Neds that sounds awesome, will be waitin eagerly on ur results. and livin in da same state helps me out 2! but could quite possible drive u crazy if i attempt it....

Theres a site around on the net that has 12v power supplys for comupters for putting into cars and the like. IE, they only need 12v to run, not 240. Also, with the IDE cables, You wont find any over 75cm as they are parallel. Basically, a bit is sent along each wire in time with the others, but due to the resistance in the wire an slightly different lengths, the bits can be received at different times. To eliminte this, you need to go to serial, so USB could be the go for cheap. This also allows easy access for removing the drive. You would most likely be safe wtih S-ATA drives, and firewire as well. I had contemplated doing this myself, but theres plenty of other things to do first. *sighs* oh well, one day

I hope I have the theory right here, please correct if I have advised the incorrect terminology anyone.

The MB and components require a clean 12vAC current with plenty enough wattage. The car 12v is a unregulated DC with low wattage. To convert, a regulator from Jaycar/DSE almost does the job but does not help with the watt's. A super capacitor is the answer for this (so I read somewhere) I have a SiliconChip mag around somewhere that address's this but couldn't lay my hands on it this arvo.

IF I come across the info for this PSU I will post but I have a feeling that it is in one of the storage box's.

I also remember reading on the web that someone hacked a powersupply out of a large amp but I have never looked into this.

Yet another theory that I have muld over was to use a PSU out of an old laptop as some come with a DC input.

I don't like the idea of a invertor as they suck the hell out of your battery. A dual battery setup like they do in 4x4's might help out.

The main thing here for the customised PSU is to remove the 240v transformer and wire in the regulated 12v supply inbefore the 5/3v tranny. Some PSU's do all 3 out of the one tranny but some are split.
The tranny that I used (450w for $30) for my computer mod (see the mod page on my homepage) has 4 tranny's 240v to 12v then 12v to 5v,3v & 1.2v.

i think you'll find that a mobo reqires DC

yea im thnking of doing the xbox thing as well as i dont have a mp3 player and sick of llistening to same old cd's, ive already got the xbox and its already modd'd with a bigger hdd. I saw at tandys 2 x 7" lcd screens with remote and mounting brackers for $570. not sure if that price is decent or not... the only thing im suck on is i want to turn the xbox on when i turn accessorie on so im gonna have to find out a way to make it turn straight on. Maybe blutac ober the button haha.. Anyone have any idea's as to where i can mount it besides in the boot because i was just gonna use the controler and get one of those 2.4ghz wireless contorlers should do the trick...
anyways tell me what u think

Cheers

Thats exactly what I was thinking... hence you need either a DC-DC power supply, or an inverter to go DC-AC-DC motherboards work on regulated DC correct.

And I get what you mean with the regulator and the cap...but the tranny as you call it (transformer for the people that were like me and thought transmission) is wired up to transform 240AC to some other voltage not sure, then that gets split up, and after a bridge and some caps and so forth, each rail containts its own voltage and amperage. If you have a regulator and a cap before the transformer, even if its still AC (you'd hope so), the transformer would need to be re-wired so that the output is proportioned to the intput. The number of turns on the output voltage is proportioned to the number of turns on the input voltage side of the transformer...

But I get your main idea.. interesting thinking.


Sorry about the jargon above (for some)

Cheers

only a couple of weeks ago i came aware of the possibility or usin xbox in ur car (thanks to fordmods).

now i looked into it and wot i think all ya need is:

1. a modded xbox (so u can store all ur movies, music, games)
2.power inverter 12vDC - 240vAC
3. screen that has video input
4. and a head unit that has auxilary inputs. (so u can connect ur audio rcas from ur xbox to ur head unit. from here ur head unit shoots da sound to ur amp then speakers)
5. and a remote/controller to control xbox media centre.

does this sound about right? i am bout to attempt this as the way i hav described.

plus becos u still usin head unit, this would mean u can still play radio and cds from the headunit? just turn xbox off or sumfin?

sounds pretty much right, just check on the power inverter, not sure which one ya need.
Where you puttin the screen? When I do this I want it to hopefully be hidden so no punk breaks in to me car

LOL

Can see the confusion, sorry but I evolved up north where the language is very basic The Tranny was the big grey thing outside our house that gave a nice firework show at least once a year during a storm and the transmission is simply the Box. Still learning the dialect of the rest of Australia

Found a new site that has some interesting PSU's

[url]http://linitx.com/index.php?cPath=24_58
[/url]

yea you could basicaly leave the xbox on depending on your h/u. most of them should have a aux button... just like band and cd... too easy

Hi all,

Read my post here to find out more about what I'm planning. http://www.fordmods.com/phpBB2/viewtopi ... 7376#17376

If you are going to do it, I would go with a PC (mini itx is easiest) over an xbox, that way you can do much more...

If you are going to have hdd/dvd far from the PC then do not try to run it with IDE or SATA cables, use USB or firewire. I am planning to not use a DVD/CD and instead have a huge hdd and a WLAN card. That way I can rip DVDs on my PC and send it to my car computer using the WLAN. No skipping and no dvd's in the car to get scratched. And no storage dramas

I'm probably going to get a TV Card as well, which will allow passengers to watch TV in the car (one of the reasons to go with a PC instead of Xbox). My main concern with this is finding a TV card that will work when the car is moving, many of the cheap ones only work if the antenna is still.

Also I'm planning to have a circuit to shut down the PC properly as soon as it detects that I have switched off the ignition, should be easy to make. I'm happy to share the design with anyone who wants it once it's done.

As I said in my last post, my main concern is wiring up the power lines and connecting the line out from the PC to the car's stereo. Has anyone got any tips?

Thanks all!

Some tips for connecting it to your stereo.. if you have inputs, then obviously just use RCA's, get a cable from the 3.5mm plug to two RCA plugs (can get em at coles even), and plug it in....

If you don't have line-in like me, or need some converter, its probably easier to buy an FM Modulator, you set a frequency on it after plugging it into your computer... and then tune the radio on your head deck to the same frequency.. no wires, decent quality, works.

The other option would be to just run the amplifier off the computer, independently from the head deck... but that means lots of wired, to get the speakers to work in parallel, and other stuff.

For your power problems.... this is what I have in mind:
This is for an inverter, DC-DC just plug it in.
For Inverter I was gonne have the inverter with a trigger, and if it didn't come with one, stick a relay on the power switch..
So what I would have is inverter with constant 12V, and then set up a way, when you turn the ACC off, there is a relay on the actual physical power switch, which sends the shutdown signal to windows or whatever. And then have a relay running off a 12V or 5V line out of the power supply which would be controlling the trigger on the inverter... And then have a switch to turn it back on... or something similar....

Sorry about all the blabber..
Cheers

Unfortunately my stereo does not have any line inputs it is just the stock ED stereo. Does that have a separate amplifier between it and the speakers, or is the amplifier built in?

If it is separate then I could connect the PC to it...



Do I need an amplifier between the PC and the speakers, or is the tiny one built into the sound card powerful enough to drive them? (I doubt it…)

Your idea of using relays to shutdown everything is interesting, I didn’t get it at first glance but after rereading it, it might help with my design.

I posted some more in the other thread:
http://www.fordmods.com/phpBB2/viewtopi ... 7376#19109

Might be best to keep the discussion in one thread

Thanks for all the info!

well i drive an el and der is a blank section under the deck. its wear i keep me tissues. but i wos hopin to modify that and install a motorised screen, so when u press open it slides out. i think that might be best 4 security. plus it will look cool when opening