Fancy-Phone 640A Dashboard Install

[meat popsicle]

So you got’s yerself a mr. fancy-pants phone eh? Does everything ‘cept screw in a lightbulb, with a decent app of course. And if’n you knew you could use it’s GPS with “offline maps” (meaning no cellular service) you might think about using it on your bike eh?

But the thing sure don’t like getting wet, and probably wouldn’t like being shook like a dog for days on end either. And if you put it in a nice tough box, like an Otter, you wouldn’t be able to access its features… dang. But lucky for you the folks at RAM Mounts sell the AquaBox, which is weatherproof and rugged but has a flexible front so you can use the touch-screen. Hmmm…

And RAM Mounts sells a surface-mount that, along with the Medium-Wide model (large enough for the Motorola Droid series), it fits quite snugly on the 640 Adventure’s dashboard. Interested yet? No?!? Well, you’re probably wondering how you’d plug the power-hungry thing into the bike. Luckily for you 3BRPowersports makes a weatherproof USB port just for you. That’s about all I can do for you except give you some install notes:

First, if you have a Droid, Droid 2, or even a Droid X order a RAM Medium-Wide AquaBox with Surface Mount. Sorry I don’t know if’n them fancy iPhones’ll fit (probably). I also ordered the locking knob so the mount wouldn’t loosen or disappear accidental-like.



And order a 3BRPowersports TAPP Lite and a RA-Left micro USB cable with TAPP CAPP from Shov3BR.



Nice kit!!! Shov3BR made this custom one up (nice fella) to connect to one of the free Molex connectors beneath the dash (for the rallye electronics); it's switched, which doesn't matter because the Droid has a battery. Plug n’ Play:



I bet he’d like to sell some to other riders (hint, hint ). So onto the install; take some time test-fitting the box and mount to see where you’d like it and what works with the dashboard. My mount ended up here:



just aft of the forward bolt hole. I drilled the dash, cleaned up the holes and attached the mount to see how she looked:



Then I setup the AquaBox. The place where the hole should be has a “plug” that says “strike to remove”; I smacked the shite out of it and it didn’t budge. So I drilled it out. I needed the entire plug area to fit the right-angle USB cord. And I used some needle-nose pliers to pinch out the wire route spots.



You can put a magnet behind part of the thin foam piece to trigger the phone’s “Car Dock” mode (big buttons are good). Just move a cheap fridge magnet around behind the phone until you see where to put it; if you get the “Desktop Mode” just turn the magnet around (polarity switch). I stuck the foam pieces to each other, but not to the box so I could move the wire to change the length outside the box. Attach the other end of the mount to the box and it is ready to be hooked up to the bike.

Now what about that fancy USB port? Here is where I routed mine:





I thought through the wall of the recess for the bolt was better than straight through the dash; maybe less water sneaking through? 3BRPowersports can leave the Molex connector off so you only need drill a hole for the wire size, and then press the pins into the connector - easy! And there she is:





Now hopefully it all fits behind the fairing…



Yes! But we knew that because we test-fitted it extensively - take your time!



I still need to work on fitting the Droid in the box; it seems a tad loose even with all the foam (but not horrible). And make my offline maps before Saturday. Oh, one more thing: some felt the need to reinforce the dashboard with metal for such mounts. I don’t discount their feelings, and I might put something under there to support the mount, but for now I’ll test her out this weekend on a day-ride!

[SCsurfer]

Nice install Meat . That is the same place I put my RAM mount for my Garmin 60Csx . I used fender washers under the dash for extra support .

[meat popsicle]

Thanks for the tip SCsurfer; the dash is fairly stout but some extra purchase for the mounting bolts would improve things. Hopefully enough. I have such a hard time drilling aluminum accurately that I don't look forward to trying out something like this:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109214

Beautiful work, but never mind the drill press, I think the drilling jigs are beyond me.

[laramie LC4]

boy meat, i had no idea you were so Techno-Savy!

couple questions,

does the phone track you while you move, just like GPS?

how tough is the upload/download process of the maps?

are your horns loud enough?

good work,

laramie

[jonnyw]

As far as I know no cell phone is a true GPS. What you see with your phone is actually trianglation from three cell towers. So it not a "real" GPS. But I am sure that coming down the line in the near future.

