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I’m getting ready for a relaxing "project weekend". I’m relocating the CarPuter from the Miata to the Frontier. The speakers, subwoofer and amp will be here tomorrow. I’ve already test-fit the CarPuter chassis itself, and it fits nicely under the driver’s seat. I haven’t yet measured, but I’m pretty sure the crossovers for the components will also fit there, and the amp will fit under the passenger’s seat. I ordered a custom-made sub-enclosure, but it won’t be here for a few weeks. I also ordered a USB FM-tuner so that I’ll have real "radio" this time around in addition to the 80GB of MP3’s.

I’ve spent a lot of time researching wiring this all up, and it looks like I’m going to be able to reuse a lot of the existing wiring in the truck. I’ll just need to run a 12v from the battery to the amp, then new wire for the tweeters. Everything else is "local" between the amp and computer, which shouldn’t be too hard.

There are really only 3 outstanding "issues" that I won’t be able to resolve until I actually get in there working:

1. How will I attach the USB FM Tuner antenna to the car’s antenna?
2. Where will I install the GPS receiver, as I don’t believe the one I have is meant for external installation and I doubt it will work through the metal top of the truck? (it worked fine through the canvas top in the Miata)
3. How am I going to fabricate a double-din dash to support the touchscreen LCD?

Needless to say, while I expect to spend a good amount of time this weekend working on it… it won’t be finished by Sunday.

For now, it’s done.
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Wicked, eh?

Can you believe it? This weekend I finalized all my power and audio cabling, installed and tested the carputer. I even took it for a 3 hour test cruise this afternoon. I’m lovin’ it.
Continue reading ‘Almost finished…’

First, my dad and his girlfriend got married last Monday. It was a small ceremony, just the two of them and the J.P. Some of their friends had a small party for them, but I decided I should probably make the trip to visit. They live about 3.5 hours away and I’ve only been there once before, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to try out my new navigation software and the Xenarc.

Wicked!
Continue reading ‘Tryin’ it out…’

I was all excited, because I was ready to get serious with the CarPuter. My black Xenarc LCD Touch-Screen has been working great on my "test" PC, and I’d just put some final touches on the Brushed Metal skin for Centrafuse I’ve been working on. Last night I did more research on the power requirements to make sure I was getting the right stuff, then I placed my order.
Continue reading ‘Well this sucks’