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One for the in-car electrical techy's


Kev Baldwin

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Got a mate who wants us a to fit a MUD dash to his truck. One of the things he wants is a hard mounted USB output, maybe two, on the console for powering his iPod and Blackberry on the move. The easiest and most common method would to be use an USB adaptor that plugs into the standard 12v socket. He already has this set up and this is what he wants to improve upon.

So the question is, is this worth the hassle and if it's possible, how do we go about it? Any useful links would be greatfully received and please go easy on the PC-speak. Just the phrase 'USB' makes my eyes glaze over!

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Hi Kev,

I don't proclaim to be an expert, but here is my 2p worth.

There are plenty of din/cig light adaptors on the market, what I would do is to find the cheapest one of those and break it open, take whatever internal gubbins sort the voltage out and then hard wire that to the vehicle somewhere out of site (IE behind the Mud Dash. From there, if its just for charging I would get a 2 or 4 way USB hub, plug that into the hardwired one and mount as and where necessary.

Something like this for behind the dash Din to USB

And for the dash USB Hub

Hope it helps.

Ben

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I'd use a pair of these (to double up the 2A output to 4A) 7805

And something like this: Rear desktop USB panel

And just wire up accordingly. The 7805 voltage reg will need a heatsink of some kind - I'd suggest bolting both to something metal on the dash. Don't forget a mica washer between the regs and whatever you bolt them to!

In fact, I did exactly this on my 90 a few years ago - since sold so no photos!

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