New OBDII scantool - Beta testers? - Page 11

michbound · 05-28-2007, 08:52 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by NiSlo

I've done a quick search, but couldn't find an answer. I thought I read something a while ago where someeone was saying that you can't use a serial to usb converter with the scantools? Ie. Using a serial scantool with a converter into a usb port. Am I making this up or is it possible?

I bough the serial tool a few months back, my system has changed lisghtly and the abaility to use usb would make things MUCH easier.

NiSlo,

Yes you will be able to use a serial to USB converter with the OBDPro serial scantool, just be careful as to the type of converter you choose, some of the converters seem to be flaky but most work just fine.

Thanks
Paul
www.obdpros.com

Addict · 05-28-2007, 10:26 PM

Looks impressive. I like the fact that it uses the same command set as the ELM chip. The baud rate is a definite plus for the CAN bus.

I may have to pick one of these up.

DM2 · 05-29-2007, 07:50 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by NiSlo

I've done a quick search, but couldn't find an answer. I thought I read something a while ago where someeone was saying that you can't use a serial to usb converter with the scantools? Ie. Using a serial scantool with a converter into a usb port. Am I making this up or is it possible?

I bough the serial tool a few months back, my system has changed lisghtly and the abaility to use usb would make things MUCH easier.

While it may be true what Paul says about his tool, there is some truth to the fact that not all USB to Serial converters will work. I've experienced this quite often to the point I purchased a PCMCIA card for my laptop from Quatech (www.quatech.com).

They have several varieties to include 1, 2 and 4 serial ports on a single card. I believe that the majority of programs that don’t play nice with USB to Serial adaptors are those written in the Window’s 98 and earlier. If you have a DOS based program I’d say there’s about a 90% chance that it won’t work with a USB to Serial Converter. This is due to a missing driver commonly used in DOS and abandoned in Windows XP.

NiSlo · 06-03-2007, 05:10 AM

Michbound and DM2, thanks for the input.

I'll chase one down and let you know how I go.

Addict · 06-07-2007, 11:37 AM

Just got mine today. Talk about fast shipping! Ordered it late Monday night and received it this morning. Can't wait to try it out.

ctsoccer13 · 06-08-2007, 04:24 PM

How are the response times on these? Is it a relatively quick response (ie. will virtually monitor speed/RPMs in realtime) or is there a bit of lag between the car's onboard computer and the computer?

What software do you all use with this interface to read it? I am hoping to have a nice interface into the RoadRunner frontend, so I was fishing for some suggestions.

Also, is there a difference in performance between the USB and Serial interfaces?

I love the low price of these modules, just trying to make sure it works well first. Sorry... low prices always make me a skeptic... not to mention I'm a cheapskate, lol

Thanks for the responses!

michbound · 06-08-2007, 08:24 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by ctsoccer13

How are the response times on these? Is it a relatively quick response (ie. will virtually monitor speed/RPMs in realtime) or is there a bit of lag between the car's onboard computer and the computer?

What software do you all use with this interface to read it? I am hoping to have a nice interface into the RoadRunner frontend, so I was fishing for some suggestions.

Also, is there a difference in performance between the USB and Serial interfaces?

I love the low price of these modules, just trying to make sure it works well first. Sorry... low prices always make me a skeptic... not to mention I'm a cheapskate, lol

Thanks for the responses!

Response times vary based on what protcol your vehicle supports and also the number of parameters that you monitor simultaneously, the OBD II spec defines different timeout's for responses and that will factor into the response, for CAN you can expect about 25-30 refreshes/sec, for rest of the protocols about 8-16 refreshes/sec.

All the ELM327 software packages will work with the OBDPro, some of the better ones are digimoto and PCMScan which are commercial packages, but the free ones such as wOBD, Scantool.net etc all work just fine, RoadRunner specific packages - maybe someone else can chime in for that.

No performance difference between the USB & Serial.

Thanks
Paul
www.obdpros.com

NiSlo · 07-04-2007, 07:05 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by NiSlo

Michbound and DM2, thanks for the input.
I'll chase one down and let you know how I go.

Just a quick update. I've finally got a usb to rs232 (serial) converter cable and it works perfectly. I got a cable with a male usb plug at one end and a male rs232 plug at the other, so it simply replaces the standard serial cable that goes between the OBDpros module and the pc that ships with the serial verison of the OBDpros.

The module itself works flawlessly

Dwaine · 07-05-2007, 06:28 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by NiSlo

Just a quick update. I've finally got a usb to rs232 (serial) converter cable and it works perfectly. I got a cable with a male usb plug at one end and a male rs232 plug at the other, so it simply replaces the standard serial cable that goes between the OBDpros module and the pc that ships with the serial verison of the OBDpros.

The module itself works flawlessly

Did you have to load Window XP device drivers for the usb serial dongle?

NiSlo · 07-05-2007, 06:35 PM

Yeah, the one I got needed an additional driver that came with it on a mini-cd. Once I ran the installer, it worked fine.

meltdownman · 07-29-2007, 03:34 PM

Will it work on my 2007 Nissan Sentra? I am interested in "baselining" current information and looking to keep a history on both the "generic sensors" and the Nissan Sentra Specific sensors. I can therefore track changes in my engine over the years and monitor its performance. I am not sure why other people do not do this. It would help simplifying future troubleshooting for Do it yourselfers or when you take the car to the shop.

michbound · 07-29-2007, 07:36 PM

It will work on the Sentra and will give you all the generic sensor information, but for the Nissan specific sensors you need to know the PID's and I do not have the info on the Nissan Specific pids, most of the low cost scantools do not have access to the "Secret" sensors and the auto companies want a bag of money before they will give us the info, maybe someday down the road, but not yet.

If you have to have the Nissan Specific sensors I was going to suggest Autotap but I just checked and even their software does not give you Nissan Data.

Thanks
Paul
www.obdpros.com

meltdownman · 07-30-2007, 12:06 AM

I emailed Autotap which I found by accident today and was waiting for a reply.....kind of scary that we were thinking along the same lines.

The other item is how to trick the Tire Pressure Monitoring Sytem (TPMS). This has been mandated by congress for 2007 due to uniflated tires waisting gas come to find out. However, people working in elevations and with changes in temperature in the Fall and Spring is also setting the dam things off in everyone's vehicle due to tight tolerances in pressure sensors.

I bought after market wheels and rims for the car and they did not come with the sensors. An extra 200 bucks if I want to clear the light on my dash (or use 3 cents worth of black electrical tape to hide it).

Get a load of this: come to find out also that some TPMS's are transmitted to the dash via a signal. People using metalic tint are finding out that the tint is interfering with the signal and the sensor is coming on. Oh and forget about pulling a fuse on a lot of cars. Congress has thought of that too. The law says that these cannot be turned off so the hooked the fuse up to critical components in parallel to the TPMS.

Anyone know how to defeat this signal for a new Sentra please let me know.

The Meltdownman