Back to chips and stuff

Its that time of year again where I don't want to go outside, I barely want to ride my bikes, and life is generally slow. Time to get out the Arduino and the chip burning equipment! YAY!

I recently was given some gear by a coworker who built a sensor simulator that connects to his phone via bluetooth and has an Android app to control it. This blew me away especially since it all fits on a half-sized breadboard. So I figured I better try out my Arduino again and see if i can at least get through the "intro to Arduino" book that I bought last year. There are a million uses for these budget friendly boards so i better get crackin. Plus with this sensor simulator I have found out about some of the new generation of even smaller processors that can use Arduino code. Teensy for instance.

As with the last installment of my discussion about proto, chip, and hack material my goal is to expand my own knowledge of hardware/software integration along with my continuing Bosch ECU de-engineering and engine simulation.

Right now i am working with a BMW 525 DME for hardware, but sadly I have not done much more than discover a table list in the .hex and my TunerPro is a bit rusty again. I do know that I need a small enclosure and some variable resistors for the simple sensors. Another aspect of my Arduino exploration is the ability to simulate the CKP and CMP signals that are needed by most Engine controllers in this vintage.

Some of my reading lately is the same as previous discussions:

FixKicks Engine Simulator
ArduStim Wheel Simulator

Traveling to Belize!

Pack at least two swimsuits. Pack very light and airy clothing. Avoid heavy cottons, though the trendy "performance" shirts ( like underarmour and the like) are usually polyester based and will stink by the end of the first day. For this reason I strongly suggest loose fitting tops and bottoms of lightweight cotton or other natural fibers. Preferably of light colors that stay cooler longer in the heat. I brought my UA fishing shirt and wished I had brought two! I also packed heavy cotton/denim cargo shorts and they were largely useless.

Pack lots of sunscreen and some bug repellant. If the wind dies down, especially at night, the bugs will eat you alive. This is a perk of traveling during the hurricane season as there is nearly permanent wind.
A downside to the wind is that the coastal waters are almost never clear but rather murky out to 20-odd feet deep.

Don't let people move your bags around, they expect to be paid and usually for nothing.

Culture shock is day one. Just stay hydrated at all costs and find one of the suggested dining locations that is nearby and eat there. It will not be cheap but it will be the price of convenience and hopefully your entrees will be savory and sound. Have a beer and relax. It gets dark early so don't stay out too late if you have a ways to hoof it back to your resort.

Speaking of hoofing it: take the complementary bicycles whenever
Possible. Your resort doesn't have these bicycles? You didn't do your homework! Everywhere I looked at booking offered bicycles and kayaks for free(some had more for free!) Which are free entertainment options. Especially if you stay in the south of amergris and can paddle around the Hol Chan Reserve for free.

Golf cart rentals are pretty convenient but not cheap. WSC offered hourly and half day(35usd) and full day(85usd) rentals. This is a good option if you want to adventure north, but expensive if you just want to run in to San Pedro Town.

Food is very expensive. Stop at a small local market in town and at least buy breakfast and lunch supplies. We had "the burrito guy" ($5bz for burritos or some days tamales) who sold breakfast burritos but that was it for local options. American breakfast is only served at about half the food places.

We befriended a couple from TX (Christian and Christine) and went adventuring with them one day. We took a golf cart north to "secret beach" which was an awesome beach since the water was clear and shallow but had almost no marine life aside from some small fry schooled under the docks and a few ribbon fish(maybe?).

We lunched at Portofino after we figured out how to get there. We met a general manager (Paul or Matt?) After lunch and he told us that the road we drove up on had only been built 5 months prior. That was a shocker! Getting to secret beach without the roads that are there today would definitely have been quite a journey! The concrete roadway only extends to about mile 4, then there is a bumpy narrow section of maybe half a mile, then back to a fairly serious road bed that extends up to about mile 8 or 9.
I cannot suggest riding a beach cruiser out to secret beach but on my mountain bike from home I wouldn't have thought twice about it. On our way back from the beach we did pass a pair of I trepid touristas on cruisers headed there. Bring lots of water if you go this route!!

Thursday we did the "Day Sail to Caye Caulker" courtesy of Searious Adventures.
They have a 30something foot McGregor catamaran with most of the trapeze replaced with decks. James Bond, Nick and Captain Junior were awesome! The most disappointing part of the trip was probably the snorkeling sessions. For these they just pull the boat up to the parking lot where everybody else is and you snorkel around this overcrowded tiny area for a bit. It was fun and there is lots of marine life but it would be way better if they just parked a bit away from everybody else and gave swimmers some room.
James and crew were great;   they kept the alcohol flowing and when the rains came the second time they covered all the customers up while they roughed it out in the cold tropical deluge.

Rain rain rain
Drinks at the cococabana pool bar, then coffee at our bar after we got swamped on the way back. Then Palapa Bar for lunch where we met Kirk and his ladyfriend, from Edmonton Alberta. They gave us a beer for our information and gave us a ride home on their golf cart! Cheers!

Stormy day. Dinner at Portofino was pretty awesome. Only 3 parties at the restaurant and $100 for two plus a generous tip for Raphael the awesome waiter! Not an every day thing but very awesome date night. ...just wish it wasn't a storm the whole time!

Bosch Motronic Comparison

I just wanted to post a photo comparison for future reference. The unit on the left is Motronic M1.3 and the unit on the right is Motronic M1.7.
These were used concurrently in BMW 3series in the very late 80s-early 90s. There is a surprisingly larger amount of circuitry crammed into the 1.7 IMHO!

