Ben's Audio/Video Upgrades
Quote:
Originally Posted by MangoMike
What's your ultimate hookup plan, as your obviously looking to do more than making the remote work from the bedroom.
What's my ultimate hookup plan? Well...
1) I want to replace my old B/W backup camera with a newer one and am thinking of installing one of those GPS/Backup camera combo units (the glare on the CRT when the sun comes in the window makes the screen almost useless at times and I wouldn't mind being able to see a little further behind me). If I can find one of those that offers both aux inputs and an iPod adaptor, then I could use it as my primary audio system.
http://i11.ebayimg.com/04/i/06/c3/6c/8e_1_sbl.JPG
I'd also want to run the sources to the rear so the audio can be synced throughout the bus. I mainly want to do this so that I can still hear the directions from the GPS while I listen to music (my stand-alone GPS doesn't work well this way). I'd also like one that has bluetooth, so it will mute the tunes when my cell rings and will display who is calling and I can use the speakers in the bus as a hands-free kit. Then I could hook that unit up to a few amps to run the 8 speakers that are currently in the front of the coach and add a subwoofer for better base.
For the ultimate GPS setup, check out:
http://www.churchillnavigation.com/at1.html
It only has 1 terabyte of data and costs up to $7000. I'll have to talk them into a sponsorship! :D
2) Replacing the rear car stereo with one that has an aux input (to get the sources from the front of the bus) and adding amps that can handle all six speakers that are in the bedroom (right now, two of them are wired directly to the tv just like in the front of the bus). I might also add a subwoofer in the rear if I can find space for it
3) I want to replace my living room TV with a larger unit that will deliver a better looking image when it's hooked to a computer (more about that in a minute), or when hooked to a high-def source. Right now I'm thinking about a 32" LCD. I just wish they were availble in true High-Def (1920x1080 resolution instead of the 1366 x 768 that all the 32 inchers seem to be). Since it's not truely high-def, that means that every signal will need to be scaled up (from standard def TV and 720P HD) or scaled down (from 1080i HD), so the picture quality will be a lot less than what I really want. I haven't been able to find a 32" monitor with a resolution of 1920x1080, which would be true high-def.
Replacing the TV will mean re-doing some of the cabinet work above the drivers seat, which I'm not looking forward to since the current setup looks so clean. Replacing the TV with an LCD will also open up a bunch of space behind the unit where I hope to store all my hard drives (although it might not be the best spot due to heat, but the guys at Liberty said they would modify the AC output to get some cool air into that area if I need to).
4) Possibly replace the rear TV with an LCD. I haven't figured out how to sneak a 32"er in the back... although I could fix a huge one on the wall between the bathroom and bedroom if I wanted to. I could then use a wireless keyboard to browse the web from that room if I really wanted to.
5) Install in-motion dish that can pick up high-def sources. My coach just has a traditional TV antenna (not Sat dish).
6) Install something that will allow me to record two sources at once (TiVo or the like). The newest ones will allow you to record High-def material. I'd also like this unit to include a DVD burner, so I can off load shows without filling up the hard drive and Ideally be able to watch a different program (recorded or live) on the bedroom tv while something else is being played in the living room.
7) Install a system to access my 2+ terabyte music/movie collection. This could be a MacMini that uses the TV's and a remote to access everything and would display album art, etc. Or, I might use a Sonos system, which would allow me to do everything with a remote control, which wouldn't need the TV's to be turned on to change sources. The sonos system wouldn't help to get my digital movie collection going though since it only deals with audio (but I still need to test it to see if the engine causes interferance with the wireless system that it uses).
http://www.sonos.com/graphics/produc...cr100_hero.jpg
That's where the Mac mini might come in. It could serve up all my music and movies and act as a server so I could access all my data from my laptop (I have about 5 terabytes of storage total and would rather not have to manually hook all those drives to my laptop each time I need to access a few files).
8) Install an outside audio system. I have some very small, but great sounding speakers that would fit nicely in a bay and could use the Sonos system to get the tunes out there.
9) I'll use VNC to access the MacMini from the laptop. VNC allows the output of my MacMini to show up in a window on my laptop where I can control it using the keyboard and trakpad of my laptop. That way I don't have to always have one of the TV's on to see the MacMini's output.
10) Install a EVDO router, which will allow me to use my EVDO card to get internet access wirelessly from all of my computers.
I think that covers the first stage of my audio/video upgrade :D