looked into any of those. You can click here to see a listing of search results for FM modulators on www.mp3car.com. That should be a great resource for what you're looking for. One thing that I've picked up on is that you should try to get one that hooks directly into your antennae.

I'm not too worried about hard drive reliability during wheeling or going over bumps. I've toted around my MP3 brick of a player with a notebook hard drive (which is what I currently use) and I've beaten that thing up worse than anything my PC would go though short of an accident. It took it and kept on going. I'm not sure about desktop drives though. You might want to look at some of the threads on mp3car to get an idea of what others with full sized PC drives are doing.

Please do show pictures once you get it all together! I'll be doing the same.
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So long, and thanks for all the fish

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#307110 - 23/11/02 02:03 AM Re: Car Computer
Zerstauber Offline
Member

Registered: 23/09/02
Posts: 64
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Ok, it's 2AM over here and I'm bushed. Quick update: mounted the Mocha in the X with the help of Airbutchie and my Dad. Thanks guys! You rock! Added the ODB scanner and a FM modulator to the radio. I know I said I wouldn't be doing that but I was really impressed with the 03's stock sound system so I'm going to be keeping it for a while. The switch to power the FM modulator is pretty slick. It fits JUST right on the console. Got my FRS radio in there too. The antennae will be sitting inside temporarily and I'll just stick it on the roof when I use it. I want to mount it permanently so I'll need to do some diggin around here for the posts detailing how to do that.

Still on the "to do" list is the wifi hub, GPS functionality, and a power management system. Also, I'm going to need to find a better solution for tying all my software together. So far nothing out there has caught my eye and I haven't had time to make my own front end.

Pictures, prices, model #'s and and answers to any questions to come...sometime tomorrow. It's entirely too dark right now and I don't know how much longer I can stay awake.
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So long, and thanks for all the fish

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#307111 - 23/11/02 10:32 AM Re: Car Computer
Bamrak Offline
Member

Registered: 23/10/02
Posts: 51
Loc: Maryville TN
Keep up the info, this is a wonderful source of information for those of us who are pondering it. smile [Wave]

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#307112 - 23/11/02 11:30 PM Re: Car Computer
Zerstauber Offline
Member

Registered: 23/09/02
Posts: 64
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Better change:

Quote:
Pictures, prices, model #'s and and answers to any questions to come...sometime tomorrow.
to...sometime this weekend. Sorry folks. Had quite a full day.
_________________________
So long, and thanks for all the fish

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#307113 - 08/12/02 06:54 PM Re: Car Computer
XterraDiver Offline
Member

Registered: 26/09/02
Posts: 308
Loc: Monterey, CA
Quote:
Originally posted by Zerstauber:
Better change:

Quote:
Pictures, prices, model #'s and and answers to any questions to come...sometime tomorrow.
to...sometime this weekend. Sorry folks. Had quite a full day.
How about an update?
_________________________
My other truck is an Ambulance
www.scubadivervideo.com/xterra.htm

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#307114 - 08/12/02 10:52 PM Re: Car Computer
jliu34740 Offline
Member

Registered: 07/09/02
Posts: 14
Loc: Redmond, WA
I am trying to post some pictures. How do I do that? Pics are JPGs on my HDD. I can't find any way to upload.

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#307115 - 09/12/02 11:56 AM Re: Car Computer
XterraDiver Offline
Member

Registered: 26/09/02
Posts: 308
Loc: Monterey, CA
Quote:
Originally posted by jliu34740:
I am trying to post some pictures. How do I do that? Pics are JPGs on my HDD. I can't find any way to upload.
You need a server. They get uploaded to the server and then you refer to that location in html or UBB code. For this sight, just click on the "Image" button in the instant UBB code section and type in the url of the picture. Many ISP's will give you web space of 1 to 10 mb's. You can upload to them (that's a server) and then use that url. Once posted, using a PC you can right click on the picture and under properties get the url. Just copy and paste it. Also, they must be fairly small so they download quickly from the internet. If you don't have webspace, and there are just a few small pictures, I can post them for you after this Thursday (my DSL becomes active again). So what size and how many?
_________________________
My other truck is an Ambulance
www.scubadivervideo.com/xterra.htm

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#307116 - 09/12/02 11:59 AM Re: Car Computer
Todrick Offline
Member

Registered: 08/08/00
Posts: 7759
Loc: Arizona
or e-mail them to me and i will gett hem posted... im curious how its lookin

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#307117 - 09/12/02 01:32 PM Re: Car Computer
Zerstauber Offline
Member

Registered: 23/09/02
Posts: 64
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Sorry to take so long guys. I'm in the middle of moving so things are getting a little nuts.

Here's the general idea of what I was trying to do with my car computer. It hasn't quite turned out that way yet but it'll come.


Here's where I ended up storing the PC. It's not tethered down and it moves around a little but the rear floor mat keeps it pretty snug. I was a little worried about it moving around but if nothing happened after the Azusa OHV run nothing will. wink


Here's a shot of the Mocha and it's cables. You can pretty much just pull it right out. I'm still interested in making a docking station of sorts further down the road.


This next shot shows the clearance left under the passenger seat as well as my rats nest of cables. There's a wireless base station somewhere down in there which connects to my keyboard.


