Xavier8

Dunno if you have the time, but I would love to be on the list for the "transitor trick" also. I could build my own with a board if needed (meaning I can give the old soldering iron a go), but will pay for a finished unit if you have the time. Love to see how it would feel on my 12a powered Triumph Spitfire. Any little bit of power makes her so much faster when you only weigh 1700 lbs. Thanks.

lovintha7

My circuit will be for sale here in the next week or so. It'll include everything, even the coil. The only thing You'll have to do is mount the coil, plug into the J109, supply power and ground. And of course, hook up the plug wires.

This is the 2nd or 3rd box ever made I do believe, so it does have the switch on the side, and is not automatic switching from fixed to variable.

gsl-se addict

iTrader: (3)

I can list the parts if you guys would like. I do have about 6 weeks before I leave. I think I can build a fairly large number of boards by then. If the prototype works out, I can etch several boards at a time. About 3 or 4 of these circuits will fit on a standard 4"x6" board. I will also make just boards or kits for those who want to just assemble themselves. The good thing about doing it this way is that I can get quantity discounts on the parts. Plus parts that aren't availiable locally, it doesn't make sense to just ship 1 or 2 things. Also, since I would get the parts though digikey or mouser, the parts would be 3 to 10 times cheaper than RadioShack. This way I can get you guys a board plus components for alot less than if you got them all yourself. If you already have the components, I could provide just the board itself.

I am still on the hunt for those connectors. I wish I had a part number or manufacturer to go by. I will keep the search up. If any of you guys could look around too, that would be really helpful. The connector is the same as the one used in the back of the alternator.

I will check the circuit over a bit more tonight. I will give the prototype a shot probably tomorrow. If it works well, I'll probably put that one up for sale and start getting all the components to assemble the rest of the boards. One of the reasons for going to the PCBs is the time savings for assembling. The first batch was point-to-point connections. This is fine for a couple boards, but takes too much time to assemble more than that. Once the boards are etched, these should assemble within minutes. The old way probably took an hour or two.

For those interested in a kit an assembled unit, or just a board, let me know if you haven't already. I will probably plan on doing 15 or 20 of these, more if requested.

Kent

Xavier8

I'll buy the prototype, be glad to be the test bed if the spot isn't already filled. Already have the 2nd gen coil mounted for direct fire, just have to find the ignitor I cut off. Let me know.

gsl-se addict

iTrader: (3)

Sure thing. If you are comfortable soldering, maybe I'll just leave the ignitor plug off and you can solder yours on (BY goes to B, YL goes to C). I'll put it in a box and put all the other connections on. I imagine that your harness is already cut because of the 2GCDFIS and the fact that it isn't a 7. I want to do the others with ignitor connectors on them, so people won't have to cut their harness and it makes it easy to switch back if ever needed.

Kent

craigt

Kent, how much and how are you taking payment?

Xavier8

Kent, you are correct in assuming I have already cut my ignitor plug off a main harness, so I wouldn't have to kill a good harness. Even with the 2nd gen coil, I have it set up to run stock ignition on the leading if I have to (happened once when the coil stopped firing). Ready and willing, PM me with payment instructions when you are ready.
Aaron

gsl-se addict

iTrader: (3)

I haven't really set prices, but I am shooting for $25 shipped for the fully built unit. Now that I think about it, I may have 4 prototypes. The board is small, so about 4 circuits will fit on a 4x6 board. I will see if I have enough parts or can get locally to assemble 4.

I may make the 4 boards, but only assemble the one for now. The others will follow quickly (just whatever time it takes to get the parts). It is much cheaper to get the parts through mail order than locally. Plus, some of the parts are hard to find local.

Xavier8: I'll let you know. I'll see if I can get the board etched and drilled tomorrow. Then I will assemble and test.

jayroc

Can you make a board that will take a +5v signal to trigger the fixed pulse width mode? I can set my megasquirt ECU to output 5v at a given RPM.
BTW, Kent, if you haven't checked out MSnS-Extra, you NEED to do that soon.
http://megasquirt.sourceforge.net/extra/index.html

My circuit is still going strong. Great job.

gsl-se addict

iTrader: (3)

Thanks. Glad it is still working well. How is the tuning coming? I have seen the MSnS-Extra. Looks cool. Haven't tried it though. Haven't had time to do any tuning. Went back to stock. Maybe in the next couple weeks I can get some tuning in.

I could probably do some sort of switching circuit that could do that. Currently, I am doing the switching based on pulsewidth. This way, whichever mode has the highest pulsewidth, controls the output. This is done just by adding an OR gate to the two outputs. So if either one or both is high, the output is high.

The reason that I believe that people notice the improvement in the high end with the fixed pulsewidth is that the J-109 probably drops below 2ms at that point. The fixed mode, however, forces the PW to be 2ms so the fixed PW mode has a longer pulse (longer charge time) than the variable mode at that point.

toxic_d

gsl-se addict I don't wish to take anything away from you but I mentioned that I was willing to put one together myself in the first place... just anxiously awaiting a parts list and diagram for an auto switching unit... the work you've put into this is awsome and everyone seems to be happy with it.

Toxic_d

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

A list of the parts would be great. I definitely want a board but if the price is right I'm up for a fully assembled kit. You mentioned 25 bucks, thats a great price. Put me on the list and let us know how we pay you.

I won't get to this for at least a few weeks. Going to the junkyard Friday to see if I can pick up some bits including the 2nd gen coil pack and some igniters.

