im after a digital dash,i like this one here but is there anything else like this out there
cheers
moggy

take a look at this, OX
web address.
www.acumen-electronics.co.uk
new product sp700 £350 inc vat

AIM

Alfano

Hi Ox

Have a look at http://home.c2i.net/toratlel/
Theres a bloke on the Sevens list thats designed it, costs about £100 but you have to assemble it yourself

Adrian

I had a look at the site you linked Adrian and it looks quite interesting. I have no knowledge of electronics at all, but i could probably find someone who has knowledge.

Is this a realistic option? Is it within the realms of the average Electronic Engineer to DIY at home? Has anyone on this Forum actually built one?

Also the Digidash, it's £600 (incl VAT) but comes with all necessary sensors and is a piece of p*ss to install:

http://www.etbinstruments.com/homepage.htm

Surely £100 and a bit of graft is better than paying someone £600?? It is a Locost site after all

I dont really know what is involved yet with building this dash, but surely it is worth investigating?

It may well prove not to be worth bothering about, time and parts may outweigh the potential savings.

There's always the digidash from an old astra gte, one on ebay at the moment for £29...

Ned.

ps for £600 surely you could nearly afford a bottom of the range stack system for the same money?

OX take a peek at gordon's dash (mk-ninja photos). OK it's what I made for my car, but I'm thinking of knocking 'em out at £250 a pop. I'll send you more information if you want, & I'm sure Gordon will tell you what he thinks (warts & all). It has got through SVA successfully!
Bob C
Downside is I'm a bit slow making them...

OK I give up - been trying to post a link to my photos section ( "Bob C" )headed "Electronic Dash" Is this not possible?
More data about the dash - the rpm display is completely updated every spark so it's true zero inertia - special for bike engines. In the same vein there's a gear indicator based on speed and revs (which actually works!) I'm quite pleased with it. Only trouble with an LED based dash is they have to be mounted right or you can't see the blessed things for the sunlight reflecting off 'em.
cheers
Bob

Try this (http://locostbuilders.co.uk/photos.php?action=gal&user=Bob C&folder=Electronic Dash)

[Edited on 15:6:04 by Mk-Ninja]

Dash works realy well. Only down side is realy bright sunlight, so Ive put a cowl round it for now. Will recess into dash when I replace it soon.
Gear indication is maybe the thing I check most (cant count to 6).
Only thing thats not working yet is the oil pressure, only because I havnt fitted the sender unit (Must get a T peice at Newark).
The speedo is as accurate as you can get all the way up to 70 at SVA.
Ill come down to show it you if your interested Moggy, or I should be at Newark in it as long as it dosnt rain

Gordon

Hi Ox

I believe Dash7 is still in prototype, I think a couple have been built and are in K series c@terhams, aparently the main chip comes pre programed and its just a case of soldering it together and calibrating the sensors. I think the £100 covers all the bits to make the dash, and most of the sensors are already on most engines oil/water etc, the only bit extra would be a speed sensor. Tor Atle seems a knowlegable bloke on the Sevens list and quite a lot of c@therham and westy owners are keen

No connection but I would love one in my car

Adrian

Regarding the Dash7, i have been speaking to Tor Atle quite a bit over the past few days and he does seem to know what he is talking about.

I am planning going down this road and have spoken to my Electronics guru at work, who seems to think it is entirely possible and within the realms of a competent Instrument Technician or Electronis Engineer (of which i am neither!).

I'll keep you posted. If you want any further information, then use the link given above in this thread or email Tor Atle, he responds very quickly and is very helpful.

At £100 is has got to be worth a go??

By the way, i have absolutely no connection to this other than a genuine interest and a nose for a bargain.

still not sure which one to go for ,i think i will wait untill its needed and see how much money i have left or how much i can scrape together

Does anyone already have more experience with the Dash7? It looks like a very nice unit (although I would change the packaging).

Unfortunately I have never made something with a soldering iron....

The guy's email doesn't seem to work... Bummer

marcel

if you are looking for the designer of the dash 7

you might try toratlel@c2i.net

koen

The 'dash7' is very interesting but there are no wiring diagrams for it on that site (unless anyone knows different) so it's a bit of a pig to see how it works.

One of these days I'll get my design finished....

Chris

wow. dash 7 looks great, proper bit of home made wizardry. will get in touch with tor soon, but in mean time are there any eager beavers importing the bots from electronics suppliers quoted (swedish company) or have managed to get equivelent cpc/rs/maplin part no's??
combine with megasquirt/jolt, you could knock up a pretty darn hi-tec wagon.
like it a lot and respect to those genii who get electronics...

Have passd on the details to my company's pcb guru who said he'd look at it, and would probably change a few bits to boot, he also gave me a quote for a finnished unit minus the lcd screen, will let you all know if anything comes of it

Jason

dont want to make any false promises, but may be able to get job lot of boards done. deckman, would obviously be better to do upgraded version, so please keep me in the loop.
interest?
would be couple of weeks at least so just testing the water.

Will let you know, i think my guys might want to wait till the chip is avaliable , then we'll really be in business, might even be able to sell them to the dash 7 designer to sell on as a kit !! you never know, thinking back, the guy said something about a run of ten boards so will have a few extra anyway

Jason

Have read all the post regarding these digital dashboards and viewed all the sites and I must say I would be more than happy to purchase one of these dash 7 kits if and when they become available..

cool, cool. working on deciphering swedish BOM, then getting equivelent list. will leave boards to deckman for mo, but ready to roll. this is all of course if the guy who designed it doesnt want to do it himself. will keep you posted as always..

