As you can tell by a couple of recent posts, a friend just picked up a competitors tuning software. After using its scanner and then coming back to HPT, I'd have to say that the HPT scanner is somewhat boring. Obviously, function is much more important then form but it would be nice to have an updated look.
Kind of slow around here since it's St. Patrick's day. Here is what I whipped up...
http://www.dundas.com/products/gauge...?Section=Gauge
Dundas gauge is an awesome gauge control
2.4L Twin Cam Cavalier Z24 | T3 Super 60 @ 9 PSI | FMIC | TurboXS RFL | Greddy Profec B Spec II | Custom HO Intake Manifold | 2.5" Charge Pipes | 2.5" Downpipe | HP Tuners | 5 Speed Swap | Team Green LSD | SPEC Stage 3 Clutch | Fidanza Short Shifter | Prothane Control Arm Bushings | Carbon Fiber Hood
You know ... I tired using the gauge display, but it is very ineffective for tuning. Maybe when you are on the dyno and the gauges do not work (recently happened), but the current ones work just fine. I prefer to use the Histogram, followed by the graph and table display. Those really help in tuning, unlike the gauges. That is their main claim to fame when comparing their scanner to everyone elses, but it is not an effective tuning tool. It would be nice, but I wouldn't put it in the priority list.
I prefer the gauges when driving, so enhancements to the gauge display is important to me as it's easier to glance at the gauge display than piss around with the histo and charts.
When reviewing the data afterwards, I use the histo's and charts (and excel) cuz I'm not watchin' the road...LOL
I agree with 12secSS though, function is preferred over a pretty picture.
I honestly don't remember the last time I had a use for the gauges...with black box logging coming into the picture it will be even less useful for most, but hey whatever floats your boat.
It doesn't have to be perfect, it just needs to be done in two weeks...
A wise man once said "google it"
for me tuning cars in SD would be much easier this way since your just trying to take it easy on the trottle anywayz, track runs where I doubt you'll have time to be looking over at your scanner and like you stated if your car is already tuned & you just wanna get some data to and from work every day...whatever works for you
It doesn't have to be perfect, it just needs to be done in two weeks...
A wise man once said "google it"
Originally Posted by xonelith
THe outputs are great for this
the gauges are a gimmick... personally i'd rather see time spent in doing useful enhancements to the software than being able to make pretty gauge displays.....
plus the latest versions of HPT allow you to set color changes if parameters exceed defined values (if you get > 1degree KR, gauge flashes to a defined color)
the gauge display is useless for the most part though... just a gimmic that the competitor uses so they can have design contests....
Last edited by horist; 03-18-2006 at 12:38 AM.
Mike Horist
00 WS6 (TA) | 04 WS6 (GTP Comp G)
Mike \\#at&\\ horist \\&dot$\\com
BOTH cars HP Tuners Tuned
We do have enhancements to the gage display in 2.1.6 which is being deployed now..
I think as your tuner skill increases though, your use of the gauge display will decrease.
I do agree that it is nice when driving around though to quickly glance at your current parameters.
The new features in 2.1.6 though will help its functionality.
We got this guy Not Sure, ...
I saw that in the help file. I'm gonna have to figure out how to do this. Maybe I'll use neons instead of an LED....THe outputs are great for this(I'm kidding)
I agree. More parameters for the V6 (<==Thanks Chris!!). But I do see a use for the gauges.
Nice. I have 2.1.6. I'll have to play with that.
I noticed this first hand. At first I couldn't figure out what the point of the chart and the histo was. Now, that is all I use to actually tune. Gauge is sexy though
Can't wait to test it out!
Well, it's good to know your opinion counts.I use the gauge display while driving and use at the histograms afterwards. It's hard to capture data at a glance on any of the other displays.
Last edited by tech; 03-18-2006 at 01:23 AM.
I personally dont really use he gauges while tuning...but when I'm on the dyno I have one giant rpm gauge so I can see true RPM better..I set it up with the trigger rpm to be 10 rpm before I want to shut down and use it to run my dyno basically.....
-Scott -
can we get gauges that allow for circles to overlap...without having a big black box around them....making the outside of the gauge the real edge so we can make our gauges overlap like the pic in post #1??
-Scott -
Tech, give the guage display in 2.1.6 a try to see if you like the improvements we've added.
One of the major issues we have with making a more powerful gauge display is the more powerful we make it (GUI wise).. the more overhead it takes to draw.
Our scanner came out the door in an MDI format, meaning you can view the gauge display, chart, histogram and table display all at the same time. We had to do a LOT of tweaking to make this a reality.
As shifted mentioned, that guage control is really nice.. but without testing it, its still safe to assume its too slow for what we require. All of our real time displays are built in-house for our specific needs, with many optimizations to make our scanner as fast as it is.
We do know that people like the gauge display, and as you can see, we have continued to upgrade it. In fact, we've added more to our gauge display over the past year than most of the others.
We got this guy Not Sure, ...
Except for some of the gradients in the bars at the bottom, the rest of that image could be used as a background image (like the competition). It would be nice to be able to create skins for it and share them among the online community (like Winamp).
I understand the struggle with asthetics versus overhead. Even if we replaced the bitmap in the back of the gauge (which we can currently do) and get a few minor updates like a needles and trim rings, the rest could reside locally on the machine. I won't pretend to know what you guys do to make it work. I just see the competition a few steps ahead.
Is 2.1.6 available for me now?
ooo..now thats an idea....
can I get a translucent box for a colr option??
then I could make teh gauge display exactly like I am describing..making it a background...then all I have to do is get the needle placement corect...I can do that easy..LOL
-Scott -
Didn't you just say that you never use the gauges?
never use while logging....except for dyno....which is RPM only for me...Didn't you just say that you never use the gauges?
but I do use themn from time to time when I am watching data in replay mode....usually when I am trouble shooting and need to visualize several things at once
-Scott -
We can do gauge display skins.. that is on our list of things to do.
Tech, you can check your customer login for 2.1.6 if you are a serial interface user. If you are an MPVI interface user you will receive an e-mail shortly.
We got this guy Not Sure, ...
So when someone calls you up and just put a cam/heads on a car and wants you to tune it... you just fire up the histogram and drive around looking at 1 variable? That seems rediculous. I want to know if the car is getting KR or pegged or split LTFTs. The gauge display is going to show you if something is wrong much more vividly then a histogram (in real time).
I still have the serial interface. I'll DL it when I get back to my own PC. Thanks!
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