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Old 29th January 2009, 07:54   #1
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4X4 (&) entertainment

Guys,

This thread is to discuss the entertainment part of the 4x4 enabled vehicles. In simple term 4x4 itself an entertainment activity for us, but what are the other entertainment ideas for 4x4 enabled vehicles such as music etc.

I will post few pics by tomorrow what is been done to my Explorer on this aspect.

Folks, I Hope to see some creative ideas here....
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Old 29th January 2009, 08:21   #2
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Well let me think, ...
Inclinometer is a good little thing or land meter as it is called. Its good to be able to measure the pitch and roll of 4x4 while offroading for fun of it(or seriously).

PS: Make sure you mark it when it rolls over so that you don't go over it next time
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Old 29th January 2009, 13:15   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by trammway View Post
but what are the other entertainment ideas for 4x4 enabled vehicles such as music etc.
You can check my (very convenient & effective) setup out here. Reasoning :

1. Cheap & Simple.

2. Too many damaged head-units due to offroading.

3. My entire music collection is accessible.

4. Anti-theft : Obviously, I carry the iPod with me and no one wants to steal 10 year old speakers!
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Old 29th January 2009, 17:59   #4
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Thanks trammway and GTO - I would be looking for pointers for my ICE install in the Defender. The ICE requirement is basically there for use at camps, not while driving - it may also come useful in drowning out various squeaks and rattles from the paraphernalia scattered around the aluminium loadbed in the rear, though.
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Old 29th January 2009, 18:12   #5
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iPod sans headunit is the way to go, Steer! Do you have space to install a speaker box away from prying eyes? I could take pics of my box for you. Local carpenter + MDF. The box will hold not only the speakers, but also offer a hidden location for the amp.

Quote:
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it may also come useful in drowning out various squeaks and rattles from the paraphernalia scattered around the aluminium loadbed in the rear, though.
You betcha!
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Old 29th January 2009, 20:04   #6
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Coming back to the point, I said 4x4 and entertainment in the Jeep. I never meant 4X4 with entertainment. There are situations we drive alone on a long distance to reach the OTR spot and need company to accompany us. Hence the idea.

Now for GTO,

I did try to simulate some thing like what you have done with an additional feature to use the same stuffs for all my four wheelers without double investment.

Confused? ok, here you go. About 2 years back when we didn't have USB audio systems very familiar to Indian drivers I found a FM transmitter (bit costlier) in Tokyo and bought it thinking of using it in my M800 and H.City. Because I had only cassette player on both my vehicles.

Now, though my Estilo wears a Pioneer USB enabled system I still make use of the same FM Transmitter with the Jeep's cigerette ligher socket.

Ofcourse the speakers are from 10 years old house hold music system and 2nd hand Alkaline music system with LCD displace on the Jeeps dash board. Is it not interesting ?

Wherever I got I just plug in the FM tranmitter and play USB drive to a particular frequency and the same will be received in the FM ... thats all about it...

Picture will explain the rest. Wait till tomorrow.

Last edited by Samurai : 30th January 2009 at 09:26. Reason: DD's comments removed
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Old 29th January 2009, 20:20   #7
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one like this??

last time i checked this in JC Road, it was retailing at 3000~Rs. Great safety feature as you can carry it around.
Attached Thumbnails
4X4 (&) entertainment-usbfm-transmitter.jpg  

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Old 29th January 2009, 21:36   #8
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Quote:
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last time i checked this in JC Road, it was retailing at 3000~Rs. Great safety feature as you can carry it around.
3000!!! Man gadgets really depreciate fast. I bought one for 400~500 bucks few months back. Though it is a Chinese make but has been serving me well.

My ICE or rather IJE
1. One set of pioneer speakers mounted on standalone mdf box with removable connectors. It sits between the rear seats and can be taken out when I remove the top.
2. I 1200 watt amp sitting nicely and snugle beneath the driver seat in the lockable tool box.
3. One stereo to mono cable running from amp beneath the seat to lockable glove box.
4. One FM modulator with 2 gb stick plugged into cigarette lighter.
5. One FM reciever sitting in the glove box. My cell also doubles up as one.

