ALDL basics for a Dummy

[VNracer34G]

I have been reading the threads on here with great interest for a few months now and have to admit a lot of it goes WAY over my head (advance weights/springs & jetting etc is what i grew up on) .

I have managed to download WINALDL & TunerPro onto my laptop

Need a cheap ALDL cable to plug into USB (no serial port) sugestions???

I have to stick with an unmolested comp in my VNV6 as class rules dont allow logging and if i go near the car with a lappy at the track it'll get me trailered FAST

Have grabbed several bins & xdf's off here for a looksee on TunerPro but can't open them from there zipped format. Dumb eh! i'm running vista and its all i am familiar with (kinda), thats how new to computers i am, maybe while most of you are picking yourself up after falling off your chair pissin yourself laughin there might be someone going me too

Now that i've stuck me head up outta the trenches fire away fellas

[delcowizzid]

haha sweet as mate you neeed to unzip the bins then open them but if vista wont unzip them or anything silly i can send you some unzipped.i can make a cable and send up too if you dont want to make one they are easy to make schematic attached just make sure you check the datasheet for what ever transistor you use they are all different.i use 2n2222a's normally

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[Holden202T]

he only has usb delcowizzid

[VL400]

Are you only interested in just having a look at what winaldl data looks like? Not being able to data log at the track and having a stock ECU means there is not much to change on a VN V6. If its just for look can always mod a spare VN/VP ecu and use a VR bin to have 8192 baud ALDL for a play?

Otherwise grab yourself a usb-serial (FTDI types are know to work, others are not) converter and make up the circuit that delcowizzid posted (also have to connect the diagnostic enable line to earth via a 10k resistor), will allow you to view the 160baud data from the VN ECU. Its a very limited data stream with a very slow update rate but the first time you get it working you will be

I have actually been meaning to write a few tutorial type articles on the basics of ALDL, RT tuning etc Really should get around to that!

[Six_Shooter]

AFAIK, Austrailain Delco ALDL coms are the same (basic function) as the North American Delco ALDL coms, which would mean the the Moates.net ALDL EXTREME would work well. I use one for my logging, and it works great.

You can also look at aldlcables.com. They have a cheaper version of the USB to ALDL cable, but it is one piece, so if the connector gets damaged, or your dog chews the wire, you have to replace the whole thing, where as the moates.net cable each part of the cable can be replaced, which is part of the reason I went with the Moates cable.

It's been hit and miss with the USB to Serial converters I've used.

BTW, you're doing better than most people I come across, most people have no idea how to convey what they want to, nor know how to post the question in the correct section, so you're doing well.

[antus]

vista should be able to open the zip files. save the file, then double click on it and it should open like its a folder with a bin file in it. Then cut and past the bin to somewhere else, and you have the bin file you need.

[delcowizzid]

he only has usb delcowizzid

haha im sure he can fork out for a cheap prolific USB-serial think mine was under $15 works fine i could send him one too i think i have like 4 including the flash FTDI one i got for the realtime

[antus]

An FTDI adaptor would be better since it'll work at 8192 if he wants to start playing with other applications than just the 160baud standard VN/VP stuff.

[VNracer34G]

WOW thanks for the awesome response guys and good to know i'm not the only one whose drawing skills arent the flashest

been scrounging and turned up a cable for a printer/ scanner that got chucked by the missus ages ago so chopped the other end off to see what i got

USB-ALDL?

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thanks to Six-Shooter for the aldlcables.com link and the positive comments when i saw their photo of their cable with bare pins i felt sure i can make something that ugly for a damn sight less than $59.95US before postage any chance of a schematic to go with these puppies?
Just to be able to take a few 160baud logs on the driveway before i pull the old motor and trans out to look at a baseline to get me started will be cool before i put the manual and freshened and blueprinted motor with headwork and real compression in.

I have a couple of spare memcals, i'm thinking i need a burner and a header so i can tune and pass tech with an unmolested memcal if they ever look at me that hard. Can the cheap Willem burners read a chip as well like the moates BURN2 ??

[Six_Shooter]

I have yet to find a USB ALDL cable schematic. Well I shouldn't say it's so cut and dry, but I haven't found any verifiable schematic that is a USB to ALDL. I have found some general schematics or information on serial to USB converter chips, but I don't have the experiance to know what else would be needed between each component section I've found.

Honestly, while I'm a cheap-ass, there are certain things I'll just pay the Deneros for and USB devices are one of them. The only thing that my serial to USB converters get used for is to interface to my Innovate LC-1, because anything else the converters don't seem to be stable on.

There is a chip and some circuitry in that aldlcables.com aldl cable, so it won't be as simple as connecting the USB wires to the ALDL port. Wouldn't that be nice?