Scratch Build – In Progress RX8-CarPooter - July 27th 2009 - Software: WIP. Hardware: Nearly done.

That is an awfully large psu for a carputer i see in that picture. is it just for testing? I would think even an M2-ATX psu would be more than enough for what you are doing. Other than that, lookin good so far!

For the OBD 2 connector being in the way, either hardwire it, or move the cars connector. Legally, it has to remain within 18" of the steering wheel (I have absolutely no idea why) but im sure it wouldn't be too hard to flip it up under the dash.

As for the HDD, i will also be getting one fo those for when i do my carputer for my Rabbit. SSD's are nigh impervious to bumps and vibrations. It has no moving parts. the only thing that will kill it quickly is from feeding like, i dunno, a straight 12V up its arse? Seriously though, go with the SSD, you won't regret it.

 

Oh I'm not rushing, just would have been nice if everything had worked and just needed minor tweaking.

Yea, I ran a power extension cord to the car and just use a random PSU I had, the actual PSU I'll be using is tiny and produces 160W but it hooks up directly to the car's battery lines, and I was just doing a quick hardware test.

I'll have to see if I can re-position the connector, I'm sure it's do-able, haven't looked into it yet though.

I'm very tempted to order the SSD, waiting for em to go up on Newegg

 

Not surprised you're having troubles with the Bluetooth phone - most people I know who have carPCs end up ditching PhoCo and any kind of PC phone control, and just install a bluetooth car kit instead.

For whatever reason, the whole PC/phone thing just hasn't reached a stage where it's both usable and stable enough to use seamlessly. The problem got so bad that the developer of PhoCo (if that's what CF still uses) stopped updating the software because it just got silly having to support all of the different phones with their slightly different ways of doing things.

You might be able to get dialling working or caller ID, but it's rare for someone to get the whole shebang working totally.

 

I got the whole shebangs working correctly, CF uses BlueSoleil and it works surprisingly well. What I couldn't get working was the mic level without it starting to echo horribly with the car speakers. The other problem was that the engine sounds were being transmitted through the car body, so if I let the mic rest on any part of the car, it would pick up the sound, amplify it x4 and transmit through the speakers which resulted in tremendous bass levels that made the whole car vibrate like mad, which was also again picked up by the mic, and re-amplified and.. you get the point

I'm not sure what I can do about the mic problem though.. will have to research more

 

Are you using a standard mic or a noise-cancelling one?

 

Standard? I think.. Those cheap 2-6$ ones hehe

 

I'd see if you can pick up a noise cancelling mic - I think Logitech do one, as do Plantronics, and they're not that expensive (around $20-ish). They're probably less likely to pick up and amplify the ambient noise and cause feedback.

Damn you, you've aroused my interest in CarPCs again - I'm downloading the newest version of CF as we speak

 

Hehe


I'm looking into noise-canceling mics now.. it's going slow.. bleh. First time that Newegg has failed me

Ninja-Edit:

Found this.. http://www.myrtleelectronics.com/item_detail.php?item_id=114383

http://interstore.com/product/181-1...00Hz_to_15kHz_-_Plug-in_3229559.html?ref=base

http://www.cbradiostore.com/servlet/the-131/Driver's-Product-Noise-Cancelling/Detail

http://www.babykgb.com/products/162/4/2/29708


Going to keep looking.. hopefully I'll find something.. or maybe someone can suggest one

 

Pardon me if you already mentioned it, but what sound car or audio are you going to be using? I assume an amplified setup with two amps. Im still looking for a suitable sound card to transfer the audio from the pc to the amps i will get, and nothing i find seems to do what i want.

Also, the newegg has a nice G. SKill 64Gb SSD for 135, its MLC, so its not quite as fast as SLC, but its really nice. lolz.

 

Car came stock with an amp and 3.5mm jack, so I'm just using the onboard audio chip.

I might get a smaller SSD, I don't need a lot of room, 30Gbs is probably more than enough, but thanks for the tip

 

Well, a new problem arose tonight as I was testing out the bluetooth functionality from home (just to make it worked properly). I got it to auto-transfer audio and stuff just fine, but it creates a TERRIBLE echo, and not from the mic.

Basically what happens is, you (person who's calling me) says "Hello" and it echos in their phone 3 times, but only comes through once on the speakers, and when I say something back, they hear a clear echo 3 times, whereas I only hear myself once.

Also, supposedly, Centrafuse is supposed to be able to switch the microphone on/off depending on whether I'm in a call or not.. however it's not doing it at the present. Sigh.

I wish I could re-arrange the icons too.. they're a PITA, have to scroll forever to find the ones I want.

I'll get there eventually

 

A custom front end is sounding better and better for you. Granted, i have no idea how much knowledge in that arena you may have, but most of them are actually fairly easy to get into and mess with.