Now I play the song on stick and transmit it via FM modulator at a particular frquency. Now I catch the same frequency via my cell/FM reciver and send it through 'mono to stereo cable' into the amp and finally into speakers!!

Pros
1. Very cheap setup.
2. Very good sound quality thanks to the amp.
3. Practically unstealable/unvandalisable. Only thing sitting outside are the speakers which too I can remove if required.
4. Very rugged systems. HU's are known to go bad due to moisture, dust and shocks. All of these are aplenty in 4X4.
5. I get a remote to control my IJE.

Cons
1. No option to play songs randomly, they always play in same sequence. Though the modulator starts from the song it was switched off on.
2. Signal problem when going under high tension wire if using FM modulator.
3. When switching off on redlights and starting back again the FM modulator trips and takes time to boot again. During this time I get blaring sound of badly tuned radio.

To add
1. 2 small speakers under the dashboard.

cheers
vishwas
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Old 30th January 2009, 00:49   #9
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I dont have space for front speakers - the current 'ICE' setup consists of two tiny speakers attached to the bottom of the 'dash', and the front doors have very thin hardboard sort of liners. They're very tiny too.

The rear has no space unless I cut the 5mm aluminium chequered plate which covers most of it. This can be done, but that leaves us with the very thin aluminium-alloy bodyshell as the only remaining layer.

Icing this thing is going to be a bit tough, especially because I dont want miscellaneous MDF boxes made. Whatever space we have will be occupied by all the gear and a Yamaha PW80 kids motorcycle.

Last edited by Samurai : 30th January 2009 at 09:26. Reason: DD's comments removed
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Old 30th January 2009, 01:20   #10
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This is the 'material' in the rear:

4X4 (&) entertainment-defender-4.jpg
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Old 30th January 2009, 09:11   #11
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what is that box between the front seats? if it can be disposed with, you can have a mad mallu mullah style sub in there
and probably still use it as a box, except that you shouldnt put fragile stuff inside- but hey , this is an SUV. things are going to get thrown around anyway)

Last edited by greenhorn : 30th January 2009 at 09:13.
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Old 30th January 2009, 10:44   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vishwaschettri View Post
3000!!! Man gadgets really depreciate fast. I bought one for 400~500 bucks few months back. Though it is a Chinese make but has been serving me well.
I also have one of these and is available for ~400-500 bucks. However, on bad roads, OTR trails when the vehicle is bouncing around it doesn't work properly and reboots.

There are some kind of 'aluminum box' kind of ICE available that have just FM + USB slot in them. I have seen them on couple of jeeps here in bangalore and they cost some ~700-800 bucks. That + MDF box speakers complete any ICE requirement in a jeep for me.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steeroid View Post
.. The rear has no space unless ...
Icing this thing is going to be a bit tough, especially because I dont want miscellaneous MDF boxes made. ...
How about 'small' MDF boxes that can be attached to the rear roof part at around the pillar at some height. I have seen in some jeeps here in Bangalore

Cheers,
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Old 30th January 2009, 10:48   #13
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how about the ICE equivalent of the good old 2 in 1
Blaupunkt - Loudspeakers - Velocity Series - Velocity 2Go 6
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Old 30th January 2009, 15:06   #14
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@ Steer : How about mounting the speakers on the rear door? From the little that I see of it in the picture, I'd say thats the best place for speakers.

If it helps anyone, my ICE setup is thus : iPod -> direct cable -> Amplifier -> Speakers. I am not big on FM transmitter quality.
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Old 30th January 2009, 18:20   #15
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Regarding ICE in JEEPs
Speaker install
4X4 (&) entertainment-sound.jpg
USB HU.
4X4 (&) entertainment-hu.jpg

More Here




Regards
Krishna.
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