GPS and tv tuner questions

[BorepYano]

actually i'm not sure if i'm supposed to post this in the ICE section... probably end up annoying one of you moderators and get moved lol.

anyways.

would this:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... Track=true

+ this:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... Track=true

+a laptop or butchered PC crammed into the glove box

=GPS navigation (equivilent of the tom toms etc..)??

just took time from work to do the reseach on my custom car pc install thingo, and realised that I have no idea about anything to do with GPS lol.

and i also realised that i know nothing about digital tv tuners (for PC/laptops) either, can the digital ones do radio as well? (i know the annalog ones can)

HeLp plzz @_@

[FtoSam]

By the looks of things i'd say it would. Although i bought a $750 Tomtom (now on special for $595 at strathfield ) so i can keep it seperate. only a little bit extra but i know it works seamlessly no hardware/software sh*t. always perfect. considering you'll be spending a few hundred on this anyway i'd suggest going for a proper one like this.
http://www.strathfield.com/images/Catal ... JPG/p1.jpg
It'll be more reliable and take 2 mins to setup instead of 2 weeks.
If you want a carputer use it for music/movies/ other sh*t. cause i like my GPS running while im flickin through music. so having them on seperate screens is the way i think. plus my tomtom has bluetooth and all that crap anyway. runs on batterys or 12v or USB. and very very cheap right now.

[BorepYano]

hey thanks for that sam

my problem is that I only want to have 1 screen going at anytime.

if i get pulled over for having my screen on, i can quickly flick over to the sat nav if i was watchign videos etc..

my other problem now is also finding a front end program...
that will offer me the option of say...

intergrated and instant switch between MUSIC|VIDEO|RADIO|TV|SATNAV|INTERNET|MSN|(and possibily phone if i can figure out what i want and how to do it)
as well as direct stream from 1 of 2 or maybe 4 camera (i.e reverse cam, cabin cam... wheel cam? o_0')
as well as being able to minimise it all and do the normal windows stuff

i'm sure we can all figure out which ones are just in there for the wank value lol.

i'm even considering entering nerdy competitions (like the ones u might see once a while in PC magazines) with this, just for sh*ts and giggles i guess lol.

but 1st things 1st i need to make sure all of the individual things work before i put them all together.

[boarsai]

Watching videos whilst driving cars is seriously dangerous sh*t.

I know, I've had mates who did it... I had to shout at them to stop in time to avoid accidents... they soon stopped doing it. My car is able to do it but yes, I'd never actually consider doing it.

If I get a GPS type setup I'll just get an alpine one that ties in with the head unit... but they don't seem to have the cool features that some of the others do yet. That and getting lost is half the fun of going driving

EDIT: and according to the forum description NAV systems is within the ICE category

EDIT EDIT: the only thing I don't like about the PC way of doing things is that all the constant bumping and what not you'll have in a car will probably cause pc/laptop hdd failures... reading disk whilst going over bumps... hdd's really weren't built for that.

Altho you can limit this with snazzy mounting, you'll never eliminate it.

Solid state storage is great... which is why eventually I'll get a solid state Ipod for the car instead of using the hdd one... altho with a 5 year warranty on a hdd ipod... should I care?

[FtoSam]

I agree. I've had my DVD screen for a few weeks now and i never watch it while driving. its not just stupid but you miss out on half the movie. i just play my music through it and dvds when im parked waiting for someone. Either that or driving around Surfers Paradise on sat night with a Porn on at full Vol. gets a few looks

Oh and most TV tuners (both analogue and digital) will have a FM radio. but not all... Also keep in mind that TV tuners for pcs are not designed for small aerials that you can put in your car. i've found that the only aerial that would work with my laptop was the one on my roof. even then wasnt near the quality of my tv. Buy the best quality you can. Maybe even a USB one would help reduce size of the computer. Also when building it try and use a laptop HDD as they are designed to move around a bit. dektop HDD would die very quickly. An adapter to use a laptop HDD in a desktop will cost around $20. If you need any help with particulars mate just let me know. I have built these before.
www.caraudioaustralia.com.au is also a very good resource.
www.atomicmpc.com.au <--- lots of nerdy advice.

