Autocal and external wideband using serial comms

[HOWQUICK]

hey guys. Bit of help if anyone can. Trying to get a autocal to log and external WB PLX on serial. Iam on the RX/TX with ground on the Autocal board.

Brought in external serial via V8...get nothing but gook as far as afr readings....

Has anyone been successful with this? If so...got some pointers?

[joecar]

Did you swap Tx/Tx (i.e. null modem style)...?

[joecar]

( is AutoCal able to read serial comms from wideband...? )

[HOWQUICK]

Did you swap Tx/Tx (i.e. null modem style)...?

reckon that is where Iam on the wrong page...any condense veiw on wiring that in on a PLX?

[5.7ute]

Have you had a read through this John? https://forum.efilive.com/showthread.php?7726-PLX-SM-AFR-Serial-upgrade&highlight=plx+serial

[HOWQUICK]

Have you had a read through this John? https://forum.efilive.com/showthread.php?7726-PLX-SM-AFR-Serial-upgrade&highlight=plx+serial

I did start to but need the abridged (condensed) version...too many pages!

Any one got a summary?

[minytrker]

( is AutoCal able to read serial comms from wideband...? )

Yes, but you have to modify the autocal for it to work.

[Tre-Cool]

I didn't think the autocal supported external wideband via serial or analog?

[HOWQUICK]

I didn't think the autocal supported external wideband via serial or analog?

well Dave it does. That is why Iam trying to hooking it up.

[Tre-Cool]

well Dave it does. That is why Iam trying to hooking it up.

Well that's good to hear, something must have changed recently then as I wasn't aware of any official announcements.

Going back to a thread in 2011, the following was mentioned.


At the risk of being a downer I don't think this is something that will be on the to-do list anytime soon. The AutoCal (rightly or wrongly) was designed and specified to not include a serial (or analogue) wideband connection. Please also consider that while Innovate is likely to represent a reasonable proportion of what customers are using it is just one of many wideband controllers that are out there.
https://forum.efilive.com/showthread.php?15080-AutoCal-WBO2-Just-an-idea

[joecar]

Well that's good to hear, something must have changed recently then as I wasn't aware of any official announcements.

...It has to be modified by the end user.

[Tre-Cool]

It has to be modified by the end user.

Got a link or able to send me the details? This would suit me better for the drag cars as apposed to risking the full v2 unit in a vehicle.

[HOWQUICK]

but it can't be done Dave!!

There are no official details as this would bring a flood of warrenty claims. You have to open it up and work it out as Iam doing...

[Tre-Cool]

but it can't be done Dave!!

There are no official details as this would bring a flood of warrenty claims. You have to open it up and work it out as Iam doing...

I didn't say it can't be done? I figured if efi's statement is that they never planned on supporting wideband input then that would be that. Even if the hardware really was technically capable.

As for the warranty claims, easily fixed if efi changes the firmware to disable it all together, but no one is going to want that.

I do genuinely wish you good luck with it though.

[joecar]

There is a thread somewhere here posted a long time ago, I'm looking for it...

[Blacky]

WARNING: Opening an AutoCal device will void the manufacturer's warranty.

That said, if you still wish to open your AutoCal to make a serial connection you can do so by connecting to the RX, TX and GND holes on the circuit board as shown in the image below.

19030



Only connect RS232 signals to the RX, TX and GND connector holes.
DO NOT connect any power source to AutoCal via any of the 5 connector holes.
DO NOT draw any power from AutoCal from any of the 5 connector holes.
DO NOT connect anything the the RD\ or VCC connector holes.


The serial interface on AutoCal is functionally identical to the serial interface on FlashScan.

For advanced users, to help debug serial connections there is an option on AutoCal's menu that will dump the RS232 raw binary TX/RX data buffers to a file that can be viewed using a hex viewer tool such as HexWorkshop.
To save the raw data buffers as a *.bin file, start AutoCal in advanced menu mode (hold down the "Next" button while powering up AutoCal), then select "Scan Tool", then scroll down to the "Save COM" option. Use EFILive Explorer to copy the *.bin file to your PC for viewing.

The *.bin file is split into 3 sections:

$0000..$03FF is the data transmitted by AutoCal to the connected, serial device.
$0400..$07FF is the data received by AutoCal from the connected, serial device.
$0800..$0FFF unused.


Regards
Paul

[derek1387]

Any more information on this? I am looking at a PLX wide band and not seeing on the PLX how it would connect to a serial connector.....unless im just not looking at the right thing.

[Tre-Cool]

the plx is crap, give up on it and move to a better wideband with proper serial support.

Take a look at the AEM X-series kits.

[derek1387]

Alright, such as the AEM or possibly an Innovate? Then just wire in the RX/TX/Ground to the Autocal with a connector, and match it on the wideband controller?

[Tre-Cool]

well you really only need the tx from the wideband on the rx of the autocal unit and you'll get wideband data

[derek1387]

Ahh OK. But, only if its serial. Not analog data. Correct?

[derek1387]

well you really only need the tx from the wideband on the rx of the autocal unit and you'll get wideband data

Got everything hooked up from the Innovate LC2 to my Autocal, wired to the RX/Ground...not receiving any data. Is there anything special in EFILive i need to add other than the Serial WB PIDs?

[joecar]

Did you configure FSV2 to read your wideband...?

See post #3 here: Setting-up-a-FSV2-from-scratch (https://forum.efilive.com/showthread.php?20699-Setting-up-a-FSV2-from-scratch)