Would you mind posting more details on this, such as how you're going about docking the ethernet, where the individual components go, how they get power, what the exact model numbers of the items are, etc.?

Well if you really want me to talk about my empeg (only the most awesome piece of equipment anywhere-ever) then I guess I could give a few details . . .

First off, I don't actually have the empeg installed in the my truck yet. I'm getting all of the components ready. I am planning a slightly stealth install. I have a Ford F-150 Super Cab with the factory Premium Sound System. I have no idea what it really is, but it sounds great to me. But it needs (not necessarily in this order):

1. my empeg
2. wireless gear
3. power supply
4. a sub
5. an Interface to the existing system
6. probably an amp
7. somewhere to mount it (semi-stealth)

So, I set out to gather the needed parts.

1. I got my empeg 18GB Green 80000539. Cracked it open the first day to take a look inside. (btw, nice touch all of those thanks etched into the pcb. Will all of that have to disappear with the sonic blue deal?) I bought an extra sled, which I built into a nice box with a plexiglass(sp?) top so I can see the blue network led glow and all of the wires and stuff. I grabbed the switching power supply out of an old external scsi box. I used tin-snips and a chunk of sheet metal to cut a bracket to hold the ethernet plug (with catch removed) in the proper position. I'll have to snap some photos and post them.

2. Now, you can get an access point like an Airport and put it on the empeg, but then you can only access the empeg from wireless stations. I wanted to have the empeg be a client on the wireless network, and have the access point act as a bridge between my existing wired network and the wireless clients. I have been looking all over, and the only 10BaseT to wireless converter I can find is the ORiNOCO Ethernet Converter. It requires a wireless PC card (Gold or Silver). Then, of course, the Access Point. I chose the RG-1000, but they have other smarter ones. This also looks interesting.

I actually purchased them from Microwarehouse.com. I got the RG-1000 Startup Kit than includes a silver PC card and the ORiNOCO EC. I got the one without the serial port, because I figure that if i'm going to do any real hacking I'll just pull the empeg and plug it into the nice box I built, or just open it up on the test bench.

I have the RG attached to a small four port hub in my office, with a regular patch cable (the same cable I usually plug directly into the empeg). I have the empeg connected to the EC with a regular patch cable. The EC takes a +5VDC @ 1Amp. Now THAT is EASY. A plain old 7805 with heat sink can easily regulate 12V car power down to 5V at 1Amp. So I just built a quick Cigarette-Lighter adapter that gives me 12V for the empeg and 5V for the EC so I can run some tests before mounting the while mess in the Truck for real. With the empeg and EC laying on the floorboard and the power rig described above, I can see the empeg from any workstation on my wired network. I thought I might need this antenna, but it looks like I don't.

All of the product information and setup has lots of DHCP options and references. So DHCP should work, but not for me (I think I just didn't get the right combination). I gave up the fight way too easily because I don't mind assigning static IPs to everything, and I have other things to get ready.

3. Since I plan to leave the empeg in the car most of the time (see #7), I may just have a little problem with the battery in the morning. So it would be nice to have that "low power sleep and wakeup on lan activity" option I've heard kicked around here a little. In any case, I am building a power module that supplies the empeg and any amps, etc. from the main power system while the key is on and charges a secondary battery. When the key is off the module only supplies the empeg and the EC module from the secondary battery. Just simple relays except for the charging circuit. I just hate exploding batteries. Anyway, this way even if the empeg does completely discharge the battery, I can still start my truck. Just thought of this: maybe I can use the secondary battery in a pinch if the main battery goes dead? I'll have to think about that. . . feature creep . . .

4. I found this prospect for a sub at Crutchfield. It mounts under the larger rear fold down seat. You can't tell from the outside that there is anything under there. I like the one with the amp built right in.

This reminds me, I read that someone was using the empeg front RCA's to drive their main amps and speakers, using the rear outs to drive a sub, and using the 4 way eq settings instead of a crossover. Is this a good idea or not? It strikes me as an interesting way to use the parametric eq.

5. I think that the existing system has a seperate amp and head unit, but I think that the amp is some special kind of thing designed to live symbiotically with the head unit. I want to run the existing head unit into the aux in of the empeg. So I'll probably have to handle the speaker drive from the factory amp. Here is a gizmo to do just that. Anyone ever used one of these? Any good? I can just build one with an 8ohm 50watt load and a op-amp to drive a line out signal. For that matter I could probably just get away with a cute little passive voltage divider behind the 8 ohm load. Anyway, head unit to empeg. Empeg to amps. Amps to Speakers. I'm going to keep the factory speakers and just add the sub.

6. If I totally luck out, the connection from the factory head to the amp might be line level. If this is the case, I'll just insert the empge inbetween the head and the amp. Otherwise, I'm open for amp suggestions. I thought this one might be nice.

7. I figure that no thief in his or her (how pc) right mind would break in to steal the factory stereo. So I plan to leave it in place. I'm working on a console similar in concept to this. Just hold on, I'm not going to mount it vertical, but I don't think I'll be able to mount it completely horizontal. I figure the angle will have to be around 20-30 degrees. And I'm not going to put a sub in the console, just the empeg and the Wireless EC. Anyway, I want to have a lid or cover that completely hides the fact that there is anything there at all other than a plane old console.



Well, I have a nice digital camera, so I'll take some pics as the project progresses and post them here. So far I have about 10 gigs of music on my empeg, and I drag it back and forth to work each day. At home it docks in the base I built, at work it just sits on top of my monitor (bad place, I know) with the RCAs connected to my SoundBlaster line in and the wireless rig. Now I'm really working on that console and power supply. Work is going to be slow the next couple of months, my February and March schedules are maxed out. Funny that something in life could actually take prescedence over the empeg.


Cheers,

Steve Bates
18GB Blue 80000539