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Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

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Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#381

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course a bigger antenna can pick up more power. Just imagine placing two antennas instead of one. Each one receives a certain amount of power. Two will receive the sum of that power.

That doesn't work that way. If you sum the signals from two antennas, those signals would differ in phase depending on the direction of the incoming wave. For some directions they will add up, for others they will cancel out. That would change the directionality of such antenna system, which is exactly what I have written above - you gain somewhere, but lose elsewhere. Antenna gain is a function of only its direction…

If the antennas cancel, you change the polarity of one of the antennas and then they add up.

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#382
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shouldn't there be, like, a glut of parts on the gray market if they are stolen so often? They don't end up in chop-shops?

They steal them drive them around recklessly for a few hours, the crash into a light pole. Its not professional criminals stealing these cars, its 13 year old kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbTrLyqL_nw

"Kia Boys", ok. Another euphemism to ad to the dictionary.

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We use antennas which are incredibly directional for Mars rovers. Compare a regular lightbulb vs a flashlight with a lens. Total light emitted might not be that different, but the intensity at the same distance (or how far the light reaches) is because the beam is focused. That works the same with receiving signal: a giant dish will focus the signal to a central point, and a Yagi-Uda antenna will use a similar phenom…

> a giant dish So why don't we just use a small dish?

Because it wouldn't be as directional as a big dish. The relative size of the dish vs wavelength plays a factor here. If you make a dish thats the size of the wavelength it wouldn't even work as a dish, it would receive the signal from all angles. This is also why high gain antennas for higher frequencies can be much smaller than for e.g long waves.

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't work that way. If you sum the signals from two antennas, those signals would differ in phase depending on the direction of the incoming wave. For some directions they will add up, for others they will cancel out. That would change the directionality of such antenna system, which is exactly what I have written above - you gain somewhere, but lose elsewhere. Antenna gain is a function of only its direction…

If the antennas cancel, you change the polarity of one of the antennas and then they add up.

But then it is no longer a passive element. Sure, you can use N antennas connected to some electronics that adjust the phases dynamically so they always add up. This is what modern "beam-forming" wifi routers do these days to improve range.

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#385

When researching family cars recently, I literally avoided the Honda CR-V just because the AC was controlled via the touch screen. There's a "Climate" button, which brings up a screen on the display where you can turn the aircon on/off, up/down, etc. It's just horrendous. Give me my dials. My worst gripe - which all modern cars have - is the aggressive bluetooth auto-connect. If my wife takes the car, it will automat…

I'm willing to accept climate controls within a touch interface so long as the "auto" mode is as competent as the auto mode in my 2013 BMW 1-series. I set it to 22°C at medium intensity. It's rare that I ever have to touch the climate controls, and exceedingly rare that I need to touch the climate controls while in motion. The only manual intervention I perform toggling "max AC" for a few minutes on an especially hot…

Even worse in cold climates.

I've had an external heater heating the inside of my car and the engine for 2 hours. Then I start the car with AC set to 22C and instantly I'm blasted with -20C air from the outside.

Why?

The Toyota Prius was the first car I owned that actually waited for the air to be the correct temperature before opening the ducts. The same worked in the summer, if the car was already cooler than the outside air, it wouldn't do anything until the AC had enough time to cool.

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#386
post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s hilarious is the $10 Bluetooth retrofit I got on Amazon in my 2011 car doesn’t even do this. It just works as a Bluetooth speaker but doesn’t start playing and connects only when I turn on the car. Simple and easy to use.

I think this is the majority of the problem(s) with bluetooth, bad defaults. In cars, second issue is no button to switch on/off, instead either the overly complex pairing process or the overly aggressive one. In phones, its non standard playback - I'm in the camp that audio should pause/resume for calls, and calls should always be routed through the phone you use. If you get a call while on the road either it should…

I don't know how to do this, but drivers should never have access to phone calls. You are driving and should not have that distraction. I've never seen someone drive safely and talk on the phone at the same time. Many say they are safe while in the phone, but independent observation says they are not.

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#387
The killer invention would be a device that is as easy to replace/maintain/configure/adapt as the glass/ipad interface, but as easy to do blindly as an 80's knobs-and-buttons interface. I'm sure automakers have plowed money into all kinds of cool haptic inventions, and there are lots of past examples of UX innovation (BMW control wheel, modern HUDs). I hope we'll figure this one out eventually, because the Tesla solution sure isn't the end of the story.

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#388
post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other day, I was taking a call on my iPhone, over the earpiece, in my office suite's lobby. The connection was rock solid, and then out of nowhere the audio just disappeared, without warning … but the call didn't drop. A few seconds later it returned. The person on the other end said they heard what sounded like a child for a second. I was perplexed. Fast forward a week, and this happens again. I look at the call…

Ironically, perhaps, the car everyone must be complaining about in this thread introduced call transfer controls that avoids just this. Through an OTA update. Yes, it's Tesla. If you're already on a call when the car connects to the phone, you must press an on screen button to transfer the call to the car audio. (Bloody brilliant, if you ask me; and also something that couldn't be introduced to existing cars post rel…

The problem though is that it's a Tesla. An OTA update won't fix that.

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#389
post #75

Wonderful. I recently rented a model 3 and found it incredibly frustrating that it required multiple touches to adjust settings that would be a single button press on a more traditional car. Don’t even get me started on the windshield wipers - a total nightmare in winter storms and located on the left stalk? These are safety concerns. As long as humans are operating these dangerous vehicles, I vote for fewer driver d…

I almost didn't buy a Tesla because of my concerns over the lack of controls, but turns out that while driving, it's rarely if ever necessary to touch the screen, because there's voice commands for everything (navigate to X, climate control off, etc). Plus often you don't need to do anything at all: the lights switch on automatically if it's dark, the windshield wipers activate automatically if there's moisture, etc.…

>>because there's voice commands for everything

Ah yes, the only other control method that manages to be worse than touchscreens. It works well if you speak absolutely perfect english, but for those of us for whom English isn't our first spoken language, you can kiss voice controls goodbye. Just a complete pile of trash, and incredibly frustrating when the car repeatedly misunderstands you.

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#390

The killer invention would be a device that is as easy to replace/maintain/configure/adapt as the glass/ipad interface, but as easy to do blindly as an 80's knobs-and-buttons interface. I'm sure automakers have plowed money into all kinds of cool haptic inventions, and there are lots of past examples of UX innovation (BMW control wheel, modern HUDs). I hope we'll figure this one out eventually, because the Tesla solu…

You really think screens and integrated electronics are easier to maintain and cheaper to replace than plastic buttons and copper wire?
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