Commands

General

Keep Track

Keep Track Playing

Batch

martin2k Command - How to Use in a Car

Contents

Introduction

What You Will Need

Photographs of Example Basic Setup

Introduction

As mentioned on the homepage, one of the main reasons I made martin2k Command was because I wanted a way of playing music easily and safely in my car, particularly on long journeys.

I have a Sony MP3 CD head unit, which is better than a standard CD head unit, but CDs can only hold a certain amount of music and it is inconvenient to change CDs while driving (unless you have a CD changer, which I don't).  Therefore having all your music on a hard drive in a laptop is a big advantage.  martin2k Command has been designed to play and control music with only a few keystrokes meaning you don't have to look at the computer screen while driving, which could be dangerous.

What You Will Need

To use martin2k Command in your car, you need:

• A laptop, preferably with a in-car power supply (unless you have a good battery)
• A copy of martin2k Command with a Keep Track database and a collection of MP3s
• A head unit capable of receiving audio input from an external source either via a digital (e.g. USB) or analogue cable

It is useful to create batches of music in your Keep Track database as this means it is easy to create playlists in martin2k Command.  You should also create key bindings using the set, f1-f12 and alt commands so that controlling the music and playlists is as effortless as possible.

Photographs of Example Basic Setup

This photo shows a laptop running martin2k Command sat on the passenger seat.  The laptop is powered by a cable running to the car's cigarette lighter.  The laptop is connected to the head unit using a USB cable.  I found that an analogue connection suffered from interference while the laptop was connected to the lighter socket.

A closer view of the USB connection with the 35mm analogue connection also visible.

The head unit shows USB indicating the current mode.  The lighter socket and power supply are also visible.

Perhaps the most important part of the setup is a good sound system!