Did I do something very stupid ?

**Nokia6600** · 02-29-2004, 03:38 AM

I just ordered this package http://store.mini-box.com/ituner/carkit.html but I after I ordered it realized that it will be very stupid not to have your computer running while you are starting the car and when you don’t have the ignition on.

So I am asking you guys for help, what is the best option for me to do now, I want to be able to have the computer running the whole time without it rebooting and stuff.

My electrical skills are nada, zippo, ingen, nothing

These are the tings I want to be able to have running on my itx card, 80 gb 3.5 gb harddrive, DVD rom, gps module, and a dlink PCI wireless card and a 9 in 1 card reader. Plus the 7 inch touch screen.

I have a brand new battery lying around, could this be used for something ?

Here is a picture of the battery!
http://linuxkongen.net/~bergetun/moro/battery.jpg

(Its too big to put here)

I am not an electrician or car person, I am a computer who has been programming since I was 6 years (that’s 19 years now)

Sorry about my bad English and all my stupid question.

**burnout.no** · 02-29-2004, 04:21 AM

Well.. I also ordered a PW70A, and then i found out that it doesn't regulate the out voltage.. Then you would need an ITPS, and for an ITPS you would need alot of power, i.e. car running.. So, what do we do? In the thread High Green Powersupply for MINI-ITX , MikeH suggested that i buy this http://www.radioshack.com/images/Pro...ME273-1827.pdf .. However, I'm in norway, and it looks like they won't ship it to me.. Thereon, I haven't found anything like this in Norway.. If any of you scandinavians here knows where i can find a similair thing, please let me know!

Sorry if my english doesn't make any sense....

Early sunday morning!

**Nokia6600** · 02-29-2004, 04:43 AM

Hi, I am also from Norway but I am currently studying in Australia (Melbourne)
Have a look on Jaycar.com.au (its almost the same as radioshack) and if you find it I would have no problem shipping it to Norway for you because jaycar.com.au also doesn’t do overseas shipping..

What do you think about the battery, would that provide enough power for the itx motherboard? When turning on the ignition ?

Wouldnt this do the trick ? http://www.mascot.no/pdf/8662.pdf
Thats a Norwegian company selling those.

Or do a search on jaycar.com.au for dc-dc and see if there anything there we can use.

Originally Posted by burnout.no

Well.. I also ordered a PW70A, and then i found out that it doesn't regulate the out voltage.. Then you would need an ITPS, and for an ITPS you would need alot of power, i.e. car running.. So, what do we do? In the thread High Green Powersupply for MINI-ITX , MikeH suggested that i buy this http://www.radioshack.com/images/Pro...ME273-1827.pdf .. However, I'm in norway, and it looks like they won't ship it to me.. Thereon, I haven't found anything like this in Norway.. If any of you scandinavians here knows where i can find a similair thing, please let me know!

Sorry if my english doesn't make any sense....

Early sunday morning!

**burnout.no** · 02-29-2004, 06:45 AM

Originally Posted by Nokia6600

Wouldnt this do the trick ? http://www.mascot.no/pdf/8662.pdf

No, it takes in 20-32V.. But yes, I guess something like that would work.. But they're probably really expensive..

I'm checking jaycar right now..

Would be really nice if you could ship to norway..

**lummox** · 02-29-2004, 07:58 AM

Nokia,

I am about to order the same package, as it works out over $100 cheaper than buying the mobo and then an opus.

There should be absolutely no problem with the psu and ITPS if you use entirely laptop components. The mobo does not have any use for the 12V, and laptop hdds and laptop cd/dvds only take power from the 5V rail, as opposed to standard 3.5" hdds and 5.25" opticals which take a lot of power from the 12V rail. If you were using a 3.5" hdd you would probably find that during cranking (eg starting the car) the voltage could drop as low as 10V (or even worse) this would cause the hdd to stop working and thus the computer would crash.

Another point to note is that laptop drives are designed to be used on the go and so have better shock protection than standard desktop drives.

Hope this helps

**Nokia6600** · 02-29-2004, 12:06 PM

Originally Posted by lummox

Nokia,

I am about to order the same package, as it works out over $100 cheaper than buying the mobo and then an opus.

There should be absolutely no problem with the psu and ITPS if you use entirely laptop components. The mobo does not have any use for the 12V, and laptop hdds and laptop cd/dvds only take power from the 5V rail, as opposed to standard 3.5" hdds and 5.25" opticals which take a lot of power from the 12V rail. If you were using a 3.5" hdd you would probably find that during cranking (eg starting the car) the voltage could drop as low as 10V (or even worse) this would cause the hdd to stop working and thus the computer would crash.

Another point to note is that laptop drives are designed to be used on the go and so have better shock protection than standard desktop drives.

Hope this helps

So you are saying that there is no chance for me to use a 80 GB 5400 3.5 inch disk and a 12V cdrom, plus some pci card (i dont know how much Voltage they need) I just cant buy laptop part, they are WAY to expensive. So if this is the the case i would just abandon the whole project

(a 60 GB 2.5 disk cost 8 times more then a 80 GB 3.5 disk)

There is heaps of way to secure a 3.5 harddrive in a car so the harddrive head goes off.

Thanks heaps for helping out.

**MikeH** · 02-29-2004, 04:48 PM

Guys,

Just a note of caution. The Radio Shack laptop regulator is only capable of putting out 3.75Amps max. If you have a bunch of non-laptop devices, you may blow the power budget! I'm using the Casetronic C134 case with laptop HDD and slim CD/DVD drive. My total current draw out of the regulator is a little under 3A. I've added the Lilliput which brings to total current draw to about 3.5A. This maxes out the RS regulator. I would guess that your non-laptop drives and extra PCI cards will not work with this setup.....sorry.

**burnout.no** · 03-01-2004, 07:05 AM

New idea.. Thinking about using my Morex PSU with an itps.. Then, infront of the itps I think I may throw in a laptop adapter for Elitegroup Laptops (I used to work at the local shop which sells them, gets good prices).. Outputs 20V.. How would this be for a thought?

**Rob Withey** · 03-01-2004, 08:39 AM

Would mean massive power dissipation in the LM1084 in the ITPS. 8v drop x 5A max current draw (60W) would mean 40W dissipation.

If you can deal with the heat, it should be ok. The stock ITPS heatsink almost certainly isn't up to it.

Rob

**lummox** · 03-01-2004, 10:41 AM

So you are saying that there is no chance for me to use a 80 GB 5400 3.5 inch disk and a 12V cdrom, plus some pci card (i dont know how much Voltage they need) I just cant buy laptop part, they are WAY to expensive. So if this is the the case i would just abandon the whole project (a 60 GB 2.5 disk cost 8 times more then a 80 GB 3.5 disk)

There is heaps of way to secure a 3.5 harddrive in a car so the harddrive head goes off.

Thanks heaps for helping out.

The pw-70a is a 100W+ power supply but when used with the ITPS it is limited to 60W, so depending on what mobo you are using, you may find that 60W is not enough. If you are using a miniITX mobo then check this out http://www.mini-box.com/powersimulator.html. You will probably find that you are over the 60W limit (dependling on useage), if you are not using a miniITX then you will almost definitely be over the limit.

If this is the case then you will almost definitely want to consider the opus, as using the psu without a regulator is not advised.

Do you really need a hdd as big as 80gig? as you can find 30gig laptop drives for roughly £50.