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Mission Control: One Mother of a Hummer


If you were the marketing director of a consumer electronics company that manufactures all sorts of consumer electronics products from car audio and video goods to laptop computers and television monitors, wouldn’t you want to have a demonstration platform that would show off all of the goods and exhibit how all of these things can be integrated to work together?

Well, Panasonic has developed such a platform. It’s this 2003 Hummer H2. This vehicle has been stocked with perhaps the most sophisticated audio-video system which is controlled by a media management system with customized software that is worked by laptop computers.

Chris Anderson, owner of Anderson Audio & Performance, Atlanta, Georgia, helped to design the system/network and did the installation. According to Anderson, the goal was to try to incorporate as many Panasonic products as possible, to show the diversity of Panasonic from computers and car audio-video to cellular phones and internet cameras and TV monitors.

A Techno-Nerd’s Heaven
The products that have been stuffed into this vehicle would cause the heart of any techno-nerd to skip a beat. The laundry list includes:

ÿ The CQ-VAD9300U in-dash AM/FM radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, DVD player. The unit includes a 7-inch LCD monitor and a Dolby Digital/DTS decoder. The monitor is fully automatic and opens and closes and flips up and down. The screen can be put in one of five tilt angles and two horizontal positions. The unit also includes a full function digital sound processor with seven sound field presets and “multi-channel” playback, a seven band graphic equalizer with six user presets, 18 TV channel auto preset memory, 12 AM and 12 FM radio presets, CD changer control, two sets of RCA inputs for additional audio-video source, a one channel RCA output for a rear seat monitor, Graphical User Interface to help the user control the system, and multi-function joystick on front panel for easy control.
ÿ A CQ-HX2083U 3DDM AM/FM radio and CD player with ghost display.
ÿ Two CX-DVP292U DVD Players with CD text decoder and full function audio-video remote control. It is designed to be a hide-away unit with dimensions of 1-15/16-inches by 7-inches by 6-1/8-inches.
ÿ A CX-DP880 Eight Disc Audio CD Changer
ÿ A DVD Navigation System
ÿ Two CR-SRT 100 Sirius Satellite Radio Receivers which include 18 channel presets, preset seek, channel seek, scrolling text display, large 16 character two-line display, RCA outputs and auxiliary audio outputs.
ÿ A GD88 Cellular Phone with Digital Camera
ÿ Back Up Camera in the Rear Tail Gate
ÿ Two Toughbook R1 Laptop Computers
ÿ Two 22-inch LCD TV Monitors
ÿ Two 7-inch LCD TV Monitors
ÿ Two 5.8-inch LCD TV Monitors
ÿ Three Network (internet) Cameras
ÿ An Audio-Video Media Manager
ÿ A 15-inch LCD Flip Down TV Monitor
ÿ Infrared Wireless Headphones
ÿ Nintendo Game Cube
ÿ A Kicker KX600.4 Four Channel Amplifier which delivers 150 watts per channel into 2 ohms and can be bridged into a two channel configuration to deliver 300 watts per channel. It includes an active highpass, lowpass, and *** crossover with a 12 dB per octave slope that can be set between 50 Hz. and 200 Hz. and KICKEQ Bass Boost at 40 Hz. that can be set up to +18 dB.
ÿ A Kicker KX200.2 Two Channel Amplifier which delivers 100 watts per channel into 2 ohms and can be bridged to play mono and deliver 200 watts. It includes a highpass, lowpass and *** crossover which can be set between 50Hz. and 200 Hz. with a 12 dB per octave slope and a KICKEQ Bass Boost which is centered at 40 Hz. and can be set up to +18 dB.
ÿ A Kicker KX1200.1 One Channel Amplifier which delivers 1200 watts into 1 ohm and includes a remote bass control, cooling fan, an active lowpass crossover that can be set between 50 Hz. and 200 Hz. with a 12 dB per octave slope, a KICKEQ Bass Boost of up to +18 dB at 40 Hz. and a defeatable 12 dB Subsonic Filter at 25 Hz. to protect the speakers.
ÿ Two 10-inch Subwoofers
ÿ Five Pairs of 6-1/2-inch Coaxial Speakers
ÿ 5-1/4-inch Coaxial Speaker for Center Channel
ÿ A Pair of 5-1/4-inch Midrange Speakers and Tweeters
ÿ Four 12-inch Subwoofer

The Set Up
The CQ-VAD9300U in-dash AM/FM radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, DVD player; CQ-HX2083U AM/FM radio and CD player with ghost display, and the DVD navigation unit were all placed in the dash. Obviously, the dash had to be modified to get all of these products to fit. According to Anderson, custom brackets were used and the dash was re-cut to accommodate the pieces. Moreover, the factory radio which features On Star was removed from its stock mount and re-located so that the On Star feature would not be lost.

The center portion on the top of the dash was fiberglassed to create a housing for the 5-1/4-inch coaxial speaker which serves as the center channel for the 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound.

Also included in a hands free kit on the dash is the cellular phone with digital camera. The phone permits full internet access.

