In car computer pictures

[netmgr]

For those of you interested in the incar pc. Ive had one for ages, it runs from a mains voltage inverter placed under the back seat and a PC in the boot of the car in the recess. For anyone planning, you must get a head unit with audio in or run it to you amplifer as i did - the FM transmitters are just no good.

Any questions just ask

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[talltorontoguy]

I'm really curious about this, but have no idea how the set up works (The power part is easy, the signal routing and switching is confusing to me).

Does it go something like this?

1. Output signal (audio) from Head unit to Line in on PC
2. Output signals (audio/video) from other devices (xbox etc)to input on PC
3. Output signals from GPS mouse to usb input on PC
4. Output signals (audio) from PC to line in on amplifier
5. Output signals (video) from PC to video in on LCD monitor

I don' tunderstand how you can listen to the headunit while running GPS software or other car computer apps at the same time. Can the audio outputs be mixed at the PC or is this impossible?

Maybe you could give us a description of the functionality and the ability to run different things simultaneously.

Looks like an interesting project.

Rod

[netmgr]

this is how i do it

i dont have a stock amp, so cant say you will have this option.

my amp has line in(phono plugs) and also direct in from a cd changer

my cd head unit goes to line in
my audio out from the computer goes to the cd changer input on the amp, however its should be noted this just utilises the audio in lines not any signals lines etc

the effect means i can listen to the cd/radio at the same time as audio from the pc, ie voice navigation which i have.

however as my car pc is loaded with mp3 i very rarely use the haed unit so would happily do without it.

I dont reccommend fm transmitters as the sound is aufull, ive had both types radio and via the arial cable, both are rubbish

video you will need a pc or pc card with video out - however some new displays have a 15 pin standard vga connector and i would reccomend those for clarity, usually come with touch screen to those ive seen on ebay.

and yes gps mouse goes to usb port, i use a usb keypad for controlling winamp, however i have my own VB program running in the background which actually controlls winamp

[bimmerd00d]

did it with an old laptop, looks very cool.

[Crewblunts]

netmgr,

how have you countered the heat buildup with mounting your CarPC in that well? Or does it cool enough without you having to worry?

Thanks,

Phil V In CT

[netmgr]

PC doesnt get hot at all even on long trips, infact i usually have the carpet directly ontop of it, the hard disk gets warm but not hot, but thats mounted on shockproof mounts if you look at the pictures and has plenty of air flow

the mains inverter does however get hot as its mounted under the back seat, however i altered the design by incorporating a fan onto the box and ive never had any issues with it

given the choice again i would opt for a laptop as its easier to power, and also you can run it for at least an hour with no inverter running, which really needs the car engine running to stop the battery going flat.

it has to be said that a big problem with all this setup is ground loop isolation which means you can get interference on the video and sound.
you can usually sort this by using sheilded cables and grounding everything together, so the chassis of the computer is connected to the chassis of the car even though you are running on mains the pc power supply knocks it down to low voltages. the screen for this reason neads to be powered from the pc not the cars 12v otherwise you will probably end up with interference and a bad picture