'98 Corvette Indy Pace Car-Puter

**VTPCGeek** · 07-05-2005, 08:13 AM

You make me sick. This is the most awesome use a dell I've ever seen. Also to use a pace package vette, love that purple and yellow.

I'm sending this link to my dad to hook up his 2K Vette.

**Fraychild** · 07-05-2005, 10:27 AM

I hate you tooo!!!! *THUMBSUP*!!!!

**John_Duh** · 07-05-2005, 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by fredp

Uh...... Simple install???

Guess you'd need to see the wiring diagram......

if you have it, please do post it (i still have a laptop laying around that was originally intended for home entertainment)
Might just decide to change =)

**b8bboi** · 07-05-2005, 04:40 PM

Damn, man, that is SICK!!!!!

I got a question for you. How do you manage to power the VGA monitor off of the laptop? or am I missing something here? You can shut down the car and still have everything running, right?

**fredp** · 07-05-2005, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by b8bboi

Damn, man, that is SICK!!!!!

I got a question for you. How do you manage to power the VGA monitor off of the laptop? or am I missing something here? You can shut down the car and still have everything running, right?

Actually, It's magic.....

The monitor isn't run off the computer.... I have an M1-ATX power supply in the dash behind the monitor.... I use the 12v bus to power the Monitor and the Serial Relay board, and the 5v bus to power the FM tuner and 2.0 USB hubs....

When the ignition is off, I can switch the first switch under the monitor on, which keeps the M1-ATX powered. This continues to supply power to the Monitor and 5v "stuff....

The computer runs on computer battery, and the the monitor / peripherals run on M1-ATX.... I wouldn't run the Optima Yellow-top battery in the car down past the ability to crank it after a couple of days even if I left the front on..... (The battery has 41 Amp Hour capacity... I'm much less than an an amp with the "stuff" on up front) Even if I did, nothing would happen (I found this out by actually forgetting to turn off the front one week) Because the M1-ATX shuts everything down when the batery discharges to 11 volts, and keeps it off until the battery is recharged....

I can run the system for 4 - 5 hours without the car on with no problem.... If I add the second battery to the Dell, I could probably run the computer for 7 - 8 hours with no problem, and no dead car battery!

Makes it really nice when you're out for the day... Boot it when you leave, turn it off when you get home. In between, it's always up and ready to click.....

**fredp** · 07-06-2005, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by John_Duh

if you have it, please do post it (i still have a laptop laying around that was originally intended for home entertainment)
Might just decide to change =)

This ought to make you not want to change.....

Here's the electrical;

Here's a link to one you can read;

http://www.dotvette.com/PaceCar/PaceCar_Diagram.jpg

Cheers!

**Hark** · 07-06-2005, 02:38 PM

Great work - I totally agree with you on the whole question of using a laptop for the install, I think it makes a lot of things much easier. I use standby mode on my laptop install, so it takes about 4 seconds to come up after ignition.

Can you give more details about your FM radio solution - how does the WinTV box do as far as radio reception? Maybe show some screen shots of it in use? How did you tie it to the stock radio antenna?

Also, maybe some more details/pics of what you use for GPS/navigation?

**fredp** · 07-06-2005, 05:14 PM

Originally Posted by Hark

Can you give more details about your FM radio solution - how does the WinTV box do as far as radio reception? Maybe show some screen shots of it in use? How did you tie it to the stock radio antenna?

Also, maybe some more details/pics of what you use for GPS/navigation?

Thanks for the comments!

I guess I used 2 brand names there.... Guess I was thinking about something else when writing about the FM receiver...

I'm using a Winfast TV USB II Deluxe... It's made by Leadtek. I chose it because it had a couple USB 2.0 ports on it, and I needed the extra ports.

FM Stereo is perfect. No different than the FM receiver in the car. I "kind of" tried the TV part, but didn't go much further than trying it... I haven't found a good antenna solution. I guess if I run across one I'll "do it", but I'm just not very excited about TV in the car.

For the antenna I had to get a little creative. The receiver has a coax connector on it, and the radio is GM plug-in. Both are coax, so I just bought an antenna extension from the local radio shop, cut off the male end, and put a coax connector on it to screw into the receiver. The other female end plugged into the existing antenna wire. Worked perfectly.

My GPS receiver is an earthmate, mounted behind the rearview mirror;

I'm Using DeLorme Street Atlas software.... Seems Fine, but I really haven't done much more than "play" with it so far.... Haven't had it all in that long, and I don't really drive the car that much....

It also has a wireless network card so while I have it in the garage, it is online, plus I can update files from my desktop with it parked outside.... A little lazy, but ...... You know......

I also forgot to show where the keyboard was.... You just have to have one for some "stuff"??

Cheers!

**Hark** · 07-06-2005, 08:20 PM

Nice, I'll have to check out that Leadtek card for radio. What software/front-end are you using to play MP3s? Were you able to embed the radio controls into the front-end?