The CarPC / Carputer Thread

[spadival]

shldn, Didnt have any issue with BT GPS so far. It connects seamlessly every time, even when my CarPC comes out of hibernation.

Of course, one advantage is wired GPS is cheaper than BT GPS.

[gigy]

i have ordered for the satguide offer of 6k for bluetooth receiver + Mumbai+all India map. let me see how my experience with them works out. hope i get the item delivered soon else it can turn out like the dc-dc board which is still on the way. meanwhile installed the dual battery concept. used the kinetic battery itself. had problem with the diode as there was 1.8v drop across it. in night with AC on (and day stop & go traffic) inverter started to beep and shut down sensing low voltage very frequently.so removed diode and out in a relay which is powered by 'acc', PC is connected to small battery. problem solved now. connected the voltmeter also just to know the loading . will update once gps starts working.

[spadival]

Hopefully, Satguide folks would provide you with better service this time.

Gigy, Shldn - I have a AverTV USB 2.0 TV tuner lying around with me and thought that I might as well use it in the car (to watch Doordarshan ). The problem is that I have lost the RF to 3.5inch mini jack that came with it. Also, even if I had it, I don't think I'll be able to get good reception. Is there any place where I can source a Car TV antenna that has 3.5 inch mini jack?

[shldn]

I think finding a TV antenna with a 3.5mm jack is remote, but a soldering iron can fix that.

Or look out for a convertor like this,

[gigy]

as shldn said you might find such a adapter in the electronics market. alternate is to solder both types of jacks or else change the jack on your existing antenna to 3.5 one since i dont think you will be using it for anything else.
there is the 'v' or 'y' antenna in market which is for tv signal but works only if the signal strength is good and i think it is directional one.
i am thinking if i try tata sky or likes in car. then on camping on river side its live tv.

[spadival]

Shldn/Gigy, The thing is I will still need to get an antenna even if I get the RF to mini jack converter. I have seen pics of so called "diversity antenna" with mini jack on the net. But getting it here in India seems remote.

[gigy]

i can suggest you a diy antenna in case you want to try the reception quality before buying a branded thing.
get two copper tubes, each of about 1 meter in length and about 1cm in diameter. flatten one end of both and make hole to connect wire. get antenna wire (flat type). place both tubes with flattened side facing each other at a gap of 15millimeters exact. use a wooden board and clamps for the support. connect this to required pin and check the reception quality. i used this in the 80's and had very good reception compared to those huge ones with 12 additional booster rods and stuff.
may be you can do research using the sat tv receivers also. the challenge is to make a platform which can be made to rotate using , may be a stepper motor which operates on drop in signal quality. what say?

[spadival]

Thanks Gigy, I will first try with a simple antenna by ripping the 3.5mm jack off the Kingfisher earphones (freebie ) that I got and then connecting them to something metallic.

Boredarshan transmissions are sufficiently strong in most places.. I wouldn't wanna go great lengths like using stepper motors to actually catch their signal .

[gigy]

stepper motor platform was for sat tv reception, tata or dish tv; definetly not for DD. that antenna i told you is a directional one. receieves best when kept at 90* to transmission tower in horizontal plane. (line of site setup). if your intension is to use while camping outside the signal strength might be less. same applies if used around tall buildings. if the car roof can be made to sat tv antenna many issues can be cleared, but i dont want to make a hole for the research.
the car will start looking like the ndtv tata sumo's roaming around.

[gigy]

update on the project-
received the satguide kit by five days of ordering. satguide bluetooth gps receiver with Mumbai map and all India map. spent two days trying to pair it with my phone. then paired with the car pc. my bluetooth 2.0 dongle was not pairing up, later managed to pair it with the older 1.1 lying around in junk.
getting used to its various options now. the larger display is nice to look at.
the painful thing about the order was the day after i ordered satguide with Mumbai and all India map with receiver for 6k+tax times of india gave a one day offer for 3999. that was real bad.
next month will look at OBD and security and car travel data logging.
installed the voltmeter on right side so that will have a good idea on the electrical loads . this came to use the very next day of installing. that night while driving headlights started to dim and after some time was flickering. later completely off. no fog lamps also. i was scared initially expecting some electrical goofup but the voltmeter was rock steady all the time. because of this didnt stop and followed another car till home. later on found the connection out. if voltmeter was not there i would have stopped on road and searched for a mechanic since my tool box was lying in palio

some pictures through my mobile

[dinar]

Nice work gigy... system looks cool, are you still using the inverter or did you get your DC converter???

[gigy]

I am still with the inverter and dual battery. its actually working fine now, and i actually dont require the dc-dc converter. thinking about putting it in market for sale.
yesterday received a letter from customs asking me to go to foreign post office with relevant documents and collect it by ten days. so hopefully it has reached, i am thinking its the usual chai pani for these customs guys.

[spadival]

gigy.. re OBD, The info I got so far by searching around the net indicate that while the physicial connector is OBD II, the actual protocol itself isnt OBDII. :(

redlinegti.com :: View topic - Baleno OBD II port

Thats quite apparent because there are only 3 wires running to the OBD II connector and they are all connected to the wrong pins.

If you need to just find the fault codes, I found out you can get the fault code by shorting a terminal and counting the number of times the check engine light blinks!!

redlinegti.com :: View topic - 2001 Baleno Fault Codes

[gigy]

thats bad news. anyways let me see what else can be done with it. do you know if its a bosch ecu? can the ecu be changed? are there any aftermarket ones available which can be direct replacement?; if so any idea of cost?

[spadival]

I think its far easier to replace ur car than to change the ECU !!

I think our Baleno ECU is a victim of historic quirkiness.. I have a feeling the protocol is OBD 1.5 or GM OBD (Look up wikipedia for OBD 1.5). This is more or less confirmed because ETAS Tech 2 handheld diag tool used by M.A.S.S supports only 3 protocols - GM OBDI, OBDII and GMLAN protocols (from ETAS Tech 2 flyer in ETAS - Tech 2 (GM) - Diagnostic Troubleshooting - Service Diagnostics - Applications & Solutions - ETAS Products)

What you probably need is some thing like this OBD Diagnostics, Inc. - ALDL (GM OBD1) Cable with 16 pin Connector . But better to check with a friendly M.A.S.S on what protocol they setup the Tech 2 scanner before actually buying anything !!