Thread: New OBDII scantool - Beta testers?

Originally Posted by digimotojoel

Paul,

Are you actually making your hardware reply telling people it is in fact an ELM chip? Just curious how detailed you are designing your hardware to mimic the ELM communication. Also, I have noticed the ELM chip (even the latest ELM327 chip, especially on CAN) communicates at an extremely slow rate, most likely caused because of that translation the hardware is attempting to do. Have you run any speed tests between your hardware and theirs? I would be interested to know if your hardware runs faster then the actual ELM based hardware.

Hi Joel,

Thanks for the bump.

1. Yes, Its not an ELM327 chip but implements the ELM327 commands so that the interface will work with the huge number of ELM327 compatible software. On an ATI command, the interface says "ELM327 v1.0a compatible - OBDPro v1.0", most software packages are able to deal with this since they do a substring search for the text ELM327. I had to mimic the ELM command set to maintain compatibility with all the software, though nowadays I hope someone will be willing to do a client implementation that would accept binary commands as it would also help reduce the amount of data being sent over the serial port. I am developing a version with a binary command set, but then looks like I might have to implement the front end also.

2. The OBDPro does allow setting the communications speed all the way upto 128KBPS so at the higher speeds it will be faster than the ELM, I have done benchmarking against the ELM and will publish the numbers that I have soon, unfortunately I do not have the latest ELM chip so I am using version 1.0a, obviously the limiting factor is the speed at which you can send data out the narrow serial pipe.


Paul
www.obdpros.com

Paul,

If you build a tool that strips the communication down to a binary level we will support it. I understand your concern and seeing that the ELM already has a popular base for software I understand your reasoning behind implementing a similar method of communication, however these methods of communicating will become much more apparent in the near future when people start working on CAN compatible vehicles. If you have the ability to build a smarter/faster interface, do it.

Just for the record:

I received my OBDPro (USB) yesterday, connected it to my 2005 Acrua TL and my CarPC. I then installed the USB-Serial drivers that came on a CD with the ODBPro. Next I configured Streetdeck to connect to my ELM323 device on COM5 and everything works. Easy breezy!

I am very happy!

Steve

Originally Posted by TheBiz

Just for the record:

I received my OBDPro (USB) yesterday, connected it to my 2005 Acrua TL and my CarPC. I then installed the USB-Serial drivers that came on a CD with the ODBPro. Next I configured Streetdeck to connect to my ELM323 device on COM5 and everything works. Easy breezy!

I am very happy!

Steve

Hi Steve,

I am glad to hear that the interface is working well in your vehicle. We love to hear from our customers (especially when it's good feedback).

Thanks for posting your experiences. (The check is in the mail ).

Paul
www.obdpros.com

Dam, I miss the boat on beta. Otherwise, I would test on my 04 Matrix (aka Corolla) and 2K Accord.
Too busy with RoadRunner stuff.

I am seriously considering going with this hardware. I am new to this, but have been needing something like this for a long time.

Any other comments or recommendations anybody?

Originally Posted by powerlover

I am seriously considering going with this hardware. I am new to this, but have been needing something like this for a long time.

Any other comments or recommendations anybody?

It's an excellent price on what appears to be an excellent design from a newcomer in the genre.

I have three OBD II interfaces, an $80 box, a $125 box and a $350 box, I use each of them for different reasons. If this interface had been out when I bought my middle-priced box, I would have bought this one instead.

I love the fact that this interface allows for a faster data rate, and for the geek, removes the "AT" interface layer thus allowing for tighter integration with the OBD II data.

michbound, If I were to place an order, when should I expect delivery?

i would love to try it on my 2006 honda ridgeline.