PC in my truck

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Archangel

Archangel

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[tab] said:
Sounds like an interesting project... keep us updated :)
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wow... first post of you ive ever seen here :D

anyway.. i think the biggest problem would be a stable power supply.. because the dynamo in a car doesnt give a steady +12V. that mainbly depends on the rpm of your engine.
so.. i think you would have to do it with battery's ( dont know a other option. yet. ) but wurther souldnt it be a problem. ( except that you may need to suspend the HDD to prevend damage. )
 
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georgi0u

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i was thinking of doing the exact same thing with my truck (96 Silverado). I was gonna build a miniatx style comp with a ton of Hd space, put like something like 256 ram with a cheap processer (prob intel). Then i was gonna put it under the center consul and run the wires from there into a screen either purtruding out of the center consul or built into the dash (havent really found the room for it here though. They i was gonna upgrade the sound card and the amp to someting with like a fiber optic input and just run itunes through the car speakers ( the main point of it (not really worried bout dvds but now that u mentioned it GPS would be sweeeet)). I got the idea after i saw some case modder build a doom inspired case with a touch screen built into the tower for extra flash. If u dont want to run the thing out of the center consul put it under the dash somewhere and you could splice out the on/off into a toggle switch on the dash like what most people do for all the neons they put into cars.

I think the real question is where to mount the touch screen. If your like me you dont want to send it to a shop and take the fun out of it (lol) so id take mounting it in the center of the steering whell out just out of the idea that it be too hard. Then ur left with mounting it into the dash above the sterio area on like a mount of some. (flushing it into the dash would take some persicion.) Now that i think about it u might be better off with just letting a shop mount the screen so you can go flush. Owell keep us updated and some pics would be nice. Even some pics of the interior of ur car would help fiigure shti out.
 
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georgi0u

New Member
Archangel said:
wow... first post of you ive ever seen here :D

anyway.. i think the biggest problem would be a stable power supply.. because the dynamo in a car doesnt give a steady +12V. that mainbly depends on the rpm of your engine.
so.. i think you would have to do it with battery's ( dont know a other option. yet. ) but wurther souldnt it be a problem. ( except that you may need to suspend the HDD to prevend damage. )
Click to expand...

What about a capacitor instead? Just a thought
 
Archangel

Archangel

VIP Member
georgi0u said:
What about a capacitor instead? Just a thought
Click to expand...

well.. the Voltage comming from the dynamo varies from 12,3 to about 13,3 (varies per dynamo tough) however.. since it already has a Diode bridge attached to it, its already ( well almost, but good enough for a car) DC.
so a Capasitor wouldnt work ;) ( tough, a good tought :) )

ill have a look if i can find a stable PSU. ill try to ask my teachers if necessairy :)
 
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NeedaComputer

Member
I think that your avatar bio thing said you were from kentucky. I don't know what winters are like in Kentucky, but I would be worried about it getting too COLD in a car. When it's not operating. Late 90's Early 2000's model cars only usually only have clock speeds of 40-60 mHz, (for the Engine Management Computer). One reason they use slow processors is because they are bulletproof in all temperature extremes. From -40F to 250F. Alot of Engine computers are mounted under the hood. My concern with a PC in a car, in the Cab would be how cold it gets in there sitting over night.

Plus, do you have a luxury suspension in your truck? Probably not, more like a live rear end. So now every bump you hit will travel into your PC and vibrate all the stuff in there. Since your using hand-me-down parts, I doubt they are all bulletproof and made for the abuse they will recieve riding in a truck, as opposed to never moving, and operating at ambient temperature in your room.
 
Archangel

Archangel

VIP Member
well.. vibrating the CPU and all that stuff isnt bad.. ( just make shur you have a light heatsink mounted) only the HDD needs to be stuspended,.. because when running at 7200rpm.. every bump could be fatal
 
vortmax

vortmax

New Member
you might also look into getting an OBD-II converter. It will plug into your diagnostic port and then into the serial port or USB port on the computer. WIll let you pull up real time diagnostics and info beyond what your dash tells you. Everything the ECU sees, you can see and graph.
 
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