Matski

I have been in the ACT for a few months now and I must admit I have not found a computer store I’m happy with. Computer Fairs are very popular here and probably the reason its hard to find a real computer store. Most Sat and Sun you will find a fair on somewhere (check local media). In Melbs or WA its not uncommon to find stores where you purchase through the front counter, then collect your goods from some massive where house out the back. Something I am yet to find in Canberra (help wanted). HT in Fyshwick carries a range of stuff in stock. It’s pretty basic and pricy. Harvey Norman and Domain have big computer / technology sections. Stay away from HiMicro in Fyshwick tho. They have all but one blank CD in stock (let alone pc parts) and will charge you for the privilege of listening to them dribble rubbish. My number 1 for PC stuff nowadays is EBay. If you do your research (like any good purchase) you can make some real savings. To be honest I very rarely use anything else. I try to choose Sydney based vendors for expensive (warranty) type stuff and international for everything else. I could go on for hours about the savings. Time and time again I have browsed the retail stores, playing them off against each other for a lower price. Then I check eBay and find the same item $50 cheaper - delivered to your door.

I can really vouch for the guys at Discount Tyre Service in Belconnen. I had my roadworthy done there a couple o weeks ago (White R33). It failed first time due to turbo timer, faulty reverse sensor & boost controller (hey i didn’t know lol). My shifts at work stuffed me round and I rocked up the second time on the last day of the 2 weeks I had to fix it. The guys raced down & purchased a new reverse sensor, fitted it and completed the compliance that arvo. They did the work with smiles & I know I'll be back for new tyres when the time arrises.

If your stuck wif any mate I missed the initial post and would take one off your hands. Anyone who ordered one and would like to change their mind (maybe you found eMule lol) I'll cover that too.

Yes, that’s right. Announced today there are a number of concessions to the 'Ban' all of which attract a $25 fee. I’m unsure of the details of the concessions, attempting to find out more. This was announced on 10 News tonight.

This is a joke. This legislation was ONLY introduced so as the government could charge P platers, who drive high performance cars, a $25 admin fee. Another TAX in the name of safety. Even motoring groups agree its a Joke. Again safety is used as an excuse to TAX motorists. So yes you can drive your performance car you just need to pay an extra $25 a year. Interestingly enough the legislation was based on data which shows young drivers have a higher rate of crashes than those of middle age. BUT the elderly represent similar figures. Where’s the TAX for them? Nothing is being done in the case of the elderly because they are yet to find a way of taxing them gracefully. To finish I wonder if this TAX will go towards road safety or road trauma funds? I think not.

Congratz on your new R32 and welcome to SAU. You'll find loads of info on your new weapon in the forums so here's to sweet mods and happy rides. Enjoy

Ouch!

I was thinking of developing in .NET only because of cross platform (Win XP and Pocket PC 2003) portability. Either way we will need to access the bluetooth stack so its really what languages we are comfortable with. On the hardware side. The bluetooth radio chip will need a micro controller to interface with the real world. I think a PICmicro would be most suited to the application. I already have the development boards and lots of assembler code from previous projects. Ehh assembler I hear you say.. LOL.. Have some C (ANSI) also. Relay and Analogue I/O would connect to the PICmicro then the PIC would communicate via serial to the bluetooth chip. Once I get the bluetooth chip I'll post all the data. That’s my thoughts so far. Its great to see pplz interested in developing this further so I'll hand it over for your thoughts.

LOL.. I'd go that :uh-huh: Unlike my R33 SII which has some rather nice wallaby sized, ill get cosy with your intercooler, spots!

WOW.. sounds like a little social engineering in action. Its been said many times you should report this. For a number of reasons. a) You may not be the only one who has been targeted. The police may have information from other cases and yours will assist in completing the puzzel. B) It may assist if you are to make an insurance claim on your house or cars. Particularly if there is violence involved. The first thing I did when I purchased my R33 was a government approved / insurance recognised immobiliser and alarm. It also reduced my premium, which in two years would have paid for itself. The SMS notification is in the making as is Bluetooth control. Until then I have a wireless LAN camera watching over it. PC software allows you to draw a box around an area in the picture which when pixels change a sound is played and recording starts. I have that PC turned up real loud at night. Good luck with this one mate. Its $hit no one needs but it does make you think about security.

