MegaSquirt is for the fishes...
#1
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MegaSquirt is for the fishes...
A few of you are already familiar; now we're lifting the cloak of secrecy and showing our newest EMS for the first time to the public at the Performance Racing Industry show in Orlando.
Introducing MS3-Pro. With the same great features of the MS3X EMS, but with m0ar aw3som3. Yes, it's a crappy cell phone pic. Yes, that's our new MS3-Pro EMS running from inside a fishtank, with fish swimming around it. Yes, I think that this is very likely to be a first in the industry.
Some better pics on our facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/diyautotune
Introducing MS3-Pro. With the same great features of the MS3X EMS, but with m0ar aw3som3. Yes, it's a crappy cell phone pic. Yes, that's our new MS3-Pro EMS running from inside a fishtank, with fish swimming around it. Yes, I think that this is very likely to be a first in the industry.
Some better pics on our facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/diyautotune
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Years.
Which is why I was happy to accept one of the Beta units when DIY offered it a month ago. The secrecy has been killing me- now I can finally brag about what an awesome device this is!
As you noted, this is a truly all in one solution. What really impressed me, however, is that thay've done more than just re-package the existing circuit design. This really is a new ECU, which fixes all of the stupid circuit topologies which we've all hated for years. Gone, for example, is the flaky op-amp input circuit for the crank and cam sensors. In its place is a MAX9926 chip, which is the dual-input version of the 9924 that I started using a few years ago when I built that 36-1 crankwheel setup for my '92. It's a great device- differential inputs, automatic threshold detect, decent noise immunity. Been rock-solid with the CAS on my '90 so far. The era of tweaking pots is at an end.
And yeah, it's small.
The form-factor is a bit unusual what with the connectors coming out of the top, but it still fits into the stock ECU space in my '90. Might stick out a bit on the '94-'97 cars, but that shouldn't be too big a problem. Apparently folks who mount their ECUs on the firewall love this form-factor.
(pardon the messy wiring; this is a work-in-progress shot.)
The connectors themselves are pure sex. I don't so much care whether they are watertight or not, but unlike the DB-37, they are seriously robust, have very nice contacts, and latch into place like a "real" ECU connector should.
The harness which is comes with is a bit of a python, as they've wired out every conceivable function and then some. One nice thing about these connectors is that you can easily remove un-needed contacts from then without special tools. Doing so compromises the watertight integrity of the connector, but for an "indoor" ECU, it will allow you to shrink the harness down to a more reasonable thickness. I haven't yet done this with mine, as I'm still experimenting and adding features.
Rather unusually for a Megasquirt, there is no internal MAP sensor. Putting a MAP hole in the case would have compromised the watertight nature of the case, so that now has to be mounted externally. No biggie. You can either use a conventional GM-style sensor, or you can take an MPX4250 (the sensor normally found inside an MS) and solder a couple of wires to it. I went a step further and tacked a couple of filter caps to the legs, then encased the termination in epoxy and heatshrink.
(Sorry- crappy cell-phone pix on that one.)
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As with the MSPnP, the schematics for the unit are proprietary to DIY. I have opened the box and spend some time poking around, and while I'd prefer to have access to the schematics for my own personal curiosity, there isn't nearly as serious a need for it as with the regular MS3, since there's really nothing inside the box that you would ever need to modify.
Is there some reason that you find the present USB interface to be unacceptable?
Last edited by Joe Perez; 11-30-2012 at 05:16 PM. Reason: Moved info re: Innovate serial interface to new thread.
#17
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These are really two totally different things.
Rev's enhanced MS is more of an MSPnP on steroids. It does everything you could possibly need on a Miata, but is application-specific.
The MS3Pro, by comparison, is a universal Über-ECU designed to work with pretty much anything that uses spark plugs to ignite gasoline, without requiring all of the application-specific internal hacking (aka, mods) that have always been necessary in the past. In terms of the build quality and completeness, it's well-poised to compete against the "big boy" ECUs from companies such as Hydra, Bosch, Adaptronic, Electromotive, AEM, etc., and appeal to buyers who, in the past, may have viewed the MegaSquirt family as more of a hobbyist toy / science-fair project than a "real" ECU.
Rev's enhanced MS is more of an MSPnP on steroids. It does everything you could possibly need on a Miata, but is application-specific.
The MS3Pro, by comparison, is a universal Über-ECU designed to work with pretty much anything that uses spark plugs to ignite gasoline, without requiring all of the application-specific internal hacking (aka, mods) that have always been necessary in the past. In terms of the build quality and completeness, it's well-poised to compete against the "big boy" ECUs from companies such as Hydra, Bosch, Adaptronic, Electromotive, AEM, etc., and appeal to buyers who, in the past, may have viewed the MegaSquirt family as more of a hobbyist toy / science-fair project than a "real" ECU.
Last edited by Joe Perez; 11-30-2012 at 05:16 PM. Reason: Moved info re: Innovate serial interface to new thread.
#19
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Discussion concerning Innovate serial interface moved to a new thread: https://www.miataturbo.net/megasquir...-serial-69739/