Carputer step one (2 Viewers)

[superjuice]

I got this one . same price same seller. make sure to ask him for the auto switch to backup cam, he just solders a wire to the back that you energize with 12v to make it switch. Also, I had to trim the back of the cruisers radio opening to make room for it. I didn't want to use glue so i heated up a nail and pinned it through the top left and right corners, then added washers to two existing screws to hold the bottom in. If you wanted to you could cut the dash at the top and bottom to make it push through but i thought it would looked hacked up. If i did it again i might get an 8" and customize the dash some more, but it would be quite a bit of work. I was sorta upset when it didnt fit right in, but now i like the fact that it doesnt protrude at all, looks more factory that way. Also with the capacitive screen you have to mount the IR receiver somewhere else because the screen connector covers the small hole usually occupied by the IR receiver. I moved mine to the slots where the auto climate control would be on an LX, it has a 12" pigtail so you could put it wherever you want.

 

[superjuice]

Now that i've been thinking about this again maybe the antenna needs to have the pulse after the ingition has been turned on. I know if i hit the lights before the computer is booted than the antenna doesnt go up. I have to wait a few seconds after the key is turned on before i hit the lights. This doesnt change the fact the the lights should have nothing to do with it but may be a work around.

Tried this, no go. Somehow the antena is wired into the bundle of wires from the stereo plug to the Amp plug. I guess i will have to re wire it

 

[warpdriv]

Subscribed!

 

[Moby]

I have a carputer installed with a touchscreen where the radio was. I'm about 80% finished with the installation. It's been a work in progress for a long time.

I bought the monitor and 12vdc PC from Mobile Computing Solutions.

For better sound I installed a Creative USB sound connected to the factory '80 amp using a Crutchfield adapter.

I also use Centrafuse as a front end. The Overland Navigator software is wonderful while on the trail.

I'm also running a touchscreen/PC (fanless dual core with heat pump) from Mo-Co-So in my Fj-62. The anti glare on their top of the line monitor is excellent. 62s don't have factory amps so I stuck an aftermarket amp in the quarter panel.

I also use Centrafuse as a front end with Garmin Mobile PC integrated into Centrafuse via a plug in. I'm also using HDRadio from mp3car.com (also integrated into Centrafuse). I'm currently running win7 ultimate for an OS but am investigating win7 embedded.

Interesting about the Creative USB sound card. Which one are you using?

 

[p8nt]

Awesome thread, something Ive been curious about for a long time. What about a rom drive? Dose any one make a display where the screen would open to reveal a rom drive? What about a ipod interface?

 

[superjuice]

Awesome thread, something Ive been curious about for a long time. What about a rom drive? Dose any one make a display where the screen would open to reveal a rom drive? What about a ipod interface?

I really don't think you would need a rom drive, with all the mp3's and such. But if you wanted you could put a usb one somewhere, like in the center console.

Centrafuse has an ipod interface built in, just connect the usb to 30 pin connector and you can play right from the ipod using the on screen controls. I only did it once to try it out but it seemed to work well. Unfortunately it wont work with the iphone, yet.

Using bluetooth you can play from the iphone thru the speakers, and use the phone to change the songs. Handsfree is possible as well but it takes a microphone array and a separate sound card to work well from what i have read.

 

[superjuice]

So I pulled the dash off today to figure out why the sound would not come on with the amp. Apparently the amp plug behind the dash does not go strait to the plug at the factory amp location. It ties into other circuits such as the lights and antenna.

I am still using the amp wiring for the rca's because that seems to work just fine. Instead of running new speaker wires I figured out which pins on the other amp plug went to the doors and modified an adapter that's supposed to be used for the head unit. Now the sound comes on with the computer and sounds much better, so i am pleased

rewired amp


usb ports


Power supply CARNETIX P-1900


The power supply does some pretty cool stuff. It supplies regulated 12vdc for the screen, 19vdc for the computer (acer aspire one), and 5vdc for the USB hub.
There are outputs for toggling the computer power switch and an amp turn on lead as well. I took the netbook apart and put jumpers on the power switch, these run to a plug i put in the bottom of the computer to make it easy to take out of the car. Using jumpers inside the power supply so you can adjust things like how long the computer stays on after turning off the ignition as well as how the outputs are controlled.

I have it set so when the ignition is turned on the all outputs are energized and a closure is sent to the power switch on the laptop(comes out of standby in about 8 seconds). After turning the ignition off the 12vdc turns off(screen goes off) but the 19vdc and 5vdc stays on for 45 minutes. A closure is also sent to the laptop which puts it in standby mode. I didn't drive the car for 3 days once and the laptop still came right out of standby mode. I bet any longer and the laptop battery would be dead and it would do a hard boot into windows.

