Tuning training required in victoria

[vlad01]

I might add basic user interface functions in TP that aren't that obvious, which knowing them make the job faster, less awkward and more enjoyable.

a check list before tuning should also be made.

eg.

which software to download, plugin installation. setting selection.
This should be step by step where to literally click one thing at a time. for dumb ass people.

same with hardware installation and testing.

as break down on how the various ECU read the eprom, how the addresses work and where they start reading leading to a break down on bins, burning to chips so the whole process is understood as a complete thing rather than just the stuff needed to get a result. that was a major head fuck as I had no idea where the ECU read the code leading to heaps of confusion on bin stacking etc...


I know there is guides but they sould be consolidated for each ECU platform, more comprehensive and dumb ass friendly from start to finish as if building a project from start to finish and that can be the basis of a course.

trying to piece the info together with guides and forum alone is difficult as a beginner or even intermediate person can get confused which bits of info go where and when. its like what we have assumes the person has a level of understanding already.

also I might add actually knowing the dynamics of the engine, how its works in tuning prospective. what tuning is actually doing will be an enormous help. I know as I had read a lot on engine tuning in what actually happens inside the engine long before I started so it was just a matter of learning the software and hardware and using it. But most DYI beginners will have no idea on what is needed by the engine making real difficult to apply tuning techniques.

I think that is the No1 fundamental that must be learned before even looking into the delco stuff. Maybe we can incorporate that?

btw these are just ideas not a rant if anyone is wondering lol.

feel free to add ideas.

[vlad01]

yeh i agree, ive had issues myself pointing people who want answers to the right place, our FAQ button is about it atm, it's a hard task to gather that kind of data in one place and make it easy. I think with youtube etc short videos are the easiest. I find practical rather than text myself is easier.

I think the practical idea is a good one. I know most guys and girls? of the car tinkering type learn much faster someone showing them practically and letting them do it them selves in practice.

video is the next best thing after a mentor like Biggvl mentioned.

[HQ355]

Yep I agree, a video is better than reading pages of text. As Vlad has pointed out there is a few things you should have a good understanding of before you can start tuning, how a motor works, if it's modified how those mods affect the way the motor works etc etc then in my case there is a severe lack of computer knowledge. As I never realy touched a computer other than to buy stuff off eBay it's been a steep learning curve, but that's my fault for not joining this milenium lol. Anyway glad to help out as much as I can

[Gareth]

I know there is guides but they sould be consolidated for each ECU platform, more comprehensive and dumb ass friendly from start to finish as if building a project from start to finish and that can be the basis of a course.

Bingo! That has been a huge issue for me to get over, hadn't really been able to identify the cause, having seperate guides for seperate platforms would solve it. (It took me ages to get my head around the difference between 12&11p, from a novice point of view it looked like 11p just had more features... Didn't know 11p couldn't be used on 808's, its like telling someone that they can't have windows on their mac )

The1 - yep, being a mechanic buy trade im naturally a visual or hands on learner, much faster to learn about a technical subject if someone is there with you to got through it, or the next best thing a video on the subject. To get my head around hp tuners i must have watched the Greg Banish dvd's a hundred times.

[VL400]

Over the years of this site there has been a fair bit of discussion offline (and to a certain extent on the forums) regarding how to handle user guides and help. Lots of ideas have been thrown around, but the final hurdle was usually time in both initially writing (or producing videos) and then maintaining the content. One issue is ensuring things stay correct, sometimes no info is better than wrong info so if something changes it needs to be updated. While most things are fairly well fixed (ie burning offsets to EPROMs) others do change (ie 12P didnt have calcVE in the early releases so the fuel tuning process differed).

IMO if there was going to be some sort of learning/video/documentation area it needs to be easily accessible. A wiki is something I think can work, but it still needs community involvement from more than just a handful of users. Make it so anyone can add videos, text and pictures for tutorials. Leaving it to just a few people does not work.

[antus]

Yeah i agree on all above. But the internet can be a nasty place and wikis will be a prime target for spam, and were talking about a huge amount of work to collate and edit all the knowledge in to a wiki. What ive seen on other forums that have gone through this in the past is that everyone as a consumer thinks its a great idea, the wiki is built, initial people create an initial framework for data then say "please help build it up". then it rots People tend to still use the forums as thats where they can find most the info they need "the wiki will be great, when its finished..." and so they ask/post questions on the forum like nothing had changed.

Right now anyone can add a post to the FAQ thread mentioning a point they think should be included, either just a simple question or volunteering a question and answer. I'll update the main post with credit to the original author. If anyone writes any guides they can be added, so can links to videos. If anyone wants to volunteer to format the data in the FAQ better send me a PM and I can arrange for that. The issue is not and never has been that it cant be done, its doing it.

So, the call is out.... please do help contribute..... a wiki can come later if enough help comes in and it looks like we might actually be able to do a good good of it.

[Gareth]

I know im gonna look stupid but fuck it, what is a wiki? Like a page on Wikipedia?

I never look at that cos its hard to prove any credibility of the information. I'll never forget the time my aunty tried to convince me that the police had remote control over all traffic lights, she showed me a bullshit page on Wikipedia as proof

Anyway, i think its time for me to start adding to the guides.

VL400 you have pointed out an issue with videos i hadn't considered, up to date relevance... Not sure how to get around that one.

[antus]

Yep, wikipedia is a web site brand, and it runs wiki software. As such a wiki is just the style of software - editable by logged in people or sometimes anonymous. It tracks all changes, and you can review who added or changed what. It supports formatting the content, adding pictures, etc. Wikipedia has its own guidelines. Generally speaking all info is meant to have the source documented so you can verify its real and most pages are moderated to keep the info accurate but of course there is no guarantee. It differs from a forum because here each user adds their own 2c at the end. On a wiki a group of people can collaborate on the same page of information. So you can end up with an information source which has merged information from 20 people in one page rather than a 60 page thread with info scattered through it. Its pros and cons. The FAQ (frequently asked questions) page is meant to serve as a bit of a map here to help people find the info (one page to use your browsers find feature within, and if the question you have is there, the link or the text provides should drop you right to a good description or info. Also many of us try to drop links in threads back to the original sources of information to keep it findable.

As for date relevance, it has to be a best effort to keep content relevant. Its the best anyone can do. I guess mentioning version numbers when you point someone to software or definition files or similar is a good start so if people download something newer and it doesnt quite match up they can see they have a newer version and hopefully take that on board.

[The1]

ive been toying with idea of a web conference i havn't mentioned it to anyone yet im not even sure what software is out there or server solutions, we could run one at anytime and have a list of questions to explain which people submitted on the forums, sometimes even just going through the basics, it would then help provide solutions without going through the whole permanent FAQ setup or recording videos or doing how-tos. Cause once you understand it more the forums information should become clearer and easier to find what you need. We have them being done on all sorts of things all the time at work and are very successful.

[The1]

well i ended up setting up skype on my injector bench machine and tested sharing the desktop fine, so i would be happy to do any demo's etc on it when i have time, perhaps if a date is set and a starter pre list of questions, but can roll with the crowd.