Car Pizza Oven
January 20, 2006
Yes, I know I’m posting a lot, but I had to add this. This has to be what is simply one of the worst ideas for car-based appliances. I think this is even worse than USB-powered fans and coffee warmers.
Category moved from livejournal
NAIAS 2006
January 20, 2006
Honda Sports Car Concept
(Click for more…)
As mentioned previously, on Wednesday
Not wanting to be carrying such a large camera around the show, I took along my older digital camera (Nikon Coolpix 5400) instead. Now I see why I replaced this camera… It’s a comfortable size, but it’s slow to focus, doesn’t focus that well in low light, and is just rather blah. The 20D (photo gallery retired) was definitely worth picking up.
So, yeah. Either click the photo up above or at the link below if you want to look through the photos:
2006 North American International Auto Show (photo gallery retired)
By the way, that vehicle pictured above? I really rather like how it looks… Also, I’m not a huge fan of sports cars, but I also think the Ford GT is rather nice. Oh, and Allstate‘s area where they had bumper cars was amusing.
And this may have been fairly wrong of me, but I also grabbed a picture of a rather powerful femullet.
Tonight iPod in Honda Civic Work
January 19, 2006
Click for more…
Yes, I know that’s not the most impressive photo, but that’s the completion of my work tonight. I ended up making a new and much better PCB with which to tie everything together, mounted the filter and resistor, installed the second grommet in the case, soldered on the previously made Aux In cable, added the power cable, hacked in a fuse for the power cable, and called it a night.
So, yeah. Now the only things left to do are tear into the dash again, finally assemble and bolt in the iPod holder, run the iPod dock cable through the base of the stuff pocket in the console (whoops, need to purchase another 7/16OD x 1/4ID grommet), add the ends to the power cable, plug both the power and aux in cables in, strap the project box to a support in the console, and close it all up. Then, provided things go the way I want, it should just work.
After that I’ll start looking into changing the firmware on the head unit to read IPOD instead of AUX, and I’ll probably start seriously looking more into the Honda Music Link Device. I’ve got a growing desire to document as much about it as I can. Pinouts, high res board photos, and if the board doesn’t have too many layers, I may even try to work up a schematic. Or maybe even read out the ROM. We’ll see…
UPDATE: Oh, I forgot to add this photo of the bottle of acid, namely ferric cloride in water. I had it sitting in a pyrex measuring cup for two days because I wasn’t sure what to do with it. It can’t come in contact with metal at all, so I was having a hard time finding a container for it. While I was at GFS unsuccessfully looking through their cleaning products for such a contain, it came to me that I should just use a 1L wide-mouth Aquafina bottle to hold it. So I did. It’s working out nicely. Now I can save the solution to use a few months from now.
NAIAS
January 18, 2006
Well, tonight I went to the North American International Auto Show with
While the show was typically so-so, there are a few points to mention:
1) My Nikon Coolpix 5400 doesn’t compare to the Canon 20D. At all. I was becoming increasingly frustrated with it. I think the CP5400 will do nicely relegated to the status of pocket camera when I’m out and about in the woods or some place where I don’t want to be seen with expensive camera kit, but it won’t get much normal use.
2) When I was poking around the Honda exhibit just before we departed, the sales guy I purchased my vehicle from came over. It seems that the Honda booth is (generally?) staffed by local sales people, and tonight was one of his nights. He asked about the vehicle, so I explained that it was going well and that I like it quite a bit.
I also explained a bit about the Honda Music Link iPod Adapter to him and handed him a copy of my review. I stressed that I am happy with the vehicle and that I have no issue with him nor the dealership and I am taking it up with Honda corporate, but I wanted him to be aware of the issues experienced with it. He took the review and, I can only assume, will give it a read. We’ll see where that goes…
I am cleaning up the photos for upload now, but they aren’t that great. I’ll probably post one tomorrow, if I get around to it.
Now, I think I’m going to relax a bit before bed.
UPDATE: Oh, I forgot to mention that either I had made up the image I (still) swear I saw of a Honda Element with iPod logos all over it, or it wasn’t at the NAIAS. When visiting both Honda exhibits, I saw no mention of the Music Link iPod Adapter or anything about connecting a Honda vehicle to an iPod. Perhaps my suspicions about Honda’s just-wanting-it-ready-for-NAIAS were unfounded… Ah well, at least I was able to inform someone there of the issue. Hopefully he’ll actually read the review.
PCB…
January 18, 2006
So, the PCB I made last night? I’m kinda worried about it… If you look at a full res image of it and look attention to the traces, they don’t look completely solid to me. I don’t know if that is from scrubbing it clean with a scotch-brite pad (per the directions) or because etchant got beneath the tape used for the long lines, but it worries me.
I think that I’ll actually redo the PCB today or Thursday. I’m… just not happy with it, and for something that I’m likely to rely on for the next three or four years in my car, I want to know that it is good.
iPod in 2006 Civic EX Update
January 18, 2006
Click for more…
Okay, I did decide to post a shot of the PCB tonight. That’s it, in the project box I chose for making this. It seems like it’ll work out pretty good, even though I likely could have gone with a smaller box. Ah well…
That there is the PCB I made, and this is the solder side of it right after I finished cleaning it up. The etching isn’t perfect, but it meters out solidly. So, hopefully it’ll work.
The components installed there are the 1MΩ resistor to make the iPod pause when the power stops and a salvaged choke (I hope I’m calling that the right thing) to hopefully eliminate any extra noise in the +12v coming from the car.
So, that’s about that… I’m likely going to the auto show tomorrow, so maybe I’ll get back to things on Thursday. We’ll see how that goes. :)
Oh, and all the photos from today can be found starting here and on in (photo gallery retired). Yes, there are lots of the PCB. It was the first I made, so I wanted to document it.
PCB…
January 17, 2006
Well, I managed to etch my first PCB, and it seems to work. Scary chemicals are involved. As in, things which boil and get hot when they are added to water. I guess that’s what happens when you have weird iron compounds in such a situation.
I’m uploading the PCB photos now, and I’ll probably post more tomorrow. In short, I think this project is going to be a success.
Electronics…
January 17, 2006
Yay! My project boxes, line filters, PCB etching kit, and a few other things came in today. Now I can get to work on the final bits of putting my iPod in my car.
Coffee Maker
January 17, 2006
Wow, check out the AeroPress coffee maker made by Aerobie. Yes, the same people who make those top-notch flying discs. I think I’ll have to get one of these, as it seems like it’ll solve the problems I’ve been having with inconsistant coffee from my french press.
Visiting the Car Dealer
January 16, 2006
Well, this afternoon I took my vehicle into the dealer to check out an interesting resonating sound which I was hearing at times when the engine was under load and somewhere around 1400-1500 RPM. Turns out that this is a normal sound, and the service person was able to duplicate it on another vehicle. So, everything is good in that regard… Now I just need to wait for my Parts Express order to get here (hopefully tomorrow) and I can finish building my iPod hookup stuff.
Tonight I’m going to try and change the software which runs on the Navigation Unit in order to get rid of the safety warning when it starts up, and possibly change the image displayed as it is booting. We’ll see how that goes. :)