In Car PC
 

After talking to a friend who s building a car PC with a primary function of navigation I’ve been pondering my own solution, but adapting his ideas.

So if I acquire a Panasonic Toughbook which are available for £80 or less second hand.

Connect a remote touch screen monitor with say a 2 metre umbilical cord.

Install Windows XP and MemoryMap or OziExplorer. I prefer MM.

Then install this software, which is the crucial bit (thanks Paul if you read this!!)
Centrafuse™ | A Whole New Way
Centrafuse™ | A Whole New Way


Oh and a GPS receiver, the tough book can live under either the drivers or passenger seats which fortunately in a G Wagen are steel, lockable boxes.

I know I could continue to use my PDA with OziExplorer or just buy a Garmin but I like the idea of this solution and it gives me something to do between now and the next trip:thumbup1:

Russ

A couple of potential probelems:

would the slave touchscreen be "tough" enough? also, toughbooks at that pricepoint will be of very low spec. This will likely mean you wont be able to store all your maps etc and have connectivity issues.

from my point of view, this way seems to over complicate the issue. For the same or even less £££ you could buy a more advanced, lighter netbook to run things and using bluetooth, utilise a Garmin GPS with no wires.

worth thinking about.

I recently upgraded my PDA for a HP TC1100 slate/tablet PC. Its working great with my Garmin GPS10 and I just made a sturdy mount for my Defender :thumbup1: the only issue is it can only really be seen properly by the passenger. It needs a little modifying... work in progress :innocent:

G

Toughbook
 

Yes I had thought about those issues. Even at £80 I should be able to get one with 40Gig HD and 512Mb of ram. With a processor more than sufficient to run XP and MM. I would keep anything else installed to the absolute minimum. Should come with built in wireless as well.
40G HD should be sufficient? Important as these things are not the sort of thing you upgrade!
As I ran this stuff on a 5yr old PDA on our last trip to Morocco I’m not worried about the spec. of the toughbook.

Re. the touch screen. I guess it should be at least as robust as any other screen on say a PDA or notebook.


How much was your notebook? I like the idea of keeping things std. and simple.

We use toughbooks at work, some now of the same vintage as the £80 ones to run reasonably demanding mapping software at work and they really are pretty much indestructible, superb build quality and very stable, something I’m not sure about with a notebook, or indeed a custom built DIY PC in adverse conditions.


Still pondering really.



Russ

oooo, that spec is better than I thought you would get. Must admit, last time I looked was a little while back. 40GB should be fine. MM takes around 13-14GB of maps if your using 1:25k and want all of the UK. 1:50k can be had for 3GB. depends on your usage. Sounds like your in the same boat as me :thumbup1: mine is here: HP Compaq TC1100 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

also a 40GB HDD. The good thing about this is that I can just fold up the keyboard and just have the screen. It also weighs in less than 2kg. considerably less than a Toughbook. I know someone who has taken his TC1100 (in a land rover) down to Mali/Mauri over 7 times and its still going. So thats good enough for me right now.

Will post pics of my mount at somepoint. all it needed was a piece of Alu channel and velcro straps. job done. its solid too.

currently have MM, mapsource, N route, Fugawi, photoshop, and MS office installed :clap: hopefully it will do everything i need on a longer trip.

Now the REAL question is, how can I link up a colour reversing camera for trailer hitch-up?!?! possibilities are endless.

G

Toughbook on the Way
 

The project is a goer:thumbup1:. I have a toughbook on the way, thanks Chris

80Gig HD, running XP, wifi.:thumbup1:


Just need to get the touch screen and away we go

I’ll keep you posted on progress


Russ

I've just installed a car pc using a Sumicom mini car pc which is a great bit of kit, and a small lilliput touch screen mounted in the dash.
I've installed centrafuse which I've been pretty impressed with, and is a must have really if you're using a small screen as otherwise the standard windows desktop icons etc are all a bit too small to use and see.
I think they may still have the centrafuse offer running at the moment, so register on the centrafuse home page and you may get an email with an offer on.

