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I recently bought an iPod touch and a protective case to go with it.
While using the iPod in my car, I really found it inconvenient to change tracks while driving. You can only skip songs after pressing the home button first, then swiping across the screen to unlock the player. First of all, I had to get the iPod from the passenger seat; I then have to fiddle with it until I have skipped to a song I like. And everything while not paying too much attention on the road, which actually is what I’m supposed to be doing while driving ;-).
So I thought about an iPod mount for my vent in the car.
I already had plans in my head on how I wanted the car mount to loo like and work when I stumbled over a (admittedly ugly not so pretty, picture 2) generic $10 car mount for electronic gadgets and thought I’ll give that a try.
Well, that didn’t go too well.
As I use my iPod with a protective case, it didn’t fit within the car mount. So I modified that one to make it fit. Then I wanted to attach it to my car’s vent and found out that the attachment fixture didn’t fit my vent. Well, here I go.
So I finally decided to put my car mount plan into action to get a car mount that fits my device perfectly while also being able to get the design I wanted (picture 1; I may have to update the car mount if I buy a Q-peel case or an armor-like case; I just love the look of the more bold cases).
Excuse me for not having image notes added so far, but I was working at a PC where I couldn't tinker with my internet browser's settings. So I couldn't save the notes and gave up.
I'll probably add the notes later, but if you have questions, you can also pm me. I'll try to help the best I can.
While using the iPod in my car, I really found it inconvenient to change tracks while driving. You can only skip songs after pressing the home button first, then swiping across the screen to unlock the player. First of all, I had to get the iPod from the passenger seat; I then have to fiddle with it until I have skipped to a song I like. And everything while not paying too much attention on the road, which actually is what I’m supposed to be doing while driving ;-).
So I thought about an iPod mount for my vent in the car.
I already had plans in my head on how I wanted the car mount to loo like and work when I stumbled over a (
Well, that didn’t go too well.
As I use my iPod with a protective case, it didn’t fit within the car mount. So I modified that one to make it fit. Then I wanted to attach it to my car’s vent and found out that the attachment fixture didn’t fit my vent. Well, here I go.
So I finally decided to put my car mount plan into action to get a car mount that fits my device perfectly while also being able to get the design I wanted (picture 1; I may have to update the car mount if I buy a Q-peel case or an armor-like case; I just love the look of the more bold cases).
Excuse me for not having image notes added so far, but I was working at a PC where I couldn't tinker with my internet browser's settings. So I couldn't save the notes and gave up.
I'll probably add the notes later, but if you have questions, you can also pm me. I'll try to help the best I can.
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Signing UpStep 1Parts and tools needed
Parts needed:
- Scrap wood (the sort of wood that kids use with hack saws, with a thickness of approximately 4 mm).
- Rubber band (to attach the car mount to the vent)
Tools needed:
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Callipers (not really necessary but really helpful)
- Handsaw
- Wood glue
- Pipe cleaner (or some sort of wire)
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As you need only real simple tools, it shouldn't be hard to make.
By the way, I have to replace the rubber band by some wire eventually. Due to heat and cold the rubber got briddle and finally snapped.
But I guess I have to replace it with some wire. The rubber band just held up about 6 months.
With the heat and cold in the car, the rubber got brittle and now I have to fix my mount again.
Thank You So Much !!!!
Love the rubber band trick though.
Kydex. Heat gun. Imagination. Cool.
PS your ipod mount rocks!
So wood is always a good option.
(I thought about making it at work, but my employer probably wouldn't like me spending my time on privat stuff.)
I used 2 tabs on the bottom on either side of the charging port, and drilled a small hole in the right one for the headphone plug
Did you think about a simple cardboard box with a cutout for the touch screen? Really easy and works fairly well. I made a box for my Zen mp3 player some years ago and it's still working well (the box, that is), even though I was using it heavily. I made a template in powerpoint, attached the printout to my cardboard and cut everything with a scalpel. I then taped all together with double sided adhesive tape. I can send you the template and some pictures so you get an idea if you want.
One improvement here would be to alter the bottom mounting bracket to be two on either side of the slots, freeing up the port for charging or integration with a sound system.
I know from my Zune that this differs from player to player. So for the Zune it would have been perfect.
I always had problems with changing volume while skipping songs, no matter if I use the ipod app or the double click one. It's just that you can't hit the skip button without touching the volume scale (at least I can't easily) and changing the volume as the scale is so close to the buttons. And while my car bumps along the street and I still have to watch out for the traffic, too, I often hit the volume instead of the skip button.
The Zune-theme-thingy has the operating buttons really nicely spread over the screen :-)
Although it's far from perfect, it works very well in the car (been trying it for about 2-3 days now).
But I guess I still prefer the other way round as this option didn't show the band cover.
What I dislike in all those settings is, that the volume slider sits just below the buttons. So I "adjust" my volume setting often times rather than skipping a song (the sound output is so low on my car's stereo that I have the volume slider just below the next song button).
is there some way you could make an "external" controller for pause/play, next song?
I remember maybe 7 or 8 years ago, I bought a sony "car ready" pack that came with a tape adapter and a portable cd player, and it had a cable with a little round controller that could skip songs and pause/play so you could mount it somewhere convenient and didn't have to use the portable cd player to skip songs and such.
The Muzik-app has the buttons well separated, so I'll give that one a try during the week while driving...
And I guess that if I run out of juice, I probably won't have a charging cable with me ;-)