OB II to USB - Page 2

digimotojoel · 11-27-2006, 02:10 AM

The Digimoto USB devices are available now. You can find pricing on our website if you are interested.

ProScan · 11-30-2006, 01:49 PM

I just wanted to chime in and provide my 2 cents since my company was brought up...

I know that we've been bashed on this forum in the past for slow shipping and slow customer service, but so have some of the other companies you are talking to.

Our customized hardware is provided to us by ScanTool.net, and they are a very stable and reliable business. So I can assure you that you will not have any problems ordering with them, if you so choose. Additionally, as of last week, all orders for our ProScan kits are being shipped directly to the customer from ScanTool.net. So you can safely ignore everything that you have read on this forum in the past about our slow shipping. Our kits ship same-day or next business day, guaranteed.

If all you need is a universal scan tool with a USB interface for checking codes, clearing your check engine light, and reading sensor data, then you need not worry about ASCII-translation, USB 2.0, etc. If the price for such hardware is within your budget, then go for it. But don't be convinced to pay significantly more, because for the next few years all you will probably be doing with your tool is checking codes and monitoring sensors.

To compare software, most support the basic features:
1.) Read trouble codes and display the definitions
2.) Reset check engine light
3.) Read supported generic sensors

But if you're going to pay for an application, be sure it has all the features that you will need. Some things to look for that you may want, but a lot of titles don't have are:

*) Generate performance statistics (quarter mile, 0-60, etc.)
*) Support english and/or metric units
*) Support multiple views of sensor data (text, graphs, etc.)
*) Support monitoring of more than one sensor at a time
*) Support logging of sensor data to file (xml, csv, etc.)
*) Support playback of recorded sensor data
*) Support oxygen sensor tests. This is a nice feature that very few support.
*) Capability to generate and print diagnostic reports (if you own a shop).
*) Make sure the company allows free or discounted upgrades. Otherwise, you'll be locked into the features (and BUGS) you have.
*) Look for a company with a long track record. Most new software will certainly have a lot of bugs, and it will take a few versions to get things stable.

I *believe* that ELM-based hardware has much more active software development taking place, at least from what I've been able to find. But most of the freely available software that I have used are of very low quality, and the nice software titles are relatively expensive. So shop around and find a nice bundled package.

Good luck,
David Gore
Developer of ProScan
http://www.MyScanTool.com

digimotojoel · 12-02-2006, 10:12 PM

I ran a few tests with the Digimoto application tonight against an ECU emulator ~ granted I was running the ELM 327 based hardware at the 9600 baud (I tried to jumper it, but until I get a soldering gun I am SOL right now, my version doesn't have any pins). The problem Digimoto has, and any software will have with the ELM327 interface is that because it attempts to translate the data into ASCII text, the speed at which data is pumped through the interface is close to retarded.

Against J1850-VPWM interface, ELM was displaying data at around 5 pulls a second (actually I am rounding up). The mOByDic based interface makes around 18 pulls a second (same software against the same emulator). If the ELM327 pulled at 10 queries a second on 38k baud I would be surprised, although I would love for someone with an ELM set at 38k (or running on the USB 2.0) update me on the speeds they are seeing against a VPW supported vehicle. Our hardware also supports USB 2.0 and it doesn't make any difference in speed, whether you are running at 9600 baud or piping through a USB 2.0 port... just not enough data and the interface is not fast enough for that to even matter (and this is on an interface that is quite faster then the ELM).

On CAN, the mOByDic based hardware runs 400%+ faster ~ no matter how good the software is, if the hardware isn't designed for speed it's not really going to matter. The ELM is a popular DIY tool, but when you can get interfaces out there that query 3 to 5x faster for data... it's not worth it. It would make sense to purchase one of the $49 single interface units from ScanTool.net imo, but if you are going to pay $130-$140 for an interface, go for quality.

I'm still waiting for Paul to update his OBDPros interface

. I think if done correctly this could be one of the better options out there.