Richard Koerner wrote: > Excellent idea, John! If prototypes work, could actually turn this > into a product.... Circuit details aside, for this to be a practical gadget for most Vanagon owners, there has to be an easy way to grab the relevant inputs from the dash. Like from lamps and things. I've not had the dash out for a while to check this, but if folk are going to be expected to solder to the foil then it could be dicey for many. So it seems like the place to start is to lay out a list for the different years of the Vanagon, identify what are the lamps, etc., that need monitoring, and determine how to gain access to their signals. I believe that at least one lamp has driver circuitry for both legs? so it would have to be connected differentially. Or hang an optoisolator across it, maybe. Once you bring out a bunch of wires, then they can be connected to the alarm circuitry, which could be uC or analog circuitry-based. -- Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana") 74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) Bend, OR KG6RCR |
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