The OBD-II scanner dongle is stuffed up behind the center console. I was thinking about embedding it further but there's the off chance that I'll be pulling it out to connect it to someone else's car so I left it mostly accessible.


Here's where the ODB-II connector is attached to the car ECU. It was originally mounted in a downward pointing position and when I plugged in the cable it hung down too far and was a little too close to the parking brake. I ended up removing it from the bracket and stuffing it up in the dash.


Since I wasn’t able to immediately replace the radio I had to find some other place to stash the LCD. I couldn’t hang it over the radio cause I needed to fiddle with the knobs so I ended up keeping it between the seats. It's a temporary location and has a few drawbacks. As you can see in the picture it's a bit hard to read. It still has a fine layer of dust that I haven't cleaned off yet but even if it were clean it's pretty much useless in direct sunlight. Mounting it where the radio is should alleviate that somewhat. In this shot the car computer is showing the MP3 player.


Whoops...no more pictures allowed in this post. On to the next one!
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#307118 - 09/12/02 01:51 PM Re: Car Computer
Zerstauber Offline
Member

Registered: 23/09/02
Posts: 64
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
OBD-II connected and showing data.


OBD-II displaying throttle position.


Center console with the power switch for the FM modulator installed on the right.


Power connections...


There's still a whole lot to do. I left the computer on accidentally over a two day period and came back to a dead battery. I really need to look into some kind of power management solution. So far I haven't found anything premade for my particular type of installation so I might have to fabricate my own. I've yet to decide on a good GPS package but once I do I have the serial port ready to go. A good front end to tie everything together is missing as well. As it is now, the XP desktop isn't doing too bad of a job. I'd also like to tie the power source into the car rather than have it use up one of my power ports.

Some positive points so far:
1) Off roading hasn't killed my hard drive. [Huh?]
2) Having all the music in the world in your car ROCKS!
3) Listening to the Dukes of Hazard theme while off roading is meant to be.
4) Being able to have your car track it's own mileage is nice.

The main negative point is that everything takes too much time to do. If I want to play music I have to launch winamp and then search for the song I want and then play it. If I want to check my engine parameters I need to launch the scanner and then configure it to use COM1 and finally select what I want to monitor. I tend to get everything just the way I want it before I start driving. A good front end MUST be out there somewhere.

Anyhow, questions or comments are welcome! If I don't get back to you right away I'm probably off hauling my junk between apartments. :rolleyes:
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So long, and thanks for all the fish

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#307119 - 09/12/02 03:16 PM Re: Car Computer
jliu34740 Offline
Member

Registered: 07/09/02
Posts: 14
Loc: Redmond, WA
hey if you are looking for a good front end UI, check out http://www.gnetcanada.com/digitaldash.htm. Full version costs $45. It works OK but doesn't allow customization. That's why I am going to write my own using Visual Basic.NET. I got it working almost. I have lots of pictures of my carputer but this forum doesn't let me post. So I am going to whip up a website with all that stuff, probably by end of this week. It'll be great. I can't wait.

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#307120 - 09/12/02 03:25 PM Re: Car Computer
Xterrian Offline
Member
*

Registered: 08/12/00
Posts: 2014
Loc: Fort Lewis, WA
Z, did you get a copy of my OBDII program? No messy com port settings, no gas mileage on it yet though.
_________________________
"The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right."
Mark Twain

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#307121 - 09/12/02 03:46 PM Re: Car Computer
Zerstauber Offline
Member

Registered: 23/09/02
Posts: 64
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Jliu, thanks for the link. It looks nice but no customization = not for me. I'm pretty much thinking about going the route you're going. I just need more time!

Hey Xterrain, when did you finish? I'd love to check it out! Let me know how I can get my hands on it.
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So long, and thanks for all the fish

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#307122 - 09/12/02 07:15 PM Re: Car Computer
Xterrian Offline
Member
*

Registered: 08/12/00
Posts: 2014
Loc: Fort Lewis, WA
It's not finished yet, but it works as is. It's just kinda slow. I can send you the code or the finished program. You have to have your scanner hooked to Com 1. You want it? I'll e-mail it tonight if you say yes. Just send me an e-mail.
_________________________
"The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right."
Mark Twain

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#307123 - 09/12/02 07:55 PM Re: Car Computer
Bobby_X Offline
Member

Registered: 14/03/02
Posts: 814
Hey there!

It's looking good! Are you pleased with the Xenarc? Is the 800x480 working out good for you? Does the touchscreen work well?

Oh, for mounting, have you considered the option of using a cell-phone mount? Like the kind that instalsl the right of your radio, between the right side of the radio and the inside of the trim ring?

http://www.pro-fit-intl.com/mount.htm

^^ Shows what I mean.. Anyways, looking good. I ran into a bit of trouble, and still haven't ordered my screen. I've developed a lot more of that software, but I still have to skin it out, etc. Functionally, I am liking it. Over break, after finals, I'll finish the software, and post some screenshots, and maybe you all won't laug wink

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#307124 - 08/03/03 03:06 AM Re: Car Computer
jliu34740 Offline
Member

Registered: 07/09/02
Posts: 14
Loc: Redmond, WA
I am happy to report that my carputer project is done. Here is the link http://home.attbi.com/~johnqliu/Carputer.mht

it does take couple of minutes to load up as there are many images. let me know how you like it.

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