installation of RCP with PLX devices in Legacy GT

Race Capture Pro hardware installation- power, wiring, physical installation, etc. See the dedicated forum for Sensor related topics

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finse
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Location: Denver
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installation of RCP with PLX devices in Legacy GT

Post by finse »

Hello everyone,

I recently got a race capture pro to enhance my logging, and hopefully my lap times at the track! I'm currently working my way through the installation of the device, and I have a few questions that some of you may already know.

I am running three sensor modules from PLX on the car. Currently I have AF/R, Boost/Vacuum and Oil Pressure. Each one of these devices has the ability to output an analog or digital signal.

My first round of questions is about the best way to connect these devices to the RCP. In regards to the analog signal, do I need to connect just the signal wire, or do I also need to worry about connecting the ground? Or is the ground for the power connection sufficient?

I'm also very interested in connecting the RCP to a carputer to get real time telemetry on my dash (somewhat like the android app, but on a windows or linux computer). Other then the usb connection, is this possible? Can I get serial out on the general purpose input/output terminals?

The last question I have is related to this thread: http://www.autosportlabs.org/viewtopic.php?t=3713

I am assuming that I have the original version, and not an updated board with the diode. Is there an easy way to confirm this? At this point it would be trivial to add the diode, and it seems like a good move.

Thanks in advance for reading my questions. Thanks to autosportlabs for making this product. I can't wait to try it out!

Cheers,
Ryan

finse
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Jan 30, 2014 3:06 am
Location: Denver
Contact:

Post by finse »

Since this forum doesn't seem to get much traffic, I'm going to answer my questions just in case its helpful to someone else.

1) Analog or digital from my sensors? I went analog, the sensor manuals had all of the necessary data on how to dial in the sensors in analog... just made more sense.

2) I connected all of the sensors modules and rcp to a common ground.

3) A usb cable to my carputer is going to be my method of delivering data, Race Analyzer already does most of what I was hoping for.

4) I did install the RCP with the suggested diode. I figured it could not hurt. I also installed caps on the rcp connection block to smooth out the voltage from my sensors.

I used my arm console cubby as the mounting location as it's pretty close to the center of the car, and the GPS antennae is under my third brake light, Race Analyzer seems to think I have a lock on the Satellites, so that's good. I'm excited to finally go out and get some logs.

brentp
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Post by brentp »

Hi,

Sorry we didn't catch this earlier! Please poke us via email directly ([email protected] ) if we miss something.

* To answer your analog sensor connection questions, we just need a 0-5v signal and a common ground connection. Then, you can scale that signal to a meaningful value. See the sensor guide for more details on connecting and calibrating sensors:
http://autosportlabs.net/RaceCapturePro_Sensors

For best results, connect the ground connection to a common location between the device outputting the signal and RCP. research "star grounding technique"

* There is only one current version of the board; if you're having the problems described in that thread I would recommend that simple mod.

For integration to a external system we recommend the bluetooth adapter. A constant stream of telemetry data will be present on that link. Your car-puter could receive it with a standard bluetooth dongle.
Brent Picasso
CEO and Founder, Autosport Labs
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