I really want to keep track of alot of the temperatures, boost numbers, oil temps, pressure's and so on in the MCS. There are alot of mods to affect these aspects of the engine and i want to see how they affect each as i add mods. I would also love to mount the palm that runs the software so i can monitor live as these things change just as if they were normal gauges.

I've done a search on Google for "ODBII Palm" and come up with a few different software packages and i'm just wondering which one is the best?

Also which Palm should i invest in to do this. I think i definitely want a color one so its easy to read at a glance and nice to look at hehe. But this will definitely be dedicated to the car so i don't need its PDA functionality for my life so i don't want to get an ALL OUT palm. Having some kind of expandable memory would help so i can save data log's and such.

Also on some of the sites for this software i've seen that it says compatibility for 04' BMW in CAN format. Now does this mean that 04' MINI's are using CAN? I've heard CAN is a bit quicker and more robust than OBDII and would be nice to have instead. Anybody know?

Here is a short list of what i've found so far:

http://www.autoenginuity.com/index.html

http://www.autotap.com/autotap_for_palm.html

http://www.pocketlogger.com/

http://www.auterraweb.com/

http://www.qcontinuum.org/obdgauge/

http://www.nology.com/pdadyno.html

 

That's too cool. Good post! I should have realized that someone would put something like this on a PDA. I want one! Hope someone can post a review?

 

I've often wondered the same thing. Thanks for putting that post together. I'd certaily appreciate it if anybody with experience in these could point us in the right direction. :smile:

 

WOW! Thanks a ton for the information, exactly what I was looking for!

 

Thanks for the info. I think I'll take the plunge and order a tool and software for my Palm. After my recent EML light episode and given all my mods, I sure would like to try and diagnose issues by reading codes and consulting a manual rather than going to the dealer. I plan to save this thread and report back later.

 

I guess nobody has tried any of these systems? So far the Autoengenuity one is in the lead for me because its bluetooth capable along with palm and pocketpc. But i heard from one of our members on Focaljet it had issue's so i was wondering if anybody on NAM had any impressions of the others.


Do you think we would get more responses in Performance? Could a Mod possibly move it there?

 

I just ordered the scantool from Auterra. I should get it Friday

 

So what made you decide on the Auterra software?

 

I like AutoEnginuity myself. I got it on my pocket pc but it's awesome on the palm as well. The guy behind it over there is Jay Horak. This guy is a geeker and very cool. AutoEnginuity stays up-to-date on all the latest with OBDII so you can bet the software will always be great.

I emailed them and asked them to add a few more thing in regards to the use of monitoring the car with the software.

I wanted:

- Saved profiles for seperate cars
- Threshold alerts.

There was some other things I can't think of right now as well. He said they already have that all worked in to the next version coming out in July. Damn I was impressed.

They are always really helpful over there and will get to the bottom of any information you want on the car. If they can tap into it they will.

Jarrad

 

Well, I sprung for the extra cost of having it overnighted, only to be dissapointed by no package showing up. I called Auterra, only to get a voice message stating to email them. So I've done that stating I expect shipping charge compensation for not delivering as promised. We'll see how this pans out, but it's not starting out good

 

update:
Auterra replied quickly, and apologized, stating they screwed up my shipping style request (UPS Ground, not FedEx next-day air). They refunded ALL my shipping costs! This is awesome of them. So even though they messed up, they went above and beyond trying to make it as right as they could. Kudos! So, anyway, I should get it Wednesday, unless UPS goes on strike

...until then, Motor-On,
Ryan

 

So what made you decide on the Auterra software?

 

Graphs from an $80 ELM-ISO board from scantool.net

 

Boy those ELM-ISO graphs are quaint. :smile:


One of the things that I think would be useful is the ability to download data from your PDA to generate more advanced graphs on the computer. I spoke to the people at auterra today about this, and they told me that their product can output tab-delimited files to a PC, so you can then create your own graphs. While this is somewhat useful, it is not the most user-friendly solution.

I then found out that they are working on a better solution - a PC program that will pull the data directly from the PDA and create graphs. The rep I talked to said it would "likely" be a free upgrade.

 

OK OK, I'll answer your question!

Basically, the Auterra looked to have the best combination of easy-to-use GUI combined with a plethora of features (the dyno software a definitely bonus). Also, the Auterra had among the most positive feedback I could dig up in the Web of the scan-tools listed in your first post. Naturally, it's also a bit of "I like this site better", as well as the literal statement that their software will work with my smartphone (Handspring Treo 600), in addition to having the correct cable, in-stock! It all added up to "BUY ME!", so I did

--->jkagan; that's good news on the "likely" free upgrade. Did they happen to slip in a timeline for that?

Cheers,
Ryan

 

That is how I generated the graphs I posted.

YOU could use Microsoft Excel and create rainbow pie-charts if you wanted from the data.

I like the answers from line graphs that's all.

 

Unfortunately, no. I pushed pretty hard on it, but all they would offer is that they are working on it and they have dedicated significant resources to it. Because of the free return period I ordered their product, and I'll call them once I receive it to try again.

 

OK, got the Auterra scanner today. oooOOOooo, nice packaging

The scanner portion works as described, which is awesome
The dyno portion works as described, which is awesome.

transferring data from Palm to PC, however, is, well, yukkie

I ended up manually key'ing from my dyno pulls into Excel. I sure hope Auterra can get a good exporter/converter to go from the Palm files to Excel (or whatever) soon!

I was pretty surprised to see such a huge variation in outputs (up to 20Lb-Ft and 10HP!), as I was keeping a close eye on my IAT and ECT, keeping them at 90F and 190F (+/- 2 F) respectively, prior to each run. Peak HP, however, only varied by 3 HP over the 5 pulls; it was the peak torque that was all over the map, both in output and at which RPM it occured.

 

Wow thats awesome Rye, i can't wait to get mine so i can track all types of things going on with my car.

I have the random stumble and almost stalling and i would love to see whats going on with all the sensors when its doing that.

I would also like to test the Dyno against a real dynojet. Thanx for keeping us updated with your progress. You gotta show us some other cool stuff once you're more versed in the software.

Ohh one other thing, can you monitor boost?

 

he can since he has a bost gauge, but i do not believe any of the software out there can tell you boost since there is no sensor for it on the car for it to read.

 

Of course the car reads boost, doesn't the Alta Gauge pod connect only to the computer to get Boost and Oil pressure or something of that sort. Also the 05 Mini's will have a boost gauge and i don't think they installed a new sensor.

 

agokart, you can count on me slapping you when I see you tomorrow. No sensor for boost... ...that's a good one

It's called the MAP sensor. Spell it with me now: Manifold Absolute Pressure. Readings are either in kPa or inHg, 0 being a total vacuum. I haven't printed up a cute cheat-sheet to tell me how much boost 50inHg is yet

 

but it's not like a normal boost gauge. you can not just look at it and tell what boost you are running. and i am sure the 05's will convert it for you. so i am part right part wrong. so instead of a slap, maybe just a pinch. and since you have the new toy you can put your old real world boost gauge in my car, but mounted it were i can see it...and with a light..lol oh i need some sleep.

 

Ryan, I was real impressed with the graphs and display for the Auterra. I'd like to see it in action some time. Do you know of similar software for the Pocket PC or I guess a laptop would do. There's a lot out there, but what do people recommend?

 

Here is one for PocketPC Software

It doesn't look like it makes graphs though.

If you have a PalmOS machine, you can use thisOBDGuage