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What is this Strange Gadget in My Car?
VanessaDannenberg asks: "Four months ago my fiancé and I bought a 1997 Thunderbird, which came with a few aftermarket mods. Of particular interest is this strange radio-related gadget that was attached to the windshield above the mirror. It has two 5-pin ports on it (as pictured) which accept a flat cable that runs under the car's headliner. I can't tell where that cable ends, but I figure it's a laptop interface (RS232?). Has anyone seen this thing before? What does it do?"
It controls the Orbital Mind Control Lasers (OMCL), that keep Americans buying 7 kinds of dish-soap.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Custom radar detector? older detector shreaded for better forwards backwards detection? Jammer? Ask the previous owner.
-- botsex is {grep;touch;strip;unzip;head;mount}
Hope you didn't want to use your geocities account for a few days.
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You didn't really expect a Geocities link to last on Slashdot, did you?
Ask Slashdot + Geocities Account + Pictures = None of us have any idea what you're talking about. So, bearing in mind that I can't RTFA, I'm going to do this BOFH style and go with... let's see, today's Tuesday... portable tracking device for the orbital laser system - one false move and you're a subatomic particle, buddy. Now, the best way to get rid of it would be to put it in the microwave and set it for twenty minutes on high. It might smell, so you might want to take the Missus and Snuffles the dog for a walk.
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
WayBack or Google's cache either. Reminds me of Scrat and the glacier.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
It sounds like an e-tag. Of course it probably isn't.
How we know is more important than what we know.
8 minutes from /. posting to digital smoking crater. (-:
./; within about 1/2 an hour the link was grinding (./ was much smaller in those days, this is not my first ./ ID) and within two hours it died completely (pings went into hyperspace). For three days.
I remember putting an article up on a 64kb (yes, b not B) link some years back, then it got found and posted to
So heavy was the traffic that taking the webserver down didn't make a noticeable difference. Even if they'd been able to get through, the DNS queries alone would have been enough to smash the link flat. Think "trying to fill a thimble from a wide-open firehose".
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Since no one can see it, we all have to guess. I'd wager it's either a carphone antenna mount, or maybe a GPS navigation system antenna link.
jX [ Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. - Einstein ]
Yeah, right.
I've never used Flickr before, so I've no idea whether this mirror will stop working after N bytes, views, etc. But there it is.
greetz to GNAA
here
Make even shorter URLs - 8LN.org
Looks like a piece to a remote car starter to me?
The device is likely to be mundane and ordinary, not some tool of awesome power and destruction.
My guess is that it is part of an aftermarket car alarm with wireless remote, an internal pressure-gradient sensing type. The LED displays the time left to shut the door before it will trigger the alarm.
it is definitly NOT A god damned laptop interface.
What kind of moron would install an interface into their car that you would plug the laptop in at the headliner.
Seriously how-t-f are you sopposed to use the laptop??? looking straight up at the screen as it sits flush with the roof? look at it upside down?
Well, i guess the same kind of moron would think its a laptop interface that submits a Ask Slashdot with a link to geocities and the same kind of moron that posts this as news.
I follow the SDK and GDN principles.. Spelling Dont Kount, Grammer Dont Neither
I don't see anything labelled as an FCC code, but every once in a while I've had some luck identifying equipment using the FCC's database.
Couldn't you just ask those you bought it from?
"Even if they're labeled free sex and beer." or something like that.
And lemme tell ya, if it's labeled 'Gravity - Do Not Touch,' DON'T FREAKIN' TOUCH IT! (that sentence proves there's still a use for the caps lock key, you losers)
For a possible scenario of what could happen in that type of situation, see the short film, 'This Guy Is Falling.' Great little flick. Might still be able to catch it at atomfilms.com. (sorry, too lazy to check and karma whore with a link)
KA358A Dual Operational Amplifier
Where's the power? my guess would be the socket on the end.
My guess would be a garage door opener.
09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
I think I speak for everybody here when I say, who cares??
Something to trigger the stop lights to think your an emergency vehechical?
Rice?
I'm a big retard who forgot to log out of Slashdot on Mike's computer! LOOK AT ME.
I'm not an IC specialist, but after a brief search and some reasoning I have an idea - it might be a stripped-down UHF/VHF transciever (the system board without an enclosure, speaker, channel selection knob, etc.) Possibly the person who used it did this specifically to disguise it from cops - any cop will recognize a transciever enclosure, but this will probably get little attention beyond bewilderment.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
It's the C4, that's connected to it, under the carpeting you need to worry about.
"To those who are overly cautious, everything is impossible. "
The letters "V.B.O.G.I." could indicate colors....
Could the wires lead to some sort of ricer extra lights somewhere? Possibly 'neon' tubes that were removed by the seller?
It's an idiot detector. It appears to have served its purpose, so you can detach it now :)
More seriously, why the fnord did you think "Ask Slashdot" is the right place to ask this kind of question, and why did the editors decide this was worthwhile to post? Oy.
For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
You can't own Thunderbird, man. That's what OSS is all about...
Something that detects radar strength and tells you to slow down because of a speed trap.
:-)
Sounds like someone driving a thunderbird would buy such a thing.
#hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
>clickety
clickety?
What happened to *tap*tappety*tap* or was I tripping?
I have had enough of half whimsical BOFH surveys. Give me some dopey students loosing their lifes work and failing uni because the saddo BOFH you hate to love decides he likes thier girlfriend.
Save the BOFH from becoming a PHBFH!
#hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
I found one of those hooked up to my waste disposal only last week!
It's a Sophisticated Soviet Listening Device!
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
My god, what is happening here?! The summary states the name of the person who submitted it is Vanessa. Won't somebody PLEASE think of the children! :o
A blog like any other.