 

A custom frontend? As in, write it myself?

Both my iPhone and Nokia 6600 have developed a permanent echo now from trying them with Centrafuse, I'm really pissed off. Even with bluetooth off and the carputer turned off, my phones now echo constantly.

 

Usually what custom means yes. Lolz. I have heard some are easy, some are not, depends on how much experience you have coding.

And might i suggest dropping the cell phone deal for now? I've been researching some for ya, and it seems very difficult amongst even the "pros" that do this every day. Course, I've also found people that just buy everything, put it together and it somehow works. (i've been known to do that among my friends from time to time)

 

Ah gotcha, I could create a custom frontend, but I'm not really wanting to spend that much time on it and I know mostly web languages, though I guess I could create a web-based frontend that I host locally, but it'd be a pain to integrate GPS, music, OBD2, etc. So I'm not going to bother, but the idea has crossed my mind

I've managed to fix the weird echo in my phones, and reduced the CF echo to 1 echo. Hopefully a few more days and I'll get the final echo cleared and can work on noise cancellation.

 

awesome man! thats good news.

 

So I did another test run tonight, much more involved than the last time and I wired up the OBD2 connector through the center console. I cut myself a buncha times too.. who knew screwdrivers were so dangerous

Anyways.. Picture galore:

First is my helper, she's very involved as you can tell:

Hi-res: http://www.tech-burrow.com/bittech/DSC_0009.JPG


Pic of car, she's very dirty, the rims are supposed to be silver:

Hi-res: http://www.tech-burrow.com/bittech/DSC_0015.JPG


Center console removed, it'll stay like this until I finish routing cables, it's too much of a pain to remove and put back on:

Hi-res: http://www.tech-burrow.com/bittech/DSC_0016.JPG


View from trunk, my fingers left some nice greasy marks:

Hi-res: http://www.tech-burrow.com/bittech/DSC_0019.JPG


I removed the OBD2 connector's default position and routed it under the center dashboard, you never even see the cable now, and it doesn't impede my legs. There's also a corner of my nose..

Hi-res: http://www.tech-burrow.com/bittech/DSC_0020.JPG


Here's how I routed the OBD2 connector, it was the biggest pain in the arse passing it through because of the serial connector was a bit too big to go under certain metal brackets, but I managed it:

Hi-res: http://www.tech-burrow.com/bittech/DSC_0025.JPG


Here's the PSU btw, 160W, connects directly to battery/power cables:

Hi-res: http://www.tech-burrow.com/bittech/DSC_0027.JPG


After replacing my exploded windshield last week, I was driving on I-95 to Miami this weekend and something hit my windshield and would you look at that.. ANOTHER crack.. gah:

http://www.tech-burrow.com/bittech/DSC_0028.JPG


Trunk test setup, I'll be leaving the GPS in the trunk to minimize cables going to the front, there's just going to be the OBD2 USB connector, screen connector, PSU wires, and the webcam USB cable.

Hi-res: http://www.tech-burrow.com/bittech/DSC_0029.JPG


Booted up into Windows, takes it a few seconds, I'm rather impressed considering the VIA chip is only clocked at 1.5ghz and it's running off 1Gb DDR2-800 with a standard desktop 7,200RPM SATA2 HD.

Hi-res: http://www.tech-burrow.com/bittech/DSC_0030.JPG


Now that I got through the pictures, here's what happened. As always, I couldn't get the webcam to work, nor the OBD2 connector, and the GPS wouldn't work either, and to top it off, Centrafuse decided to go screwy and it freezes 24/7. It's becoming highly aggravating, but supposedly an update is "coming soon" for CF that should fix a lot of issues including the echos. So basically nothing worked except booting into Windows and playing music with CF. Score .

Tomorrow I'm going to go buy a 30A fuse and wire up the PSU from the battery and find a proper grounding spot in the trunk and test out the PSU.

 

very kewl man, unfortunately for you, centrafuse hates life right now. lolz.

I feel your pain on the windshield, one week my car was nailed in the hatch by some jerk, then a week later i got rear-ended by some punk kid.

30 amp fuse? you sure its not supposed to be 15A? maybe 20A at most i would think.

 

I think I'd cry if that happened to me

And yea, 30A, that way I'm sure it's safe

 

Yeah, nothing like hearing the bang, and watching the a**hole drive off, running out to check your car, and not looking at the part that got hit. I didn't notice it till the day after on my way home from work as i was walking out of the gas station.

and i checked the specs on the psu you are using, it only needs a 15A fuse, any bigger than that and you risk frying it by trying to draw too much. make sure you use at least 14Ga wiring for it.

linky: http://store.mp3car.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=PWR-015&Show=TechSpecs