Recently got a new car...

SquareHead · Post by **SquareHead** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:49 am

I couldn't imagine all that much trouble with vibration in a car with a laptop. There shouldn't be that much shaking / vibration anyways unless you're on a really bad road.

AntoineWG · Post by **AntoineWG** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:08 am

This is pretty much the only kit available for hooking up an iPod to my stereo, and I would be doing all of the work myself. It does allow some control of the iPod from the stereo itself, but from what I've heard, it's not all that great for anything but seeking between tracks. As for mounting, I would probably run the cable under the trim and come out under the dash, and mount the iPod in one of those cheapo cell phone holders that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket, assuming I can find one any more.

PIE also makes a 3-input selector, but that's still $80 and I don't get the benefit of charging or control from the head unit, plus I'd need to add a headphone cable, or better yet a docking cradle, to that.

If I really felt like hacking it, I did find the pinout for the under-seat disc changer cable, so I could hack a docking cable into it, but then it won't charge unless I hack it more and I still won't be able to control it at all from the head unit. Doing so would probably void at least the warranty coverage on the CD changer, however, and I paid good money for that warranty (on the entire car).

soulmata · Post by **soulmata** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 6:56 pm

phOnYmIkE wrote:soulmata is jealous of us people who own cars, he can't afford gas so he rides around like a fag on his ipodless moped.

can you save money by hooking up the ipod by yourself? search ebay for car kits, and wire it up. I'm putting a laptop in my car, along with an 8" touchscreen. it's gonna be sweet if I ever get around to actually wiring it up.

i own 2 vehicles, both of which have satellite decks and rca miniplugs for my $300 zen vision:M

they also both have computers in them and internet access

you are the jealous one phonymary

Oskar_Hanberg · Post by **Oskar_Hanberg** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:28 pm

This is very adorable.. ultra-capitalists fighting over who has the biggest di.. I mean own the most stuff

You guys crack me up, seriously..

AntoineWG · Post by **AntoineWG** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:17 pm

I'm too lazy to actually go out and take a picture, but here's one from the dealer's website before they took the page down.

Joe Camacho · Post by **Joe Camacho** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 9:21 pm

Oskar_Hanberg wrote:This is very adorable.. ultra-capitalists fighting over who has the biggest di.. I mean own the most stuff
You guys crack me up, seriously..

We now know who is really jealous.

Oskar_Hanberg · Post by **Oskar_Hanberg** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 9:42 pm

Joe Camacho wrote:
Oskar_Hanberg wrote:This is very adorable.. ultra-capitalists fighting over who has the biggest di.. I mean own the most stuff
You guys crack me up, seriously..
We now know who is really jealous.

I'm not jealous. But confused. I do not understand why it is necessary or desirable to have an internet connection in a car. And yeah, not everyone has the same values. Material things can be fun but I personally don't use them to cockslap people. Thanks.

casualsax3 · Post by **casualsax3** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 9:51 pm

Google maps and GPS come to mind immediately. Also the ability to sit outside in your car and download music onto the hard drive from your home PC or fileserver would be very useful.

Other than the actual usefulness, there's tons of novelty and entertainment in it.

Oskar_Hanberg · Post by **Oskar_Hanberg** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 9:56 pm

casualsax3 wrote:Google maps and GPS come to mind immediately. Also the ability to sit outside in your car and download music onto the hard drive from your home PC or fileserver would be very useful.

Other than the actual usefulness, there's tons of novelty and entertainment in it.

Those reasons could apply for having an internet connection anywhere.

