Making of a budget car entertainment, navigation, diagnostics setup

[harjeev]

Hi Ankur

Thanks for your quick reply. You did all that by yourself!
I must say, thats a very neat job and look very professional.

I think that I would go to the Tata Auth Service Center and maybe ask their opinion on this modificationand I might get the installation done from the workshop itself (if they do it), as my vehicle carries a 4 year warranty, and I dont want to give them any reason to reject any electrical warranty claim that may arise later on.
I bought my car in Nov07.


Maybe I will buy a new center console (like you did) and do all the cutting and pasting on the new console, keeping the original as spare.
Will go to the workshop this weekend and lets see what they have to say about this.

Thanks for the tip though

[gigy]

have a look at behind the front panel or face plate. if it is all electrical connections then it can be done in top itself and as ankur said buy a new plate and finish it. when you go for service plug in the stock one. if there is any mechanical controls particularly in air conditioning then expert advice will be required. tata guys are not going to be happy if you ask them about this. if they agree then it will be great.
will safari have space on center dash to accommodate a pop up display like the way bmw idrive is installed?

[shldn]

Option 1 will be easiest to execute. Please see how much clearance you have between the gear shift in forward position and that area. Since you will be using a touchscreen, you don't want to be accidentally touching it every time you or someone else driving is shifting gears.

I don't think it is a good idea to go to the TATA service center with this. A professional installer would be a better bet.

[harjeev]

Hey guys
I have postponed the Car PC installation till the 2nd-3rd week of July08.

The reason being is that a relative is coming back from the US in the 2nd week of July08 and I will be ordering the PSU from shortcircut.com. This way I would be able to avoid the customs in India.
This PSU will be able to power upto the Core2Duo processors costs just about $100 (US). I have a P4 2.8 GHz CPU and a 845 chipset M/b in my possession. So I would install with that or maybe get an Intel G33 motherboard. This M/b has an onboard dolby surround, an option of attaching in 2 screens, good graphics and many other features as well.

The PSU that i am thinking of getting is M4-ATX 250W Automotive PSU, auto car smart power supply, wide input power supply, high voltage power supply
This PSU has a lot of juice and will be able to power all the goodies that I want to put in. (see attached pics)
(What do you all think about this. Pl advise)

So I've decided to wait it out.

BTW I ordered the Satguide Bluetooth GPS Receiver with 30+ cities maps and all India Road maps. Paid Rs.6290 for the complete package. Expecting the delivery any day now.
I would be using it with my laptop till the time my PSU comes then I would do the installation in the car.

[gigy]

hi all, anyone using night vision web camers with pc for chatting ? wanted to know if the night vision is good enough for the bmw night vision camera like display.
have plan to buy a webcam to install in car so that it keeps recording every trip i make and particulary will be useful for any accident disputes where i have not made mistakes. many a times i had to face the bikers(mostly), auto and cars trying to overtake from my left.
so i though if there is a decent night vision one will go for it. earlier was thinking of logitech quickcam fusion as its day and night pictures are good

[SumitB]

The webcam won't be a problem but don't you think that recording the footage is a decent resolution will take a lot of disk space?

For starters, you can look at this:
Web Camera Night Vision Classic, Cameras (PC WebCam)

[gigy]

can you give a idea about how much space it will consume. have a 80gb HD, can put in additional one if required

[SirAlec]

As webcam only supports 15fps recording, ist not advised, use a security camera (1/3CCD with IR led). with a decent capture card. (pinacle are best)

Camera: panasonic, alba urmet etc.

[DerAlte]

Most webcams today, like Logitech, support 30fps. They also respond well in the IR band, especially if you have an IR source to illuminate. Just don't expect night vision like they show in action movies; webcams show very good response in low-light conditions, which is enhanced when there is substantial IR reception on the sensor.

You could also use a reversing camera. Those cameras also have very good response under low-light and IR conditions. But then you will have to use a frame grabber card, which spoils the economics.

[spadival]

To save on hard disk space, use this software with Codec parameter set to DIVX or XVID in the config.ini file -> RRCam 2.0 Final - MP3Car.com . Of course, you will need to have the DIVX or XVID codec pack installed on the CarPC.

Its amazing how less space is needed for DIVX/XVID without any loss in quality compared to the default MSVC codec. 1 min video takes about 2.6mb on XVID where as it takes around 50 odd mb using MSVC

Only downside with RRCam is some features work only on Road Runner - So the GPS overlay works only with Road runner and there is nothing to indicate whether you are recording or not.

Also, there are details on setting up IR cam on mp3car forum. You can remove the IR filter from any webcam to make it an IR cam. Also helps if you can source a large IR bulb which can be switched on at night - I believe the S Class/BMW Night vision camera precisly has this IR bulb which helps illumination.

Only problem with IR Cam is that its pretty useless during daytime. You can probably use 2 cameras - one with IR filter removed and one without.

[gigy]

my car mechanical problems are draining my bank balance. anyways there is a upgrade in progress as most of the present motherboard usb ports are not working i have called for a mini itx amd based board of jetway which is Hd ready with 1080p. since it can handle my present processor and take phenoms later.should get in hand next month. its a overkill but though and went for it. will post the pic soon.

[greenhorn]

are you getting a 780G board ? in which case, why not the gigabyte ?

[gigy]

its GeForce 8200 Chipset based and mini itx size 6.7''x6.7'', single ram slot.for the carputer primarily. have the gigabyte in my HTPC. 780G runs very hot. this jetway board also supports dual display, dont know about dual sound though.

[gigy]

Got the new motherboard. pics follows. will take little time before i go ahead with the install. need a processor and a single ram chip (1066Mhz) preferably. deciding about changing the present cabinet to a smaller one than present.
waiting for a touchscreen kit to convert the present lcd to touch screen.

[dinar]

Hey gigy, whats the model number of the Mother board, and cost.also details of the touch screen conversion Kit, I have been trying to get one down but Can not seem to decide on what to get,