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[san9jay]

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JbBauer said: RCA IR repeater: Allows front seat remote control of the totally trunk enclosed xbox. I can get the part#, but basically there are two cones.. one transmitter in front.. and one receiver in back. Their sole job is to relay my xbox remote selections to the IR thing in the USB port... and this of course includes turning on and off the xbox. (btw I tried a Radio Shack RF learning remote with receiver and it sort of worked, if you have your xbox in the back seat this is probably the easy way to go, but for the trunk..aint happening.) The only problem is that I had to run 120V to the front from the trunk for the front transmitter cone ... so thieves beware (btw, undisclosed 120V security feature I'm not going to detail)!

Good post jbbauer. The only thing i was thinking of was instead of bothering with an IR repeater I would install the XIRRemote directly in the front dashboard and just run the connecting wires to the XBOX.


The wireless controllers to buy are the logitech. I have two of them and they work very well.

[NizZ8]

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Well done. Xbox in my truck is my next project once i find a good deal on a used box and cheap HDD.

Well KBToy outlet stores were selling Xbox refurbs (1.0's/1.1's) for 88$ last weekend (included xbox,controller,cables..)

for 88$ i took a shot at it and worked out great..

If your lucky enough to have a kbtoys outlet around you it might be worth your time to check it out.

[NizZ8]

[jbbauer]

Anyone have their xbox forced to always ON and their 120V converter controlled directly from ignition 12V? ie. when the key is on the xbox is on, when the key is off the xbox is off (just like your stereo).

This way the XBMP would be ready to go by the time I've taken off the parking brake, installed the head units faceplate, and pulled the remote out of the center console.  The media player is  my main source of entertainment so it should power on/off just like the stereo.

I was thinking doing something like this.  Only with an ON timer delay circuit.  The delay is of course so that the xbox would be powered on only after the car is started and providing clean power for a couple seconds.

Seems like this would be a pretty cool setup, so interested to hear your ideas

[jbbauer]

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NizZ8: What other types of applications can you do with your box.. past the games/pictures/movies/music?.. anyone have linux running and doing some cool stuff with it?

Not through the xbox but through my laptop's AV connection into my head unit, I plan to monitor engine sensors s.a. air / fuel ratios, EGT, acceleration/decel, etc.  This is all through a replacement ECU with serial port adapter, and their software (plus some expensive add-on sensor replacements).

I personally like the xbox as just a media center.  I can switch AV inputs to other functions s.a. rear video monitor and GPS navigation (not yet installed).  So I'm not sure it really makes sense to integrate these features into the xbox.  Most applications for the PC I'd prefer not to be running while I'm driving as I'm just trying to enjoy the ride.

This is really far fetched so be warned...  But some cell phones allow cable adapters to connect to a computer.  So with a laptop, a cell phone, a dial up ISP you basically have mobile internet (nothing new here).  Not sure if this adapter works through an eithernet connection BUT if it did .. and if anyone ever gets windows (and eithernet drivers, etc) sucessfully running on the xbox you could download media off the web or off your home computer while driving.  Potentially giving you limitless media.  And with windows multitasking you could play media while waiting for the slow downloads.  If the software could be integrated into XBMP all the better, but I doubt it, as I believe they would need to purchase many different software developers tool kits (to access low level hardware drivers) to work with all the phones that have this capability.  But even with a laptop in the car it'd be awesome to search restraunts, check the temperature or weather...  

...GoGo 3G wireless cellphone infrastructure with voice command, it will obsolete all our in car media centers!  And with the 3G phone car adapter follow-ons it will provide engine dianostics, semi-auto drive, and friend locator.  And of course forward all this info to Micro Soft to their human profiling software filters.  Oh and beware of viruses corrupting your fuel management..."Do you want to report this error to MS?"  haha the world in my eyes is your tomorrow.

[NizZ8]

Cool stuff..

I've got an issue with noise entering my system when i add my xbox into the setup..

Noise occurs in my system when i connect the composite video connection into my TV tuner box for the video connection.. the noise is driving me nuts!.. i'm not sure what i can do to remove the noise.. i've got a common ground for all of the audio/video equiptment, it has NO noise when i remove the video---> TV tuner connection.. so i can have everything running (power inverter, xbox, amps tv tuner, Tv on, everything).. all of the Audio works, but when i plug in video to my tuner box, it generates a nice HUMM throgout my entire system!..

i've tried a few different noise filters, but can't find a 'video' noise filter (the audio ones seem to work, but by using them they do not allow any video to pass through.  If anyone has some idea's I'm all ears..

[NizZ8]

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I had a similiar issue with my RCA connection into my master unit. I replaced my AV RCA wires with high priced shielded gold connection RCAs. I still had noise problem. So I made the outer metal RCA connections of all the RCAs touch each other.

So when you did this, were you able to remove the noise close to completely?

QUOTE

I don't know if this will work but here is a coule guesses. composite video is obviously very high freq relative to AV connections. The grounding rules at lower freqs no longer apply. When you say that you have a common ground there really is no such thing at high freqs, ie. if you tie all components with long wires to the same ground point on the car you've actually created impedance in your ground wires themselves. Instead connect each component to it's own VERY closest ground point. Impedance matching is very important. The component video cable you are using must have a consistent distributed impedence throughout ESPECIALLY at the connection points. So make sure the ends of the connectors connect very securely all the way around the female counterpart! You could also switch to a higher grade (usually higher cost) cable. A higher cost cable should give you three things: better connections at the endpoints, better matching impedance connections, and shielding which brings me to my next point. The cable is acting as an antenna. At only 10MHz it only takes 2 meters of cable to act as an antenna and attract EMI and RF. Therefore it is very important to use shielded cables that shield completely all the way into the connectors. The higher the freq the shorter the cabling needs to be to act as an antenna and attract EMI and RF noise.

So what cables are you using to output from your xbox?.. are you using composite or using the HD/AdV pack, and then some hi-qual shieled wires..?

Thanks for the info, i'll see how it goes today..

[---=Snyper=---]

wow this post is back in action...

[NizZ8]

So what's happening now, is my tuner is getting grounded by the RCA connecter from the xbox, and removed the ground difference between the two.. now there is just a very small humm that enters the system when the volume is jacked way up, but it's not noticible anymore

Thanks for all of the input guys!.. The next thing i'm going to add to the Box is the XIR remote tool so i can power/on/off the box from my DVD remote.., thus allowing me to tuck the xbox in the back out of sight..  I was going to try the Doorbell method, but i figred a plug n play solution that XIR offers would be a bit less troublesome!  Anyone tried either of these solutions? wireless doorbell or the XIR solution?

Also still looking for more cool ideas i can add into my new 'mobile box solution'.. it's sooooo nice now that my DVD remote came in for controlling XBMP!!!.

[NizZ8]

 now it's a lot more of a useful solution



Also i wired in a relay to allow me to turn on my video system when i turn on my vehicle.. I used the Remote wire from my head unit (blue wire) wired that into the 'switch' (coil on relay) that would turn on and off the relay.  So then just ran that swtiched power to my Inverter, which powers my Xbox, and alos pulled power from the relay to the TV tuner box/Tv.. So when i turn on my Truck everything else comes on as expected.. also i have a switch on the TV so i don't surge my TV when i turn it all on..

[NizZ8]

.. So now when i turn on my truck i just have to press the button and it will turn on my xbox in a radius of about 50-75 feet from my truck