PHoNyMiKe · Post by **PHoNyMiKe** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 11:36 pm

that PIE thingy sounds like it'll work great, but it just looks kinda chinsey. I was looking at pioneer ipod adaptors (that work with aftermarket pioneer radios obviously) that looked a lot cool and had all sorts of cables and shit. there's gotta be more stuff available than just that CAKE thing.

soul, would you please share the specs of the pcs in your 'vehicles'? I am curious how you wired everything up, and how well it all works. I plan on bluetoofing my phone to the laptop for internet. it's slow but it'll work. I have 'roadrunner' as a gui, it's pretty slick. got a $30 car charger for the laptop off ebay, I'm gonna wire it up so it charges the laptop when ignition is on, when the car turns off, it'll shut down on its own battery power. I'm gonna throw a microcontroller in it to control the momentary push power button on the laptop to the continuous power button of the ignition key. plus have the uc show a digital temp readout on my amps and make the moonroof automatic

sweener2001 · Post by **sweener2001** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:32 am

Oskar_Hanberg wrote: Those reasons could apply for having an internet connection anywhere.

so? gps comes in extremely handy in a vehicle. especially when you consider that most people use cars to get places, and gps's tell you how to get to those places. i mean, the gps is why i justify having my xbox hooked up to the internet

darkbenny · Post by **darkbenny** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 3:03 am

Im so manly I never even have to ask a GPS for directions.

Joe Camacho · Post by **Joe Camacho** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 4:05 am

darkbenny wrote:Im so manly I never even have to ask a GPS for directions.

I am so manly that I am a GPS.

soulmata · Post by **soulmata** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 7:45 am

Oskar_Hanberg wrote:
Joe Camacho wrote:
Oskar_Hanberg wrote:This is very adorable.. ultra-capitalists fighting over who has the biggest di.. I mean own the most stuff
You guys crack me up, seriously..
We now know who is really jealous.
I'm not jealous. But confused. I do not understand why it is necessary or desirable to have an internet connection in a car. And yeah, not everyone has the same values. Material things can be fun but I personally don't use them to cockslap people. Thanks.

Because my job requires that I am able to access remote tower sites and remote servers anywhere I am, and requires me to be able to plot GPS coordinates, elevations, line of site calculations, et cetera from my vehicle.

Just because you're a burger flipper doesn't mean everyone has a worthless job.

soulmata · Post by **soulmata** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:01 am

phOnYmIkE wrote:
soul, would you please share the specs of the pcs in your 'vehicles'? I am curious how you wired everything up, and how well it all works. I plan on bluetoofing my phone to the laptop for internet. it's slow but it'll work. I have 'roadrunner' as a gui, it's pretty slick. got a $30 car charger for the laptop off ebay, I'm gonna wire it up so it charges the laptop when ignition is on, when the car turns off, it'll shut down on its own battery power. I'm gonna throw a microcontroller in it to control the momentary push power button on the laptop to the continuous power button of the ignition key. plus have the uc show a digital temp readout on my amps and make the moonroof automatic

Sure.

So both of my vehicles are pretty cheap. A 1996 hyundai elantra and a 1988 chevy suburban. Neither have very many stock features, but since I own them outright I don't feel bad about tearing them up.

First thing I did was external cartennas. I ordered custom made antennas from http://www.hyperlinktech.com . I have a 7dbI 900MHz/2.4GHz antenna, a 2.4GHz antenna with higher gain (9dBi), and a 2.4GHz/5.xGHz antenna. A small hole brings the LMR195 inside the truck and a small mount of weatherproofing keeps the antennas safe. For when I really need longer ranges, I have a very large 2.4GHz 12dBi gain omni. It's 3 feet long, and I only bust it out when I need to probe for seriously long range signals and I can't use a grid. A pipe mount attached to the truck + detachable pipe bracket on the antenna makes that a simple/quick task.

Now inside the truck. That old of a suburban has carpeting that runs the entire length of the vehicle, and it is only screwed into the sides under some plates. I just lifted that up to lay all my cabling underneath it. Up front, I have a 1200W DC to AC Inverter. I'm technically supposed to have it hooked up to its own battery and have that hooked to the alternator but I haven't finished the part of it yet. instead I bought a very high-capacity battery for the truck and replaced the stock one. I also carry a 28AH reserve power unit and 2 7AH reserve power units, mostly for powering other devices as I need.