BMW m42 serpentine belt conversion

Place holder for the serpentine belt conversion information The goal is to go from the antiquated v-belt arrangement currently on the car to an e36 based serpentine belt arrangement. searching around the internets and realoem.com looks like hardware from the 94+ e36 318's has a high likelyhood of working very well for this. If only I could find one in a salvage yard locally!

This photo is supposedly from an E36 318i. It shows the front of the engine and from this photo I can tell that the oil filter can is the same, the thermostat housing is the same, and other small items are similar to the E30 engine bay that I am working with. I am going to order a set of cheapo ebay silicon radiator hoses for the E36 and see how they fit up. This photo also gives me a lot of confidence in the conversion working. The water pump is the same part number for both m42 and m44 engines. The water pump pulley is different, so a simple pulley swap should be enough for the water pump. The alternator obviously needs a different mounting system, which I believe is a large aluminum cast piece that bolts to the block in the same location as the comparable piece for the v-belt arrangement. the photo above (of the e36 m42 engine bay) further solidifies my confidence in this working. AS of this writing I have not determined if the alternator pulley can be swapped or if I actually need to source a different alternator for mounting purposes. The E30/m42 alternator is 12311721921 the e36/m42 alternator is 12311739421 (through 12/93) and the e36 94-on alt is 12311247310 the Z3 uses 12311247488 which is labeled as 80A compact.

Chargerectomy

AS the title says: The supercharger is going away. yes, I know: I did just buy this car and pay the price BECAUSE it had a supercharger. Sadly the more I dig into the poor beast it shows that the car may have run but the package was far from complete and grossly misguided in some areas. In the mean time I plan to finish cleaning up the interior and putting everything pack together inside so that it at least looks like a proper E30 again! I have also started removing most of the movable components in hopes of doing an M44 serpentine belt conversion as part of the "return-to-the-road" process that I am endeavoring. This is a spendy endeavor in and of itself, but I feel it will be a benefit to the car if I decide to to visit the supercharger. So far I have determined that the car also had Seimens 32lb injectors, which seem grossly oversized, especially compared to the stock injectors being 19lb. The FMU would appear to have been installed correctly, including the modification to the MAF. Sadly that means that the easiest way to return the car to stock is to source a non-modified MAF and airbox in the mean time. This thought brings me to chip tuning. I have had an interest in learning a thing of two about chip tuning for a long time, and this project, I think, will be the beginning. I asked Mark De'Sylvia if he had any chip for a supercharger of turbo and he said he did not, simply because there was nobody who wanted to get him the information he needed to compile one. He pointed me to Moates and their Ostrich emulator to get the information he wants to compile a tune for a 318is supercharged. I will return to that subject probably in the new year when the funds are recouped from the latest travels and the upcoming holidays. pictures later! -G :)

BMW projekt

So I bought another E30. This will be the 5th E30 I have owned, if my memory is correct. This one is probably the most project of any of them as I bought it "non-running" and with a lot of un-proven modifications. The basics: 1991 BMW 318is 5spd manual schwartz metallic over black vinyl. known mods: supercharged engine short shifter lug stud conversion H&R springs bilstein shocks Corbeau racing seats The work list so far: Get running (done) clean up oil grime from engine bay (in progress) clean up plumbing around intake (in progress) re-tune Vortech FMU add silencer to exhaust system pictures will come! :) -G

A motorsports argument

So I recently posted a fantastic in-car video from a Scottish rally team, and the associates article thought this video represented that rally is still alive. My Facebook post of the video led to some guy I don't know writing several long winded responses basically saying, in typical american rally style, "you are just an ignorant jerk because I have been volunteering for years and therefore know everything rally related"

*sigh* Another fanboy for the ages.

Most people don't know my personality so they misplace my cynicism for some kind of actual anger or dislike of what I post about on line. This is an assumption of course. In this case rally is my favorite form of motor sport and the only one I have any passion for, but that does not change the factors that I believe point out a decline in the sport.

all you have to do is look around the Internets for a while and you can find numbers that agree with my opinion:

   
British world rally viewership so low they don't televise any more.
This article ,from 2013 , has the last significant viewing numbers as 300,000 in 2007. And no television carrier at all for 2013.

F1 viewership down but still better than rally!
This post states 681000 viewers of the actual event coverage of the Chinese F1 race, and claims 3.55m total viewers.

Doesn't look to promising to me. The Chinese article even comments on how these are the lowest numbers since 2007, with continual decline each year.

Meanwhile over on social media, the main of all smart phone users, the numbers are slightly different:

WRC, 1.7m likes
F1, 1.6m likes
Meanwhile Rally America has 1778 likes
Or the Williston Vermont rally-america has 27k likes.

NASCAR, 4.4m likes
Nfl , 11m likes
fIFA world cup, 40m likes

While in Facebook I also looked up these:
Targa Newfoundland, 7910 likes
Pikes Peak hill climb, 73k likes
the SEMA show, 179k likes
Bill caswell, 50k likes
David Higgins(athlete), 4519

And on and on it goes. I admit that this is just a snapshot, and not the prediction of doom and gloom that i talk about, but I definitely feel that this is justification of my prediction without even talking about the years I have spent "on the ground" with rallyists all over the Midwest.

Okay, rant done. Time to get up, make breakfast, and go to the SEMA show. Because racecar.
-g