OK, so I placed the Flashable Module board order today. And, I put together the final pricing.
For the Flashable SMEC and SBEC, the price will be $100 + $50 core charge. If you send in your core, obviously you won't need to pay the core charge. This is $50 cheaper than I originally projected.
For the Serial/USB Cables, the price will be $50. These turned out to be slightly more complicated than I originally thought due to needing some extra protection circuitry due to the SBEC bootstrap process. I had hoped to make them cheaper, but I really can't get it any lower. The cable will be complete and plug-n-play into the SCI connector. It will have ~5' of cabling, which should be enough to get from the SCI connector to the passenger seat on all cars.
I'm not planning to do any DIY modules or kits right now. Maybe at a later date.
2 things to know about the cables:
1) The USB cables will not work for flashing a cal with D-Cal. For some reason, D-Cal does not recognize them as a legit serial port. So, to flash a cal to the SMEC/SBEC from D-Cal, you need a computer with a RS232 serial port, and you need a serial cable. There is also a program called 'SMECFlash' that's out there. It might work with the USB cables, I have not tested it. Also, 90TurboVan has written his own editor/flasher that should work with the USB cables, but again, I have not tested it.
2) Datalogging with the serial cables is limited. This is because the PC serial ports cannot be programmed to run at the SMEC/SBEC baud rates. So, for datalogging (from LogWorks, when Risen gets his plug-in finished), you'll need a USB cable (the chip used in the USB cable can be programmed to work at any integer baud rate). Though, it is possible to modify the baud rate of a cal to run at 9600 baud. Which will work with a PC for datalogging. I'm not sure if Risen plans to include provisions for this in his LogWorks plugin. The baud mod + the high-speed logger switch on T-SMEC will also allow you to datalog with SMECLogger (posted here).
I know this sucks. But, right now we don't have enough development of PC software for our ECU's. We really need a new editor that can support the newer hardware that's available...
The cables will come with a 2-wire pigtail attached for adding a pushbutton for flashing the SBEC (I'll generate some flashing instructions later). And, I will supply a 60-way pin/wire (salvage) for adding the bootstrap pin to the SMEC 60-way connector for flashing the SMEC (again, detailled flashing instructions will follow). The USB cable will have the pigtail as well, eventhough there's currently no software that will allow flashing thru USB.
Surprise! It turns out that the latest module design is actually reprogrammable on-the-fly. That's right, it's possible to write to the EEPROM while the engine is running - just like the Ostrich. The catch? Again, there's no software to support it. I can (and plan to) write a routine for Turbonator SMEC/SBEC that will allow updating of the calibration data while running. But, there will still need to be a PC-side program to monitor the binary for changes and send the updates to the SMEC/SBEC. Anyone any good at PC programming?
Since it's been over 3 months since I posted the original poll, I think it's best to start a new group-buy list. I'm reserving spots for MCSVT and GLHSNSLHT2 because they seemed the most interested - and they had cores to trade. If they want out, I'll open up those spots. This first group buy will be limited to 10 computers total. Only because that's the most I could hope to build in the next couple of months.
I'm not ready to take money at this point. Mostly because I'm at the mercy of the board house. They might be back in 3 weeks, or it could be 2 months. When the boards ship to me, I'll post up and you can send in cores/payment/etc. But, I do want to get the list set so that I can start getting organized. Once I do get the boards, I should be able to ship the 1st computer within a month. If you're #10 on the list, add probably 2 months to that wait. Once these first 10 are out, I'll look at my free time (baby daughter comes in Sept) and organize the 2nd round of 10.
Also, I'm not going to be taking any more orders for socketing/cal work so that I can concentrate on getting these out. And, in the interest of saving time, I don't plan to build any custom cals for these computers. If you're buying a flashable computer, it's because you want to do your own cal, right?
If you want on the list, post your real name, quantity and type of computer (SMEC or SBEC), whether you will supply a core or not, and quantity and type of cables you want.
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Originally Posted by vprtech
sounds promising so far! 
