[V8] radio display

Tue Sep 20 22:59:19 EDT 2005

If you wanted to display any parameter from the ECU, here is a custom  
chip to help.
This is OBD-2, but I think in the VAG case, the protocol is pretty  
close.

This chip might work:
http://www.scantool.net/products/parts.htm#elm323
At this same scantool site, you will find freeware software.

Or there are plans here for an adaptor that works with the Ross Tech  
scan tool:
http://www.planetfall.com/~jeff/obdii/

Since this converts the VAG protocol (ISO9141) to serial, it would  
also work but you would have to handle in software all of the  
functions that the ELM chips provide.

So most of the hard work is done - "all" that needs to be done is  
decode the display, and adapt the software to run on some sort of  
micro-controller. No small task, but for people who do this sort of  
thing every day it is pretty easy.

In the end, it would be easier, faster, and cheaper to just get an  
old used Palm and some scantool software for it. Nowhere as cool as a  
homemade in-dash unit but oh well...

Dave

On Sep 20, 2005, at 7:41 PM, Buchholz, Steven wrote:

> ... well, if anyone with a 5-speed wants to have a gear indicator,  
> I'll
> bet an AT cluster can be reworked to fulfill the task ... I'll gladly
> trade the AT cluster in #2 for a 5-speed version ... might even be  
> able
> to change the nomenclature from PRND2L to 12345R ;-)  Setting up the
> switches ... you could probably put one microswitch for 1-3-5 and one
> for 2-4-R.  There are already switches in the tranny for 5th gear &
> reverse, so all you'd need is one more to tell whether the selector  
> was
> in 1 or 2 and you'd have all the info you'd need to create a gear
> indicator.  I must say, I've got a gear indicator on the Beemer ...
> don't really find it too useful ... other than knowing whether or not
> you're in top gear or neutral, the gear selection isn't that important
> to me ...
>
> Note that it will also be a bit of a project to incorporate a box that
> reads out the codes from the ECU/TCU/Instrument cluster on the fly and
> puts the info up on the IC.  If you really want this sort of info it
> would probably be much more efficient to simply wire up the MIL and
> hardwire a connector for a Palm Pilot with ProDiag ... this might be
> interesting ... you might be able to read parameters out of the data
> blocks to display them ... IAT for example ...
>
> So ... what would be useful to display?  We've already got a pretty  
> well
> stocked set of gauges ... I suppose you could get a WbO2 setup and  
> have
> it display in there ... or perhaps EGT ... maybe you can hook up  
> one of
> those ultrasonic distance measuring units and add a "range to target"
> display ... ;-)
>
> Steve B
> San Jose, CA (USA)
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Tony and Lillie [mailto:tonyandlillie1 at earthlink.net]
>> Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2005 5:35 PM
>> To: Coleman, David; Buchholz, Steven; v8 at audifans.com
>> Subject: Re: [V8] radio display
>>
>> I did one with a seperate light for each gear in a Fox when I was
>>
> younger.
>
>> Pretty simple, really. Seperate micro-switch for each gear. Also,  
>> only
>>
> four
>
>> forward gears. It would be a bit harder to figure how to incorperate
>>
> it into
>
>> the display, I imagine.
>>
>> Tony Hoffman
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Coleman, David" <David.Coleman at blackrock.com>
>> To: <Steven.Buchholz at kla-tencor.com>; <v8 at audifans.com>
>> Sent: Monday, September 19, 2005 9:26 PM
>> Subject: Re: [V8] radio display
>>
>>
>>
>>> Like have the box show what gear you're in?  Thatd be pretty cool
>>>
> for the
>
>>> stick shift contingent...
>>>
>>>
>>> --------------------------
>>> David A. Coleman
>>> BlackRock
>>> Sent via BlackBerry Wireless
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: v8-bounces at audifans.com <v8-bounces at audifans.com>
>>> To: v8 at audifans.com <v8 at audifans.com>
>>> Sent: Mon Sep 19 17:22:42 2005
>>> Subject: Re: [V8] radio display
>>>
>>> ... good luck!
>>>
>>> When I have a chance I'm going to monitor the data sent by the radio
>>>
> ...
>
>>> I fully expect it to be in some sort of bitmapped format.  What I'd
>>>
> like
>
>>> to do is to build up a box that would talk directly to the display
>>>
> so
>
>>> that it can be used for more than just the radio ...
>>>
>>> If you want to investigate further, I'd expect you'd more likely to
>>>
> have
>
>>> success if you stayed with Blaupunkt ...
>>>
>>> Steve B
>>> San Jose, CA (USA)
>>>
>>>>
>>>> So, has anyone installed an aftermarket unit that will feed the
>>>>
> proper
>
>>> data
>>>
>>>> package to the dash to show the station information on the existing
>>>>
>>> display?
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