Honda Car Forum

Randolph coughed up:
> Roadie Roger wrote:
>
>> The cost per bit for satellite is pretty high for download on demand.
>> Satellite phone calls are very expensive and those companies are
>> losing money hand over fist. Telephone is only 3 Khz bandwidth and
>> speech vocoding reduces that even further. Music is 20KHz bandwidth
>> and won't compress like talk. Music has to push a lot of bits.
>
> Music compresses beautifully. Bitrate from a CD is about 1.4 mega bit
> / sec. With psyco-acoustic coding you can get much lower data rates. I
> routinely listen to MP3 files compressed to 128 kilo bit / sec, a
> factor of 11. Even at 96 kbit / sec I have no complaints about the
> sound quality. The MP3 standard is old, more recent algorithms claim
> even lower bit rates for same sound quality. But you are right, even
> compressed, music still takes about 5 - 10 x the bitrate of voice (if
> memory serves me, the full-rate vocoder for GSM cell phones used about
> 22 k bit / sec, the more recent half-rate is 11 k bit / sec).
>
> I do agree that streaming music on demand via satellite probably won't
> be viable. An Audio-Tivo might be a better solution. You could have a
> system where you enter your playlist on your computer at home, and
> then over the next few days items on the list would be broadcast to
> any user who has requested it, then stored in your car stereo. Or you
> could have a service on top of XM or Sirius where you push a button
> on the stereo any time you like a song, and it would be stored
> locally and you would be charged for it.
>
> Still, I want to buy hardware, not pay for services. I'd be perfectly
> happy with an MP3 player that I could load up at home and then stick
> in the car.
>
>>
>> I think greed will kill it. At $50 a year everybody would want it.
>> At $20 a month few people would want it. Apple is charging a buck a
>> track for iTunes. They could make a lot more money selling for 10
>> cents a tune, but every one is too greedy.
>
> At a buck a tune, Apple is barely breaking even. They make their money
> on the iPod. The license holders certainly are greedy. Paying $15 -
> $20 for a CD with one or two good songs is a rip-off. The music
> industry is complaining about lower revenue. I'd say the good times
> are over, now they need to earn their money.


I think that artists /ought/ to be poor. I sooo had hopes for P2P until
the RIAA started filing lawsuits. I know that they cannot subpoena for
names based upon IP anylonger. But they still filed 1500 suits since this
january, and they call them "john doe" suits against the holders of a
particular IP. Beats me how the heck they're doing it.



--
"It's easier to be terrified by an enemy you admire."
-Thufir Hawat, Mentat and Master of Assassins to House Atreides

Randolph wrote:
> Still, I want to buy hardware, not pay for services. I'd be perfectly
> happy with an MP3 player that I could load up at home and then stick in
> the car.

ive got a 10 disc blaupunkt system. no big deal for me to go through my
20+ gigs of mp3s and make 10 new compilation discs a couple times a year.

they do make an ipod cradle adapter for the blaupunkt systems that plugs
into the CD changer port. dock the ipod, it charges, and you use the
stereo controls to navigate through the songs.

Thomas G. Marshall wrote:
> I think that artists /ought/ to be poor. I sooo had hopes for P2P until
> the RIAA started filing lawsuits. I know that they cannot subpoena for
> names based upon IP anylonger. But they still filed 1500 suits since this
> january, and they call them "john doe" suits against the holders of a
> particular IP. Beats me how the heck they're doing it.

i use a program called "grabit" that retrieves mp3s from newsgroups. ive
downloaded a lot of stuff i never thought of searching for. if you can
set up a newsreader, you can set up grabit.

In rec.autos.makers.honda Roadie Roger <roadierogerbugsplat@earthlink.net> wrote:
> I filled up about half my 40Gb iPod with my entire 500 CD collection.
> It fits in a shirt pocket. When are car manufacturers going to
> integrate MP3 players, or at least an interface, into their cars.
> Consumers are standing by!

I added a simple audio adapter to my Honda. The widget plugs into the 14
pin port used for an external CD cahnger. Now "CD Changer Disc 1, track
1" is an external mp3 player. PIE HON98-AUX Auxiliary Input Converter
<http://www.logjamelectronics.com/piehon98aux.html> $49.95

For iPod, there are more expensive gadgets that interface control, but I
just wanted the audio.
http://www.logjamelectronics.com/ipodproducts.html

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5

"Graham W" <graham@his.com.puter.INVALID> wrote in message
news:41abdb67$0$50910$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader01.plus.net...
> Thomas G. Marshall wrote:
> [...]
>> I think part of my problem here is that I don't have a solid
>> understanding of what the difference is between impedance and
>> resistance. I'll have to study this up more. 20+ years ago in
>> college, the extent of my electrical experience was EE.
>
> Forget taxing your grey-matter with impedance! For this
> purpose of dealing with 12V electrics, resistance is King!
>
With a caveat - things like motors and light bulbs don't obey nicely. Motors
are an exception because they really are AC inside, one way or another.
Usually it is commutators that make AC out of the DC, and the winding
inductance is what limits the current. Light bulbs are positive temperature
coefficient, and draw less current when lit than you would calculate from an
ohmmeter reading.

