| Author | Message | ||
     Opto |
Been playing around with an LCD to display voltage and temp, with a flashing low batt warning (if the charging circuit fails) and a flashing temp readout when the engine gets really hot (to warn of possible pinging conditions). Temp is in C but everything is programmable, using a Picaxe 18X processor (programmable from a laptop or PC serial port) using a basic basic language. I bought the preprogrammed interface chip in a kit. Total cost so far approx US$38. Still need to get a thermocouple and interface circuit for that, or maybe just use a thermistor to measure the temp (the calculations may be a bit over the top for a thermistor). Then I need to mount it all somewhere. Sorry about the photo quality. I have another LCD that is much more compact without the big PCB, this is a trial version, it looks like it all should work    | ||
| Buellistic |
Opto: If you make them, THEY WILL SELL !!! If fact "i" would want 2, one for the bike and one for the PU TRK ... Who wants to be on the side of the road with a BAD BATTERY ??? In BUELLing LaFayette | ||
| Reepicheep |
Nice! As another option, please consider 6 more discrete lines, so we can have a "high normal low" LED in addition to (or in place of) the LCD display. That LCD would look cool mounted behind the clear flyscreen on the 9sx  I have not played with any of those pix devices... they look cool. They have been doing a lot of interesting hacking with the CVS disposable still digital cameras, and have described that as a $15 pix with color LCD graphical display. At some point it would be fun to go hacking that. Anyway, very cool work! If you could get a readout from the 02 sensor, and from the tach, that would be even cooler! It would be cool to get a sophisticated collaborative effort together and build up a serious onboard computing setup for the Buells. | ||
| Opto |
Reep, A 3-color red green blue LED would be very simple, compact and cheap, and would probably be all that us Buell riders really need, to keep an eye on the stator/voltage regulator. The LCD looks good but often the difference between a good result and a poor result is the mounting and attention to detail, which is usually a lot more difficult than building the internals. I'll see if I can take the temp from the CHT. Something like this manufactured in China would be very affordable! | ||
| Reepicheep |
Thats a great idea. Just two led's, one for temp (cold, up to temp, overheat) and one for voltage (low, OK, high) would be well worth the $35 or so worth of parts. | ||
| Road_thing |
We've been down this road before: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/cgibin/discus/show.cgi?tpc=47623&post=370349#POS T370349 rt | ||
| Buellistic |
Road_thing: "i" like Opto set up BEST !!! In BUELLing LaFayette | ||
| Henrik |
As Opto points out, the "exterior" packaging of the gadget would be key. Small, low profile, at least weather "resistant", preferably water proof. I'd love to have one though. I think there are lap timers that with the right set of sensors will also track temperature, RPM etc. etc. Henrik | ||
| Reepicheep |
Having both temperature and voltage indicators is what gets me interested... and all I really need are two lights with three colors for each, low / normal / high. I have a digital volt meter in the tail bag, so I don't really need a readout, just a heads up if the clock to stalling is ticking. And for the temp meter, it would be good to know when the bike is warmed up so I can start riding badly without guilt | ||
| Buellistic |
Opto: System chargeing, Battery voltage, and Low battery voltage are the key INFO ... In BUELLing LaFayette | ||
| 99x1 |
"...and all I really need are two lights..." This isn't as simple as it seems - LEDs (or any lamp) have to be incredibily bright to be seen in sunlight, but dim down at dusk / night to not become overly obnoxious. By the time ambient light sensors, non-linear lamp response, and a proper user interface is allowed for, it becomes quite complicated. Lately, the normal interface would be a bright flashing red or yellow lamp that indicates a fault / warning and then the LCD panel provides further info as to what the fault actually is (ie Low voltage, Alarm , FI, etc..). As well, when the key is turned on - the lamp should light to indicate it's working operation, then go out. IMHO only. | ||
| 2k4xb12 |
Along the same lines, but more compact (already comes in a standard 2.125" round gauge package) are the Spa Technique dual gauges. I have these in my F-350. They have a combination to suit most any need. Unfortunately, the closest they have to this application is a volts/water temperature gauge, but aside from the nomenclature, it should work...  Check out http://www.spatechnique.com/dualgauges/dualgauges.htm They also make a cool micro dash:  | ||
| Opto |
Thanks for all the input, I did a fair bit more searching on the net (and a bit on BWB), it looks like the best value easy batt monitor is what Al Lighton sells. I looked at LED displays as well (more robust and handle higher temps) and found some more compact LCD's as well at http://www.matrixorbital.com/index.php?cName=lcd-mop-character-lcds which could display the same info on 2 lines by 8 characters instead of the 2 lines by 16 characters that I'm using, much more compact. Reep, a bare bones minimum count circuit to run a single RGB (red-green-blue) LED would use 8 discrete components and an 8-pin programmable IC (Picaxe 08M) it could flash red if the voltage is below say 13.4V and flash blue until the CHT temp sensor on your bike reaches a temp of your choice. Not enough inputs/outputs on the 08M to incorporate dimming or run the green LED, unless you go to an 18-pin Picaxe 18A. These components could easily fit on a PCB under an inch square and with 2 x 10-bit ADC's and taking an average of 64 samples the cutoff points would be very accurate. Only downside is if you ride at night the flashing blue (undimmable) would be annoying until the engine warms up. Even that could be fixed with a few more discrete components I guess. One LED and a remote little square inch of electronics would be a fairly easy install, and very useful, and cheap. Hardest bit would be running the CHT wire. To add direct readout of temp looks quite expensive but to read "cold" "OK" or "HOT" would require one wire from the CHT sensor. I'm still keen on the LCD but putting it in some sort of display box is where I need some help. I think it would look real nice embedded in the instrument panel beneath the tacho if that is possible, a companion to the LCD clock/tripmeter, or maybe EB could just get it built into next years models? Or maybe mount it into a shroud near the front of the airbox lid with suitable m-f connectors so the lid can be removed and wiring disconnected easily? | ||
| 2k4xb12 |
Here's a very simple LED dimmer that I made some years ago to do the very same ting for some LED indicators in my pickup (torque converter lockup state and turbo temp. monitor status). Works extremely well and takes up almost no space.    |