I cant see the picture, so this is just a guess, but it sounds alot like the OBD-II interface used by mechanics to diagnose your cars problems. Through this interface you can see many many cool things, essentially the output of every sensor in the car. Things like oil pressure, temperature, coolant temperature, rpms (if not already available), etc., in real quantitative units. They can also give you more info when the "check engine" light comes on. If youre a gearhead this is definitely a cool toy.
Here is a link to some pics google returned when searching for them. obd II search Yes, these can be interfaced to laptops, and the image on google even has it interfaced to a palm pilot. You will have to look at aftermarket sites for the details though.
Because he secretly heard that if he can detect 10 other idiots, and pass the mystery on to them, and if each of them detects 10 idiots... that in 1 month he will receive $10e6 from an account in Nigeria.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
why did the editors decide this was worthwhile to post?
Simple. It's a hardware geek de-lurking device.
Seriously, it's "Linux" this and "Microsoft" blah blah software blah all day here. As a result, the bar for hardware stories is ridiculously low.
Hear that hardware geeks? Let the land rush begin.
Seriously, I'm a software guy myself, and I'm so fricken jaded that you could post a story saying that Linus Torvalds and Larry Wall agreed to swap jobs and it would get hardly more than a yawn from me.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Does it have an IR transmitter on it? Maybe it's one of those things that change traffic lights. I guess the only way to know is to point it at a light and if it changes!
my god, i know that /. geeks are supposed to be desperate but are we this desperate?
i felt strangely excited as i stumbled on my way to the bedroom and then the bathroom, in that order, after catching this.
mommy, make it stop. it hurts.
0. Her name is Vanessa,
0a. indicating with some certainty she's a female!
1. She has a fiancee, not a boyfriend but she's got the Ring!
2. They've got a CAR, indicating that they are OLD ENOUGH TO DRIVE.
3. Won't someone please THINK OF THE CHILDREN !!!!
NOTE TO MODERATORS (especially humour-impaired ones): please ignore me.
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
It's a Homelink transmitter for turning on lights, opening garage doors, etc.
Kriston
So, the next step will be getting Linux on it. Should be do-able; isn't there a new X server for LED displays out?
I'm sorry? What do you mean you don't want to run Linux on it? This is Slashdot mate, we put Linux on everything.
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
I think it's an interesting question.
But thank you for being a fucktard.
The antenna clearly indicates it's to receive or transmit in some fashion.
The crystal frequency of 6.775117MHz would put it at the 433 mhz frequency, which makes sense for such a device. The Op-amp makes it clear that it's doing something along these lines.
The angle of the 7 segment display indicates that it was original intended to be mounted on the A pillar. The dots on the 7 segment display would facing the bottom of the unit, thus putting the antenna at the top. When mounted along the pillar, the angle of the 7 segment display would then be flat in relation to the driver, as the A pillar always leans in that direction.
The KIA70 is a low voltage detector, probably detecting 2.7v (thus the "27P") and simply cutting the thing off when the voltage gets low, to prevent weirdness on the circut.
Can't find anything about the S727G/OM-7003 IC.
I'm betting B=Battery wire, I=Ignition wire, G=Ground wire. O and V I don't know, but they're probably some form of signaling wires back to/from the main unit.
Anyway, I say it's an A-Pillar mounted remote antenna/display unit that hooks to a car alarm system somewhere else in the car. The case for it has been removed and discarded, most likely. It receives and possibly sends antenna signals for the system, as well as displaying status codes of some type from the main car alarm unit.
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
might it be, with out seeing it mind you, that it is part of a hands free cell kit? does it matter?
Sig Hansen?
to control your sites transfer limit. ;)
Will add sig later...
Answer the damn question or go read maxim in the bathroom.
n dex.html
She's cool in my book.
http://starbase.globalpc.net/~vanessa/c128tower/i
OMG a nerd on slashdot who's female and not the likely winner of a hotornot contest with a legit question.
Does she deserve a bunch of sexist heckling and brush off answers? Nope.
Firefox &
I'm gonna go smash something open, post a couple of pictures and see if anyone can guess what it is!
Oh, in answer to why I posted here... I could think of no better way to get an answer about a device that looks geeky to me, than to ask a bunch of geeks. :)
/me watches her Karma go up in flames along with Yahoo.
Karma: I don't care too much, but it's 0.0% (mostly due to lack of interest)
Don't worry, your venerable Thunderbird will come under lawsuit from the Native American Trademark Association and it'll have to get changed to Lightningchicken or Firesomethingelse. ;)
09
Corporate Gadfly
Jonathan Archer: the most beaten up Enterprise captain in Star Trek history
Seeing that this is slashdot and there always seems to be someone willing to take the contrary position, I give an example, a sound card laying on my desk. FCC ID LWA521-T9.
These IDs can be checked at https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/cf/eas/reports/ GenericSearch.cfm
Within the last month I had to use this to track down the manufacturer of a proximity detector connected to my wife's car alarm.
PS, to Jim: I re-read before posting. I want to be clear that I meant other poster, not yourself, might well contradict this in the absence of other proof.
All my previous sigs now look like this one, I wish they were permanetly recorded when used.
IIRC, on Kelly Blue Book Online, there are links to services (free? paid?) that can provide the entire life history of a car.
It's easier to be a result of the past, but more fun to be a cause of the future! http://www.spacefinancegroup.com/
It's an Excalibur. The rest of the system is in a landfill, and rightly so.
JC Whitney Special. Blue Light Deal-of-the day.
Baa-aa-aa-aa-d. Bad like poi.
Dr. M says go buy a Viper. I can write a prescription if you need one.