Tim

BlastinSideways12A

I would like a build-it-yourself kit with some nice directions. I have FC coils lying around waiting to be put in. I'm lost as far as how this mod works and goes in but I know after I install it once I'll be very familiar it. Just like I was with DLIDFIS.

teejs

Hello again GSL-SE ADDICT,
I thought I'd drop a line. I'm going through a 'too busy' stage. Hopefully it will calm down soon. Anyway I wanted to insure a place on the 'list' and, if it's ok, I'd like to get some money to you....and if you decide to up the anty at some point, for whatever reason, I'd be glad to add to it. I just don't want to inadvertantly forget. So let me know and also where to send..
Thanks,
TJ

gsl-se addict

iTrader: (3)

Hey guys.

toxid_d: I will post them up later today. That board that I posted has the auto switching in it. The auto switching hasn't been tested yet, but I can test it once I get the prototype put together. That is why I am a little hesitant at this point of putting out part lists and saying go for it. I want to make sure it works correctly as well as add anything to it/ modify it to make it better.

Without the auto switching, it is very simple. Just two transistors, an LED, and a few resistors. If the boards turn out well, a blank board will be cheap. I am not out to rip anyone off. I would just charge enough to cover the material costs and shipping plus a little for my time.

I have added a spot for a second LED as Jeff requested. I don't think there is room on the board to add one to each possible output (auto, fixed, variable), so I just put it on the auto mode output.

The built units should be $25 shipped. Not sure about how much the kit would run (maybe $15?).

teejs: Yes. I still have a spot on the list for you. I really hate to take payment before I ship something. I don't think it is fair to you. But if you really want to do this, send me a pm.

To everyone else, I will pm you about payments/shipping. You can also pm me about it too. I am trying to do as much of this as possible outside of the public forum. I am just trying to provide a service for fellow rotorheads, but I don't want to be breaking any rules or anything. Let me know what you are interested in if you haven't yet so I can figure out how many parts to order. I will try to keep the shipments in the order that I received interest in the board to be fair. Most likely, they would all get done and ship about the same time (within a few days of each other).

I'll give the etching a shot tonight. I will let you know how it goes.

Kent

gsl-se addict

iTrader: (3)

Here is the parts list based on the current design. A couple of the transistors are not really needed (the pair on the lower right of the baord with their corresponding resistors)

U1 7805 5V Voltage Regulator
U2 MC14538B Dual Precision Monostable Multivibrator
U3 74HC32 Quad 2-input OR gate
Q1-Q4 NPN General Purpose Transistor (2n2222A or equivalent)
C1 0.1uF Capacitor (ceramic, metalized polyester film, etc.)
R1 Probably not needed. Use jumper wire or 0 ohm resistor
R2 22k Ohm resistor ¼-watt
R3 33k Ohm resistor ¼-watt
R4, R5, R7-R9 1k Ohm resistor ¼-watt
R6, R10 330 Ohm resistor ¼-watt
LED1, LED2 T-1 LED (green, red, amber, etc.) blue, white, and similar will not work because they require a higher forward voltage

The resistors are 5% tolerance. The capacitor should be 5% or 10%. C1 and R2 set the width of the fixed PW mode (2.2 ms in this case), so that is why I recommend the lower tolerance capacitor (many are 20% or more). It wouldn't hurt to use a 1% tolerance resistor for R2 if you wanted to be more exact on the fixed PW mode. Even though the combintation of C1 and R2 should produce 2.2ms, it is actually a bit less becuase we are running U2 off of 5V. If it was operating at a higher voltage (like 12v or 15v), the pulse would be closer to that calculated. It will never be exact dur to the tolerances in the resistor and the cap.

the auto switching portion is not tested yet. I am sure it will work, though. I will test it real soon. I didn't get the chance to get the materials to do the board today. I will try again tomorrow.

Here is the board with the 2nd LED added. I changed some of the traces just a bit to make them a bit shorter and more efficient.

riceburner1r2001

iTrader: (4)

huh.com

toxic_d

is there a pdf of the pcb traces... that way it prints out at the proper size?

Not to be pushy or anything...

gsl-se addict

iTrader: (3)

riceburner: You don't have to worry about the details. A couple of the guys wanted to know part numbers to build their own. If you want one, I can build you an assembled unit. You just need to hook up a couple connections and enjoy.

toxic_d: I do have a .pdf. I would prefer to test the board first, though. We can discuss it over pm.

Kent

gsl-se addict

iTrader: (3)

Hey guys,

Here are the prototype boards with the toner mask on them. They turned out pretty well. It worked much better than when I tried this method a couple years ago with the "special" expensive paper.

They are now ready to etch. I will do that tonight. Then I need to cut, drill and assemble. For the couple guys that wanted just a blank board, here is your chance. I will be keeping one, one will go to Xavier8 (assembled), so there will be two left. If not, they will become assembled units.

Kent

riceburner1r2001

iTrader: (4)

cant see them its just a red x

gsl-se addict

iTrader: (3)

Sorry. Worked for me last night. Here it is again:

toxic_d

looks good

gsl-se addict

iTrader: (3)

Thanks. I am not sure what causes that white haze, but I think it is normal. I may wash it down once more before etching. I'll throw it in the etchant after dinner and see how it turns out. I'll post some more pics later. This time the toner is bonded to the board so well that I am probably going to have a hard time scrubing it off after the etching.

Kent

Big_Ern

I'm a little confused here... and it hard to find the info amongst the 15 pages so far.


What else will we need to get this working assuming we buy your assebled kit?