Saturday, December 8, 2012

Rebuild Auto Wiper Blades

Goal of the Market

If you want quality beam wiper blades, you'll have to replace them each year or every other year. Manufacturers want you to throw the assembly away when the rubber wears out, few places sell just the rubber. Most actually glue the rubber in so you can't get them out.

Known Rebuildable Makes

At Walmart, the Anco beam blades has the spring steel epoxied to the plastic, but the tips come off and you can slide in new rubber. I was able to trim the steel to fit my car with bolt cutters, since they don't make them short enough to fit. At other retailers, the Bosh Icon blades also can have the rubber removed, except the entire spring steel piece can be removed completely after the tips, rubber, and sheath. If you plan on sliding in your own rubber, you will need to trim off the ridge in the center, as pictured below. A dab of lube (WD40) will help get them in. Just remember to wash with dish soap after.




Replacement Rubber

The replacements from Rock Auto that I ordered where not the right type, but some Trico refill kit from Advance Auto were, pictured below.





Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Tasker: CPU max in Call

Summary

I've been through a few tasker profiles for during calls. This version waits 15 seconds after entering the in call state, and then sets CPU max to 200mhz. It aborts if one of the exit tasks changes the variable while its running. Tasker only runs one task at once, and will interrupt if the priorities are different, so setting the abort profile higher allows it to interrupt. Whenever I change the CPU max, I always put a perm notification up so you can cancel it manually.

Code from backup

Task: Wait, Lower CPU 200mhz (42)
Run Both Together
A1: Variable Set [ Name:%CallTrigger To:1 Do Maths:Off Append:Off ]
A2: Wait [ MS:0 Seconds:15 Minutes:0 Hours:0 Days:0 ]
A3: If [ %CallTrigger ~ 1 ]
A4: Notify [ Title:CPU at 200mhz, click to cancel Text: Icon: Number:0 Permanent:On Priority:3 ]
A5: CPU [ CPU:0 Governor:smartassV2 Min. Frequency:100000 Max. Frequency:200000 ] 

Task: Return CPU to normal (40)
A1: Variable Set [ Name:%CallTrigger To:0 Do Maths:Off Append:Off ]
A2: CPU [ CPU:0 Governor:smartassV2 Min. Frequency:100000 Max. Frequency:1000000 ]
A3: Notify Cancel [ Title:CPU at 200mhz, click to cancel Warn Not Exist:Off ]
A4: Notify Cancel [ Title:CPU at 400mhz, click to cancel Warn Not Exist:Off ] 

Profile: In Call (39)
Priority: 6 CoolDown: 0
State: Call [ Type:Any Number:* ]
Enter: Wait, Lower CPU 200mhz (42)

Profile: Abort Call Event (41)
Priority: 10 CoolDown: 0
Event: Phone Idle
Enter: Return CPU to normal (40)

Profile: Abort Call State (43)
Priority: 10 CoolDown: 0
State: Call [ Type:Any Number:* ]
Exit: Return CPU to normal (40)

Profile: Cancel 200mhz (23)
Event: Notification Click [ Owner Application:Tasker Title:CPU at 200mhz, click to cancel ]
Enter: Return CPU to normal (40)



Sunday, October 21, 2012

Subaru OEM Subwoofer with Aftermarket Head

Goal

Use a cheap OEM used subwoofer which comes out of the last 10 years generations of Suabrus with a aftermarket head unit. These subs perform well and are very easy to come by.

How it works

The OEM sub gets signal from the rear speakers, and power from the power off the back of the radio. You don't have to fool with switching wires or triggers to turn it on, its all automatic. It has its own internal amp as well.

Wiring Diagram

The OEM harness has several colored wires, below is their colors matched up with a Clarion radio. Simply use a knife to strip a tiny part of the harness in the car, and splice the sub harness into it. It worked perfectly on my first try. I had to test the wires on the sub harness for which gray was which, and unfortunately when I figured it out I didn't write it down.




Friday, October 19, 2012

Last of the mohicans, Garmin 855

Goal

An affordable GPS unit for automobiles that contains all the features you need for nav and music listening.  All built-in and no plugging required

State of Market

Almost all affordable units in stores do not contain MP3 player features, I believe because it would cut into sales of aftermarket head units.  You can usually only find the feature through an online order.  I have not tried other brands, as most of the features I require I've so far only seen in Garmin.  Over the years, there are only a few models available that have all the features at any given time.  Also, units with lifetime maps do not have MP3 features.  The one unit that does have both does not have a line out port, making the MP3 player useless.