Just ordered the BR-SC11A from Blue Radios. This quick toturial will show you how easy it is to get the chip working. I currently use my IMATE Phone / PDA for GPS navigation and playing videos in my car (hooked up to an AUX input on my stereo). With the bluetooth module above I could make a simple app in .NET and control my car via my phone / pda's Bluetooth. A PC version would also be in the making. Once the chip arrives from the states I'll begin development. If all works out well I'll have a run of PCB's made and put up a post for group buys. It will operate much like the SMS controller with a number of relay inputs & outputs. These would be controlled via a Windows (XP and Pocket PC version) application. This would work well with the Navman PDA / GPS you can buy for under $500. The Blue Radio's chip can also stream audio so it would make sense to put AUX outputs on the board also. If we have any programmers / electronics wiz's who would like to develop this further it would be great to work with you? My email: [email protected] Remove the caps. Down with the SPAM bots! M@

I'm up for the cruzin. Have to work that night and start at 22:45 so I'll be out for as long as I can.

Now that’s an idea that should be developed further! I’m thinking Wi-Fi and a small PC, maybe running Linux or Windows Media Center (yet to test the boot up speeds?). When you drive within range of your home you get all your movies etc sync'd to your car. As we have climate control why not incorporate that into an application and remove the climate control head unit in the dash. More room for a 15" flat screen I say! 3M make resistive touch screen ad-on's which would fit the part really well. Watch movies, control your car (lights climate etc) & get engine stats from a 15" dash mount LCD. Now that would look sic and probably win a few awards at car shows to.

LOL.. A variation on that could be pepper spray although im guessing if you were to face court over something like that you will almost certainly end up screwed. The idea would be to hit the cab with a very short burst of spray once: a) the alarm sounds for more than 10 sec. B) a little switch behind your stereo, boost controller or any other item of value is triggered. So if the stereo was tampered with (and the alarm on) a short burst of freshly ground seasoning would incapacitate the offender causing them to be unable to see and thus unable to continue removing your $hit. I would be working on interlocks & a sealed box for the spray cos a 'misfire' might be rather nasty .. LOL :boinkcar: On more practical ideas heated seats would be a nice option. Im thinking about having the skyline re-trimmed in black Oz leather. If that comes about I'll be installing some heaters to. An SMS a few minutes before I enter the car in the morning would ensure warm seats every time. Again an interlock would turn them off if; after 10 minutes the car was not started. Go the 555 timer!

The controller will only activate the appropriate relay when it receives an SMS which matches, exactly, the text you programmed in. So if someone had your number they would also need to know what to put in the SMS text. To further security you may include a pin in the text eg. '2366 Start Engine' Unless that exact text was received it would not activate.

The kit was developed by Silicon Chip Magazine and is sold through Jaycar The following links will help you understand its operations: SMS Controller - Part 1 SMS Controller - Part 2 SMS Controller - Add On's Note: As silicone chip requires membership for full access the links above are a little vague. The full instructions, supplied with the kit, are much easier to understand. In short the kit has a number of relay inputs which, when shorted to ground, make the micro send an SMS via a compatible nokia phone. You use the phone to program the micro so its easy to customise the messages. Going the other direction the phone receives an SMS and passes it on to the micro which reads the SMS text and validates it. If the text matches what you programmed in it shorts the appropriate output relay to ground. Check the picture at the bottom of SMS Controller - Add On's page for details on the I/O. Along with the SMS kit you need: - A compatible nokia phone (3210, 3310, 5110, and 6110) - A nokia data cable - SIM card The phones listed are available in almost every pawn brokers, local paper or from phone shops. I would expect to pay around $20 for a 3210 or 3310. The data cable can be purchased from nokia or you may build it yourself with a few components and vero-board, its rather simple. I would use a pre-paid SIM card for this they last about a year and if your only sending on alarm activation the SMS's will be minimal. Thinking about how I will wire up the alarm to send an SMS upon activation the cable from the alarm to the siren would be easily located. There is a catch to this though. The siren will sound when you arm / disarm your alarm and you wont want an SMS every time this happens. To overcome this use a 555 Timer IC (about $0.20) and a relay so the alarm must sound for 3 - 8 seconds before it triggers the SMS controller. I am in the process of drawing up a circuit diagram, schematic and parts list for the project. I’ll post them here once they are complete. All together it should cost no more than $100.

