Rajiv Posted July 6, 2008 Posted July 6, 2008 Is there a conversion available I am basically trying to figure this out: My Car Stereo has USB connection and the current power output it supplies is 500mA The external HDD I have is 12V Will it work?
ludhianvi Posted July 6, 2008 Posted July 6, 2008 From what I gather, mA (current) and volts (voltage) are different units of measurement. Isnt there a current rating on the harddrive or a voltage rating on the input of the usb connection? Where's Sriram when you need him :winky: [edit] Actually, since its usb connection, I wonder if it matters. Perhaps it already downgrades it since the output of the harddrive is through usb connection:eyedance:
Rajiv Posted July 6, 2008 Author Posted July 6, 2008 External HDD has own power supply, which I assume I could through the car's power adapter but its the wiring which will come out the glove box..the usb connection is from back of the unit so its all hidden All I know, says 12V for HDD and power output is 500mA from the head unit
Holysmoke Posted July 6, 2008 Posted July 6, 2008 Is there a conversion available I am basically trying to figure this out: My Car Stereo has USB connection and the current power output it supplies is 500mA The external HDD I have is 12V Will it work? Power is measured in watts. voltage is measured in volts current is measured in mA and no, it wont work USB is 5V, and car charger is 12V gotta leave now.. will explain later bye
Rajiv Posted July 6, 2008 Author Posted July 6, 2008 Power is measured in watts. voltage is measured in volts current is measured in mA and no, it wont work USB is 5V, and car charger is 12V gotta leave now.. will explain later bye Bouncer! Some people got it working, from google search but they did something which was never explained in detail
ludhianvi Posted July 6, 2008 Posted July 6, 2008 Hey, does a usb pen drive work when you plug it in and plays your music? I've not got any experience with cars and the usb connection out of your car stereo sounds exciting.
Rajiv Posted July 6, 2008 Author Posted July 6, 2008 I can use Pen Drive, thats easy..but why not use a 80 gb HDD, the unit support upto 250GB Here it is.. Its the 500UB model, just got the whole package yesterday http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/CarAudioVideo/Source/CD-Players/Premier/DEH-P500UB?tab=B
Ram Posted July 6, 2008 Posted July 6, 2008 There's no way you can power a 12V appliance, with a 5V power source, unless you use a step-up transformer.
ludhianvi Posted July 6, 2008 Posted July 6, 2008 Ok, someone explain here. The hard drive input is 12V as per Rajeev's specs. The car charger is 12V. The USB output from the hard drive is 5V. So where is the problem?. Sriram, Holy I need some tutoring in electrical eng.:wink_smile:
Ram Posted July 6, 2008 Posted July 6, 2008 I dont quite understand, what is he trying to power with what?
ludhianvi Posted July 6, 2008 Posted July 6, 2008 ^ You didnt read the OP? newb:D Rajeev has a car stereo system that he just got (Link) and this stereo system has a usb input connection. The usb input connection has max rating of 500mA. Now Rajeev has a spare external hdd, specs 12V, has an external power supply. This also has a usb connection. Why would this not work. Maybe its the current rating of the harddrive that is above 500mA?
Rajiv Posted July 6, 2008 Author Posted July 6, 2008 Car is 12V , but what I hear it is "irregulated" ( I have no idea what that means ) I am trying to connet my external HDD to the USB Car Deck 2 Options 1) Connect the USB to the Car Dec and Power through the car adapter ( not sure if it will work and there will be power cable coming out of the glove box as well which will look untidy ) OR 2) Let the HDD work through the Car Deck USB power - but it says power output is 500mA and the power source of the ext HDD says 12V Thus the question, 500mA to 12V ? how
Ram Posted July 6, 2008 Posted July 6, 2008 Rajeev, first of all, you cant convert the current rating ( 500 mA) to Voltage ( 12V). If the HDD can be powered externally, then there shouldnt be a problem. And there's nothing called 'irregulated' Voltage. There's only regulated and unregulated voltage.
THX_1138 Posted July 6, 2008 Posted July 6, 2008 mA or milli Ampere is a unit for measuring Current, whereas Volt is for measuring Potential Difference. Think about it this way... the size of your battery is determined predominantly in its Volt capacity (i.e. 1.5V AAA or AA batteries)... whereas current measures the juice the battery can supply... for instance, the intensity/capacity of vacuum cleaning devices is measured in the Amperes their internal motor can operate at (e.g. 12A motor etc etc).
THX_1138 Posted July 6, 2008 Posted July 6, 2008 Car is 12V ' date=' [b']but what I hear it is "irregulated" ( I have no idea what that means ) I am trying to connet my external HDD to the USB Car Deck 2 Options 1) Connect the USB to the Car Dec and Power through the car adapter ( not sure if it will work and there will be power cable coming out of the glove box as well which will look untidy ) OR 2) Let the HDD work through the Car Deck USB power - but it says power output is 500mA and the power source of the ext HDD says 12V Thus the question, 500mA to 12V ? how not constant... if you were to plot the voltage versus time for a battery... it would be a steady 12V, whereas if you were to plot the current, it would be a spike, then an asymptotic decline to a steady state value. sort of like afridi's career... a few big innings in the start before tapering to an average of 5.
Rajiv Posted July 6, 2008 Author Posted July 6, 2008 ..I don't get the technical terminology I was just worried about blowing things up..I thought I will hook it up myself, but no chance
Ram Posted July 6, 2008 Posted July 6, 2008 Yup, you need a 100W DC/AC inverter in your car. Also, I am not sure the stereo will recognize any file format in the external HDD. You have to convert the file format to FAT 32.
Rajiv Posted July 6, 2008 Author Posted July 6, 2008 ya, HDD is already converted to FAT32 and I am putting folders/sub folders in there with MP3's See the best part is I can take my entire collection with me, so no more CD's and even with flash drive - 8GB is still like $30 avg, so I have to get atleast 4-5 of them I know its possible to do it, wasn't really sure how to go about it 25GB is just the Dream Dance Collection - 42 Volumes
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