There is also a pulse input to replicate turning on the ignition, this is hooked up to a hazard switch modified for momentary operation. If i'm working on the car or playing with the computer i don't have to turn on the car. This also works well when i use LogMeIn from inside the house to play with the carputer (change settings, install plugins, update music and movies) and not have to be in the car

 

[Moby]

I really don't think you would need a rom drive, with all the mp3's and such. But if you wanted you could put a usb one somewhere, like in the center console.

Centrafuse has an ipod interface built in, just connect the usb to 30 pin connector and you can play right from the ipod using the on screen controls. I only did it once to try it out but it seemed to work well. Unfortunately it wont work with the iphone, yet.

Using bluetooth you can play from the iphone thru the speakers, and use the phone to change the songs. Handsfree is possible as well but it takes a microphone array and a separate sound card to work well from what i have read.

I'm using handfrees with Centrafuse and my iphone with a cheaper microphone array (compared to the ones that are a couple hundred dollars). Works reasonably well. No separate sound card needed, audio out is via the car speakers and the mic is audio in. Eventually I'll upgrade to a nicer sound cancelling mic.

 

[superjuice]

So you just use the mic input, i thought there would be alot of feedback? and this is over bluetooth correct? I'm gonna try it as soon as i find a littlle mic. I was thinking the litttle slots where the auto climate control is on an LX would be sweet, but probably too far from my mouth What are you using and where is it mounted?

The Andrea mic gets good reviews, kinda bulky though. I beleive that in order to use noise cancellation you have to split the main audio output into the included soundcard($45 for the kit, not too bad). Not too difficult either but why cant there just be a usb mic that does this itself

I havent played with it much latley, but now im into it! how are you handling your music collection? I am just playing out of my itunes directory, because it WAS my main computer. Now im using a macbook as my main and want to sync it with the carputer. I downloaded supersync but havent set it up yet, have you tried this program?

BTW your carputer sounds sweet! I would love to hear more about it so please feel free to post up anything you want to share(this goes for everyone)in this thread

 

[Moby]

So you just use the mic input, i thought there would be alot of feedback? and this is over bluetooth correct? I'm gonna try it as soon as i find a littlle mic. I was thinking the litttle slots where the auto climate control is on an LX would be sweet, but probably too far from my mouth What are you using and where is it mounted?

The Andrea mic gets good reviews, kinda bulky though. I beleive that in order to use noise cancellation you have to split the main audio output into the included soundcard($45 for the kit, not too bad). Not too difficult either but why cant there just be a usb mic that does this itself

I havent played with it much latley, but now im into it! how are you handling your music collection? I am just playing out of my itunes directory, because it WAS my main computer. Now im using a macbook as my main and want to sync it with the carputer. I downloaded supersync but havent set it up yet, have you tried this program?

BTW your carputer sounds sweet! I would love to hear more about it so please feel free to post up anything you want to share(this goes for everyone)in this thread

Correct, over Bluetooth. I have the cheaper of the Andrea mics. There is a delay and the sound quality is only OK. It's not great, but it works. Plus my 62 is not super quiet to begin with.

For my music I use iTunes on my machine machine in the house and simply use a win7 Homegroup that my carpc is joined to. Then I just copy the iTunes files to the carpc periodically and rebuild the library in Centrafuse. I used the codec that the Centrafuse help files point to. Works great, I just need to write a script to automate the transfer of files. The only caveat is that it doesn't work with music that you buy through iTunes, only music that you rip. I never buy anything through iTunes so this isn't an issue for me.

I haven't done anything really interesting yet. I'm a software developer by profession (actually I'm a dev lead at Microsoft on a programming framework product that ships in the .Net framework) so I have a number of things that I'd like to do, but haven't gotten to them yet. Currently it's just maps, radio, phone, music and internet. But the project list is long

 

[superjuice]

Moby, thanks for the input. I would love to see some pics of your instal!

 

[Scalci]

Superjuice, what screeen did yo use? If i measure the 7", it does not fit where the original radio is in. I use Cetnerfure currently, but I need to change my screen, also what radio do you use?