[BorepYano]

cheers for all the input guys

with the tv tuner thing, i thought they would have FM but it doesnt say it on any of the digital ones that i've seen (reading off gamedude's site lol), but say it on the analog ones...

as for watching videos while driving, yeah i know actually, cos i tried it when i 1st got my car (new toy thing lol), and soon realised that i shouldn't

but my passengers keep f**king trying to open up my screen while i'm driving, and i eventually gave up and let them do it once a while, i dont actually watch it while driving though

and with the HDD thing, i know all about the bumps lol (has anyone driven over corination drive lately ), i'm going to see what i can do with mounting a normal one with rubber washers (similar to what they have/had in the antec cases) + whatever else i can some up with.. maybe have the actual hdd mount attached to the car with tough springs (or use rubber washers for every joint...

i dont like the laptop hdds cos they r so expensive and small lol

[boarsai]

Yeah, some of the expensive lappies disengage the reading head when bumped... but not all though You'd want to mount it so that it's firm and yet somehow sorta float it so as to not bump harshly... I guess that'd also depend on how sporty your suspension is in the car. The sportier the worse it'll be

Having said all that it might work fine.

I'm just bitter, my 40gig ipod failed just outside the standard short warranty ... and I was using it in the car.

laptop hdd's are expensive yes... they're beautifully small which makes integration into smaller spaces more possible though... and leaves more room for creative mounting.

[BorepYano]

but i want at least a 200GB HDD (looking at a 350GB 16mb cache right now ), laptop hdds just doesnt cut it

and space should'nt be a problem, there's plenty of room between the glove box and the intrusion bar in the dash (might fit a full size mother board in there actually lol)

and i'm probably going to mount the HDD side ways , better for cooling and slightly better for bumps

now more importantly, apart from things like tom toms... has anyone used a usb or bluetooth GPS for their lap top or something?

oh and sam thanks for the suggestion with the tv card, i was looking at some of them as well, and some of them have their own retractable antenna, so i may just get a usb extention cable and stick the usb tv tuner somewhere that it'll get good reception (although i'm pretty stump as to where this place would be in a car, short of holding it out of the window lol)

[boarsai]

200gig ... I detect a lot of divx and mp3s.

[FtoSam]

Trust me mate. just get a 100Gb Laptop Drive. 100gb is a lot of movies and mp3s. to mount a desktop hdd is always very tricky. The disengage'd hdds borsai is mentioning is used mainly in IBM business laptops.
A laptop drive should last years. If you get 3 months out of a desktop hdd i would be surprised... with creative mounting. without... i'd say within an hour of driving.
the bigger the HDD also the more prone to bumps, shocks and vibrations due to there usually being more platters which are closer together.
if 100Gb is not enough for you then you may have to look at 2x 100gbs... but i would never put a 3.5" Hdd in a car... Those rubber mounts in Antec cases are designed to reduce noise and wouldnt do much for stopping the effect of a pothole.
trust me. laptop HDD will be cheaper in the long run. and as far as space, my laptop runs XP MCE and Vista. has 15,000 mp3s several dvds, about 10-15 high end games and shitloads of general junk. still got plenty spare... As far as antennaes go look for one with a "booster", as the biggest problem with PC TV Tuners is that they run off the power of the mainboard and as such have very little power. A boosted antenae will provide enough power to boost the signal for your card.
You're antenae will most likely have to sit at the rear of your car. dont buy a general antenae for computers as these are designed to sit still and are usually directional. You need a specialised Car TV antenae that is Omni-Directional.
products i'd look at:
PINNACLE PCTV Dual Hybrid Pro PCI Express Digital and Analog TV Tuner Card Model: PCTV3010X
DVico Fusion HDTV PRO DVB-T Digital and Analog TV Tuners
SAMSUNG 120 gig 5400rpm 2.5inch NOTEBOOK HARD DRIVE
DC-DC PSU CA-MOAC047 from ( http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/index.php ... ategory_id]=
check out : http://www.mp3car.com
hope this helps

[noccers]

You get over the movie thing in the car VERY quickly, you can't really enjoy them yourself, and it is so dangerous. I only use mine when I'm carting around a car full of chicks on a sat. night, they love it, but I let them take control of it so I don't get distracted more

As for Digital Receivers, I got one for my laptop, it's pretty sh*tty. The ones you buy for laptops/PCs arn't designed to be mobile so they don't work very well, if at all, while the car is moving. When it's stationary it's fine for the most part. And you can get SBS radio, but not any other stations because they arn't digital.

I'm looking at changing to a TV/Radio box for a boat or something.

I'm only just putting GPS in mine now so I can't comment on how that works just yet, but I will when it's done.

