Finally Mounted the iPad in the Syncro

[Dogpilot]

I finally had a moment to myself. With kids graduating, engagements and economic mayhem worldwide, coupled with an epidemic of poor leadership on all fronts. I just haven't had a free moment lately. So I got the van out of hibernation from the Fortress of Solitude, and started with all the little things I wanted to do for the season. First off, I wanted to mount my iPad in the van. Well, its been out for about three months and there still aren't any car mounts that don't look like they belong on the set of ADAM 12, are designed by primates with less than 46 chromosomes, or cost enough to buy another pad (which I could just hot glue to the dash). Well, undaunted I plowed through my junk and decided, I've got nothing.

What I did have is some ABS sheet left over from another project. So with my trusty heat gun I made come bends and found the end tightly wedged between the Dash Pad and the metal frame. I am fabing up a couple of thin shockcord bands to hold down into the ash tray hole and around the corners of the pad and I'm done. Cost; nothing. While the pad will not take a frontal impact at 40 mph, it is safer than a Prius (the most fuel efficient death trap on the road today).

I also made a power supply for the iPad, iPhone, GPS using a 7805 chip a couple of capacitors and a heat sink. Puts out 4 amps @ 5V DC. So I can charge and power a gang of items at the same time, cost $5 for chip, caps a case and a switch. The rest was scrap 12 Volt cord for something or other that died and a USB extension cable that I hacked the end off of.

http://www.scienceprog.com/7805-voltage-regulator-for-your-design/

Needless to say, I am disappointed with the accessory makers. They are not putting much thought into the overpriced POS's they are touting for the pad. The pad itself continues to amaze me. It has become my #1 toiletry, displacing the newspaper for information, but not for wiping. The Air Video app has me considering dumping my cable service altogether. The Weather app done by my ex NOAA buddy Jeff Masters of the Weather Underground (Wundermap) is awesome with real time weather radar on satellite maps. The maps & GPS works extremely well and as of today you can use your 3G iPad as a phone. Skype updated their app today.

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Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[vannygun]

I am ready for my Ipad but the money tree has been hit hard this year by my engine going tits up. Oh well at least the money is still going to the van in an engine swap. I can't wait to see alot of the apps that I have on my Iphone on an Ipad. That much screen must be mind numming!!!!!
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definition-Vanagon, "a ideal breeding ground for gremlins"
2000 jeep Cherokee sport (DD)
1990 vanagon gl 2.2 subaru(sold)
2006 jeep commander

[photogdave]

First useful application of the iPad I've seen yet!
Good mod - that's going to be a handy tool on long trips.
I'm holding out until they put a camera in the iPod touch and then I'll be getting onboard the app-train.
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89 Syncro GL Westfalia 2.1 WBX/WBXaustSS

My Westy Movies:
photogdave On Vimeo
photogdave On YouTube

Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[Cold Steel]

You are officiallly my Idol! I think this is the smartest mod yet. Please keep this post with pros and cons. I like the location for it too. Awesome!
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91 Syncro
I am a samba thread just waiting to happen!
"Advanced Syncroist"

[Vanagon Nut]

I'm a Mac guy. With that said.....

When the iPad was announced I thought: "Meh. iPad. Whatever". More and more lately, I'm seeing just how useful it might be while on the road in my Westy. Now I really need one!

Thanks for posting that Mr. Dogpilot. Especially the PS info/link.

Did you make it as per this diagram?

Neil.
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1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[Jamos]

Excellent work as always, Mr. Dogpilot.

That's a simple, sturdy mount.
The apps and uses that keep evolving for the iPad amaze me.
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'86 Wolfy Westy Weekender
2020 Audi Q5

[carterzest]

Awesome work DP! We just spent 6 days out on the roam with the iPhone rocking movies on Justin.tv....it was so nice to sit in bed and watch a movie but I also was thinking how much better it would be with the iPad. I must say, on this trip, the iPhone GPS was used much, much, much more frequently than the Garmin and I am considering selling the New 2009 Garmin off to help fund the iPad. DAMN YOU!

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Happiness=Portland, Oregon in the rearview mirror!

[Dogpilot]

Well, I do feel the dufus. My power supply worked fine with the iPhone, which I had to put a resistor divider circuit on to make it detect the power supply. So I need to work out what value the iPad needs to detect the power supply. I also noted to use the 7805, but since this was a resurrected item from my Mac Mini project, I forgot I used an NTE 960, which is kind of like the 7805, bit more power in the same circuit. Since I have to make a different sense circuit, I may end up using the LM317K in a TO3 package to make more power. I should have it worked out and I will post an updated circuit type if I can work out the magic resistor values. Maybe one will fall from a drunk Apple Engineer's pocket at the Brewery this weekend. The Aruduino guys had to dissect a power supply to get the iPhone values.

