| Item | $$$ | Where To Get |
|---|---|---|
| 9' TV/VCR | $300 | WalMart |
| AM/FM/CD Player w/inputs (RCA or 1/4" jacks) & 200 watt car amplifier kit | $250 (installed) | Best Buy/Circuit City |
| Delorme GPS package (Earthmate GPS receiver & Street Atlas 7.0) | $160 | Best Buy, www.delorme.com |
| 400Mhz Laptop with TV & Audio outputs | $999 | www.winbook.com |
| 150 Watt Inverter | $40 | Murrays (Any auto parts store) |
| PS/2 Touchpad | $20 | Best Buy |
| 15' Video (RCA) cable | $10 | Best Buy/Radio Shack |
| 10' DB9 Serial Ext. Cable | $10 | Best Buy/Radio Shack |
| 10' PS/2 Ext. Cable | $10 | Best Buy/Radio Shack |
Now, this list is not static. The particular equipment you choose can vary.
For example, if you can't fit a 9' TV/VCR anywhere in viewing area, you can
get a (more expensive) drop-down roof mounted LCD display.
And if you already have a CD-Player with inputs your ready to go!
Also, the Delorme
GPS package is pretty expensive. They do have others, but I really like Street
Atlas, and I've used DeLorme's products before with no complaints. The laptop
can vary to wide extremes. In my car I don't have a 400MHZ Winbook, I've got
a 200MHZ AST Ascentia 280M with a cracked display. Got it for $300... however,
it doesn't have a TV-out. So I got a VGA-TV out (NTSC) converter from Antec
(www.antec-inc.com) the Antec TVator Exec ($100). Also, if you don't want/need
the ability to play MP3s, it doesn't need audio. The touchpad is for input
to the laptop. Now, I'm a Linux advocate (of course), but I can't find any
GPS software that runs under X. So with Win95/Win98 all you really need is
a pointing device. Of course, you can get a small keyboard instead... but
that's kind of dangerous in a driving situation. The cables and their lengths
you need to really determine for yourself. It really depends on how big your
car/van/limo/aircraft/spaceship/pimpmobile is. Obviously a 1970 Cadillac is
longer than a '85 Ford Escort. And the touchpad/GPS receiver you choose may
have longer or shorter cables already attached. So determines your needs...
before you buy...
As for the laptop, before you install it you want to make sure it's fully
loaded with everything you want! Otherwise it's kind of hard to install new
software via the trunk :). Actually it's not that bad as long as it's on CD
or something. After this is all done you can just pop in the CD and load
it like normal (except you'll be in front of the TV!). The first thing you
want to do is load the GPS/mapping software. I've used the Earthmate
GPS/Street Atlas Bundle from
DeLorme. You should be
able to use any package you want (as long as you've had experience with it),
but I'll be referring to DeLorme's package from here on. When you load DeLorme's package, it has 2 CDs, an install, and a program. If you want to have a
complete GPS system, I recommend you do a FULL INSTALL. If you start picking
and choosing in DeLorme's package, you will wind up with a VERY LONG INSTALL
process (hours!). If you just load everything, it doesn't take that long...
especially if you get a 400MHX laptop with something like a 20x CD-ROM drive.
After you load the package, make sure you've got the battery charged (or
connected to a power source), the GPS connected, the computer rebooted, and
are outside. The first time you run Street Atlas, the GPS receiver
will download a virtual map of the GPS satellites in orbit. This takes
something like 15-20 minutes of consecutive use. In any case, you have
an additional choice here. You can run it off the CD, or you can copy the
CD to your hard drive to vastly improve performance. I recommend you
copy the entire CD to your root directory of your hard drive (i.e. c:\). Don't
make any subdirectories to put it in, or else it won't work. There is only
one file, and a few folders, so you won't have a cluttered root directory
in terms of files. This will allow you to free up your CD-ROM drive for
other purposes (like MP3s :) ). OK. If you have done this, then when you
launch Street Atlas, it will say that it can't find the CD. It's then going
to ask you if you want to find it on another CD-ROM drive. Say yes.
Now, don't be scared by that. It's not going to force you to choose just a
CD-ROM drive... you can still choose C:\. So go ahead and do so. After you
do this (BTW, make sure the CD-ROM isn't in the drive anymore!!!) Street Atlas
7.0 will start. If you've never used Street Atlas before, don't be afraid, it's
pretty easy to use, and also very powerful. Go up and click on GPS
on the header bar. Then click on 'initialize'. It will try and find the GPS
on the serial port (again, make sure it's connected before you do this!).
At the bottom of this window thats popped up is something that says 're-connect on a 3-D fix', make sure this box is checked!!! In the mean time, Street
Atlas should have found you GPS (make sure it's got batteries!!!) and is
trying to get a fix from the GPS satellites. This may take 10-15 minutes the
first time you run it! So be patient. When it's finally done, the box will
disappear after a moment, and you should see a green dot on your map. That's
you! It should be an exact map of your neighborhood. Pretty neat, huh? If
you want to zoom in or out, you can do so freely by using the little icons
of the earth with an arrow going up (zoom out) or in (zoom in). Remember to
let it run for 15-20 minutes the first time! Now what I've done is placed
Street Atlas in my startup so that as soon as the computer is done booting up,
it will start Street Atlas. Now that's fine, but I also want to initialize
the GPS automatically too! No problem! In the GPS preferences, there is an
option to automatically start the GPS when Street Altas starts. So...
after you start the computer, it will boot up (hopefully :) ), Street Atlas
will start, it will initialize the GPS receiver, and a little green dot should
appear on a map that is exactly where you're at! Gotta love it...
