Let's see your In Vehicle computers and Nav

[TheRoadie]

Here is what I did for the FJ Cruiser

Does that cover up the passengers airbag, and does the FJ Cruiser have an off switch for it?

 

[FlyNdrive]

Does that cover up the passengers airbag, and does the FJ Cruiser have an off switch for it?

No, The airbag comes from the top of the dash.

-Ben

 

[Superu]

D600 on a Ram Mount

I run a Dell D600 on a Ram Mount base with the following:

* ebay special Bluetooth GPS
* Delorme Streets USA
* Delorme TOPO
* Storm Predator III for real time storm tracking

* T-Mobile Aircard for wireless internet

Just picked up a Magellan Maestro 3140 for on-road trips so the kids can watch Avatar & Kim Possible on the laptop while the 3140 gives me any directions I need!

 

[mrstang01]

Cool, tell us more about Storm Predator?

 

[craig]

This setup does everything with one box. I did add a HAM radio faceplate that sits just in front of the shifter where the "How to shift into 4WD" sticker is. Compared to most trucks that have GPS, FM Radio, CD Player, MP3 player (iPod), and XM/Sirius, I think it is significantly cleaner to have all of the controls combined into one touchscreen.

For software I ran:
Windows XP Embedded Custom OS Image
Road Runner carputer software w/ a custom skin
Overland Navigator Touchscreen GPS Mapping Software

It combines the following functions in one single in-dash unit:
OBDII
MP3 Jukebox
GPS Navigation
CD Player
DVD Movie Player
DivX Movie Player
XM or Sirius Radio
FM Radio

Hardware was:
Xenarc 7" Ultrabrite touchscreen
Custom Case that bolted to Land Rover factory CD Changer bracket
Epia Mini-ITX motherboard
1 gb RAM
80gb Laptop HD w/ antivibration mount
Slot-load CD/DVD drive
USB to IDE converter to allow me to run a long USB cable to the remotely mounted CD/DVD drive
Mighty GPS SIRF III USB GPS w/ through hull mounting design

Picture 1: touchscreen and DVD mounted in dash.
Picture 2: Through Hull SIRF III GPS
Picture 3: Custom case. Was mounted under the passenger seat, so it was never seen.

 

[jwhutch]

I run a Dell D600 on a Ram Mount base with the following:

* ebay special Bluetooth GPS
* Delorme Streets USA
* Delorme TOPO
* Storm Predator III for real time storm tracking

* T-Mobile Aircard for wireless internet

Are you happy with the Storm Predator? I would like to get something along those lines for chasing. Thanks

 

[overlander]

This setup does everything with one box. I did add a HAM radio faceplate that sits just in front of the shifter where the "How to shift into 4WD" sticker is. Compared to most trucks that have GPS, FM Radio, CD Player, MP3 player (iPod), and XM/Sirius, I think it is significantly cleaner to have all of the controls combined into one touchscreen.

For software I ran:
Windows XP Embedded Custom OS Image
Road Runner carputer software w/ a custom skin
Overland Navigator Touchscreen GPS Mapping Software

It combines the following functions in one single in-dash unit:
MP3 Jukebox
GPS Navigation
CD Player
DVD Movie Player
DivX Movie Player
XM or Sirius Radio
FM Radio

Hardware was:
Xenarc 7" Ultrabrite touchscreen
Custom Case that bolted to Land Rover factory CD Changer bracket
Epia Mini-ITX motherboard
1 gb RAM
80gb Laptop HD w/ antivibration mount
Slot-load CD/DVD drive
USB to IDE converter to allow me to run a long USB cable to the remotely mounted CD/DVD drive
Mighty GPS SIRF III USB GPS w/ through hull mounting design

Picture 1: touchscreen and DVD mounted in dash.
Picture 2: Through Hull SIRF III GPS
Picture 3: Custom case. Was mounted under the passenger seat, so it was never seen.

Craig,
I'm starting an almost identical project in my Defender. Can you school me on what you did with the through the hull install for your gps? Also, comment on heating/cooling observations, issues and solutions that you have had so far. I'm going to have to reach out to you as I progress.

My plans are to install my motherboard and power supply in the bottom of my new tuffy console (12.5" wide mama) with a false floor about 3" up from bottom, and the fan mounted to the console side for ventilation.

 

[craig]

The through hull GPS is the weatherproof GPS from MightyGPS. It is a 20 channel SIRF III USB GPS, so it works as well as the high end consumer GPSs out there (Garmin 60CSx for example). In my case I just pulled the rear seat dome light out of the headliner and drilled a hole. Installed it, then ran the cable under the headliner to the B pillar, and down under the passenger seat.

http://mightygps.com/WeatherproofGPSReceiver.htm

For cooling, I used an aluminum case that had 2 fans on the top of it. The aluminum dissipates heat much better than the steel tuffy box will. When I build a new one, I'll probably go with one of these:

Morex
Opus Solutions ITX-70
Ampie

I like the Opus case the best as it is a notch above the rest in terms of the power supply and the vibration dampening of the case.

Why not put it under your passenger seat? I bet you could secure the case pretty well under there and keep the cubby for your sunglasses.

Craig

 

[craig]

I forgot to mention OBDII in my original post. I just edited it.

Craig

 

[Superu]

Very pleased with Storm Predator

With the rapid download of up to the minute Nexrad images and a Storm Cell Analyzer feature, it's been great in determining if those clouds gathering are likely to be a spring shower or a serious weather event. Plus you can do 24 hour modeling to double check what the local weather teams are telling you.

If I'm outside the Superu but within earshot, I switch the CB to PA so I hear the alert tones from the WX band and then check the details on the laptop.

If you have a decent aircard, the reception while in motion is no problem either. Worked flawlessly through the mountains of VT and into the plains of Canada last summer.

 

[overlander]

Why not put it under your passenger seat? I bet you could secure the case pretty well under there and keep the cubby for your sunglasses.

Craig

Not an option in the defenders. I'll monitor the temps in the tuffy, and if they get too hot, then I'll move it. I'm planning on having a fan in there though, with plent of space (mini-itx in a 12"x12"x3" space is more than most cases), with large holes that I can plug when things get "dirty and wet" and plenty of shock absorbtion.

 

[Pskhaat]

It combines the following functions in one single in-dash unit:
OBDII

What OBDII stuff does it do? What software are you using?

Hardware was:
Xenarc 7" Ultrabrite touchscreen

What is the native resolution on this?

 

[craig]

What OBDII stuff does it do? What software are you using?

What is the native resolution on this?

I was using (carpc was pulled a few months ago so I can sell my truck) the open (non-proprietary) elmscan OBDII hardware interface from scantool.net. Because it is non-proprietary, there are other vendors that also make the hardware component.

For software, I was using a modified version of scantool.net. I added the Land Rover proprietary OBDII code descriptions, and spruced up the user interface. With OBDII software you can pull codes, monitor O2 sensors, temperature, etc. There are a variety of different software packages out there that work with the elmscan interface. I believe Palmer makes one that allows you to have fancy "soft" gauges. Mostly though, I just used the OBDII interface to figure out what was wrong with the motor if I threw a code in the field. It allowed me to determine if I had something small wrong, like a bad O2 sensor or something more important that would preclude driving the vehicle.

The Xenarc screen I used had a funky native resolution of something like 800x400, but I was running it at 800x600. It was an older screen though. If I were to build one of these again I'd spend the money to get a sunlight visible screen with a 1024x768 screen resolution. I'm using an EO TufTab right now and it is both sunlight visible an has a higher resolution. It is fantastic.

Craig