MegaBlog

2005-10-21T10:05:00.000+01:00

power entering through mesh and into the area behind the golve box. masking tape applied to prevent chaffing

2005-10-21T10:03:00.000+01:00

wiring through firewall

2005-10-21T10:02:00.000+01:00

power cable wiring from battery

2005-10-17T13:52:00.000+01:00

my golf mkv

2005-10-17T13:14:00.000+01:00

biggie

2005-10-17T13:13:00.000+01:00

roadrunner main menu at night

2005-10-17T13:11:00.000+01:00

roadrunner music player - visualiser mode

2005-10-14T10:51:00.000+01:00

setup complete !

2005-10-14T10:38:00.000+01:00

family guy playing. pic also shows location of remote control for head-unit

2005-10-13T22:51:00.000+01:00

system in use

2005-10-13T22:50:00.000+01:00

system up and running

2005-10-13T22:48:00.000+01:00

screen and head unit

2005-10-13T22:47:00.000+01:00

screen installed

2005-10-13T16:38:00.000+01:00

fibre glass head unit house complete - view from outside

2005-10-13T16:32:00.000+01:00

moulding touchscreen - layer of primer applied and spray painted to match the dash. its a work of art !

2005-10-13T16:30:00.000+01:00

moulding touchsreen - finally finished, nice 'n smooth. total time taken was about 8hours, but it was worth it!

2005-10-13T16:28:00.000+01:00

moulding touchscreen - fill.. sand.. fill.. sand.. fill.. you get the picture :)

2005-10-13T16:26:00.000+01:00

moulding touchscreen - first layer of filler applied. I used polyfilla cement from a local DIY store.

2005-10-13T16:23:00.000+01:00

moulding touchscreen - bezel and lilliput monitor chopped up, monitor then epoxy glued to bezel. bottons of the monitor have been cut off to fit nicely (don't really need the buttons).

2005-10-13T16:14:00.000+01:00

carputer placement - computer is hidden and I still have full use of my boot

2005-10-03T22:48:00.000+01:00

fibre glass house for head unit.. almost ready! just needs more sanding and paint

2005-10-03T22:35:00.000+01:00

family guy

2005-09-26T23:04:00.000+01:00

centrafuse - gps (night mode)

2005-09-26T23:03:00.000+01:00

centrafue - music browser

2005-09-26T23:02:00.000+01:00

its aliiiivee!

2005-09-26T23:01:00.001+01:00

testing the system for the first time

2005-09-26T23:01:00.000+01:00

temporary monitor mount

2005-09-26T23:00:00.000+01:00

wires: gps, vga power, vga, ground, remote on

2005-09-26T22:54:00.000+01:00

glovebox removed - red power wire routed from battery

2005-09-21T22:19:00.000+01:00

my lovely mini-itx case - gps card sticking out the back.. case is so small that I can't even fit my 2.5" hdd in it! solution: use external case for hard drive

2005-09-21T22:18:00.000+01:00

T3 Case with mobo and psu fitted

2005-08-17T22:40:00.000+01:00

H/U at Night :)

2005-08-17T15:31:00.000+01:00

H/U Installed - Drivers View

2005-08-17T15:30:00.001+01:00

H/U Installed - Close Up

2005-08-17T15:30:00.000+01:00

H/U Installed

2005-08-16T18:11:00.000+01:00

Installing Kenwood H/U

Carputer Status Update

2005-08-09T16:15:00.000+01:00

***UPDATE 03/10/05*** - All the essentials bits and pieces are ready to be installed!

Items I HAVE:

Lilliput 7" monitor
Samsung slimline DVD-ROM drive
20GB 3.5" 5400rmp HDD
Replacement dashboard fascia
Spare parts from dell optiplex and dimension 166
USB bluetooth key
VIA M10000 motherboard with 1ghz processor
M1-ATX intelligent PSU
512MB infineon DDR400 RAM
Kenwood KDC-W5031
CA-C1AX aux adaptor
VW Aerial adaptor
VW CAN-bus adaptor
3.5MM Stereo Jack Plug > 2 X RCA Phono (3m)
VIA Mini-ITX PC case kit
PCI riser, OVER the motherboard for MINI-ITX projects
PCMCIA to PCI Adapter RICOH chip P05
PCMCIA GPS card
2.5" 40GB Hard Drive 5400rpm 16mb cache
2.5" to 3.5" IDE Convertor
Golf MKV ISO adaptor
10ga amp power cable (for M1-ATX)
USB Wi-Fi PCMCIA adaptor

Sundry Items:

Phonecontrol Software
USB 4 port hub
Keyhole-Cam (for reversing!)
Noise cancelling mic

Tint My Ride

2005-07-27T18:48:00.000+01:00

Got my windows tinted today. Could have gone for a darker degree but I think it looks savage like this.

