Idle hands are the devil's tools...so...

Sitting around waiting for the Holidays to be over so we can all get back to doing what needs done, I decided to post about something that makes sense, but not until someone tells you about it.

So, for all of you who currently do, or plan to do some of the electronic tuning on your car, here are some thoughts and a tip or two.

All of the ECU vendors supply software that will allow you to tune, and also to log the events on your car. That software works just great when sitting in the shop, or garage. And the software also works well when you are at the strip, but it is usually your computer that lets you down then.

The (some) vendors give you a usb to serial converter, since they haven't quit4e caught up with the fact that computers don't come with serial ports any more. So you take your laptop out to the car, plug it in, and.............

Imagine being in the bright sun with your laptop and trying to read the screen...

That isn't the exception, it is the rule. Most of the time when you are at the track, and even when you only want to do something trivial, like download a log, you will often find yourself twisting the screen, and yourself, trying to find enough shade to actually read the screen and give the proper commands. In fact, in those circumstances I usually have trouble just locating the mouse cursor, so I can get to the right command.

If you were to have any of the ECU vendors assist you at the track, you will learn something interesting. You should learn a bit about what they do to tune your car, but they also usually carry a 50 foot serial cable to allow them to connect to the computer in the car, from the trailer where it is usually shady and screens can be read more easily.

Now you might assume that those 25 or 50 ft serial cables are special, or hard to find. But that isn't entirely true. They aren't common, and your local radio shack might not have them, but they can be found. Spend a few minutes looking online, and you might find the 25 foot 9 pin serial cables for less than $20 each. I got mine at http://www.geeks.com/ and picked up two.

As with anything else, it has to occur to you that something can be fixed, before you stop dealing with it, and fix it. This is one annoyance that can be fixed, inexpensively, and easily.

Don't wait until you have to suffer through a deadline trying to look at your logs, so you know what to dial in the next race they just called to the staging lanes....

Fix it now. Tis the season (winter) to fix the little things that bother you about the car. I know I have a few more to get done this year..

David