Ostrich?

[Tony Hanna]

I'm thinking about buying one, and would like to get some feedback from people who have used one first. I've got a couple questions as well. First off, since I'm running a smec, I'm assuming I'll have to locate the unit underhood somewhere if I don't want to run an insanely long ribbon cable. Out of curiosity, are they designed to be weather resistant at all?
Also, would it be possible to use a smartphone or PDA to upload cals to the Ostrich so I'm not having to tote a laptop everywhere I go?
Finally, are they designed to be used long-term or as more of a tuning aid to be replaced with a regular eprom once the cal is perfected?
That's all I can think of right off. I'm sure more will come to me. Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Tony

[JDAWG]

gots links Tony? Never heard of it. Interested. When I seen the thread first thing that popped into my head was this for some reason

[Tony Hanna]

Here ya go.
http://www.moates.net/product_info.p...roducts_id=169

edit: On a side note, I would so drive that!

[CSXRT4]

I have one and completely love it. You can download the "Emutility" software and set it up to upload your cal whenever you make a change, so basically you can just make a change in D-cal/Chem and hit save and it will load it to the ostrich while the car is running. I ran mine under the fender overhang right next to the computer, its not weatherproof but I havnt had a problem with it in that location. And yes it is more of a tuning "tool" than a permanent device, you can keep it in the car permanent but the best thing to do is tune the car with it and then burn the cal to a chip. I also ran a usb line "with an extension" into the cab for my laptop, beats the hell out of pulling the chip every time you want to make a little change

[turbovanman²]

Subsribed for info,

[2.216VTurbo]

There is an Ostrich farm between Phoenix and Tucson, I stopped in there once to feed them and buy some souvineers for the kids. They're way bigger in the flesh than you would think...

[Tony Hanna]

I have one and completely love it. You can download the "Emutility" software and set it up to upload your cal whenever you make a change, so basically you can just make a change in D-cal/Chem and hit save and it will load it to the ostrich while the car is running. I ran mine under the fender overhang right next to the computer, its not weatherproof but I havnt had a problem with it in that location. And yes it is more of a tuning "tool" than a permanent device, you can keep it in the car permanent but the best thing to do is tune the car with it and then burn the cal to a chip. I also ran a usb line "with an extension" into the cab for my laptop, beats the hell out of pulling the chip every time you want to make a little change

Nice! I was thinking about buying the bluetooth module as well, then no cables to run.
I thought it would be pretty neat to be able to switch between different cals and make changes to a cal on the fly. It would be even better if it will work with a smart phone or pda so I could switch cals without needing a laptop.

I'll confess, I'm a complete gadget freak, but I did have an attack of common sense last night. I should probably invest in a wideband before I go spending on other toys regardless of how neat they are.

[mock_glh]

Everybody should have one of these. Even if you don't have a wideband you can still load and try different cals that you can download for free. I have my Ostrich attached to the outside of the module with Velcro using the optional 6" ribbon cable. For a SMEC you could use either a long usb cable or the Bluetooth adapter. Not sure if you could use a PDA or smartphone but I have a Pentium 233 laptop that I bought for $10 at a yard sale and it works just fine. You don't need much of a processor to run the software.

[Tony Hanna]

I'm gonna wait and see how the money holds up. I went ahead and ordered a wideband last night, and will probably order the data logging box for it next, then an Ostrich to complete the system. I've got a pretty nice laptop I can use, I'm just a little wary of leaving it lay in the car. Where as a smart phone or PDA could be thrown in the glove box out of sight or easily taken with me.

[CSXRT4]

I use my laptop sitting in the passenger seat but I only keep it in the car when im tuning. Your probably better off getting the wideband first, thats pretty much a requirement if you are messing with the calibration, the ostrich is just a extremely handy bonus. I also would not tune without datalogging, its about impossible to accurately watch rpms, boost, and AFRs all at once.

Also things ive noticed while tunning

-Before you start with a cal use CHEM to add as many points as you can to the "pumping eff", "part throttle fuel", and "full throttle fuel" tables (you can only do this if you are using one of the relocatable codes "ladybug, blueberry")

-If you set your overboost value too close to your target boost and/or set the fuel cut delay too low you may experience random bucking or cutting out when boosting.

-Keeping the fuel a little lean during spool up seems to greatly decrease spool time.

-You may need to play with the wastegate duty cycle tables a bit to optimize spool up and holding your target boost.

-Rough your fueling in by calculating it out first (aim for a richer than desired final AFR), then fine tune it by bumping the points a couple at a time. You will get the feel for it after a while.

-Try to keep the "pumping eff" table (fuel by RPM modifier) at a smooth curve. It generally follows your head's flow characteristics.

I cant think of anything else right now but I know im forgetting a few tips, but these are just my personal observations

[Tony Hanna]

Thanks for the tips! At this point I'm still just getting started and all the advice is appreciated!
Tony

[risen]

-Before you start with a cal use CHEM to add as many points as you can to the "pumping eff", "part throttle fuel", and "full throttle fuel" tables (you can only do this if you are using one of the relocatable codes "ladybug, blueberry")

I'd be careful not to go too crazy here. Every point in the table increases the amount of time it takes to get a value back when you get to the end of the table. In pumpeff, this would be in the upper rpm when there is less time to do calculations. Maybe with a smec it doesn't matter so much, but in the upper rpms I wouldn't want to waste too much processor time on table entries that aren't useful. Pumpeff normally has like 10 points which should be enough to get a good curve.

Also, chem2 has an afr line in the fuel tables that's very helpful if your pumpeff is close. If you haven't really modified your car too much from stock, the line is pretty close out of the box. Also, chem2 will scale your injectors with a few clicks, simple and has been accurate in my case.

The way I've been working with my car is to take it out, and hammer the crap out of it while datalogging (3rd and 4th gear runs from 2000 up to 6000 rpm). Afterwards I look at the log where boost is flat, and compare the rpm to the afr. I then tweak the pumpeff table to flatten out the afr's in the area that's too rich/lean. I usually try to get 3 or 4 samples to confirm that the changes are needed.

[CSXRT4]

Ive heard the caution on using too many points, but I maxxed out my tables and even switched the code location of the full and part throttle tables so I could have more resolution in the full throttle table. I never had any problems even at high rpms

Also, +1 on the AFR calculation in chem being pretty accurate. But when I was done tuning, my fuel tables and "pumping eff" table was changed quite a bit from stock even though my engine was relatively stock at that time.