The hardware
My father always taught me to make sure I had the "right tools for the job". Though as a kid that usually meant not using a screwdriver in place of a chisel or pliers in place of a wrench, I still employ this wisdom today and encourage others to do so as well. So for developing software for the Auto PC, I use a dual processor Pentium III/450Mhz with 256MB of RAM with about 28GB of hard disk space.

Yeah, my dad taught me well. However, you don't need much more than a 200Mhz Pentium machine with 64MB of RAM. You'll want a couple of gigabytes of hard drive space free as well has having NT Workstation 4.0 installed and at least one serial port free.

Of course, you'll also need to have an Auto PC. The Clarion AutoPC 310C is just the ticket (okay, so it's the only ticket right now). Make the investment in their higher-end model. It comes with the GPS and CF card; both are useful additions.

You'll also need to purchase a serial card to put in the Compact Flash slot of the Auto PC. This is to allow the Auto PC to be connected to the development PC for running and debugging software on the Auto PC. Socket Communications sells such a device; it's called the Socket Serial I/O CF+ Card. An AT to AT null modem cable is needed to make the actual connection. Finally, a 12-volt power supply for the Auto PC is needed. It should have at least a 3 amp rating, more if you intend to crank up the volume on the Auto PC. I use a 3 amp unit that I purchased from Radio Shack and it works great.

As a fully equipped developer, you'll want four high fidelity speakers and an AM/FM antenna to hook to the Auto PC. The speakers are deceptively important. When doing anything with audio, you'll want to listen closely to what is coming out of the speakers for sound quality. It is amazing how a .WAV file that might sound great on a desktop sounds terrible in a vehicle when you're surrounded by four speakers. It is also handy to have a toggle switch to put on the Accessory input line of the Auto PC to simulate ignition on/off without unhooking the wire from the power supply. For doing real world testing, an Auto PC should also be installed in a vehicle to which you or a tester has access. Alternatively, the Auto PC used for development can be put in a carrying case to allow it to be easily moved between the office and the vehicle.

The software
The Auto PC development environment is comprised of three main components:

• Windows NT;
• Visual C++ 6.0;
• The Auto PC SDK.

The first two can be purchased retail; the third can be downloaded free from Microsoft's Windows CE SDK Web site (at http://msdn.microsoft.com/cetools/downloads/devkits.asp).

Up until just recently, the Auto PC software developer needed to use Visual C++ 5.0 instead of 6.0 because the Auto PC SDK was not compatible with Visual C++ 6.0. This has been corrected and by the time you read this, the updated SDK should be available for download. It's important to know that Windows 95/98 can't be used instead of NT. This is due, in part, to the fact that Windows 95 and 98 do not support UniCode like NT and Windows CE, so the emulator cannot run on Windows 95/98.