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Audio and Entertainment System

A project log for DIY Truck Camper

Open source truck bed camper for the masses.

dustinDustin 12/24/2021 at 14:450 Comments

Lately I've been listening to music constantly. I have an old Vizio sound bar that a neighbor gave me that I use for music in the camper I'm currently in. It's ok but not great. It's got Bluetooth and is also hooked to my TV which is run by a Raspberry Pi 400 running OSMC. I love it. It's helped me decide on the infotainment system for this build, after a few years of debating. For the audio, I'll be going with standard car audio equipment. I wanted to run a proper surround sound system, but don't want a system dependent on an inverter. Car audio is all 12 volt DC and tolerant of weird voltages. Inverters are another point of failure and I want my music to go on uninterrupted. I'll likely get a 4 or 6 channel system and place speakers in different areas like the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and outside. I'll use a marine grade speaker for the bathroom so I can listen to my music in the shower. I also want individual volume control on each speaker, which I have to sort out still. I may be able to find a system that would let the main computer control that. Speaking of which, I've decided on that as well: Seeed Studios reTerminal. It's a Raspberry Pi Computer Module 4 powered industrial all in one terminal. It's got GPIO, so I can design hardware for it based on my PiCarts project. It's got a nice 5 inch touchscreen, which is perfect for running OSMC. With HDMI output, I can also connect it to the main tv. Having a media center always on and ready just makes me happy. I know there is Home Assistant integration, but I haven't played with it yet. I may go with Z Wave and just use the reTerminal as my entire central control hub for the camper. I'll route it's audio out to some sort of nice care audio receiver, which will power the speakers. This would give me the option of hooking whatever I want up to the audio system as well. The reTerminal should also be getting a battery pack add on, which would make it portable so I could use it anywhere I've got the camper's wifi. I could unclip it from the wall and take it to bed with me to watch a movie. I think it's an excellent device and can't wait to get one. It's nearly $200, which I can't spare right now. I'll need 2 of them as I plan to install one in my old pickup as well. I'll likely run Android Auto on it or a full OS if I need it to integrate into the custom truck controllers I plan to build. Either way, I've decided on the main platform and can start designing the camper with that in mind. It feels so good to just know what I'm doing and not have to be making the decisions all the time. I like the freedom to make my own decisions, but it gets exhausting and slows things down. 

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