One Man's Junk Is Another Man's Treasure

By: Richard Vedvik, Keep_Hope_Alive, SoundDomain Mod

How cool is this? I was surfing eBay the other day when I stumbled on an Alpine DVA-7996 and won the auction for $56. The guy lives in my town, so I even saved on shipping. The owner says there is almost no signal on the preouts, only a very small amount at max volume. The unit came into a local shop, and the previous owner just bought a new HU. The shop owner didn't want to hassle with it (they don't sell Alpine), so he was going to throw it away. An employee decided to try out eBay to make some money on the deal. This guy knew that it was an expensive piece in its day but had very little experience with Alpine gear.

After the jump is a narrative of my findings, my thoughts, and how I will approach this repair. You never know what you're getting on eBay, so this may turn out to be a larger project than I initially anticipated. But with such a little investment, I can't go wrong.

Convert an LCD Screen to a Touchscreen!

JKK Mobile is UMPC junkie (Ultra Mobile PC), and he has a decent collection of the gadgets and occasionally tinkers with them to see what their made of. While checking out his site I found a great post on how to convert a laptop LCD into a touchscreen. If you're into the CarPC hobby, or just like tinkering with electronics, this could be a great mod for you. It seems pretty easy, and kits for the conversion are pretty readily available and inexpensive (the kit in this post cost about $70).

Check out this post for a photo step -by-step.

Check out this post for a video how-to.

in the forums!

How To: Motorcycle Alarm Install

To some, motorcycles are just really expensive toys; to others they're a main mode of transportation and a cherished pride and joy. Whatever it is to you, it's probably a good idea to make sure it's protected. Motorcycle theft rates increased over 135% in the last five years, but the saddest part is that only around 30% of the thefts are recovered. In 2005, approximately 70,600 motorcycles were stolen in the US.* Hopefully one of those was not yours.

However, all is not lost. Did you know you can actually install an alarm system on your motorcycle that offers similar protection to that of a car alarm? Shock sensors, tilt sensors, siren, starter kill - all of these things can help prevent the theft of your bike. It may also help reduce your insurance rate.

So what's involved and how difficult is it? The guys from the Snake Pit hooked us up with a tutorial on how to install an alarm on your bike. Follow the jump to check out the details and pics. 

*Source: WebBikeWorld.com

Go To 2 Channel Bridged vs. 4 Channel With the Flip of a Switch!

By: Richard Vedvik (keep_hope_alive)

Many people on SoundDomain are told to eliminate their rear speakers. It seems like a foreign concept, and many people are very reluctant to give it a try. Why would you do this? Because in the real world, like at a concert, the audio mainly comes from in front. I was constantly playing with my fader to find a good place, but after a while I just kept the fader all the way to the front.

My next question was regarding volume. Is it louder to run all four speakers at 50W each or bridged at 200W to the front only? So I decided to use some standard Bosch 5-pin relays to give myself the ability to switch between bridged to the front versus the four channels front and rear. For safety I would power the system down between switching (so the amplifier couldn't be harmed from any switching transients). (I recommend using ignition voltage for the control so the coils aren't left on and end up draining your battery.)

My end product was a relay board that's easily wired between a four channel amp and four speakers. One switch located at the dash allows for quick and easy comparisons. Try it for yourself and see what you think is better - bridged to the front only or front and rear.

Follow the jump for details on how to do this for yourself and the results of what I found after trying out my new toy.

How Not To Wire Your Speakers

The guys over at Elemental Designs hooked us up with a video explaining (as the title suggests) "How Not To Wire Your Speakers". Wiring subwoofers is probably the number one topic to be repeated in the SoundDomain forums, both as a how-to topic and a troubleshooting topic. So to help clarify matters, the eD guys put together this short video.

For even more videos like the one above, hop over to ICIXSound.

in the forums!