[LukasM]

Originally Posted by jonnyw

As far as I know no cell phone is a true GPS. What you see with your phone is actually trianglation from three cell towers. So it not a "real" GPS. But I am sure that coming down the line in the near future.

There are plenty of smartphones with "real" GPS, the iPhone being one of them (Broadcom BCM4750 chipset).

[overlandr]

Originally Posted by meat popsicle

First, if you have a Droid, Droid 2, or even a Droid X order a RAM Medium-Wide AquaBox with Surface Mount. Sorry I don’t know if’n them fancy iPhones’ll fit (probably).

Nice one Meat. Being new to the world of a JBroken Ipod Touch and Tom Tom maps, I found this from your link.

"Note:
Apple iPhone and iPod touch screens are not operable through the RAM Flex Lens while in the Aqua Box."

Nevertheless, there are other ways of allowing touchscreen functionality. 640 vibes might be another issue.

[meat popsicle]

Originally Posted by laramie LC4

boy meat, i had no idea you were so Techno-Savy!

couple questions,

does the phone track you while you move, just like GPS?

how tough is the upload/download process of the maps?

are your horns loud enough?

good work,

laramie

The phone and any service you agree to (like Google) tracks you while you move; probably Big Brother too I'll be using OruxMaps App (link above) to do the offline GPS duties (learning), but there are others.

Did you check out the embedded links above? There is a link to one process for making your own offline maps. Other Apps allow you to store the online maps for future use, such as when you are away from cell service, just by scrolling and zooming around.

The horns are loud enough now that I have Eastern Beaver's horn wiring kit (stock wiring is inadequate even for the stock equipment).

[meat popsicle]

Originally Posted by jonnyw

As far as I know no cell phone is a true GPS. What you see with your phone is actually trianglation from three cell towers. So it not a "real" GPS. But I am sure that coming down the line in the near future.

Originally Posted by LukasM

There are plenty of smartphones with "real" GPS, the iPhone being one of them (Broadcom BCM4750 chipset).

The future is here Jonny! as Lukas stated many smarty-pants phones have a GPS antenna. My Droid allows me to use just the GPS antenna, turning off the "assisted GPS" that comes from cellular triangulation. You can even turn on WiFi assist for location services, but I have not found that necessary.

The GPS has been accurate enough for navigation duties. Google Navigation App is pretty damn good too (voice directions and all).

[meat popsicle]

Originally Posted by overlandr

Nice one Meat. Being new to the world of a JBroken Ipod Touch and Tom Tom maps, I found this from your link.

"Note:
Apple iPhone and iPod touch screens are not operable through the RAM Flex Lens while in the Aqua Box."

Nevertheless, there are other ways of allowing touchscreen functionality. 640 vibes might be another issue.

Strange, the Motorola Droids work through the Flexscreen. Bummer for Apple Fanboyz.

Yes, I am hoping the RAM Mount helps isolate the AquaBox enough to let the foam and Flexscreen dampen the vibes to tolerable levels.

[katumo_jtb]

Cool thread. I did something very similar, except I used an otterbox 1900 with ram mounts on the handlebar clamp. My Nexus 1 touchscreen works through the otterbox membrane. The 1900 is bomb proof, it's a shame they don't make it anymore.

Why did you go with Orux maps? I could never get it to work very well, so I'm using Rmaps. I use Mobile Atlas Creator to build offline maps and love it. It really works well. What are you using?

One other thing I had to do was wire in a buck/boost voltage controller since I'm running my phone directly off of the stator, but that's another story.

[meat popsicle]

I really haven't tested Orux yet, so thanks for the suggestion of Rmaps.

I am testing out Mobile Atlas Creator now too. Glad to hear its working.

It seems some 1900s are still being sold, but I liked the complete package with the RAM system.

[katumo_jtb]

Cool, post here if you find any tips and tricks for using offline mapping software. I don't hang out in the tracks forum but there must be some threads there. If anyone could link to one that would be nice

[Shov3BR]

If any other of y'all inmates are interested in the power port kit that MP used let me know & we'll either make up a special like his or if there is enough interest add it as a product.

We can also so something similar for the 12V GPS like the Garmin 60CSx using our Baryl Socket & Plug.

Oh - and thanks MP for the great write up. Nice work on the install.

-Shov

[ChrisC]

So Meat... how long before your ol' paint shaker scrambles the innards of that there purty 'phone?