Next is the MP3 stuff (if you so desire). I recommend the versatile WinAmp
shareware program. It not only plays MP3s, but also MOD/ITs, and nearly
any other form of audio file. That shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to
install. The longest portion is to copy all your MP3s onto your hard drive!
If you're like me, then you've converted your entire CD collection to MP3,
and burned it onto CD-Rs. So if you run out of space on your hard drive, you
just pop in a CD for 650MB of more songs...
Finally, you need to get the external video working. Your laptop should have
an option to enable the TV-Video out upon booting. If not, you may have
problems. If it's in the middle of winter, you don't want to be in the trunk
fiddling with the laptop to get the video on the TV! If your laptop doesn't
support this, you may want to look at a VGA-TV converter. Again, I recommend
the TVAtor Exec from Antec Inc. You just run the included VGA cable to your
laptop and hook up the RCA cable going to the TV. The only problem with is
some laptops require an external VGA monitor connected for this to work. Well,
I've come up with a work-around for this. On the TVAtor you've got VGA-IN
and VGA-OUT (pass-through) connectors. On the VGA-OUT connector, simply run a
wire from pin 5 to pin 11. What this does is it fools your laptop into thinking
that it has an external monitor connected, and now you can have your video
on your TV as soon as it starts! This is the way I have it (because my LCD
is cracked, too :) ). The easiest way (and safest) to do this is to go to
radio shack and get an open VGA connector kit and make a dummy dongle, with
just a connection from 5 to 11.
If you've got all this stuff together, then you're ready to roll!!!
Existing in-dash CD-Player with inputs & amp kit installed w/o amp:
If you already have an in-dash cd-player with inputs and an amp kit installed,
then you can use the RCA cables included with the amp kit as your audio
connection from the laptop (in the trunk) to your CD player (in the dash).
If necessary, disconnect the RCA cables from your CD players outputs and
connect them to your CD players inputs. You may need an RCA to 1/4" stereo
cable converter.
Existing in-dash CD-Player with inputs & no amp kit:
If you already have an in-dash cd-player with inputs but no amp kit, you just
need to install an amp kit. An amp kit consists of a long thick +12V cable,
a shorter ground cable, and a stereo RCA cable (with remote wire). The RCA
cables get connected to your CD players inputs. You may need an RCA to
1/4" stereo cable converter. Run this back to your trunk. The thick +!2V
cable (usually red, or clear with a red stripe) connects to the positive
terminal on your battery. Yep. That means you have to run this through your
firewall. Depending on your car, this can be kind of a pain in the ass. That's
why I recommend the CD player & amp kit be installed professionally. But if you
choose to do this yourself, take your time. A bad job can result in a fire
later on down the road! Run this the entire length of the car all the way back
into the trunk. The ground cable just needs to be connected to something metal
(i.e. the car's chasse) in the trunk. This can be the trunk mounts, the trunk
lock mount (bottom half...), or an existing pin switch (for an alarm system).
This wire does NOT need to go to the car's battery... just mounted to something
metal. If you've got a metal trunk, you can just screw it down in the trunk
itself. However, if you choose to do this be careful! Make sure you don't
screw down into the gas tank, or puncture a wheel!
No CD player (or CD player without inputs) & no amp kit:
If you have a CD player currently installed without inputs and want the
ability to play MP3s/Sound from your laptop, you have to replace your
existing CD player with another that has inputs (I had to do this). If
you don't have any CD player then you need to get one if you want to have
audio from this system!!! At the same time, you need to install the amp kit.
Instructions for installing the amp kit can be gotten from the previous
section (CD player w/inputs & no amp kit).
In any case, a 150- or 300-watt inverter usually has a DC adapter that plugs
into your cigarette adapter. What we want to do is to run the Inverter off
of the amp-kit wires. This way, you've got solid +12V and ground connections.
There are two ways to connected it. The first involved lobbing off the DC
cigarette adapter and splicing the wires. This is the easiest. Or, you can
get a new 12V jack from Murrays (or other auto parts store) and splice that
to the amp kit. This makes it easier if you ever want to 'borrow' the inverter
for a different vehicle. After you've done this, you're inverter is ready!
Now, a good inverter has over-load circuit detection on it, and some even
have built in circuit breakers. Make sure yours is good! The inverter will
be used to plug the laptop into, as well as a VGA-TV converter (if you need
it).
Just to be safe, test the inverter with a small lamp or something! Otherwise
you may break something you don't want, and can't afford, to!!!
If you're lucky enough, you may be able to use it in your rear window. Then
all you have to do is run the wires behind the seat, and you may not need
a serial extension cable. However, more likely than not, you'll need to run
the wires from front to back. Now, if you've never done this, it may appear
a daunting task. But it's not all that bad. If you open the door to your
vehicle and look down, you should see the plastic (or metal, depending upon
your vehicle) door sills. These have 4-5 screws in them. If you take these
screws out, and lift the door sill, you'll see that there is a nice little
channel that you can run wires! Make good use of this. It's the safest way
to do it.
If all is done right, you should be done installing!!!
Turn on the inverter, the laptop, VGA-TV converter (if necessary), and the TV/VCR. Make sure the TV is
turned to channel 'AUX' or 'INPUT', which is the input. You should see your
laptop booting up on the TV! If not, there may be a special key sequence you
need to press on your laptop to get it to switch to the external monitor.
Try that. If you've placed Street Atlas in your startup, then it should
come up automatically and start the GPS! Pretty cool...
A note about car power systems. I'm having problems when I start my car and
all the equipment is already on. Usually, the inverter will shut off due to
overload. This means I have to get out, go back in the trunk, and turn the
inverter (and the VGA-TV converter, too!) back on. So make sure you start
the car before you turn everything on!
joe@joethielen.com
www.joethielen.com
Last Modified 11/07/1999