MobileLED MD-550 Scrolling LED Sign. Need ideas.

[Sledge]

You need to hook it up to the car computer so you can have the car feed the average MPG to the display constantly

[hobbit]

Hmm, do we see a trend beginning of drivers wanting to be able
to communicate with other drivers with slightly more granularity
than the equivalent of a baby crying? There's my fantasy of
inter-car short range radio of some sort, but then immediately
thinking it would become the world's biggest "f.y." network
and fail in its purpose ... but all we've got to date are hand
gestures and brake lights and the occasional horn, so not many
colors on the palette. Oh, and turn signals, which are too
often used after the fact to say "ha ha, I cut you off" or
not used at all.
.
Effective communication of intent and need would add a whole
new dimension to that "predictive driving" thing, wouldn't it..
.
_H*

[lightfoot]

Originally Posted by hobbit

There's my fantasy of
inter-car short range radio of some sort, but then immediately
thinking it would become the world's biggest "f.y." network
and fail in its purpose ... but all we've got to date are hand
gestures and brake lights and the occasional horn, so not many
colors on the palette. Oh, and turn signals, which are too
often used after the fact to say "ha ha, I cut you off" or
not used at all.
.
Effective communication of intent and need would add a whole
new dimension to that "predictive driving" thing, wouldn't it..
.
_H*

We had that. It was called "CB radio", good buddy.

[Dan]

What is this magical "SeeBee" radio of which you speak?

[SpartyBrutus]

I do brake for FIBs

(sorry, grew up in Chicagoland)

[lightfoot]

Thought of this today while driving in to work:
"NICE GRILLE!" [this could appear in two sections, one after the other: NICE and then GRILLE!]

[ericbecky]

Originally Posted by Sledge

You need to hook it up to the car computer so you can have the car feed the average MPG to the display constantly

I definitely don't have the skills to do that, but I did add these to my repitoire:
Currently getting 70 MPG
Currently getting 75 MPG
Currently getting 80 MPG
Currently getting 85 MPG
etc
I can quickly choose from a number of them that I preprogrammed in. All I do is enter a 2 digit code.

Here's how it shows on the screen...
The message scrolls in from the left, stops with just the "80 MPG" showing for a few seconds, then the "80 MPG" scrolls downwards off the screen. Then the whole thing loops through again.

I figure this is simply a statement of my gas mileage and shouldn't be controversial. I am choosing to not end the statement with "..and you?" because I think it sounds too much like I'm trying to challenge people.

[ericbecky]

I added another photo to original post in this thread. It's of the sign during the daytime.
I took it with an old camera so it still isn't great. But you get the idea.

And lastly here's a picture of the keypad used for inputting the MobileLED messages.
It also has a scrolling screen so you can see what message is playing on the sign.

I keep the keypad between the seats next to the emergency brake.

That item on the left is not part of the MobileLED hardware. That's the MIMA joystick.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/...ed80keypad.JPG

[ericbecky]

So I've been driving a while with the new sign.
Although the "Currently Getting XX MPG"" slogan gets a lot of attention and thumbs up, I think the slogan that gets the most attention and has the greatest visible impact is the "SCHOOL ZONE: 20 MPH". It's nice to see people actually slow down as they come up behind me when we are in the school zone.

I've moved the keyapad to a new location and velcroed it down. no pocs yet.

[darylsensenig]

I have a sign like this as well, but I seem to have lost the software to connect to my computer. I have searched everywhere online for it. It seems that the company has gone out of business and their web site now belongs to another company. I was wondering if you would be able to post it. Thanks in advance.