Another DVD player has been placed into the center console.

Each of the front door panels were re-fabricated in order to house a 10-inch subwoofer, a 6-1/2-inch midbass speaker, and a 7-inch LCD TV monitor. The new door panels are constructed of fiberglass and wrapped in vinyl that was died to match the interior of the vehicle.

Each of the rear doors were also re-constructed to house two 6-1/2-inch coaxial speakers. These panels were also constructed of fiberglass and wrapped in vinyl.

Afraid that the 10-inch subwoofers in the doors would drown out the mids so that the vocals could not be heard, Anderson included a 5-1/4-inch midrange speaker and tweeter in each of the A pillars next to the windshield. The housings for these speakers are made of fiberglass.

A 15-inch LCD progressive scan TV monitor flips down from a custom-made overhead console. Anderson explained that he took small steel angle irons and cut and welded them to make a mount that arches to follow the line of the sunroof for the screen. Such a mount is very difficult to construct. Some say it is almost impossible because of the presence of the sunroof. The mount was covered with fiberglass and the fiberglass was wrapped in vinyl.

Two 22-inch LCD progressive scan TV monitors, four 12-inch subwoofers in a sealed enclosure, and a Winntech digital system that serves as the media manager appear in the rear of the vehicle. The media manager allows full control of the audio-video switching via the two laptop computers.

The subwoofer enclosure is made of fiberglass and is painted to match the vehicle. It has been constructed in one piece so there are no seams. The subwoofers are firing toward the rear of the vehicle.

Anderson noted that the quality of the 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound was imperative in the design and construction of the system. So, he broke the car up into three sections -- front seat, rear seat, and back of the vehicle, and included a center channel speaker for each section. So the front seat passengers gets audio from the left, right and center as does the rear passengers and anyone standing in the back of the vehicle when the back door is open. The three center channels are all processed by the CQ-VAD9300U head unit.

The eight disc CD changer which provides another audio alternative is tucked away under the rear seat with the Nintendo game cube.

A 5.8-inch TV monitor appears in the back of each of the front seat headrests.

As noted, two Sirius Satellite Radio Receivers have been included in this system. One is playing through the CQ-VAD9300U head unit and one is a stand alone mounted in the rear of the vehicle. The fact that there are two Sirius receivers means that any combination of passengers can listen to two different satellite radio stations at the same time.

In fact, Anderson pointed out, thanks to the media manager the system is actually able to play eight different audio sources and eight different video sources at one time.

The Kicker amplifiers have been mounted behind the rear seat. The two large amplifiers appear on one side of the rack and two large amplifiers are mounted on the other side with three capacitors, distribution blocks, and one of the DVD players in the middle of the housing. The fifth and smallest amplifier is hidden.

Full Network System
There is a full network system that includes two laptop computers which has full access to the internet through the cellular phone and four network cameras each of which have their own web address. These items are all tied together through an ethernet switching hub.

One network camera which has a full 360 degree by 180 degree radius of sight is mounted to the roof in a fully sealed environmental dome.

Three other network cameras with a range of view of 180 degrees by 180 degrees have also been included. One is in the rear tailgate so when the rear tailgate door is open what is going on in the back of the vehicle can be shown on monitors. One network camera is in the overhead console with the 15-inch flip down TV monitor. This allows viewing of what is going on in the back seat without the front passengers turning around. One network camera also appears where the rear view mirror would normally be. Next to this camera is a 5.8-inch TV monitor which is connected to the back up camera that is mounted in the tail gate. This allows the driver to see what is happening behind the vehicle as he is driving.

As previously noted, there are two laptop computers in the network. They are mounted but can be removed from the vehicle. To accommodate one of the laptops the airbag on the front passenger side has been removed and a motorized tray has been put in its place. The tray motors in and out of the dash. The laptop is secured to the tray with Velcro. The second laptop computer is incorporated into the fold down arm rest between the rear seats.

Each laptop computer has access to the internet through the cellular phone. Moreover, whatever a laptop computer is exhibiting from the internet can also appear on any or all of the monitors that are scattered throughout the vehicle. So, if the vehicle stands before a historic site, for example, information about that site can be retrieved from the internet and put on all the monitors.

Not only can the laptop computers gain access to the internet, they can be used to control the audio-video system. Special custom software has been created and is being used by the media manager and laptops that allow for users on the laptops to do “drag and drop.” A layout of the installation can be called up on to the screen of any of the laptop computers. Each item that is part of the system appears as an icon in the layout. By clicking, dragging and dropping an icon one can get a DVD to play on a particular monitor or monitors. One can choose any video or audio source he or she wishes to experience using the laptop computer.

All installation equipment including wires, cables, distribution blocks, and capacitors are from Monster Cable.

It is apparent that there is nothing on Earth that can surpass what is exhibited in this Hummer. NASA’s Space Flight Center in Houston, Texas nor the Oval Office at the White House, nor the Command Center at NORAD deep inside a mountain in Colorado can transcend it. In short, this is one mother of a Hummer!

See pictures at: http://www.anderson-audio.com    Click on “Projects.”