RCA DTA800 in hand

I just got my hands on an RCA DTA800 converter box.  So the next step is to crack it open.  But first I made make sure the unit is unplugged before attempting to open the lid.  Otherwise, there is a risk of serious injury or death from electrocution.  

After removing all the small screws visible from the outside of the box and gently prying open the lid I got to see the inside.   The first thing I noticed is how integrated everything is.  All there is besides the power supply is a Broadcom chip, an SDRAM, a Thomson tuner and some discrete components.  

Not only is the RCA DT800 a great performer, it turns out it will be really easy to hack.  This is because the box natively runs on a single 12V power supply.  

The only thing that needs to be hacked is to replace the power supply with a direct connection to the car's 12V power.  Basically, there's no need for a power supply at all!