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Tablet PC as Carputer?


MatsuDano

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CrazyGoat, how did you tap into the nav buttons? Did you remove the board and solder onto the big white squares in the first picture or did you solder onto somewhere on the back of the panel in the second picture?

 

 

You'll have to forgive me- I'm an ME and electronics just aren't my thing

I found that (throughout my testing/poking around) that I couldn't take advantage of all of the buttons because they shared a common ground. The design of the mylar buttons on the N7 ribbon cable specs a ground for each button. I found that when I wired them all up to the hardware keys - the hardware buttons would trigger multiple actions on the N7 because the hardware button's common ground was shorting the power/volume buttons simultaneously.

 

Because of that - I just settled for the map key to be the power button (I just leave the volume maxed and use the stereo to control volume anyway). To do so, you must solder to two points on the reverse of the board. I cannot remember the exact ones - and I'll look for any pictures I might have stored (it's late). I have highlighted them in the picture below.

 

Just be careful soldering to these points, since printed circuit boards are easy to mess up. If you solder and torque it too much - you'll peel the leads/connecting layer off the PCB. My best recommendation is to use a low gauge wire (thin, flexible wire) that will allow it the flexibility to navigate the corners and not put all the tension on the board/solder joint. Like you probably saw in the videos - I just soldered the leads from the hardware buttons to a female molex, and the leads from the nexus to a male molex connector. Just test the + and - leads on the rear contacts till you find the right combo. All the necessary leads are in that cluster on the back of the board.

 

Note: I also had to cut the ribbon cable connector off the hardware button pcb (seen on the right) - as it protrudes about 2-3mm from the enclosure and messed with the N7 positioning.

 

Second image:

http://i.imgur.com/PZE1Dgd.png

 

 

As a quasi-update, the N7 has been in my car for a few months now. I'm using a pretty standard 24AWG USB cable and the PowerGen 3.1a charger and I rarely ever get below 98% battery unless an application runs crazy over the weekend or something. I have found that pairing it to my iPhone with Wifi is more successful/faster when I have the phone in hotspot mode before turning the car/tablet on. Can't wait till I have an android phone and can have that mapped to a widget button. My killer app lately has been BeyondPod - awesome podcast manager and very very touchfriendly.

Edited by Crazy Goat
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CrazyGoat, thanks for the help! Shortly after I posted, I tried soldering the power button on the Nexus like you had mentioned in the video with cutting into the exterior circle- well I cut a little too much off and ended up ruining the ribbon. No matter how many times I tried to re-solder the connections I could never get the screen to turn on/off by touching my wires together.

 

And for anybody who is reading this and interested in doing this to their car- make sure you have something to remove solder like a solder sucker or a solder wick as soldering to those connectors is not an easy task.

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Those of you using tablets as carputers, do you have data plans on your tablets? Or are you tethering them to your phone?

 

I love the idea of using a tablet, but utterly dread the thought of $30/month for data on the damn thing.

[URL="http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/proper-flip-key-interesti-159894.html"]Flip Key Development Thread[/URL] "Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped." - E. Hubbard
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I've got a data plan, but I also sold my soul to vzw when I signed on for the family share thing. $4 more per month after company discount.

 

I use too much data to have a family share plan. It would cost me $80 more per month.

[URL="http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/proper-flip-key-interesti-159894.html"]Flip Key Development Thread[/URL] "Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped." - E. Hubbard
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Yeah, I looked into them and moving off my unlimited plans would cost me 50 a month.

 

I just wish I'd had the foresight to set up an extra unlimited plan when I could have.

 

I'm still very interested in the Nexus build, though. It seems like it would work pretty well.

[URL="http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/proper-flip-key-interesti-159894.html"]Flip Key Development Thread[/URL] "Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped." - E. Hubbard
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I just wish I'd had the foresight to set up an extra unlimited plan when I could have.

 

I'm still very interested in the Nexus build, though. It seems like it would work pretty well.

 

Couldn't one just use auto tether or Tasker to start tethering when it connects to blue tooth? I know I just tether my n7 when I put it in my car. Obviously, I don't have a nice set up like these guys, but it works great for gps when I need it.

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That is probably what I would do, if I was going to go down this path.
[URL="http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/proper-flip-key-interesti-159894.html"]Flip Key Development Thread[/URL] "Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped." - E. Hubbard
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I had a question.. How flush did you guys mount the nexus 7 to the screen opening on the bezel? When I have the screen as flush as I can get it to the bezel I cannot move the vents up or down but they will go left and right.