If you already have a car alarm or wish to add SMS on the cheep (but extreemly functional) then check the SMS Controller from Jaycar To activate the SMS when the car alarm goes off just connect to your siren wiring. Eze! This kit will also allow you to disarm, arm, open doors, start your car, shut it down if stolen and anything else you can imagine. The kit can send SMS notifications to you and you can send SMS's back to control it. You will need a soldering iron and a real cheep (second hand) nokia phone. Im working on this project at the moment and hope to install it in the next few months. As for starting the car remotely I am thinking a three stage interlock which wont allow the car to start (or shut it down) if: a) The hand brake is off B) Its not in neutral c) It moves before I enter the car and plug in my seatbelt Im keen to hear your thoughts on what should be on my list of things to have available via SMS control? Ejector Seat? Pepper spray? LOL M@

If you already have a car alarm or wish to add SMS on the cheep (but extreemly functional) then check the SMS Controller from Jaycar To activate the SMS just connect to your siren wiring. Eze! This kit will also allow you to disarm, arm, open doors, start your car, shut it down if stolen and anything else you can imagine. You will need a soldering iron and a real cheep (second hand) nokia phone. I currently use it for all the above including monitoring audio in the car remotely. Oh and it makes sence that if you want to start your car remotely you will want to include interlocks which shut it down if a) it moves before you get in B) its in gear c) the hand brake is not on etc. M@

And a parking inspector! :chairshot Well I'm a trainee Billionaire so come see me for your R35 GTR in a couple o years :Pimp2: When I’m not training I work for a commercial broadcaster who has their hands in TV, Radio and Telecoms. I basically manage the operations of their networks in Oz and Tazzie.

Just to follow up my progress: Removed the plugs today and cleaned them with some WD-40. Also cleaned the spring contacts (from coil packs to spark plugs). This solved 100% of my misfires. Just purchased a gaping tool and ready to gap em to 0.8mm. Quick question: The performance shop recommends replacement plugs with 11mm gap standard. GSK Platinum stock code ....-11. Once I replace the plugs should I re-gap the newies to 0.8mm? If so why (performance reasons maybe)? Thanks M@

Spotted: Silver R33 GTR Black R33 GTS-T with black / dark rims parked on Mort st me thinks (looks mad!) Black R33 with black / Red anodised rims. White R33 GTS-T S1 with chrome 18's (great chat) all in Civic Sat night Oh, and white R33 heading down Barry drive towards Belconnen

Hey great post, I have learned a lot. :uh-huh: I have an R33 GTS-T Series 2 and from your posts noted the coils are different from series 1 to 2. Would anyone have the Spitfire part number to suit. I’m yet to pull the coil packs out but I have been experiencing misfires at 4.5k RPM and above. Last night in Canberra it was 0 deg and the misfires were occurring from 4k up to redline. I have noted during the 30 deg days I get 1 only misfire at about 4.7k. Still sounds like the coil packs? Hmm.. will be sure to check the plugs and leads to. I figure if the silicone / glue fixes the problem I'll get new coils. M@

Oh, I assume the museum in Civic? Not the 'National Museum of Erotica - Deaken'...lol Whats up with that? (pardon the pun) Yup, its there in the WhitePages.com.au ... Sorry, little new to Canberra and there are a few museum's.

I'll be finishing up work at 11pm then headdin to the museum. Hopefully I'll catch some of you??? I'll be checkin my email if anyone wants to pass on a mobile number?? [email protected] Just remove the _BLAH_ bit.. Stops the SPAM robots Oh and I sold the $50k HSV and got an $18k Skyline and I think its a better car.. Go figure M@

Took the drive to Eastern Creek for the v8 Supercars (evo's and wrx's too!), sorry I missed the meet. If anyones out this weekend Im keen to catch up.