Mike

On Sun, 28 Nov 2004 20:45:04 GMT, "Thomas G. Marshall"
<tgm2tothe10thpower@replacetextwithnumber.hotmail. com> wrote:

>
>1999 / Honda CR-V
>
>At the top of the fuse block inside the car there are a bunch of options
>connectors.
>
>Some of you have seen my prior postings concerning turning the cig. lighter
>to "always on".
>
>The question is this:
>
>I know which of these is powered by the battery, always on.

If you find a wire or connection that is always on be careful that
there is not a fuse or relay contact ahead of it. A fuse or relay
contact will Ohm out at 0 Ohms.
>
>But for ground: If I discover one of these options connectors to be 0 Ohms
>resistance (impedance?) from it to the chassis, can I assume that there is
>nothing else "on it" and that it is OK to use as the ground for the cig.
>lighter?
>
>I want to avoid an ugly wire going to a chassis bolt.

I looked at my '01 Honda and looked for a ground point. There were 4
black wires on the screw. I suggest you buy a small package of black
wire at Radio Shack, or wherever, install a crimp connector on the end
of the wire so now you have 5 wires at the ground point and it looks
factory.

>
>Is it possible that there is some signal ground that is different that
>chassis ground that will hurt something else on its circuit once the cig.
>lighter is used?

No! But do make sure the loads are wired in parallel.

When I am designing the Electrical Facilities for a building with GFI
Breakers, I worry about multiground paths but on a car, I wouldn't
worry about it.

Wire size, use #16 or #18, lower number is larger.

Modern cars are full of Integrated Circuits, Computers,etc. so be
carefull. Replacing one could cost big bucks.


If you are going to do a good job, use crimp connectors at the end of
the wire. never twist two wires together and never twist a wire around
a screw.

"Thomas G. Marshall" <tgm2tothe10thpower@replacetextwithnumber.hotmail. com>
wrote in message news:%1vqd.2662$%R1.1265@trndny03...
>
> What I find confusing about these answers of your's and Clarence's is that
> the options connectors are designed for additional equipment to be
> attached.
> At the far left there is a 3 blade connector socket on the options
> connector
> block, which seems to have the center be power and the other two are
> ground.
> Presumably for something known device that needs both power and ground.
> Perhaps one of the blades is ignition, to complete the triad: [always
> on]power, ignition, ground.
>
> The other problem I have is how can that ground connection actually be
> something like the rear window defroster. Wouldn't I be measuring the
> ohms
> as /resistance/ and isn't a heating coil like that designed around the
> heat
> produced by resistance, as in a toaster? I guess I'm not sure I
> understand
> how that would be 0.
>
> But I trust you all----it's the point of me asking the question in the
> first
> place. I'd like to know what that 3 blade connector thing is for if not
> to
> supply a usage ground (with power) to something. It looks like a
> dedicated
> thing.

Sometimes circuits "rest at ground" and "go hot" when activated.

Randolph coughed up:

....[rip]...



> Are you relocating the power outlet, and is that the reason you can't
> use the existing ground for it?


Just a quick question about this question of yours.

Even if I do manage to open up this @#$%ing dashboard and reuse the in-dash
cig. lighter, didn't we decide that using the ground wire to it was a bad
idea?

Isn't it possible that because there is something else on that circuit, that
there might be something that just doesn't like having current flow through
it with the ignition off (for example, when my charger is plugged in
overnight).




--
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Kentucky,TheplacewhereIwasbornandraised.Forsixlong yearsI'vebeenin
trouble,NopleasureshereonearthIfound.Forinthisworl dI'mboundtoramble,
Ihavenofriendstohelpmenow....Maybeyourfriendsthink I'mjustastrangerMyface,
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"Thomas G. Marshall" wrote:
>
> Randolph coughed up:
>
> ...[rip]...
>
> > Are you relocating the power outlet, and is that the reason you can't
> > use the existing ground for it?
>
> Just a quick question about this question of yours.
>
> Even if I do manage to open up this @#$%ing dashboard and reuse the in-dash
> cig. lighter, didn't we decide that using the ground wire to it was a bad
> idea?
>
> Isn't it possible that because there is something else on that circuit, that
> there might be something that just doesn't like having current flow through
> it with the ignition off (for example, when my charger is plugged in
> overnight).

Not a problem, the lighter socket ground is a confirmed ground. Current
in this ground lead will not flow *through* anything else in the
circuit. If you are pulling high currents from the lighter socket, there
will be some voltage drop along the ground lead. Other devices using the
same ground wire will have their ground potential elevated ever so
slightly, but this is of no consequence. Also, the wiring to the lighter
socket is designed to handle large currents. Odds are the ground lead to
the lighter socket is shared only with the ash tray light.