Please keep me informed of any updates to the situation, and if you need any help as I'm an electronic engineer.

Do you need any help on the BOM, or me to try a get a few "free" samples?

'ello 'ello. free samples you say... been raiding the "engines part store" at work of bits, seem full iof electonic wizardary. will be working on the BOM some more over weekend/monday, hope full list by midweek.
sure betweenan electrical and mechanical engineer we can get this up and running. progress here as it happens. stay tuned.

I'll be able to get hold of free samples of some parts, distributors will do almost anything to keep you sweet!

Northys right, the Main chip (approx £5-£6) PIC16F877 can be got from microchips website as free samples, they allow 3 of any product and up to five products per order and 2 order every 40 days. Just fill in the form and you have them about 5 days later (I get all mine this way). Ordered almost £50 woth last time I put a sample order in. I guess other manfactuers do this, but this is the only one I know with a Web ordering service.

I've got some PIC16F877's at home that I ordered as samples. I'll order some more this afternoon!

We use many distributors at work, and they'll send us samples of the devices they distribute. All I've got to do is ask. Probably only worth it for the expensive IC's.

Cheers

northy, any chance of getting your hands on some lcd displays? website link given (.co.uk - dont link from site) cant find product. apart from that, easy sailing really
1/2 way through bom so far, maplin mainly, but also getting rs no's.

We found loads of the LCD displays on E-Bay, most from the states, but with the exchange rate as it is they are very cheap,less than £10

Jason

Bump

Hey guys, any news to report?



I am hot and heavy on dashes right now!

Hi steve, news is getting better, just need a bit more from the testers then we will be in business so to say

Jason

The components listed are not automotive temperature rated. The PIC16F877-20I/P is Industrial-40C to +85C a better choice would perhaps be Automotive-40C to +125C. It get pretty hot under the dash in the sun even not considering the heat from the engine bay. I'm not an electronics expert by any means but perhaps PIC16F877-10E/P ? It appears to be the same PDIP 40 pin package. I will have a look at some of the other components in the next week to be sure.
CJ

Any new news?

BobC - have you done anything more with your dash?

Hi Darren,
not really, here's a bit more info
http://freespace.virgin.net/bob.carter/files/dashbunf.doc
There are 3 in the world (!) and one's been SVA'd.
cheers
Bob

Can any one give me a link,

i'm sure i can make/ program the pics

have all the equipment already in da house..

TKS

o, foudn the web-site,

i'm also in process of building a digidash.

and offcourse i use microprocessors etc.

if anyone wants to build with me
we can open a new thread ONLY for building it.

then we open another one for comments /questions etc..

ok??

TKS

i don't like the Dash7 soow i make one like the 600punds one with leds for rpm etc...

the only thing i cant find is the black optical film they use...but it could be hard to find it with so much brains over here...


TKS

TKS - what sort of spec are you aiming for?

Its a shame nobody has done a kit or budget version f the ETB digidash or the EVOdash. At the moment it looks like ill have to save up or find a spare arm or leg! as they are so expensive.

The quadmaster would have been ideal if it had a tacho built in.

offcourse not egual because it will be against the law..

TKS
Rescued attachment dpexample.jpg

already have a lasercut adress and the components @ home..

soow

if any one had a idea what 3M optical filter means/ where to buy..

that's the stuff we need..

TKS

i did an assignment on 3m optical filter way back undergrad days! its the stuff they put over cash machines to stop people reading the screen over your shoulder. its made of "microlouvres", like a tiny venitian blind), which only let light in/out one way. app. you can also but filter screens for normal monitors, also for privacy reasons, so maybe check out manufacturers of these screens, or if all else fails buy one from a computer shop. guess its to stop glare from the sun on the screen when your driving. (not too disimilar to polaroid film come to think of it, but where polaroid is only horizontal layers optical film is bot horizontal and vertical - like a mesh).
good luck with the build,
zane

general problem with LED displays (like mine) is that they become hard to see when the sun shines on them. Best answer is a circularly polarising filter. This attenuates displayed light by 50% but cancels light reflected through it, Costs a fortune though.
So in the real world, a plain neutral density filter helps, display light it attenuated but reflected light is attenuated twice. The security filter would work OK, especially when the sun is not directly behind (and would stop the passenger reading the dash) but would have to be facing squarely at the driver, which is the worst position for sunlight reflections from the filter itself (you'd normally tilt the filter back so you only get reflections of your knees).
BTW if anyone gets a job lot of any of the above I want a peice about 5"x4".......
cheers
Bob

Deckman, wheelsinsteadofhooves

Have you had any contact from Tor Atle recently?

Cheers,

Eddy

Eddy, I havn't but I also have not been in contact with him at all, I was leaving that part to Zane(wheelsinsteadofhooves), I am just getting the units made if all goes well, the development people I will use have allready said they would like to change a few things like layout and parts, but I won't do anything without the go-ahead from Tor or Zane
Hope this clears it up ?
Jason

Thanks. I've applied for SVA but don't yet have a working speedo! I was hoping that this project would come to fruition in time, but I may have to use a bike speedo or beg/borrow/steal an 80mm electronic speedo for SVA.

Any offers?

Eddy