My 2001 Sport Trac Install

wkolodny · 05-02-2004, 09:17 PM

Well after much deliberation I avoided the home grown PC option in favor of a prebuilt PC I picked up on E-bay. I have built many PC's but I have found I am getting lazy in my old age.

My Setup:

Cappuccino GX1 PC (E-Bay $280)
1 Gig Celeron
256 MB Memory
40 Gig Laptop Hard Drive
CDROM

Lilliput 7" TouchScreen (MP3Car $278)
First Location:

Current Location:

iFree RF Wireless USB Keyboard w/Track Ball Mouse (E-Bay $32)

Laptop Notebook Car Airplane DC Power Adapter Charger (E-Bay $27)

Netgear USB 802.11b Adapter ($17)

USB Hub ($10)

Multi Slot Flash Card reader ($10)

ITPS (MP3Car $42) (Installed)

Update: 5/20/2004

CoPilot Live (MP3Car $280)
Radio Xtreme ($57)

Grand Total: $614 + $280 + $57 = $951 (Ouch)

Software: Frodoplayer 1.04b, Streets & Trips, Co Pilot Live/7

I was going to originally Bondo the screen into the Dash but it looked so good where I temporarily mounted it that I am having second thoughts. The screen comes with a mounting base. I made a wood platform and mounted the screen base to it. Then I wrapped the whole thing in a black rubber mouse pad that closely matches the original rubber insert. Opinions?

I wired an external power switch to a button on the side of my center console to remotely turn on/off my PC. I am now going to wire that to an ITPS when it arrives. I set the BIOS to hibernate the PC when the power button is pushed and the PC automatically turns on when power is applied.
(DONE)

I replaced the cheap 9-Pin connector that came with the lilliput. It was a source of much trouble an consternation. It never made good connections and eventually failed. I used a serial DB9 connector which works great.

I investigated the Auto Power-on method that involved installing a capacitor and a resistor but I was uncomfortable with soldering such tiny connections. I opted for an alternative that combines the shorting of the power button with a cut-off switch. This allows me to set the Screen to always come on when power is applied but also to temporarily disable this feature when I need to use the other buttons.

I originally had the PC in my glove compartment but it got way too toasty in there. Upwards of 155 degrees. I relocated it under the back seat. Much cooler now.

I am currently using a Garmin Etrex GPS connected to my PC with a serial cable and have Streets & Trips as the interface. I will probably get co-pilot 7 and a usb gps next year.

And finally there is my "High Tech" security system for preventing prying eyes from tempting any passers by from enjoying my work a little to much.

Update: 5/26/2004
I went ahead and mounted it in the dash. Gotta come up with a revised security system.

Update: 7/7/2004
I found that the hooks fit perfectly into my air vents. Works well and I dont have to reinvent the wheel.

Chairboy · 05-02-2004, 09:19 PM

A most excellent idea for security!

Mitokondria · 05-02-2004, 09:30 PM

Great install! It seems you like to take a lot of notes when you drive...

Aftaab001 · 05-02-2004, 10:51 PM

Nice....but do you ever park uphill?

Izik · 05-02-2004, 10:58 PM

Turned out really nice. Between my post and your post over the weekend I guess we are up-to-date on each other setup, are we still having lunch next week?

masher · 05-02-2004, 11:02 PM

I've got a sport trac to and have been thinking about fiberglassing it into the console because I hadnt seen one done like this and I really like it and I am going to skip fiberglass after seeing this. How did you get ur audio setup?

wkolodny · 05-03-2004, 06:56 AM

My truck came with a 6 CD In-Dash changer that had no way of taking an audio input. A PIE connection was also not an option so I bought a CD/Cassette Deck off of ebay, removed the Face Plate and inserted a cassette adapator to feed in the audio. I then ran the wire from the adaptor behind the face plate and out the back so it was not visible.

Izik: Not sure what you are talking about. You must have me confused with another member.

Izik · 05-03-2004, 07:58 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by wkolodny

Izik: Not sure what you are talking about. You must have me confused with another member.

I guess you just never read my posts... ask Steve who "Izik" may be

wkolodny · 05-03-2004, 08:02 AM

Sorry Ron. Brain Fart. I actually never knew your ID. Steve never told me.

Pepe · 05-03-2004, 08:06 AM

Very clean install. I just finished my install on my 99 Ranger. My dash bezel is almost identical to yours, so I'll get some pics up tonight and show you what it looks like with a 7" LCD flush-mounted into the radio bezel.

65Stang · 05-03-2004, 08:31 AM

Very Nice install looks great... curious... are you using the touchscreen function of the Lilliput??? What difficulties did you find???? How do you find FrodoPlayer????

wkolodny · 05-03-2004, 08:36 AM

The touchscreen is my main interface to the PC. I just have the wireless keyboard around for editing config files and transferring files onto the PC.

Frodoplayer Rocks IMHO. It is a tad buggy but is loaded with features that the other interfaces dont seem to implement as well. The onscreen search function, the sliders to control song/movie postition, and the visualizations in a small window all set it apart from the rest.

wkolodny · 05-04-2004, 06:41 PM

Works great. I am powering both my Lilliput and my Cappuccino PC off of the output from the ITPS. Just a note for those of you who may want to copy this setup, BE SURE to apply a solder bump as described in the installation manual to disable voltage regulation. It will not work if you dont do this. I found out the hard way.

Also make sure you enclose the ITPS in something nonconductive as the manual states the heat sink has +12v on it. I put it inside a little plastic drawer and wrapped it with electrical tape afterwards.

Also here is a picture of my modification to the Lilliput.

If you look closely you will see a small switch attched to my new 9 pin connector. The switch is wired to both sides of the screen power button. When I want it to turn on automatically I leave it switched ON. When I need to adjust some settings I turn it OFF. When it is in the ON position you can still manually turn the screen off and on by hitting any button besides the power button.

samc · 05-04-2004, 09:05 PM

Nice but bro what about a custom fiberglass into that center console? the space you have the screen now would be perfect for molding.

wkolodny · 05-04-2004, 10:21 PM

I would like to go that route but I want people in the back to be able to see it. The angle just doesnt work.