Hey guys Noob here for the intro and of course ?s

1999tamaster · 02-13-2008, 07:57 PM

Hey yall, I have been lookin at the forum for a few days now and figured I would join. I own a 1999 Trans Am, right now it has a crappy 3.5'' cd/dvd head unit in it. I am thinking of puttin a computer in it. The thing is I am in college and money is on the short end so I am trying to do this as cheap as I can. So I was hopin maybe you guys could answer some questions for me. Any helpful hints are greatly appreciated. I dont have any problem working on the computer, just a few other things.

1. What screen do you recommend I use. From what I have seen on LS1tech most camaro/trans am people are goin with a 7'' I believe that is the biggest I can go with and not have to move the AC controls. What is the cheapest screen to use?

2.I would like for the computer to turn on auto. when the car is turned on, and turn off when the key is turned off and the door is opened. So how can I do this?

3.How do I supply the power to the PC unit?

4. I assume that I will have to adapt out of the sound card to a amp then to the speakers is this correct?

5.Do any of you guys have pictures from your trans ams of the project? If so would you post them up?

6.What software are you guys using for this carputer stuff?
Thanks guys

americasfuture2 · 02-13-2008, 11:10 PM

1. for a good budget screen, i got a lilliput eby701 off ebay. i dont really remember how much i got it for, but they can be had for around 150. or less if you get lucky. im sure your T/A has that same double din unit that i had room to play with. but my screen and pc and in seperate places, yet accessable. your bird definantly doesnt have the same room my blazer does, so a eby701 wouldnt be the best for your setup. unless you can fab a dvd drive somewhere in your dash.

2. that auto on/off is controlled by a startup shut down controller. i am using a carnetix p1900. it works perfect. you need to choose one that is compatable with your computer you will be using.

3. that startup shut down controller is made to use the 12-13.8-14.4v and turn it into the correct voltage and amperage for your pc. i have mine run off my stereo wiring harness. and no problems so far.

4. that is correct. use a radioshack (or from anywhere else) headphone to rca plug, and you are set. get a 4 channel amp if you want to control sound output on for seperate speakers. or a 2 channel with the LF and LR on one channel, and RF and RR on the other channel. dont do this on stock speakers either.

5. i do believe there is a T/A or F-body thread somewhere....

6. i am running XP since vista is too power hungry, expensive, and not reliable enough yet. for my frontend, i am running Roadrunner. it is the most open source one. or maybe the only. i dunno. my programming capabilities have never been any good. i do get lots of help on here. and if you can, get a meet going so someone could help you with a few programming tips.

hope this helped ya. i did spend at the most, $800 bux for my set up. but i just bought stuff and had it all set aside for me to put together when i had everything. i always looked for the best deal on what i was looking for. most, damn near all, came from ebay too. all this still seems pricey on a college budget. and it is. it will take you much longer to gather all the stuff up. i was able to because im military. but i still tried to go as cheap as possible. and i think i succeeded. look at my sig for some ideas.

americasfuture2 · 02-13-2008, 11:14 PM

check out the FAQs too

1999tamaster · 02-13-2008, 11:29 PM

Thanks man, I am goin to take my time on it too, what are the requirements on the software you are using. Also do you have any pictures of ur setup I checked out ur sig but I am lookin for pictures of the software and such

americasfuture2 · 02-13-2008, 11:33 PM

not really sure what the requirments were for RoadRunner. and for XP, those should be posted all over the internet.

1999tamaster · 02-14-2008, 12:23 AM

Im not so sure I understand the power supply deal say for instance I was goin to use this mother board. I dont understand how or even what power supply I would need.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Asus-A7V-Motherb...QQcmdZViewItem

1999tamaster · 02-14-2008, 12:55 AM

I dont really understand the whole power supply thing. Say if I buy the M3-Atx is that the only thing I need to power my pc? how do I hook the power to it?

Rick99TAWS6 · 02-14-2008, 07:43 AM

I also have a TA I'm putting a system into so I can offer a little - there is also the fbody thread out there with lotsa info and some good ideas, but I'll offer what I can

1. I dont have a whole lotta experience with screens, but for cheap I bought a sharp 7" TFT, thread round here on those too.... and while I intend to install it in the dash in the future I currently have it mounted(strapped actually) to the useless cupholder in the console under the heat/ac controls till I decide how I wanna put it into the dash

2.I started with a M2-ATX which has worked good and provides a startup and shutdown controller, I ran a new wire 8g from the fusebox(in the dash by the driver door) BAT port(you can plug a spade connector into it) and also tapped into the power supply line from the radio for the IGN connection to utilize the Retained Accesory Power(RAP) function of the bird(turn off key remove from switch and power stays on 10 minutes or until the door is opened) - I tried the IGN port near the BAT port in the fusebox but was not getting any power from it so you may want to use it instead if it works, then grounded to a ground spot on the body in the left rear where the computer is mounted. But I am changing to the DSATX since I think I was in need of some additional 5V wattage - running a PCI wifi, usb gps sensor, HP tuners usb(for scanning and tuning engine - been spending a lot of time messing around with this before encountering difficulties with the DSATX install), and a usb powered dvd/cd and sometimes it would seemingly run into trouble which I finally attributed to a lack of 5V so went with the bigger supply.... still havent got the DSATX up and running due to the weather and other stuff goin on but hope too soon. Gonna need to know what you are intending to run before making a choice on power supply....

3.See above

4. For a cheap solution I am still using the monsoon headunit by using a connector from RCA plugs into the CD changer plugin on the back of the headunit - gonna replace it all when screen goes into spot for headunit when I figure out what exactly I am gonna do there - gonna have to replace all of the stock system when I rip out the monsoon(badged delco actually) and wanna get this running reliably before doing so....

5.Don't have any yet, still a work in progress - you need to look for the fbody thread. LS1TECH is also a good place for fbody info......

6.So far I have a full XP install running RoadRunner for the road - still investigating/playing with different software though........

Bugbyte · 02-14-2008, 07:59 AM

Read the FAQ. Almost all of your questions are covered there. There are several links to power supply explanations in there. The link is in the navigation bar at the top of this forum. Also, visit the FAQ Emporium in this forum for even more FAQ's.

For software, use Road Runner. It is free and will run on fairly feeble machines if you don't use Flash skins.

For cheap, get a Lilliput 7" from the classifieds section. You can also get power supplies there.

jumbodogs · 02-14-2008, 08:12 AM

I would recommend getting something a little faster 700Mhz to me seems under powered. I am using a Turion proc (check my specs). I don't think I paid more then 35 or 40 bucks and
it seems pretty speedy to me. I know you said you were on a tight budget but I think I would pop for a little more power.

Edit: That was $35 or $40 for both proc and MB

1999tamaster · 02-14-2008, 10:13 AM

I see the opus stuff is there a difference in it and the m1,2,3-atx?