New and Improved iHP-

Ok, the first thing you might notice is that this time, I ended up with a MUCH simpler design,
both in construction and usage.
The previous version required me to take the player out of the case everytime I used it, and I got
really tired of that! Now I can leave it in it's protective case, saving wear and tear, not to mention time.
Here's how it works........

First, I removed the belt loop and applied a 2" x 3" piece of velcro over the back of the case. Next, using a
hole puncher, I made a hole in the flap for the line out so I wouldn't have to unsnap it anymore.

The base of the mount is actually from an old CD player car platform that Radio Shack
discontinued some time ago, it's a really sturdy ball-joint that is screwed into the bottom of the cup holder.
The platform is just a 2"x4" piece of black pvc glued and screwed in place. Add a big piece of Velcro,
round of the corners, and that's it! It's all perfectly at my reach while at the wheel, and the angle
is perfect to see when needed.

One thing that I'd always hated about using a portable player in my car was how to go about
connecting it to the car's stereo. There have always been cassette adapters of course, and for
the most part, they work ok. FM transmitters, in my opinion, are just awful (not to mention illegal in
some parts of the world) and should only be used as a last ditch effort (rental cars come to mind here.)
Some aftermarket car stereos are now coming with a handy little 1/8" AUX input right on the
front the unit, while some have RCA inputs on the back.

Unfortunatly, if you had a stock stereo, you had only the above options, until THIS little baby came along....

This is made by a company called P.I.E. and what it does is converts my unused CD changer input
on the back of my head unit into a standard line-in! Coupled with a nice Radio Shack RCA to 1/8"
plug, I can now plug my iHP directly into my stereo. This means: no hiss, no distortion, no fugly, fragile
cable hanging out of my tape deck, and infinitely better sound.
They are made for many makes and models, and every car is different, so I won't go into the installation,
but suffice it to say that it was very easy to install this. For now, I just have the cable coming from
under the dash board, didn't even need to drill any holes. Since it thinks it's the CD changer, I just have to
select the input to get going.

The next issue had to do with power. Why bother powering it when it has such great battery life you
might ask? One reason only, the backlight. You see, unlike the old iMP-250 cd player I used to use, iRiver hasn't
given us the option to have the backlight "always on" with the battery, only with a power supply.
So, until they do, I needed power, which came in the form of this:

Originally branded as a Jensen, now sold under the RCA brand, it has the two things I needed:
the proper tip and the seemingly rare ability to select the 5v required by the iHP.

Of course, having this hanging out of the lighter socket on my dash would not go well with my
newfound aesthetics, so I stole this idea from a guy on the Ipod Lounge site.

This is the power port that is located in the cargo area
of my PT Limited Edition. Using a 10' extention (again, Rat Shack
to the rescue) I was able to run the cable under the moulding all
the way to under the front passenger seat, then throught the center
console,to end up under the drivers seat where
the power supply is located.

I realize that I could have just tapped in to the 12v power
in the dash, but this worked out very well for me.

Ok, one last thing to do....now that that I have this all hooked up, do I really want
to spend time disconnecting everything everytime I get out of the car? Of course not!
But I don't want it stolen either, what to do? Disguise it!

Using more of that great 1/8" PVC that
I love so much, I made a little cover that (sort of)
matches the interior color of the car. From the
outside, it looks like it could be a little stand for a
device rather than anything too interesting.

Notice how it has the cutouts for the cables,
that way I can just pop it right over the iHP
without disconnecting it.

It could be that I'm being a little naive, but I'm
willing to wager most wouldn't give it a second
look. I probably won't be leaving it in the car
overnight, but for quick in and outs, it's great.

Well, thanks for looking, I hope you found it interesting at least! As always, I can occasionally be
found hanging around at MisticRiver, (the only site for iRiver enthusiasts.) Look me up as SRGilbert.........