The Aim Of All This - Well For Me Any Way

To use all of my talents and expertise being in IT to create my self a custom audio visual system and more that most people would die for which is upgradeable. Big statement I know ... It will utilise all the latest  technologies such at ITX and DC to DC power supplies ( PSU ), touch screen technology as well as USB and more where I can. In short it will be a modern slim, portable and very useable system and as far away from the old AT & ATX systems of yeast-a-year as possible . Watch this space for more. For you its a chance to follow my CarPC / CarPuter Project as it grows in detail - including, GPS navigation, digital music, PC enhanced DVD, real Internet and email, PC games, PC computing applications, custom interfaces, voice control & feedback, MP3, instructions, 'how to's' and other CarPC / CarPuter links - All Here - Oh and to have fun while doing it....

Who Am I & Why Am I Doing This ?

My name is Terran Brown and I have been in working in IT for a number of  years or so. Being a Vauxhall enthusiast I have decided to get myself a very special car. For some time I have wanted a Vectra B GSI ( which I have got now ) - being not very well paid I ended up with a SRI ( For those of you outside the UK the GSI is the one pictured here and the SRI is a lower spec but not bad motor ). Anyway I digress... I have networked my house - all most set up my own X10 system and have my own Intranet looking after everything - and Yes there is a terminal in every room. - Sad I hear some of you cry - I don't mind its constructive and fun. So with me getting this new car I wanted to get Sat Nav... and it begins... I looked around at some very expensive systems and in the end decided to build and design my own. This was an idea I had back in 1996 but due to funds and the lack of simple technology then it never happened. So the idea was to create a cheaper system that had Sat Nav - that was configurable and upgradeable - not just stuck with one function and upgrades dictated by the manufacturer. My argument for that was simple. If you wanted say a DVD or a TV in your car ( and I don't advise watching them while driving - in fact in the UK its illegal ) then it would cost you an arm and a leg to get this custom one function device installed. With the Car PC ( or Carputer as its sometimes known ) you can upgrade with easy obtainable and cheap PC bits - its just a matter of installing the drivers etc. Once I had decided on this I decided because of the amount of different applications I wanted to use I wanted to have my own interface, and for that matter one that complimented the car so it was individual and unique.

Please enjoy my web site and I hope you come back as I document the trials and tribulations of this project. I will try and put as much information as I can for those that follow here however if you have a comment please email me here.

Terran Brown - Webmaster

The Conclusion Of The Vectra CarPC / Carputer V5

Conclusion Coming Soon..................

Terran ( 21/08/08 )

The Conclusion Of The Vectra CarPC / Carputer V4

V4 is the best I have done so far. Going back to my roots of using a Via EPIA I've been able to use the Voom case and M2 PSU.... don't get me wrong I still think 1.2Ghz is under powered for future use but for today its just fine. I did fin that the speed was helped when I had a 7200 rpm hard drive in... unfortunately Western Digital replaced it for a slower but larger drive so I did not get that for keeps.

To load up it takes from a clean power up around 45 seconds and out of hibernation around 20-25 seconds - the key as ever is keeping the data and the system drives separate and defragging it a up to three times after you have completed the install. I don't have a motorised screen with this one how ever that's no bad thing. I have found there are times I leave the screen and just let it play - especially at night. To further enhance this I'm in the process of setting up a remote control just simply to change tracks of pause the music.

Add to all this my Internet connectivity & online interface and I have a system that works very well - the only problem I have now is that this is the last of my evolutionary steps and so far I have not see what I can do that is revolutionary - only time will tell. In the mean time Freedrive 2 is on the horizon and Road Runner is going from strength to strength - my main concern is how to get my traffic information integrated with the rest of the set up and then attach that in some way to my home system for internal comms, tracking and even remote control of the house while away.

Terran ( 31/10/06 )

The Conclusion Of The Vectra CarPC / Carputer V3

Its only been in a few days but I can tell I would miss it should it break. The K301 screen is was a dream and although it sticks out a little you don't notice it. I have some practical design changes to make but this is not because the design its self is flawed more that I'm just not a engineer and some who who can measure right :roll eyes:. I'll update this section when I have had more time to come up with a more constructive conclusion other than 'cool'.

PS V2 now lives in Ford Focus and still keeps going - as yet its not required a rebuild since its first installation.

Terran ( 01/11/05 )

Update ( 06/06/06 ) - Sadly the confidence around the screen was not long lived due to some mechanical problems. I swapped it out and bought a lot of new hardware for v4 - that been said I did re use a lot of items so its not been a total waste. At least I did learn that I am not that good at fabrication so the next design of this type I come up I'll let some one else build it for me :)

The Conclusion Of The Vectra CarPC / Carputer V2

Well its in. Does exactly what it says one the tin. Problems - well only two, I want a faster CPU - this one works ok but takes around 45 seconds to boot - I am down the drive and out on to the road by then. The second is that I am using an FM modulator to get the sound in, it works but unfortunately sounds a little flat. I have to investigate this how ever on the whole I am very happy with it this time - bring on Destinator 3, Bluetooth and mobile phone integration.

Terran ( 11/01/04 )

The Conclusion Of The Vectra CarPC / Carputer V1

Version one worked but not exactly as I hoped. There were two main problems and they were not software related. The first is the PC at the hart of the system is a bit slow. I would prefer a faster 1ghz machine but unfortunately this will have to wait until another time due to funding, I may be able to get one cheaper later next year. Another aspect of this symptom may be the version of Windows XP which is why I am using SR1 for version 2 - yeah I know I said I did not think is was software but that's life. The main problem only came to 'light' ( and there's a pun for you ) when I started using the screen in the car and in the day. The problem was that during the day the sunlight reflected too much off the screen to make the system usable. I could combat this using special anti-reflective film ( I believe 3M do some ) but for version 2 I have decided to go with a real XGA screen - the only problem there is they are known to be too bright some times - you just can't win.

In conclusion - its worth doing but the more money you can throw at the project the better, if funds are limited spend as much as you can on the screen as this is the most important bit of the whole system - after all your going to be using it day in and day out.

Good luck.

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