15 foot IDE power cable

[egeekial]

Ok, this may sound like a strange thing to ask about, but it's for a carputer. I want to put a DVD-ROM in dash and have the computer in the trunk. I'm going to use a USB to IDE converter, but I also need to power it. Running it off the power supply seems like the best way to do it, but this means I am going to have to make a power wire for it. Would it be possible to use CAT5 and just put ends on 4 of the wires? Are they low enough gauge? Or does anyone else have a better idea?

 

[zephyrprime]

Cat5 is not low enough gage. You just need something that's lower guage. Maybe some speaker wire or auto power cables?

You might have a problem with reliability with a regular HD in a car where there are so many vibrations.

Why are you looking to put a computer in your car anyway? Maybe you'd be better served by a auto DVD player.

 

[CidHighwind]

The computer can be used to run the car's systems, with heavy modification to the car, I would think thats what hes doing.

 

[everman]

You can just buy the proper wire and molex connectors, and make one plug for your drive and another plug to connect to your power supply on the other end. You may want to purchase a molex pin extractor to make things easier. And if you don't know how to solder, this wouldn't be too hard to learn on. I think that should do it.

 

[egeekial]

http://www.mp3car.com
Check that out. People have had no problems with hard drives in cars.

I'm not the first, and I'm definitely the last person for this weird desire. A "carputer" if you will, can do anything you want it to: web surfing, mp3s, dvds, divx, gps navigation, games, writing a paper and plus, it looks really cool.