Did he forget to mention that the new tuner module design was jet powered ?

>because it's not going to happen at all..

Well, never say never. Someone might do a little run with Patrick's design, or some crazy millionaire could do a run of 1,000 for his 1,000 vehicles.

So the likelihood may be infinitesimal, but I wouldn't say it's zero just yet.

Alex

It seems quite likely that someone will come to an agreement with Patrick to sell fully assembled versions of his kit. I believe he has already been approached by a few people interested in doing this.

Rob

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So the likelihood may be infinitesimal, but I wouldn't say it's zero just yet.

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Sorry... I sometimes tend to be too negative... if I ever win the Lotto and become a crazy millionaire... we'll all have tuners!

ISTR the kit aspect was to get around needing all the various regulatory approvals. If Patrick sells pre-assembled ones, then in theory he'd need to get them CE/FCC approved.

Hugo

Patrick,
I sent you a mail a couple weeks ago - I got no answer so far... Seems you are quite busy. I was only asking if it could be possible for you to publish the schema of the tuner on a website. If not - I'll have to wait for the kit then... hope it wont take that long from now on ;-)

I don't think the schematic would be that useful. The actual tuner module is hard enough to get as it is and you need to recreate the PIC firmware for it to work anyway.

You got some neat idea for it?

- Trevor

Hi again.

I'm finally back, having found and killed the problem that stopped me posting for the last few weeks. It was indeed a cache bug, due to Telewest having nearly as much ability in setting up their 'transparent' web proxy as a blind 15th century norwegian peasant with no hands, one eye, and a wooden appendix.

Anyway.

I have spent a couple of days doing the PCB for the tuner module, after a long and bloody struggle to decide on a suitable enclosure for the thing. I finally decided on this one, which is almost exactly the same width and length as the current tuner module, but about 60% deeper. The one pictured isn't the one I'll use, as it's a more expensive one made of polycarbonate. Since there is not likely to be a requirement to have a bulletproof tuner, I'll use an ABS one, which is about half the price.

This is a screen grab from the pcb package printer dialogue of the silkscreen and pads of the board set, which gives some idea of the complexity. As can be seen, it's quite simple, although due to the component size versus the board area the packing density is a little high. If you're interested, this is a screen grab from the artwork editor, showing the board layout in glorious technicolour.

There are two boards, which connect together in a vertical stack about 3/4 of an inch apart. The bottom board has the tuner itself on, with support circuitry, while the top board is the processor one, which contains everything else. Each board is about 2.25 x 2.8 inches in size, although the bottom board bulges a little to accomodate the tuner module.

It shouldn't take a competent solderist more than about 20-30 minutes to build the boards, assuming all the component leads are bent correctly beforehand. The bottom board is fixed into the box by four 20mm M3 mounting pillars screwed through the cornet holed, then the top board plugs in and is secured by 4 M3 screws into the tops of the pillars.

To save cost, the boxes won't be punched like the original ones, with neat cutouts for the connectors and so on. The antenna input and empeg lead will exit through grommets, which makes the drilling easier, and gives a free extension cable at the same time.

I have just sent the job files off the the PCB manufacturer, to have five boards made on a one-week turnaround. If all goes well, and I haven't flamingoed up, I should have a build and possibly even working unit in time to take to Holland next month. This depends, of course, on actually getting the sample tuner module, which is still apparently a week away, as it has been for a month.

Now, for some news that might interest various people: I have added value to the tuner!

There were some IO lines left on the PIC, and I hate wasting things... So the tuner can have (possibly optionally, have to think about it), a pair of 1.5A 12V mosfet-driven outputs and 4 12v compatible inputs. Also, it is possible to stack another board on top of the existing set, which can have another PIC on along with various I/O facilities. There is just room in the box, as far as I can work out, to allow the top board, which I haven't designed yet. Future project.

Now. On to another matter. Why the FECK do banks insist on using crap security websites that only work with either IE (the most insecure web browser in existence, a pox be upon all who wrote it), or old versions of Netscape, which are just unreliable in the extreme. Trying to manage my bank accounts with a browser that, when it crashes, screws the current session so thoroughly that the web server then locks my account so I have to phone the bank helpline (HA!) and have them unlock it is just a pain.

Oh well. Life's like that, then you wake up one morning dead. Bummer.

pca

> a blind 15th century norwegian peasant with no hands, one eye, and a wooden appendix.

If he's blind, does it really matter that much how many eyes he has?

nearly as much ability in setting up their 'transparent' web proxy as a blind 15th century norwegian peasant with no hands, one eye, and a wooden appendix.

Ah, Patrick, never failing to give us a really good quote.

You sir, are THE MAN. This is all great news.

this is a screen grab from the artwork editor, showing the board layout in glorious technicolour.

What, no secret messages sandwiched between the layers?

What, no secret messages sandwiched between the layers?

You were expecting maybe "!seineew era sreenigne esioNtahP"?

