Audi Audio

["Nate Stuart" <nathan.stuart@maine.edu>]

I am in the process of installing a PC into the trunk of my '87 5kcstq. Why
you ask?!?

FREE crystal clear music!

How it works:
It's pretty simple actually. Basically its just a barebones PC with a
butchered keyboard and basic control panel. The PC resides in the trunk its
entire life with its keyboard. It is powered by a 300w inverter (switched
on/off by driver) The music is created using MP3 (compressed audio) files
that are easily accesable from the 'net. The controls for the music are
placed in the dash between the ABS switch & the passenger seat heater
controls. The controls are simple momentary on/off buttons hard-wired into
the keyboard so that a button depression will invoke a command within the
mp3 player to Play, pause, stop, next/prev. track, random track, and repeat.

Well thats all good you say, but what if I want different songs, do I have
to pull the thing out and lug it into the house and download them??
NO I say! The Audi PC has a network card installed so that you can easily
transfer mp3's and edit the player playlist files from your home PC. By just
plugging in a network cable that you ran out to your garage :-) you can sit
inside and view the desktop on the Audi as if you were actually sitting
there.

Total cost (for me):$12 for switches and a realy for the inverter.
I had the rest lying around from previous projects.

PC: (about as low as I reccomend)
-Pentium 133mhz
-16mb memory
-850Mb hard drive.
-Sound card
-Network interface card

Software:
Win 98
WinAmp (MP3 player, shareware)
VNC (a program that allows you to view/control the desktop of another PC on
a network/internet, freeware)