Peter's Blog - Vehicle

NL ESDA 586 Lightbar Install

Peter — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:00:25 GMT

Last night, with a team of 2 others, we upgraded our ESDA Truck 586. It had an older Federal Signal StreetHawk lightbar. It was upgraded to sport a Federal Signal Arjent S2 44'' LED lightbar.

This bar was actually a treat to install. Only 3 cables run to the lightbar: +Bat, Gnd, and Cat5E. Cat5E? wha?! Exactly! This cable runs to a little Serial Controller box that sits inside the vehicle. This box does all of the controlling/programming. It accepts multiple activation input wires and programs each mode.

For example, I programmed a switch to turn on Mode 1 warning and also flash the Take Downs and the Alleys. Another switch is set to turn on those Take Downs and Alleys solid. The controller automatically will override the emergency pattern, stop flashing those lights, and turn them on solid. This would've been a pain to do on older lightbars. Now we are able to take advantage of as much emergency lighting as possible.

These lightbars will also go on our two 2008 Crown Vics later on this year.

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1996 Ford Explorer - Project - I'd say completed, but I just saw that 12V microwave for sale

Peter — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:37:28 GMT

Computer
Front End - Streetdeck2
Large case - future will be ITX
Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Windows XP SP3
DVD-RW drive in center console
M2-ATX 160W Intelligent DC-DC PSU

Internet
AT&T Tilt (HTC Kaiser)
HardSPL 3.56
L26 KaiserTouch V1 M2D ROM
Windows Mobile 6.1
Internet Sharing Application (Microsoft) over USB

Display
Liliput EBY-701 7'' LCD Touchscreen
Enclosure is custom and self made
Modified extra radio enclosure (dremel, super glue, bondo, sand, paint)
Powered off of 12V line from computer
Auto power on

Peripherals
ElmScan 5 USB OBD-II Scan Tool
US GlobalSat BU-353 Weather-proof GPS Receiver
Powered USB hub - Powered from computer's 5V line

Emergency Lighting
Whelen Talon - blue/blue - LED - (Front)
SoundOff Signal Headlight Flasher - (highbeam) - (Front)
Federal Signal S2 Viper Dual - blue/blue - LED - (Rear)
SoundOff Signal Taillight flasher - Brake/Reverse - (Rear)
Galls Five-Function Switch Box with 12V DC Receptacle

Radio/Network:
Icom V-8000 (auto power-on with relay)
Linksys Router with DD-WRT (pull power from computer PSU)

Todo:
Install (internet from ethernet/phone network adapter bridging ((dhcp from phone and ICS are same, must bridge)))
/\ /\ /\ Above is a major problem. If I use ICS from phone to computer, and ICS from computer to router, both ICS networks uses the same IPs and it does not work. I briefly tried bridging the USB Network connection from the phone and the ethernet port to see if the phone would hand off more than 1 IP, but no luck yet. There may have been another problem. I'll work on this more when it's warm.

Front Console - No descriptions - Larger Size

Front Console - With Descriptions - Larger Size

Front of Vehicle - Whelen Talon LED and Headlight Flasher On - Larger Size

Rear of Vehicle - Federal Signal S2 Viper Dual - Larger Size

Large case - P4 - 1GB RAM - MTX Sub - Larger Image

Updated February 13, 2009

Long nerdy projects actually coming to an end. Ha! Proved you wrong!

Peter — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:49:41 GMT

Those who know me know I have a severely high level of nerdiness that probably borders on some form of a disorder. My two largest projects recently involved my Vehicle and my Media Center PC. A very detailed write-up on each project will be posted in the future.

Each project involved a very large amount of time, but wasn't too horrible on the budget at the same time. This was pretty important since I was in college for most of it!

1. My 1996 ford explorer: On-Board x86 Computer Windows XP SP3, runs StreetDeck mobile software, GPS, touchscreen embedded in dashboard with custom bezel, MTX sound system, plenty of emergency lighting (not gaudy), and a 2-way VHF radio for ham/government

2. Media Center: Hauppauge HVR-1800 Cable Tuner with Digital OTA, 2 GB RAM, HD-DVD drive, Blu-Ray drive, ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre, and VMC Netflix.