Thread: Trailblazer Carputer Project - COMPLETE!!!

Originally Posted by breaker021

You awful, awful man! That clipboard never had a chance, did it?

LOL! =]

What I meant to say was - awesome job, dude! and Awesome use of the clipboard - very ingenious! I wudda never thunk it!
- sh00k

Clipboard. Dead.

The clipboard was a great idea actually, but it wasnt mine. All credit goes to my father for that one (Thanks Dad!). It was very easy to cut, and sand down, and lightweight... Really a great building block for the mount. Now providing that after I paint it, it looks the way I want to, I will have absolutely no complaints.

Originally Posted by Pathos

good thing that is a dual din, plenty of room to work with and using that clipboard is pure genius......since you are using a inverter what are you using as a inverter controller and is there any noise from the inverter?

As of right now, I dont have any controller working for the inverter. I have to actually get out and turn it on by hand. But I'm working on getting the "Ghetto SDC" working as I'm typing this message...

As for noise, knock on wood, I have none what-so-ever. The sound quality from this whole project is actually outstanding. And keeping in mind that its all on stock speakers, with the onboard audio card, going thru a $50 dollar 400watt amp, I am majorly impressed....

Originally Posted by ~Rob

Looks sweet! I hope the case doeesn't roll about too much!

Its not too bad... The next big step in this whole project is to build a much nicer looking case for the computer. I'm not sure if I want to go stealth, or show it off yet... But either way I'm probally going to use the little area where the amp is right now, and move the amp somewhere else. But for time being, everybody gets a kick out of seeing an actual tower in the back hehe

Well I got some great ideas from the MP3Car meet that we had today (link here) So I will be doing some work on my machine these next couple days...

I did get the Ghetto SDC working, and everything shuts down the way it should. The caps keep the relay powered for around 2:30 and it just works flawlessly. However, Im not sure if its due to my car or my inverter, but when I crank my inverter dies and has alot of problems with turning on. So the simple part, turning the PC on via inverter, is actually turning out to be the hard part Im working on a time delay circuit as I type.....

I finally painted the clipboard mount. I was going for a very specific look, and I feel that I came close. I am happy with the texture thats on the board right now. Here are some pictures below of the final product...

Thanks, I apreciate it

Originally Posted by afterdigital

mission accomplished: looks awesome....enjoy - just b careful in the highway (i caught myself drifting a couple of times ::yikes::

don't it feel great to be finished?

HAHA!! You have no idea how funny that is... My family and friends have been getting very upset at me "moving my eyes" while I drive... Lots of arguing goes on in my Once-Quiet-Trailblazer now a days...

It is absolutely a hard thing to control while driving. Eventually, I plan to get a "media steering wheel" from Chevrolet and wire the buttons to the carputer. I hope that will help a bit...

Anyhow, Yes. It does feel great. But I'm still far from done. I still have to make the custom box for all of the computer guts to look pretty in the back And the startup and shutdown is confusing the hell out of me. I got the Ghetto SDC down, but the inverter itself needs a power on delay of around 5 seconds to survive crank, and that has been the hardest... But upfront, it is complete.

SHUTDOWN COMPLETE!

I finally got my Startup/Shutdown controller working... All is well.

Here is a few pictures of the breadboard circuit me and my Dad built:







Basically, its the Ghetto SDC controller circuit, with a 5 second power delay circuit on one board. Wired all correctly, and it all works just fine.

I crank the car, I get the 5 second delay before the Ghetto SDC circuit gets power, which THEN powers the inverter. When I remove the key, the Ghetto SDC keeps the relay powerd for 2 and a half minutes which keeps the inverter running untill my PC actually shuts down.

I am very happy, and now have a working controller Woohoo!

I'll post some Videos later...