Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2002 21:58:58 -0700
Reply-To: Ty Graham <tyg@OZ.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Ty Graham <tyg@OZ.NET>
Subject: Re: iWesty
In-Reply-To: <5.1.0.14.2.20020930162113.00b97900@pop.sbcglobal.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Hey, that's mine!
I've been pretty happy with the flexibility of swapping various laptops
in and out rather than making those investments in fixed infrastructure
like screens.
I like the larger screen sizes in laptops vs the dedicated auto video
systems. Sure is nice to pack up my DVD system for a train ride or
plane flight as well.
The maxed out Dell systems I've been using have worn me out. They're
just too heavy for air travel. With portability in mind, My current
target system is a Fujitsu Lifebook P. The Transmeta cpu with no CPU
fan can make a big noise difference while running in the van.
I'd check out the sierra wireless stuff from Verizon were I horsing with
mobile data in the van today. I just do all my wireless stuff on my
phone today and never bother with a PC interconnect. Blackberry has
been really useful for email almost everywhere I go.
Ty Graham
'91 Syncro Westy, Cinerama with $12k in audio upgrades worth almost
nothing now
URL below
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of Ray Reinhard
Sent: Monday, September 30, 2002 4:33 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: iWesty
Mark,
For a truly "over-the-top" setup a la your desires, check out the
following:
http://www.oz.net/~tyg/TyG/Westy.htm
For in-door speakers (that maintain the van's Teutonic purity), I highly
recommend the Blaupunkt ODca650 components. Their 6.5" woofers are
about
as big as you can fit below the driver's side map pocket. You can then
mount the tweeters where the existing factory speakers are located. The
interior side of the factory speakers is actually screwed on -- simply
turn
it counterclockwise while holding the exterior side of the speaker in
place. Once you have it apart, you can snap out the old 4"
speaker. Finally, use some diagonal cutters to snip a hole in the
plastic
grille big enough to slip the new tweeter into. Blaupunkt gives you the
option of angling the tweeters rearward for better sound -- a real nice
feature given their mounting location in the van. If you want more
bass,
you can always put a Bazooka subwoofer behind the driver's seat or
something even bigger in the storage area under the rear seat.
At 02:57 PM 9/30/2002 -0700, you wrote:
>Greetings all,
>
>Being an engineer(and more importantly a geek), I've decided to drag my
>"new" '91 Westy into the 21st century. Some functional requirements,
in
>no particular order include: DVD/CD/MP3 playback, VHF/FM/AM/XM tuning,
>navigation system, cell phone integration, mobile internet access and
of
>course a burly alarm system to prevent it all from rolling away.
>
>I know I could probably just fork over a ton of money and install
>something like an Alpine system, but that would be far too painless.
As
>such, I've decided to build much of it myself. Still in the design
>phase, I'm having a few blockers and wonder if the collective brain has
>any good suggestions.
>
>Design Goals:
>-------------
>- Leave the appearance of the van largely intact.
>- Use a minimum amount of space.
>- Build a durable system.
>
>Current thinking:
>-----------------
>- Panasonic In-dash DVD/TV/CD/MP3/Tuner
> and/or
>- PC: Either Cappuchino, Panasonic Toughbook 07, or custom PC/104
>- Internet: TracNet is far too expensive, so slow CDPD or GPRS it is
>- Navigation software: CoPilot
>- Speakers: not investigated
>- Alarm: not investigated, but one that can page my cell phone
>
>Ideally, I'd love to just have a single PC handling all this, but
>finding a compact and reliable enough PC that has the power to handle
>DVD-playback on top of everything else is no small task. Additionally,
>I've not been able to find any in-dash retracting monitors that are
>capable of VGA input. For this reason, I'm leaning towards the in-dash
>solution provided I can use the display with a PC.
>
>Some questions:
>---------------
>1. Has anyone installed an in-dash monitor in their van? Any problems?
>
>2. Anyone hook up a PC to one of these small LCD panels? From what I
> can tell, the only options are RCA Composite video and RGB(what
kind
> of connector is this?)
>
>3. Has anyone successfully installed a PC in their van? Any issues
> with dust, heat or vibration?
>
>4. Is anyone aware of any other mobile internet options. I think 28.8K
> access is the minimum I want to consider. Too bad I'm not in
Europe
> or I could just go for HSCSD.
>
>5. Is there anyplace near the front of the van, other than under the
> driver's set to install various behind the scenes components?
>
>6. Are there any FAQs out there on regular stereo installation tips for
> the vans? For example, where to run wires, troublespots, etc.?
>
>7. What's the story with Westys and theft? I assume they're not a
> highly stolen item, since they're so conspicuous. What about alarm
> system installs? Any suggestions around effective alarm use?
>
>8. Lastly, anyone foolish enough to try to do something like this
> themselves?
>
>
>Thanks much,
>-MB
>--
>_______________________________________________________________________
>Mark Belanger - belanger@fluid.com
| 
