Thread: 2000 Chevy Blazer - First REAL CarPC Install

next time your on, check out my setup. its still in progress, but u can get the idea of how it will look when its finished.

Well, to those of you who were interested enough in my project to actually follow this thread, I apologize for not posting in a such a long time. I had to completely rethink my box and design. I also had a couple of months of hard financial times, and I have just started getting back on my feet. So to make up for it I took a few pictures to show you the new design, and what I had to do to get the different components mounted. I had to get the enclosure to fit in half the length and still have it fit under the cargo cover. I got the majority of the difficult stuff done on my vacation at the end of July beginning of August, like getting the HAM radio antenna mounted and the coaxial cable, remote head extension cable, the extension speaker cable, power cable run or partially run. I currently have my HAM radio in the rear hatch attached to the carpet with some velcro, and the remote head mounted under the over-head console, and the extension speaker mounted to the panel under the steering wheel. I wont be attaching any pictures of the HAM radio gear on this post but I probably will in my next post.
Here is the New box.









I just hurried up and got those up to show off I will explain my process and what is done/ left to do after I get some sleep.

Well, as I said I have had to rethink my whole setup. I have recently gotten back into my ham radio hobby, and I wanted to get some training to be a storm spotter for the NOAA SkyWarn program. I don't want to chase tornadoes or anything, but I would like to know weather better than logging onto Weather-dot-com, and I figure that it would be helpful if I am ever away from a computer for a change. I have also been encouraged to get CERT training, by some of my ham radio buddies. If you don't know what CERT is, take a look around at local disasters, and see the volunteers? Well that is what CERT people do, they are trained for emergency response, be it natural, man made, weather, CPR, etc, etc. They work with the "officials" to get the situation under control. Well because of all the fun things that you get to carry around with you as a CERT volunteer, and my roadside emergency kit, I figured out a scheme that allows me to have my CarPC, and use 3 "Action Packers" for the CERT gear, roadside kit, and whatever else in the third. I also figure that I can stuff a sub woofer in the back in lieu of an action packer or two.

I designed the box kind of on the fly, but have had to make multiple adjustments along the way. So far I have built the box, carpeted it with the closest matching color carpet I could find. I have installed two speaker connection panels in the rear of the box for easy removal of the sub/subs box. I can use Banana plugs to either run 2 channels or I can bridge the amp. I installed the amps in the bottom of the box, each mounted to risers, to allow the wiring to be run under the amps. I started the wiring process, by figuring the mounting locations for all of the components, and running the initial power cables. I used 4 and 8 gauge power wire that I have had laying around the house from all my previous installs. I originally had planned to use matching distribution blocks (brand matched that is) but I am really getting impatient about this project not being done yet.

I will be installing smaller distribution / terminal blocks to allow me to use the proper gauge wire for the different devices that will be installed (two-way radio, the inverter, and the constant 12v and ground for the PC) This will also make it easier to remove the entire box with just a few tools, and to measure voltages, or adapt the wiring for future additions/devices.

I have to re-solder a few cables, and wires to make all the connections reach, or to make them shorter for less interference. I also need to get some micro-switches and relays mounted in the box to manually turn off the remote wire going to the amps, and inverter from the CarPC.

I also added a 4 farad stiffening capacitor to the whole system, I would like to add a tank cell as well (a battery backup)

Well here is the ham radio install. The pictures show the quad band antenna, the mount for the antenna, the remote head, and the extension speaker. The radio is a Yeasu FT-8900 quad band with extended receive frequencies. The radio covers 4 Ham bands 10m (right around the CB band), 6m, 2m, and 70cm. I have a smaller less "LOOK AT THE REDNECK" antenna that I keep handy for when I am traveling around the city. The radio has a neat feature that allows the face to be removed and mounted wherever, while putting the radio in a more convenient/secure location. I mounted it directly under the overhead display, and still need to get an extension for the microphone, I don't have the microphone attached when I am not using it. Well here's the pictures, and more progress tomorrow after I get home from work.

Well I have had only a few things keeping me from getting this installed, the Major factor is that I am almost always working either at the factory or at home. The next of my hang-ups was that I am going to lose my AM FM radio, and I don't have enough extra dough laying around to re-subscribe to XM right off the bat. It just so happens that a friend of mine was showing off his HD / Analog AM FM tuner he bought on ebay, it had awesome sound and I live in a very rural area (about 30 minutes round trip to the gas station) and he was getting better reception on it than he or I had got on our radios (mine stock, his an after-market Kenwood). He even got most of the HD stations flawlessly. I have to admit that the HD radio sounds better than my XM did anyhow, and its free. I got the model number and started looking online for the same one he had to see if I could get a better deal, and some reviews. Well it so happens that the search reviled a reference to here at MP3car! and that showed me that the EXACT model I was researching was controllable via the touchscreen instead of through the lame little remote head that comes with it! To top it all off I also find that the front end that I am planning on using Road Runner supports the HD converter.

So I sold off some of my junk and got a bargain on the Visteon HD Zoom HDZ300, on ebay, I won it for 45.05 + 11.99 S&H. I figured that it would be useless without the cable from mitchjs, so I ordered it as well. I still have to get my Front End installed and configured properly with the new components, before I install in the vehicle.

I still need to run the monitor cable, RCA cables, speaker cables, USB extensions and a few additional wires (depending on the mounting locations of certain components). I believe that I will be mounting the Visteon tuner behind the monitor where the factory radio is currently located, this would eliminate the need to use an extension for the factory radio antenna, and I could use the factory wiring harness from the vehicle to supply the power and the switched power.

I have a few more pics of the box for the whole setup while I was designing it. The pics should put the design in perspective, so you can see approx. how it will look in the back end of the Blazer.





I had to do some modifications to the box after construction, so that I would still be able to get to my rear seat latches, so the drivers side looks different than in the pictures. I am still working on the lid design, because I haven't been able to decide on if I am going to vent the box with a couple case fans that I had leftover from the original design. I don't believe that fans will be necessary but sometimes its better safe than sorry. That's it for this post I will keep you up to date on my progress!

I don't know where to start, so I will just start. I have been really upset about the fact that I haven't gotten the PC into the Blazer as of yet, so I just jumped in with both feet yesterday. I received my Visteon HD radio tuner, and my cable from Mitchjs. Thanks to Mitchjs I wont have to be without radio while enjoying my PC. I decided that I will hold off on activating my XM subscription until I have more money to throw at the PC. I also decided what I want to use for my front end and skin. I am going with Road Runner, and the DigitalFX 4.0 skin. I have bench tested my HD tuner and I will elaborate on the issues that I had after I get to take a nap. I removed my rear seat from my Blazer and started fishing all of my wires and cables through the carpeting. So far, I have run 4 pairs of speaker wire, 2 USB extensions, 1 heavy shielded VGA extension cable, and a pair of DB9 Extensions (a pair because one wouldn't reach) I have started soldering up the power extension for the DVD ROM and the reset switch.

I have stayed up all night doing all the wiring that I just wrote about, so I will be getting some shut eye and dreaming about how I will be mounting my monitor, which I hope to get to tomorrow. So for anyone who's following the project, stay tuned for some of the final steps towards completion.

i have my install that was finished, then took it out to trade my truck in for a 08 aveo and have it all installed in there. it still had all the room left as it did when it was stock. so does my aveo.

Well, over the holiday weekend I finally got a chance to install the majority of the CarPC. I got the rear passenger seat out, and ran the wiring. I got all of the major wiring ran at least, the power, ground, speakers, 2 USB extension cables, 12v switched, VGA, DB-9/serial, and RCAs. I got the Visteon installed in the dash where the factory radio was located, so I wouldn't have to extend the AM/FM antenna wiring, and the cable from mitchjs runs down to the center console area. I ran RCA cables from the tuner in the dash to the CarPC. I wired the Tuner directly into the wiring harness (one that I made, not the factory harness). As for mounting the monitor, I decided that the fiber-glass work was out of my area of expertise, and I didn't really have the time to relocate the AC controls, so I just made a plate that fit where the factory radio was mounted, and attached the mount to the plate. The monitor is now able to be easily removed if I need to hide it, or replace/repair it.

I have quite a few software bugs to work out. I have LONG boot times and that must end. I also have to install iGuidance, and my GPS unit I just recieved (a BU-353). I also noticed that RoadRunner takes almost 30 seconds to start using the DigitalFX 4.0 skin, but I love the skin. I had some issues that are annoying me with winamp muting after using the HD Radio. I am sure that after this weekend I will have quite a few bugs worked out. I will post pictures after I get off work on Saturday and let you all see how it looks so far (although I believe that americasfuture2 may be the only one following this work log, thanks for hanging in there with me man!)

I will also write up what I have working, not working, by Sunday evening, and get it posted up here. I also have to learn how to work with hibernation/suspend cause I have sound and what not, but I dont want to be waiting for 3 minutes every time I get out of the vehicle.