Thread: Advice: Carputer for Camper Truck

Primary Use for Carputer: Basic ICE and GPS navigation. Secondary use: OBD based Diagnostics, receive phone calls via-BT.

Hardware
1. Motherboard/CPU: Vista 1G5 Mini-ITX

2. PSU: M3-ATX 125W

3. Primary Display : 1x Lilliput 7" 70GL with 2DIN frame . ALREADY SOURCED.

4. Secondary Display: Can come in later. 10/11" non-touchscreen roofmounted LCD for rear cabin. Separate drive from front LCD. Will i require a more advanced graphics card to drive the rear display independently?

5. OBD: OBDLink Multi-protocol.

6. GPS Receiver: BU-353.

Audio setup:
1. 2x JBL 6" component speakers in the front.
2. 2x JBL 4" 2way speakers in the rear.
3. 1x JBL 12" Sub-woofer
4. 1 x 4ch JBL Amplifier GT5-S644


The audio setup is completed except for the #3 (Subwoofer). For the carputer, Only the 7" touchscreen has been sourced so far. I am planning to order the rest of the parts from the MP3car store later today.

Couple of questions:
1. Would appreciate advice on the most suitable motherboard+CPU combination considering the use.

2. Can i power the touchscreen LCD off the PSU itself? I would want to avoid splicing wires etc: is some kind of "harness" available so i can connect the PSU to the Carputer and the monitor without any ugly splicing of wires etc?

3. I DONT want the carputer to power on automatically with the ignition which is how all carputer installs i have seen seem to be wired. Can i have a separate wire the on-off function to a separate push-toggle switch on the dash? Details please.

4. I want to use 6-channel drive off the PC to the amplifier. However, most MP3's and audio have 2 channel output? How will the PC convert this into a 6 channel drive? Will i need some kind of hardware/software to make this happen? Ideally I would like to go for a 4.1 kind of drive since i dont have or want a center speaker.

5. For GPS navigation, I plan to use the maps provided by SatGuide integrated with Centrafuse. Tested this out on the laptop last week (with a Bluetooth based device) and it worked smoothly. However I am told that a bluetooth based adapter causes problems like failure to connect etc. Though I havent faced it so far, I have decided to go ahead and order a pure USB based GPS recvr like the BU-353.

6.OBD based diagnostics: the most difficult to figure out so far. My ride is a Maruti Suzuki Gypsy (sold in international markets variously as the Suzuki Samurai or the Sierra) with an 85 bhp engine and Multi-point Fuel Injection. It does have an OBD-2 port located under the dash. Have tried connecting it to the Scangauge devices which failed to go past beyond the "Connecting..." message.

The obd2 port has active wires to pins 4,5, 7 and 16(See pic). So is it 9141-2 standard? Will the OBDLink Multi-protocol work with my Gypsy?

All help appreciated.

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I have selected the ZOTAC NM10 board for the build which comes with a Intel D510 CPU and has an inbuilt 5.1 card with HDMI and VGA out! total power consumption is supposedly less than 25W.

I dont want to wire my Carputer to the Ignition of the car. So i plan to put in a dash mounted switch which will power on both the Amp and the Carputer.

Rough wiring plan for Carputer:
Red: DC +
Black: DC -
Green: Control Signals
Blue: AV Signals



Inputs welcome! Build starts 16th Oct!

Originally Posted by COUGARRIDES

Primary Use for Carputer: Basic ICE and GPS navigation. Secondary use: OBD based Diagnostics, receive phone calls via-BT.

Hardware
1. Motherboard/CPU: Vista 1G5 Mini-ITX

Do yourself a favor and get a more modern motherboard. You'll pay a bit more, but you'll be a lot happier.
The Via C-series CPU is old and slow. I suggest an atom-based board instead.

4. Secondary Display: Can come in later. 10/11" non-touchscreen roofmounted LCD for rear cabin. Separate drive from front LCD. Will i require a more advanced graphics card to drive the rear display independently?

Yes.

Couple of questions:
1. Would appreciate advice on the most suitable motherboard+CPU combination considering the use.

See above.

2. Can i power the touchscreen LCD off the PSU itself? I would want to avoid splicing wires etc: is some kind of "harness" available so i can connect the PSU to the Carputer and the monitor without any ugly splicing of wires etc?

I wouldn't power the LCD from the M3.
If you want to power the LCD from the computer PSU, I suggest a beefier PSU such as an M2, Opus or DSATX.

3. I DONT want the carputer to power on automatically with the ignition which is how all carputer installs i have seen seem to be wired. Can i have a separate wire the on-off function to a separate push-toggle switch on the dash? Details please.

All the PSU's have a dumb mode, and you simply use a power switch, just like on a desktop PC.

5. For GPS navigation, I plan to use the maps provided by SatGuide integrated with Centrafuse. Tested this out on the laptop last week (with a Bluetooth based device) and it worked smoothly. However I am told that a bluetooth based adapter causes problems like failure to connect etc. Though I havent faced it so far, I have decided to go ahead and order a pure USB based GPS recvr like the BU-353.

No question here, but the BU353 is a rock-solid GPS receiver.
Do yourself a favor and don't plug it in through a USB hub.

Originally Posted by DarquePervert

Do yourself a favor and get a more modern motherboard.

I am veering towards the ZOTAC NM-10. Available in india for the equivalent of $120 or so. This card will have built in 5.1 out as well. Your thoughts?

Originally Posted by DarquePervert

I wouldn't power the LCD from the M3.
If you want to power the LCD from the computer PSU, I suggest a beefier PSU such as an M2, Opus or DSATX.

Any suggestions on specific model? I only intend to power the 7" Dash LCD and the CPU through the PSU.

Originally Posted by DarquePervert

All the PSU's have a dumb mode, and you simply use a power switch, just like on a desktop PC.

What is this "dumb" mode? I was planning on wiring it something like shown in my previous post.

Originally Posted by COUGARRIDES

Audio setup:
1. 2x JBL 6" component speakers in the front.
2. 2x JBL 4" 2way speakers in the rear.
3. 1x JBL 12" Sub-woofer
4. 1 x 4ch JBL Amplifier GT5-S644

4. I want to use 6-channel drive off the PC to the amplifier. However, most MP3's and audio have 2 channel output? How will the PC convert this into a 6 channel drive? Will i need some kind of hardware/software to make this happen? Ideally I would like to go for a 4.1 kind of drive since i don't have or want a center speaker.

it won't convert it.

some motherboards have a feature to allow 4 channel output, but it is inconsistent across brands, and models..

the easiest way to do it is to run a stereo signal back to the amps, loop the audio in and out of each amp, and use the onboard crossovers..

there is also the option is using a program like audio mulch to process, and manipulate the audio, and then send it out on individual outputs to the amps.

but, audio software processing is extremely processor intensive, and i would not recommend a processor slower then a pentium or core2duo..

Originally Posted by COUGARRIDES

What is this "dumb" mode? I was planning on wiring it something like shown in my previous post.

check the manual

For your second monitor, you will also need to consider what type of input it will accept versus what type of output you have on your motherboard. Most of the typical flipdown monitors will only accept a composite input (Single yellow RCA jack). If the secondary output from your motherboard is VGA or HDMI, you will probably need to buy a converter, which will add to your cost. There are a few VGA flip down monitors out there as well.

I also didn't see a separate amp for your subwoofer on the list, I assume you know you need one but forgot to add it.

"Dumb mode" refers to being able to just turn it on and off with a switch, rather than having a timed shutdown mode after ignition off.

Good Luck!

any update on OBD part .