I wanted to get some internet access as well so just bought the cheapest 3G dongle they had in Teco - £10 for the dongle/sim if you buy £10 credit - but best of all, when I registered the sim and went to add the credit to it they are running an offer for unlimited useage for a month for £2! not sure if this was a regular offer or how long this is running for though.

Interesting reading, I'm currently building a dual purpose installation. The first being a media centre in the living compartment, its really for the wife to manage her photo's and on those rainy nights catch a movie, the second plan is to install navigational software with touch screen.

So firstly I'm lucky to have access to a few used Sumicom used PC's.. another story ! I still need to order the correct 12V power supply... The idea is to have a "15 screen on a pivot in the rear of the troopie, but when you look at the prices of 12v screens they are crazy, but older tft screens where 12 v so I'm thinking - must be able to bodge something !! any other ideas ? maybe I need to visit my local camper van shop !

Then I'll need to run a second usb touch screen to the dashboard.

Eightport, have you thought about vibration on your Sumicom mounting ? will you place an inline fuse ? I would be interested to hear how you get on.

kind regards
Matt

It doesn't work for me because I need glasses to focus on the dash to read maps and I use half frames but some people mount their screens from the roof, just fold it up out of the way when not in use.

Hi Russ

I've been running a very similar system for a few years now.
(Itronix Gobook + 10" touch screen on the dash + Gps + Oziexplorer + GE). It's taken a while to get it working reliably but it is pretty sorted now.

A few things learnt along the way:

*PC's are inherently fiddly things, they need attention. The gobook started in the back in a case and ended up in the front where I could get to it quickly.

*I don't know about MM, but Oziexplorer does not suit a touch screen interface and neither does driving offroad. My solution in the end was a usb glide pad glued to the centre of the steering wheel. Perfect.

*Pay attention to the connections or the wires and plugs will drive you mad!

*If you are feeling James Bondish you can incorporate reversing cameras/night vision/ICE systems etc. but simple, I think, is best.

Good luck with your project,

Richard

Richard, I like the sound of the toggle in the steering wheel. neat.

How would you go about rigging a reversing camera? I have not looked at the wiring needed. What ports would I need on the laptop 1st?

cheers

G

I found it simpler to bypass the laptop and run a video cable directly to one of the monitor ports. You can then switch on the camera (normal 12 volt supply) and flick between input channels on the dash screen without interfering with the PC.

Really easy to do, but of course more cables and more to go wrong...

Dash screen? I have my tablet PC mounted to the dash, a slightly different system to those spoken about about. Will have to take some pics for you guys this weekend :thumbup1: my ports are pretty limited to a seriel port, USB, some internet ones and a PCMCIA (?) card. thats it.

could do with the camera for when i eventually build my trailer.

G

Hi Guys,
Would a simple USB web cam not have the desired effect?

Sam

You would need to check on your model , but the Sumicom I have already has an integral power supply regulator that works between 10 and 17v I think. the power lead has two live connections for permanent and ignition like on a car stereo and it auto boots when I turn the ignition on. I have done away with this though and just fitted a switch so the PC doesn't turn of/on every time I turn the engine off. I haven't put an in line fuse in yet, but it's on the list...
I have mounted the pc under the dash using some anti vibration rubber mounts I picked up from a motor factors - I think they were for a vauxhall fuel injection ECU or something - I made up a simple alluminium bracket to hold the pc, lined it with rubber, then suspended the bracket with the mounts.
it's fine on UK roads, how effective it's going to be over a hundred miles of washboard corrugations remains to be seen - I'm a bit worried about dust as well as thats been the biggest killer of anything electronic i've taken on a trip so far.

Ref reversing cameras - I had planned on trying a webcam as mentioned - the only downside I can think of is it might not refresh quick enough or work that well in bright daylight??

I got very lucky on ebay and bought a toughbook CF28, though there wasn't anything wrong with the 27 except it didn't have touch screen (some do).
I mounted it on an alluminium bracket off the dash and it sits over the center tunnel, looks a bit big on the picture but works fine so far. The laptop is fastened to the bracket with heavy duty velcro so can be removed easily.

http://http://www.pointedthree.com/d...chmentid=22917

My traveling companion has Toughbook CF18 which she bought for £500 and I must confess would be a better route if I were starting again.:oops2: