| Author | Message | ||
     Greg_e |
Anyone using a wireless ECMspy connection? I just ordered some parts to try and get my bike Bluetooth connected and thought I would ask if anyone else has something like this and how well it works. It will (hopefully) be connected to my laptop which has built in Bluetooth. | ||
| Froggy |
That Xopti guy got a working bluetooth setup. I would PM him for more info. | ||
| Greg_e |
I looked to see if I could buy one, but never found a price or a way to contact him on his website. Now it's kind of too late since I ordered the RF part that I think I need. A couple voltage regulators and a level shifter later and I should be all good | ||
| Dallasb |
Yea I would be interested | ||
| Xoptimizedrsx |
I can tell you how to make it. you will need a power supply use a cell phone car charger. get the chip from A7 engineering in calif. I'll have to dig the part number up. there chips are firmware free and act as stand alone with rx and tx as well as auto link. by far the best bluetooth. (the chip is __501) the pin sockets i get from over sea's as well as the sockets. the box is a radio shack box and the cable is see through double shielded 6 wire 22 ga with grd. I use gromets and seal the box. you will want a led light 5v and a n/o pushbutton to complete the project. in single units it adds up to about 110.00 to make a quality unit. in bulk you can cut it to aprox 80.00 each to build. I dont sell these anylonger. but thats my basic parts list. note: silver solder everything. their was a few pics online of a guy who was selling one I made him because he sold his bike. I actually dont have any parts left. i made a wireless palm also just to prove a point. you can do it with two of these devices in series with the palm and a converter pinout as a serial cable. works everytime till i smashed a chip in the seat clip. that sucked. mike | ||
| Greg_e |
Well I must say that is looks like a lot cheaper now. Look at Roving Networks for the BT module, you may need a level shifter depending on the module you get. After that one or two voltage regulators to get from the 12 volt on the connector to the data and module levels. It looks like most everything will fit in the back of the connector now. I hope to have most of the parts by Saturday so that I can start planning the layout. | ||
| Xoptimizedrsx |
greg if you want help pm me and i'll get you my number. the chip to use is a eb501 A7 engineering can even name the chip differently for you. there chip is the best to use the most stable. i burnt up many other chips till i used there's. get the built in antenna version. i never made a formal post or a build photo shoot of it but its not hard to do. if you buy 6 chips they cut the price a bunch. i found out after my second order. get the voltage supply from ebay a sprint cell phone charger. i was paying 2.99 each free shipping for them. you can even keep it fused if you like with a few other supplies. and add in a blinking poweron with a simple blinking 12v led. (Message edited by xoptimizedrsx on October 23, 2009) | ||
| Greg_e |
I was just going to go with dead bug style and two $0.50 LDO voltage regulators for the bulk of the supply, a couple caps for filtering and it should be good until I can find a dual output device. The module I ordered is the RN-41 and the guys at Sparkfun seem to like it, they reject most of the stuff that doesn't work, it is also cheap enough that I might be able to get these to about $60 each. | ||
| Xoptimizedrsx |
ohh deer spark fun I had 5 different type from them each one worked but didnt last. then they said i sent the wrong voltage to it. it took me a month to get it corrected after i sent them my power supply and proved i was 5vlt stable. even then they tryed to say it was a 3vlt unit. which there website says 5vlt as well as the paperwork. over all i have had issues before with sparkfun stuff its to light duty for this use. the electrical sound field of the bike messes it up. that all i can figure. because it works fine till you are on the road trying to use it and the datalogs are all messed up looking. then the unit goes out after a couple weeks. I really dont like sparkfun bluetooth. If you want to get a great unit get a A7engineering or a zigbee. If you get a driver free wifi unit from zigbee you can get it as a standalone wifi. Then wire it to the cellphone and you have limitless data exchange. I have done that one also already. it is the best way to do it by far because as long as you have cell signale the base where the pcis has the data. then as you ride someone else is changing the maps. all you do is ride. thats my baby for future projects. but i wanted you to know it will work with the cell towers through the phone as a link for free. well as long as the cell is paid up. | ||
| Xoptimizedrsx |
http://www.a7eng.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TAEOS&Product_Code=1000156 this is what you want!!!!! (Message edited by xoptimizedrsx on October 24, 2009) | ||
| Theshue |
i don't know how close ecmspy and vdsts are in the way they work, but i've been using this http://www.gridconnect.com/blueport.html with my vdsts with very little issues. it is expensive at $75 but it does work. | ||
| Greg_e |
I'll check out the A7 products next if I can't make the RN stuff work or go with the Atmel transceivers. | ||
| Greg_e |
OK, for anyone following this thread... How important is it to have this wireless device work below 0 Celsius? I'm having trouble finding a 3.3 volt regulator that is rated below 0 degrees and will fit on the board. I would much rather match the -40 that the RF device can withstand, but it may not be possible. I'm pretty sure it will operate if it starts warm because it will self heat, but if left plugged into the bike overnight on a freezing night then I'm not sure what will happen. I'm trying to build it so that it never needs to be unplugged and is as water tight as the connector will allow. As a teaser I started to lay out the circuit board that will fit partially inside the back of the 4 pin connector.  (Message edited by greg_e on October 25, 2009) | ||
| Xoptimizedrsx |
see mouser or tech industries. have them find the part in there private search. agv may have it also. | ||
| Greg_e |
I've been through all of the stuff Mouser has and they don't have any 3.3 regs in the smaller sizes that hit -40. Good news is that they have the RN-41 for $10 less than Sparkfun which brings the total down a bunch more. | ||
| Greg_e |
The second side of the board got packed real fast:  Not entirely sure that this one will work because I didn't shift the TX level up to 5 volts, running out of room for everything. | ||
| Greg_e |
Got everything crammed in there to make the proper level shifter and after a few manual trace routes I think it is ready to send off to be fabricated. Parts are on order so as soon as I get a board I should be able to make a test device.  | ||
| Biggie |
Man I wish I could do that stuff on that level Greg e.The most I ever did was replace mosfets on a Orion amplifier. Do you know of Any good books where I can learn more about building circuit boards like the ones you would use to make a xb led taillight? | ||
| Greg_e |
Nope, I'm just going on a wing and a prayer (and datasheets). This project is simple enough that it's pretty easy to get done. Download FreePCB and go through the manual, that will give you a good idea of what you can do in layout, and the traces are for the most part done with an autorouter (also free and integrated in FreePCB), I had to make a few traces on the last example, and move a couple others, but for the most part the auto function did everything. This is the first project I've ever done with software to make a board, previously I just laid everything out and drew it on the copper and either etch or cut the traces (dremel tool). Trying to go smaller really requires using software and a PCB fabrication house to get the job done. Just waiting for prices on prototype boards. For tail lights I would really suggest getting one of the LED driver chips and learning how to use them. The data sheets will give you most of the circuit that you can modify a little bit to fit your needs. | ||
| Christopher12 |
Greg, who do you use to make the PCB? At work here I use http://www.apcircuits.com/ and you can get quote online. They're 2 or days turn around. If you can get it made cheaper please let me know. Christopher | ||
| Greg_e |
I'm still looking for a place... Got a quote for 2 of my little tiny boards of $300+ from 4PCB.com. Not likely to go with them. Waiting for a quote from a place in Canada and if that is high, I'll just send the work to China! These boards are about .5x1.25 inches, no silk screen, I'd even go no solder mask to get the price down. Even ExpressPCB is high now. Think I may need to order some photosensitive boards and etch them myself. I hate to send the work off the continent, but damn I can't put more money into the board than I have in all to components. | ||
| Greg_e |
AP circuits looks promising at around $20 plus shipping. | ||
| Greg_e |
grrr... updates to archives don't do very much (Message edited by greg_e on November 10, 2009) |