 

[superjuice]

I got this one . same price same seller. make sure to ask him for the auto switch to backup cam, he just solders a wire to the back that you energize with 12v to make it switch. Also, I had to trim the back of the cruisers radio opening to make room for it. I didn't want to use glue so i heated up a nail and pinned it through the top left and right corners, then added washers to two existing screws to hold the bottom in. If you wanted to you could cut the dash at the top and bottom to make it push through but i thought it would looked hacked up. If i did it again i might get an 8" and customize the dash some more, but it would be quite a bit of work. I was sorta upset when it didnt fit right in, but now i like the fact that it doesnt protrude at all, looks more factory that way. Also with the capacitive screen you have to mount the IR receiver somewhere else because the screen connector covers the small hole usually occupied by the IR receiver. I moved mine to the slots where the auto climate control would be on an LX, it has a 12" pigtail so you could put it wherever you want.

Im not currently using a radio, i can stream sirius radio from my iphone over bluetooth though.

 

[Moby]

Superjuice, what screeen did yo use? If i measure the 7", it does not fit where the original radio is in. I use Cetnerfure currently, but I need to change my screen, also what radio do you use?

I'm having good luck with Centrafuse and HDRadio (Mp3Car BoomzBox HD Radio USB Controlled AM/FM Tuner). Centrafuse 3.1 supports it natively, 2.x and 3.0 require some minor configuration (need to add some files to the install dir of Contrafuse).

 

[superjuice]

That looks pretty sweet!, but kinda pricey. I like that it has audio over usb, leaves the mic input open for handsfree. HD radio too! Looks like they are sold out right now, wonder if a new model is coming out

 

[Moby]

That looks pretty sweet!, but kinda pricey. I like that it has audio over usb, leaves the mic input open for handsfree. HD radio too! Looks like they are sold out right now, wonder if a new model is coming out

There is a sub-forum for HDRadio support on the MP3car site that you could ask. I believe that it is produced and supported by one guy (Mitch) so he may simply be out of stock.

 

[superjuice]

standby mode

Little update: I travel a lot and after a four days of not driving my truck, the computer booted into windows(not centrafuse). The battery level was 10 percent (set in system power settings) so i guess it needed some more charge time or less standby time. Unfortunatly I'm not sure what the charge state was when I parked it but i will check next time. Booting from hibernate takes about 20sec as opppesed to standby which is 10sec. I don't mind 10s but 20s is a bit much. Problem is I only drive five minutes to work so with the current configuration its bound to happen again. As I stated earlier the Carnetix power supply has settings for how long the outputs stay on for so i guess I'll play with the settings. Other than that i really like the setup, something to play with anyways

 

[superjuice]

Andrea microphone array

Moby,
Can you tell me how you have the andrea mic setup? Are you using the audio out from the supplied usb dongle to output your main sound? I read about this and thats the only way to fully use the noise and echo cancellation. I also wonder how much computer resources the software gobbles up, i only have a Atom 450 in my setup.

How's the sound compared to other sound cards you have used (if any)
Also where did you mount it, got any pics? I wondering how big this thing is and where i can mount it. From what i have read others have used smaller microphones with good results. Thanks for any input

 

[Moby]

Moby,
Can you tell me how you have the andrea mic setup? Are you using the audio out from the supplied usb dongle to output your main sound? I read about this and thats the only way to fully use the noise and echo cancellation. I also wonder how much computer resources the software gobbles up, i only have a Atom 450 in my setup. Centrafuse stops playing music when I make a call or take a call.

How's the sound compared to other sound cards you have used (if any)
Also where did you mount it, got any pics? I wondering how big this thing is and where i can mount it. From what i have read others have used smaller microphones with good results. Thanks for any input

Sorry, I just saw your PM. I don't remember doing anything special to configure the Andrea, but everything that I did was in Centrafuse I think (I may have done some minor tweeking in device manager). I use my main audio out for the output and the Andrea USB dongle as the audio in.

I only have one sound card (the integrated one). I'm shopping for a better USB sound card right now. I'll eventually turn the integrated sound card into audio out for a second monitor for back seat.

The mic itself is about 4" long, 2" deep, .75" tall. It looks like it is designed to sit on the visor but the cord isn't long enough to reach my computer so I need an extension. Currently I just have it velcro'd to my center console and it actually works OK (not great, but at least it works).

I don't really use my phone much so optimizing it hasn't been a priority. I'm trying to get a simple serial over USB cable to work so that I can wrap up my Innovate LC-1 wideband install and get data from that into a custom Centrafuse plugin so that I've got wideband data on my Centrafuse frontend. Everything is done but the stupid device (USB/Serial conversion cable) won't start with the supplied drivers

 

[Akella]

but can it do this?
View attachment 450812

View attachment 450811

What software are using to get OBD II readings on your carputer???