There's a small radio unit underneath the seats, with a cat5 running under the carpet. That has 3 radio cards in it, each for the different frequencies I can scan for and hooked to the 3 external antennas. I can use these to scan for APs, connect to remote APs, act as an AP, etc. With the 9 gain omni in the 2.4 range, I can get very decent range on it, even downtown. It gets power via PoE.

If I'm anywhere near a city or a hotspot or anything else, that can easily provide me with internet. HOWEVER...

Real Internets. I have an unlimited dataplan with my phone. Simple enough. I plug my phone into my laptop, and bam, if I have cell service I can get on the internet. Immensely useful.

The sound is much simpler. I bought newer audio decks and plugged in a mini RCA + extension cable into the back and fed it into the cabins. Did that on both vehicles.

On a lesser note, I also ran compasses and thermometers for both vehicles to the outside so that I when I say "hay, it's fucking cold here", I can look at the thermometer and say "hay, it's fucking cold here @ 14 F".

There's more detail beyond that but I don't feel like elaborating.

HARDWARE INVOLVED:

3 antennas mentioned as from hyperlink

Gateworks Avila based WAR4 board w/ 3 miniPCI radios + n-type pigtails into a metal enclosure

then my laptop

1200W power inverter I got off amazon

28AH reserve power unit, also got it off amazon

2.4GHz bi-directional amplifier, 500mW, from hyperlink

My next step is to do the navigation systems, I already have 2 EPIA based machines built ready to install in the seats. They power when the ignition is turned already but I don't have the mini LCDs I need for them.

I've already done it before, with a friend. Take a look:

http://www.dakotaproject.com

I helped him plan that from the ground up. I'm gonna repeat it, to a degree.

Firon · Post by **Firon** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:11 am

That actually sounds like a pretty badass setup.

Oskar_Hanberg · Post by **Oskar_Hanberg** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:12 am

soulmata wrote:
Oskar_Hanberg wrote:
Joe Camacho wrote:
Oskar_Hanberg wrote:This is very adorable.. ultra-capitalists fighting over who has the biggest di.. I mean own the most stuff
You guys crack me up, seriously..
We now know who is really jealous.
I'm not jealous. But confused. I do not understand why it is necessary or desirable to have an internet connection in a car. And yeah, not everyone has the same values. Material things can be fun but I personally don't use them to cockslap people. Thanks.

Because my job requires that I am able to access remote tower sites and remote servers anywhere I am, and requires me to be able to plot GPS coordinates, elevations, line of site calculations, et cetera from my vehicle.

Just because you're a burger flipper doesn't mean everyone has a worthless job.

I see. Didn't consider the option it could be a job thing.. Also I study and get paid for it, so at the moment I don't have the need for a job.And I wouldn't flip burgers.

But as far as GPS is concerned.. I never heard you'd need an internet connection to use it.. the ones you buy here are hooked up to satellites.

soulmata · Post by **soulmata** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:22 am

Oskar_Hanberg wrote: But as far as GPS is concerned.. I never heard you'd need an internet connection to use it.. the ones you buy here are hooked up to satellites.

It has nothing to do with navigation or a GPS system.

It has everything to do with being able to find an address on a map, one that may be dozens of miles away, locate its GPS coordinates and elevation remotely, then plot a line of sight to various towers. GPS units don't do any of that, but all of that information can be found on the Internet.

Oskar_Hanberg · Post by **Oskar_Hanberg** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:22 am

Nice.

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 3:17 am

Firon wrote:That actually sounds like a pretty badass setup.

yes it is

it is made of 110% win

PHoNyMiKe · Post by **PHoNyMiKe** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:13 am

soulmata wrote:It has everything to do with being able to find an address on a map, one that may be dozens of miles away, locate its GPS coordinates and elevation remotely, then plot a line of sight to various towers. GPS units don't do any of that, but all of that information can be found on the Internet.

sounds nerdy!

I just want a hard drive with all my mp3s accessible via touchscreen. gps, porn, zsnes, limewire and all the rest are just a bonus! but I also gotta have a snes controller in the glovebox.