Its a medium tint 25% all round.. Hopefully it will keep the insides of the car cooler during these summer months!

2005-07-27T18:47:00.000+01:00

Tints: Side View

2005-07-27T18:46:00.000+01:00

Tints: Driver Side View

2005-07-27T18:40:00.000+01:00

Tints: Side/Read View

Head-Unit relocation update

2005-07-26T19:10:00.000+01:00

Went down to E.P. Modification in Shankill yesterday. Had a chat with the owner Ed regading relocation of the new head unit. Discussed what I was planning on doing and also showed him the impereza install picture.

Had a look through a few swatches for the leather covering of the housing. Hopefully I will have a better idea on cost/overall look by the end of the week..

2005-07-19T13:37:00.000+01:00

Using 12V from old Dell Dimension 166 to power M1-ATX and M10000

2005-07-19T13:34:00.001+01:00

Driver side view

2005-07-19T13:34:00.000+01:00

Desired position of head-unit

Received the new head unit today

2005-07-19T13:33:00.000+01:00

KDC-5031 Head Unit

2005-07-19T13:32:00.000+01:00

Installing WindowsXP

2005-07-19T13:31:00.001+01:00

Via M10000 BIOS

2005-07-19T13:31:00.000+01:00

How I powered it up

2005-07-19T13:30:00.000+01:00

Via M10000 & M1-ATX in action

What I'm aiming for..

2005-07-11T16:36:00.000+01:00

Impreza Install

2005-07-07T22:37:00.000+01:00

possible spot for the Kenwood KDC-W5031

2005-07-07T22:36:00.000+01:00

centrafuse carputer front end

Monitor Test

2005-07-07T22:14:00.000+01:00

Pulled apart dash to see how the screen will look with the surrounding face plate fascia. The bottom part of the fascia replacement will probs have to be cut down to allow the screen to fit snuggly.

new housing

Fascia Replacement Arrived Today

2005-07-07T22:11:00.000+01:00

testing fascia replacement

Golf V Orciari Body Kit

2005-07-02T13:02:00.000+01:00

Not too keen on the "corsa from the north side" scoops on the bonnet. Other than that it is a pretty savage kit. Nice 20" OZ Racing wheels also. Nice aggressive look (does it come in black?!)

Orciari Bodykit - mmmmm

Fascia Replacement

2005-07-02T13:01:00.000+01:00

Stumbled onto this replacement faceplate. This will come in handy when I eventually get around to replacing the current 2-DIN head unit with the touchscreen monitor. Its goingfor 15euros on ebay. Sellers name is design_4_more

Double Din Fascia Replacement

M1-ATX PSU

2005-07-02T12:55:00.000+01:00

M1-ATX is an intelligent vehicle ATX power supply. Designed to provide power and to control the ON/OFF switch of a motherboard based on ignition status, M1-ATX is a wide input (6-24V) ATX power supply capable of surviving tough engine cranks (down to 5.7V) as well as transient over-voltage situations.

M1-ATX Intelligent Power Supply Unit

Additional product information:
User Manual
Specifications
User Guide
Dimensions

Carputer Update

2005-07-02T12:49:00.000+01:00

Purchased a new motherboard to be used in my project. Also got an M1-ATX power supply and 512MB Ram.

The VIA EPIA M10000 Mini-ITX Mainboard is the second-generation 17cm x 17cm platform optimized for today's killer digital video and audio applications. In addition to its integrated Nehemiah 1GHz VIA C3 processor, the board features the VIA Apollo CLE266 chipset with embedded MPEG-2 decoder and a new integrated 2D/3D graphics core to ensure smooth DVD playback and a rich overall entertainment experience. With the sizable memory bandwidth of DDR266 SDRAM and the high data transfer speeds of ATA/133, the VIA EPIA M10000 ensures the high performance levels required of today's most popular digital media and productivity applications. The user's digital media experience is further enhanced by support for 5.1 surround sound, courtesy of the onboard VIA VT1616 6 Channel AC'97 codec.

VIA M10000 carputer motherboard

Carputer Project

2005-06-16T22:48:00.000+01:00

Among the various things that I am currently doing, is the creation of my very own 'carputer'. Thats right a car computer :P

You might actually think that this is a novell idea.. but its not really. People have been building carputers for the vehicles for quite some time now. My fasination began a few years ago when I was deciding what to do for my final year project and I was very interested in the idea of building a computer for my car and writing the software to control everything. In the end though my idea wasn't feasible seen as though I was pretty borke.

Come to think of it - I am still broke.. wtf was I thinking?

ripped out my dash to see if new screen fits

Getting Started

2005-06-16T21:28:00.000+01:00

another blog