Hardwiring and Mounting Again - New RA + Laptop

[FactionOne]

Hey folks,

I've done some searching around regarding hardwiring a Road Angel, and I think I've got that one figured (although it would be nice if someone could confirm which live at the back of the fusebox-panel is to be tapped into on an A3).
I'm going for the pretty obvious location (shown in the pic.), so I guess cable-routing shouldn't be a problem. Has anyone ever noticed any problems with mounting the unit here? (Physical mounting issues, cabling, or perhaps laser detection performance?).

Also, I want to cut the plug off the cigar-lighter transformer I have for my laptop, and hardwire that too (because as we all know the sockets on Audis are spectacularly poor and the plug on this transformer is on a par).
At the moment I have an audio cable popping through the foam at the base of the glove-box/shelf in the passenger footwell, which I use to feed music, DVD and Sat-Nav audio through to my system. I was thinking I could velcro the transformer box to the underside of the shelf (making it easy to change voltage regulators etc. for different laptops), and route the cable the same way into the dash as the audio. The only problem with this is that the run between transformer and cigar-plug is quite short, but I suppose I could extend that a bit.

Is there a good place over that side of the dash to tap into a 12V which can handle the additional drain of a laptop? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

The one major thing I would like to do if I'm going to hardwire power for the laptop is figure some way of mounting it so it's safe to glance at the screen for nav-display without the aid of someone in the passenger seat. I think that's going to be the tricky part; I did a bit of looking around on the net and found some systems that attach to the floor using the seat-bolts but these all look a bit too 'permanent' for my liking. I was wondering if any of the bods on here had ever tackled the problem in the past? I'm currently wondering about the possibility of having something fabricated to hang from the open-glovebox, but getting a big enough drop to clear the airbag is a hindrance.

Is there any of that Audi-Sport technical-genius (or immaculate-bodging) that could give spark to a crazy solution to the mounting riddle?

Thanks and regards,

Rob.

 

[Dean_T]

just a word of advice be careful about getting a Road Angel 2 as they included detectors - which are rumoured to be (or have been???) banned by a new law

i think the detector is actually built into the newer unit whereas the old one it was detachable?

 

[DavidR]

I fitted a RA last week. Running the cable is straightforward to the fusebox.

Get the manual out and look for the reversing lights fuse, at the back the wire is green / grey (I think) and it is one of the few live feeds that are switched with the ignition.

If you do not want a switched live, there are 3 or 4 30amp wires with bolts on the relay board suitable for a loop clamp to go over.

 

[FactionOne]

I must confess I did give that a bit of worrying for a while, but apparently they're still 100% legal to use in the UK.

If they do make it illegal at some point, the laser-alert is switchable - perhaps that would be left discretionary by the legislation, or maybe Blackspot Interactive could release a Firmware patch to force-disable it (if it's already switchable it would take about 30 seconds to code) - so I figured that at least evens the odds on my buying an expensive and soon-to-be-outlawed box of tricks.

Plus I got it at a steal through staff-discount at work (£320) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Regards,

Rob.

 

[FactionOne]

[ QUOTE ]
David R said:
I fitted a RA last week. Running the cable is straightforward to the fusebox.

Get the manual out and look for the reversing lights fuse, at the back the wire is green / grey (I think) and it is one of the few live feeds that are switched with the ignition.

If you do not want a switched live, there are 3 or 4 30amp wires with bolts on the relay board suitable for a loop clamp to go over.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for that confirmation /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif

There's a good chance I'm going to brave the rain and turn the garage upside-down for some crimps now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Regards,

Rob.

 

[GregC]

It depends how much of an issue cash is but I would recommend looking at sticking the processing etc in the boot where space is not such an issue and using a touchscreen in the frint where space is at a premium.

Brackets etc for the a laptop in the front are likely to get very messy. You can also get 12V from the back of the car fairly asily with much more room to work in.

Greg

 

[AndyMac]

I just spliced into the switched live going to the HU and used that to power the RA2 and laser diffuser fitted to the front of the car. This can also be picked up on the fusebox. It is a Red wire with white stripe and detailed as Radio (S-Kont) on the fusebox (fuse 10 or 30 IIRC)

 

[IanL-RS3]

There's a member MarkB that has a laptop touch screen set up. i don't know much about it. Just remember him saying he had this in repying to my question on mp3 of DVD's.
Good luck