Required Features

  • Line out/head phone connector
  • Dock connector
  • Muti-point nav with importing via GPX
  • MP3
  • SD card slot

Scenarios

When starting your car, the GPS receives power, and boots up to the main screen.  The MP3 player was playing your playlist when you turned off the car, so it resumes in the background, playing from your SD card with your entire music collection on it.  You can choose a destination and the routing commands pause the music to speak.

If you want to create a custom route, such as for a car club, you can prepare it before hand.  You can do this on the unit itself, or using tools such as Google maps and a converter to GPX.  The unit only holds 10 routes ready, but can have as many GPX files staged for import as needed.

Refurb/New/Used

New and factory refurb units come with one free map update, and it can be updated twice if there happen to be new maps within 90 days of first registering the unit.  Used units do not come with this feature.

Available units

I prefer to buy on Amazon, for shipping and return ease.  If there is any problem with a sub-seller, big brother Amazon has my back and they always come through.  The Nuvi 885 is the only model on Amazon at the time of this writing for under $150, and there is a refurb shipped free for $110.  Previous models that met my requirements were the nuvi 780 and nuvi 360.  I still use them both every week.

Bluetooth

Both my nuvi 360 and nuvi 780 had bugs in their Bluetooth software/firmware, making the feature unusable.  They each were serviced by the factory with no success.

Permanent Mounting in Vehicle

I took the leap and permanently mounted my GPS on my dash.  I drilled a hole for a small bolt, and attached the GARMIN 010-10823-03 Adjustable Suction Cup.  After removing the suction cup, the bolt goes through the existing hole and into the dashboard, secured with a small nut on the inside, wedged inside a supporting plastic rib.  I also added a bolt to restrict the height the arm can droop, better supporting the weight of the GPS.  This works best if you press out the hinge rod and reinstall the arm backwards.






Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Backroad Driving: Maps

Background

One of my passions is enjoying elegant roads with great curves. I've encountered many great places and here are a selection you can enjoy.

Colerain, Ohio - Cruise for the Boobs

Google Maps link to route

PDF Version for high quality printing - Includes pictures of turns and dead end notices.

Notes:
  • A wide variety of tricky roads to be taken at a gentle pace your first time.
  • Road debris are common, cops are not.   
  • Many unsited hilly terain
  • Location of some of the steepest straight line hills, Buffalo Ridge

Notes:



What is Infinite Clarity

What is Infinite Clarity?

An idea, method, or moral should be so finely honed so that as they are more and more closely scrutinized, they get even more clear. A value that can be held so firmly, that the more it is questioned, the more obvious that the holder will not waffle. A passion with enough definition and direction the it only gets more interesting the more you investigate it.



Friday, July 13, 2012

Secondary Public Wifi via DD-WRT

Goal

To have a secondary WiFi network for guests, on a separate radio, in a separate location from the main router.

Hindrances

I have a single CAT5 run to the opposite side of the house, plugged into a media center. Using a switch to run both the AP and the HTPC seems like a waste. I'm also not a pro at static routing, so simple is better.

Hardware needed

All I used was a DD-WRT capable router and couple net cables.

Diagram



Setup

Setting up the separate DHCP server was pretty easy following their wiki article.

Extra Recommendations

After setting it up, it makes sense to ensure the address the new LAN uses to reach the main gateway has heavy QoS to prevent guests from overwhelming LAN requests. If you need services to be reachable from both Wifi APs, such as remote controls on phones, simply create a public port that only the internal addresses can utilize. An example is forwarding port 8080 to my HTPC, but only allowing source addresses from inside my two LANs to utilize it. TCP [source]192.168.1.0/24 8080 [destination]192.168.1.50 Don't forget to turn on AP isolation so guests cannot access one another.

Results

After being in use for many months, I get no complaints from guests, and I find myself utilizing the extra stretch of signal everyday. My Android roams between the two networks as needed depending on where I'm at without noticeable delay.

Verizon Extender

You may have noticed the cellular extender on my network, it extends a 1x digital area around my house for all Verizon devices. It functions as an extension of their network, and when connected to its data service, all access is tunneled to their network before leaving an endpoint. Its great for testing, and using it as a trigger in Tasker to turn on my WiFi has greatly increased my battery life and seamless access for high speed data access on my Android. Its reach of 1x signal covers both my G and N areas, so it always triggers as I drive up the driveway or walk into range from off our property.