I am please to share with you,
my 90% complete RoverPC project in my Land Rover Defender 110. I am a big advocate of convergence, and this is the realization of all my informational and entertainment goals for my Rover. :safari-rig: When fully complete, I will have HD radio, MP3 player, UMPC moving map for streets and seperately for US Topo, DVD, wireless internet and handsfree phone integration all in one touchscreen unit.
This to me is a much better, cleaner system than having seperate radio, gps, laptop, etc. with wires and cigarette lighter nightmares running all over the place. And the fact that it uses primarily standard desktop PC components means that parts are easily and cheaply replaceable which is nice.
I have onboard dual batteries, and this entire system runs off the 2nd deep cycle Optima battery, protecting the starting battery from depletion. Further, the system uses an automotive intelligent power supply, that will start up the computer and amp when the Rover is started, hybernate within a minute after ignition is off, and hard cutoff if battery voltage drops too low.
My 110 doesn't have a single ECU in it, to include anything for the mechanical TDI diesel, so I decide to treat myself, as any damage to the pc won't leave me stranded.
My Rover (93' NAS 110)
Main Screen on the 7" Xenarc Touchscreen. Mounted on a MudUK Defender Console.
IGuidance 4 moving map navigation software
power/reset and usb buttons in front of Tuffy box
Plenty remaining space in that Tuffy!
Bottom of tuffy with PC hardware seen through plexi partition..
As depicted, the motherboard, DVD drive and power supply is mounted in the bottom of the cavernous 12" wide Tuffy Box, and only takes up the bottom 3", leaving plenty of room for other things on top. I've added a plexiglass partition to seperate the motherboard spacing from the top, and there are twin cooling fans to move air through the bottom of the tuffy. Reboot and hard power buttons, as well as 2 usb ports, are in the unused radio box area. Ultimately, I'll have a 2m radio in there as well.
Hardware Specs:
Jetway J7F5 Via 2.0 GHZ motherboard
1GB DDRAM
M2-ATX intelligent power supply (180Watt)
bluetooth dongle
Wifi B/G external broadband antennae
Xenarc 7" TSV touchscreen
Opus 4 channel marine amp
USB GPS receiver/antennae
Software specs:
Windows XP home
RoadRunner front end (The Front End...period)
Digital FX3.0 Roadrunner skin (awesome skin)
INav Iguidance 4.0 UMPC navigation software
Xport serial port splitter
Being a technology junky, I was awed and inspired by many others in my exploration into the world of the carPC. For any others interested, hopefully this will offer some ideas. Many, many thanks to those on this forum that inspired me and provided so much constructive advice.
More to come.
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