The BlueBridge bluetooth receiver for the audio works just fine if you do not want to have any wires up to the pad. The power supply thing is really not to terribly important, the battery really does last loner than I care to drive. 8-10 hours is very accurate. If worst comes to worst and the values are too difficult to divine, you can always plug the power cube into an inverter, or just get the Kensington Power Bolt, it does work well, for $30.
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Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[Vanagon Nut]

[Dogpilot]

What Apple has done on most of their devices is have a voltage go back through the Data+ line of the USB. This give the device a sense of what is connected to it. As their devices demanded more power, they needed to discriminate what kind of charger was connected and if it could get the current it needed. As their i-watever family evolved, the devices wanted to see a finer signal. This is why some generic USB chargers would not work with their devices. The iPod was pretty indiscriminate, a simple resistor, like 100K would do it. The iPhone required a finer signal like provided by this simple four resistor circuit:
http://ebatterychargers.com/iphone-charger-135.html
or this discussion:
http://www.ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/faq.html

Well this combo does not even interest the iPad. Making a 5V power supply isn't exactly rocket science. If it was, I wouldn't be doing it. Modern single chip voltage regulators are pure magic, easy enough for me, Koko the gorilla, to make one. After a bit of searching, nobody has yet looked into the magic values. So when some enterprising tool using primate decides to sacrifice a power supply to get the numbers by extracting the tiny (I mean really tiny surface mount resistors) and measure their values. I'll give it another whack. Interestingly enough, Google returns to this thread when I search for the answers. Those bots are quick on the draw.

I just wanted to make a 5V circuit that would play charging host the the slew of devices I seem to be acquiring that want to charge off USB, rather than a nest of plug ins to the cigarette lighter. This is a device that is truely inspired for this multihost issue:
http://www.adafruit.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=10&products_id=190
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Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[Vanagon Nut]

[Santana]

Dogpilot you never cease to amaze us all! Nice work my friend!
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PHOTO GALLERY

[The Salt]

Wont it fall off the dash if you floor it? Oh yeah... Never mind. Vanagon forum!
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88 Wolfsburg Edition Weekender

[The Salt]

Anyone make a swivel mount for the iPad like flat screen TV's get? You could mount that to the B piller for night time movies!

http://www.amazon.com/VideoSecu-Swivel-Monitor-Screen-1FA/dp/B000WYOFDM
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88 Wolfsburg Edition Weekender

[Dogpilot]

While I am sure that someday one will be made, at the moment I have not seen one. Most of the accessories you see in the web touted for the pad are more in line with 'what we shall sell someday.'

On the other hand, you could modify an existing one to use with the pad by using the same creative technique that the Monolith taught me. Frankly, I find that you can frequently make or adapt something to do your job better. This is where the ability to buy something to test on bay or Craigslist is cool.

I spent the weekend tearing through my pile-o-crap, looking for the fine shock cord I know I had bought. So, I had to buy some today and when I get back from my trip I will post a pic of how it secures the pad & mount to the dash.
_________________
Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[*Dude*]

that is really cool but it concerns me how distracting that is. i mean this in the most respectful way, but please drive responsibly.
-your friend
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1985 Westfalia 1.9 WBX 2wd

[Dogpilot]

Not to be surly, because your thought is well intentioned and true in so many cases. I can fly at 50' just under the speed of sound talk on the radio, do the navigation and targeting on the computer, deploy weapons and have less than friendly folk shoot at me, albeit it not a a couple of years now, fly back to a carrier and land on it and still live to bs about it. Some of us are better at multitasking than others.

While some may be tempted to watch video content, I really only want it for maps, wx and be a giant iPod that I can actually read safely while driving. There is the use with the Bluetooth OBD transmitter for engine info that could be very useful as well, not on the van, unfortunately. My #1 entertainment while on the road is books on tape. They let me enjoy the story and the ever unfolding scenery around me.
_________________
Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[Cold Steel]

Which one do I need to get? I want the ipad to play music like sirrus or xm or just a radio, google maps or garmin, and those are just the majors. Do you need a provider? How much do those run a month?
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91 Syncro
I am a samba thread just waiting to happen!
"Advanced Syncroist"

[Dogpilot]

If you want to use it in the van and get the most out of it, then the 3g is the way to go. The pad is not locked to any carrier, but AT&T offers the best data deal on it. It is a plan you pay by the month, no contract with two levels, a $15 a month for 250 megs or $30 for unlimited data. You pay on a month to month basis, no long term commitment, so you only need to activate it for the months you plan on being on the road. It works on wifi the other times. The non 3g one has the compass and GPS, but activating them is more problematic. The GPS works without having to activate the data plan and is a stand alone unit internally. The amount of internal storage is a personal thing, but like many computers, you can never have too much storage.
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Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G

[koolmoe]

That is very cool.
However, the 'iPad' type evolution is just beginning and there will eb many copy-cats coming out soon enough. Many find the Andriod phones to be superior to the iPhones, though surely it's just as subjective as it is a matter of bias...

Myself, I'm waiting to see what the competition brings before I go in one direction or another. Without getting into the battle, I miss Flash on my IPod Touch and think I'll miss it moreso on an iPad...so I eagerly await what Google, HP, Samsung, etc will being about in the fall.

All that aside, cool mount. You still have the DVD player above the windshield? Why not use that? Too much a reach for the 'interactive' aspect?
I do fear messing with my GPS in its current center-mount already, but maybe a larger device would actually be better, as I don't have to stare/find the tiny buttons/points on a small screen with a larger iPad-like device.

COOL. Keeping these vehicles current!
KM
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--
Current: 1990 Westy GL (Savannah. Good to be back!)
from '95 til 2008: 1995 Pathfinder (frame rusted out, charitable parts donation)
from '91-'95: 1982 Westy Diesel (Smokey. Traded in for far too little!)
from '87-'91: 1980 VW Rabbit (my econoPorsche - passed on)