[BorepYano]

200gig ... I detect a lot of divx and mp3s.

indeed. movies, mp3s and music clips (mainly want the music clips part, and i have a lot of them lol)

i'll see how i go with the HDD thing, you did put forward a good case sam. but being me, i'll never listen to anyone lol, so i'm probably going to buy the 350GB anyway, but instead i'll put it in my desktop and just test with the 200 that's in my computer now, and see how long it lasts, (if it lasts 6months, then i'll probably end up buying whatever works out to be the cheapest $/GB HDD at that time and replace it, if not then i dont lose much and just be a good little boy and do what i'm told - use a laptop HDD)

very interesting about the tv tuners... i'm getting confused lol. basically if i buy a PCI card, then buy an antenna that's made for cars and plug it in, would that work? i may even give up on the digital thing if i can't find a digital tv tuner that can pick up normal FM radio and just go with the analog.

i donno i'll have to see.

i thought i had enough spare $$ to tackle this now, but then realised that i have to leave that money, cos of the angel eye GB (if it was to go ahead it'll be easiest if i just paid my company for the whole lot, rather than piss farting around)

so... more time for reseach i guess lol


oh and sam, with the power supply thing... how do i connect that to a normal PC PSU? the only direct DC - DC PCUs i can use that i've found probably wont put enough wattage through for me. so i'm probably going to have a set up of:

battery -> voltage detector thingo (one of them things that cuts power when the battery is getting low) ->DC-AC converter -> cheap UPS -> computer

[Richy]

This might not be 100% related, but check this out.

http://www.vacheron.btinternet.co.uk/pa ... C/FTPC.htm

i think its mad.....could only be my dream

[BorepYano]

This might not be 100% related, but check this out.

http://www.vacheron.btinternet.co.uk/pa ... C/FTPC.htm

i think its mad.....could only be my dream

hey thanx for the input, too drunk t check, but i think i've seeen it before, some guy with a [re made mmicro case thign right>

will reoperly when sober lol
i'm suck a funny dude

[jakey106]

yhhmm than for yo input atm i am too gonnnneeeeeeeet o read as use csan see ive haf absine and redbull all night ooowww f**k watchin the leprocans fight is fun hehehehe hmm wagga sux im moving to the city oeace out hmm wats going on ppl

[noccers]

[quote]how do i connect that to a normal PC PSU? the only direct DC - DC PCUs i can use that i've found probably wont put enough wattage through for me/quote]

you can get a 300-600W power inverter, that should do the trick. they have built in fail safes aswell, like the voltage warnings; they tend to beep when its getting low, and turn off when it's too low.

Tip: Before you buy a power inverter test it first, make sure that when you cut the power to it that it turns back 'on' without going in to error mode. I wasted $80 on a 300W power inverter for that reason. Ended up getting one from Autobarn for $80 that was perfect, but I made sure to test it first

[mr-charisma]

Hey,

Download a GPS program from the net and then download the Aussie Maps for it, don't buy from google. Buy a Bluetooth GPS receiver, which you should be able to pick up for a lot cheaper, buy an el' cheapo laptop from ebay, little 11" or 12" screen, should be able to pick one up for $200 if you aren't in too much of a hurry to get it & can wait for a bargain to pop up....
doesn't much matter about the system specs as it won't be doing too much.. buy an external DVD drive.. and connect it via usb (Mount it in the stereo slot on the dash if you want) get the speakers set up so that they can be plugged into the laptop, find somewhere to mount the laptop in your car if you're going to be leaving it in there.

Oh and if you're getting a laptop, you will pick them up cheaper if the screen is busted ... which doesn't matter cause most people want to hook it up to a 7" touch screen or something mounted on their dash ... then you can just mount the laptop under the seats/in the boot / arm rest / wherever.


Or you could just do what I"m gonna do and buy something like this:

http://www.samsung.com/uk/products/mobi ... ifications
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/SAMSUNG-Q1-NOTEB ... dZViewItem

and mount it in your car like:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Q1-Car-cradle-Ca ... dZViewItem

[Supplanter]

This site will become your bible: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/

[FtoSam]

Some problems i've found with inverters is the level of noise they put out. They can introduce a whine into amplified speakers.
Dc-Dc PSUs are designed for what you are doing.

When looking at buying parts always think this first:
What was this part designed to do?

i.e. 300W ATX psu... not designed to be in a car.. or running off an inverter really
PC TV Tuner. Not designed to be moving at 100km/h
etc...
So remember anything that is not designed to work in your application may not work. so these are the things you have to be careful of.

Oh and if you want a Laptop HDD i have:
New 40Gb $60
New 120Gb $150
Still sealed etc.
or 2nd hand 100Gb $100

[noccers]

no whine to speak of with my inverter to date

Anyway, I just finished installing the GPS

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Mini-GPS-Receive ... dZViewItem

That's the receiver I went for. Using Destinator3/MapMonkey with latest AU maps

Happy to provide the software if anyone is finding it difficult to track it down (PM me). All free, of course; I had a few troubles getting it all together and working