 

I am using a normal navigation bezel. I also do not understand how you guys who did not do CrazyGoats power relocation mod run cables from the nexus 7`s factory charge port. I tried running cables but they hit the vent fin.. Am I missing something?

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I had a question.. How flush did you guys mount the nexus 7 to the screen opening on the bezel? When I have the screen as flush as I can get it to the bezel I cannot move the vents up or down but they will go left and right.

 

I am using a normal navigation bezel. I also do not understand how you guys who did not do CrazyGoats power relocation mod run cables from the nexus 7`s factory charge port. I tried running cables but they hit the vent fin.. Am I missing something?

 

I think crazy goat put the power cable back in its original position due to ground issues or something. I never did it but u have to take out some of the fins for the power cable to fit since its a little bulky. I also had to do the same thing for the aux cord.

 

On a different note, there is a lot is space behind the nexus so Imthinking about putting a 1TB external Harddrive behind there

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My Nexus is flush against the opening. You have to get a Dremel and take out a bit of the vents to get it this way. I believe CrazyGoat is getting a dock for the Nexus and will then have the ability to retain the original power/aux locations but then run the cables from the dock out the back.
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On a different note, there is a lot is space behind the nexus so Imthinking about putting a 1TB external Harddrive behind there

 

Depending where you live you may have problems with this in extreme temperatures. No different than what people with carpc's deal with.

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I indeed bought the ASUS dock - but it didn't work out to install it in the car for two reasons.

 

1. I already had the tablet installed when it arrived, meaning I'd have to tear it apart again.

and

2. It's quite large, and apart from tearing it apart for the pins (which at that rate, I might as well make my own pin array and wire it myself for $5-10 in parts) it wasn't going to really fit/work with the navigation buttons in place.

 

So I'm actually in the process of putting it on eBay :p

 

The N7 is installed with cables on the side - having removed the inner most fin on the AC vent to accommodate the size. I had to use right-angle USB and audio cables to minimize the amount it protrudes. In the videos I posted earlier in the thread - I show the areas that needed dremelling to fit the N7 flush against the bezel.

 

Lastly, I just tether my N7 to my iPhone 5 w/LTE. When I get in the car, I open the personal hotspot menu, and when the N7 wakes up it automatically connects.

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The lazy persons N7 install.

 

Parts:

 

Grippy pad

 

http://www.firebox.com/product/5078/Grippy-Pad

 

N7 in a cheapy case off amazon.

 

photo.jpg

 

photo.jpg

Sorry, I didn't realize how bad this one turned out. But I was just showing the difference between the "Desk Clock" and Gmusic.

 

photo.jpg

 

 

If you do this, I would highly recommend wiping the grippy pad off with water before each use. If you have bought a grippy pad you'll understand what I mean. It causes the pad to regain it's stickyness. I just drove 250 miles twice with it attached this way to the cubby lid and didn't have a single problem.

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^ could you provide a 'profile' picture where we can actually see how the N7 holds in place on that grippy pad?

 

Have you tried to do a couple hard pull and see if it moves a bit?

 

Yes, I'll see what I can do for a profile pic when I get home. But it is actually a very tacky pad that it "sticks" to. If you click the link from where I bought it, they actually took an iPhone and mounted it 90 degrees to the ground on a parking lot gate and raised then raised and lowered it.

 

Also, I usually floor it getting on the interstate and it didn't come loose on the 4 off ramps I used. But if you do get one, make sure you wet it down and dry it before putting the tab on it. If you don't, it won't make a good tacky connection.

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I took my bottle of water and balanced it on the top of the nexus just to show that it is stuck on there pretty tight. You actually have to pull it to get it off the pad.

 

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No problem. Before spending like 15 dollars on the grippy pad, wait like a week. I have some cheap knockoffs of the grippy pad coming that I paid like 3 dollars for, and I will report back with the results on whether they are worthwhile. Plus it takes like a week to get the grippy's in from the UK. Which is the only place I have been able to find "grippy" brand. Edited by 1454
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  • 2 weeks later...
Well, I guess I won't be getting those cheapy grip pads. I emailed them yesterday and they said they will resend send them since it's been like 2 and a half weeks since I ordered. I would say just go with the grippy pad since it's a known quantity if you want to follow my poor man's setup.
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