That's great news to hear Patrick. I think some were thinking you'd disappeared. Hope the tuner module sample comes through - did you decide on the full option one?

BTW: You had better have some place safe to hide once you release this design. The onslaught of people wanting tuners is going to be huge.... (I'm thinking an old castle with a drawbridge and moat )

Keep up the good work.

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... a suitable enclosure for the thing. I finally decided on this one...

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Do you have dimensions for the box? I'm cramped for space inside my home enclosure, but there's a space of about 8x6x8cm if I can move leads out of the way. Otherwise I'll have to mount it externally or swap with the one in the car.

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There are two boards, which connect together in a vertical stack about 3/4 of an inch apart.

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If space is an issue, can they be mounted side-by-side (in a different enclosure, obviously)? Or are there connectors which depend on the alignment?

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I have added value to the tuner!

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Is it possible to distinguish the new tuners from the original, in software? I'd like to be sure that any software that uses your new features won't break a standard tuner (and vice-versa). You said earlier that you were reducing the tuner ID to two bits; does this mean that the other two bits on a standard tuner will appear as inputs?

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... as much ability ... as a blind 15th century norwegian peasant with no hands, one eye, and a wooden appendix.

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A gem!

Again, thanks for making the effort. I'll be getting one, even if it does mean having to invest in a sensible (small) soldering iron.

2 questions:

1) If you're dead, how can you wake up?

2) Is this thing going to be hard to assemble? Do we have to soder all of those little bitty components?

1) If you're dead, how can you wake up?

*sigh*

2) Is this thing going to be hard to assemble?

Dependes if you have any soldering expertise or not. If you're capable of doing the button hack yourself, then I don't think this will be a problem for you.

But I won't get my fingers burned on this one : I'll just ask a mate of whick I'm sure he's capable to do it right.

Yeah, I don't have any soldering talent whatsoever. Maybe someone on here will be assembling them for people for a fee.

Greetings!

As always, WOW! Thanks!!! A nice piece of work!

Every time I open an empeg up to mess with the hard drives or something, I just have to stop for a moment and just stare at the main board! Art!!!

If you're capable of doing the button hack yourself, then I don't think this will be a problem for you.

Having seen the resistor pack used in the button hack at the recent Boston Meet I don't think I'll be doing any soldering.
Is there any one in the Boston area, or US for that matter, who might assemble them for Dougals like myself?

Err, AFAIK, Patrick has come up with a through-hole design to make the soldering easier - none of that impossible to see surface-mount stuff, so it *should* be vastly easier for anyone with basic soldering competancy to handle. That being said, I (like everyone else here besides Patrick) haven't seen a kit yet, so it's not for me to give a definate answer. But I wouldn't expect to see any of those resistor packs! It's probably not a good idea to compare the button hack soldering to this kit - except to say that anyone capable of the button hack should be vastly overqualifed to assemble this kit.

I would say that this kit is probably not for those who have never picked up a soldering iron before - Patrick has hinted at the component density and the component count, and that combined with the costs of buying suitable tools and the effort needed to practice soldering skills might make it undesirable, but certainly not impossible.

Anyway, I'm in Boston, and time permitting will be able to help out those who need it.

Looking good.

The one thing that concerns me is how I'm going to get one of those behind my dash. Getting the Empeg in in the first place called for the gentle application of brute force over ignorance when it came to making space for all the connectors on the back. Is it possible to extend the connector on the tuner so that I can mount it elsewhere?

Paul

As it were, the original tuners came with a extension cable about a foot long.

/Michael

Ooh! Grammar nazi time!

As it were, the original tuners came ...

Improper use of the subjunctive case. (Or, possibly just incorrect number, but getting to talk about subjunctives is so much more fun.)

Happy Happy day, happy day, happy day......
Looks awsome! Thanks you for time and effort well spent! Optional Longish leads for all connections would be greatly appreciated by those of us cursed with Single DIN very cramped german cars (no names just intitials, B..M..W)

Strong work!!!

Tuners.....close......getting.....excited.....must......find.......person.....with......soldering.......skills........

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those of us cursed with Single DIN very cramped german cars

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Sheeiiit...I wish I was "cursed" with a BMW...

You be suprrised what can fit back there on the E36 models. I got the tuner in without much fuss, but with the extra height you might have to go behind the glove box (plenty of room back there).

John

Ooh! Grammar nazi time!

Oh pooh... In my defense I'll claim that I was dog tired at the time and that english isn't my first language... Now, I'm still dog tired and up at 5 am...

/Michael

This is great - Im looking forward to the kit. I just have to work on those soldering skills. I havent done that since I was kid.

I have a e36 3 series and it has loads of room just drop out your glovebox and nice easy access and i might be possible to mount another din slot in below the clock/trip computer thingy.

I'd be keen to solder kits for people. Except I'm in Australia and buyers will have to pay a little more for shipping and wait a tad longer.