Hello Rod,

Chapeau !
Thank you for sharing your job with us.

From which reason you use for X1, ceramic resonator and not quartz cristal ?
Is better for this progect or is more eazy to obtain one ?

Dino

There is a lot of fibration in engines and cristals don't like it.
A resonator calculate for 99% the same as a cristal, for this projects it's aceptable.
But feel frre to use a cristal, don't forget the two capacitors (27pF)

My congratulations!

Good installation, licked a factory making!

Hi Rob..
Things are working now as I mentioned..I need to completely reverse the table though..engine threw a prop when I tried to advance the throttle since it goes right to 30 degrees of advance.. Can I reverse the numbers and make a new table without crashing the software?

John

You can make the table just as you like without any problems [8D]

Thanks Rob... Must I use all the points on the curve as per original?

This certainly was an entertaining project so far huh? I know I learned alot from you with all the suggestions for parts replacements etc. I hope someone else has built one of these and will tell us their results.. I like to read others experiences on the DIY projects.. You mentioned that you wanted to go back to the older HV board and use the new timer.. That's great because I want to build one of those also.. I have many of the older timer boards sitting here to experiment with when Nyemi makes the changes for rpm and start timing..would be interesting to see how that combo works out..

John

There is place for 30 points into the table, but if you wana use only one point it's alos OK.

I start with the TCI-version to optimize, there are a few point who can better.
With using a Voltage lower as 12 Volts, the IGBT I use don't swich.
I have to change some components so the TCI can be use for more engines.

John,

What advance curve are you using?

Charlie

Charlie..
I was just trying the sample curve from the downloadable files..figured it wouldn't work but was worth a try..Reversing it from 30 degrees down to 4 degrees to 4 degrees to 28 or so should do it.. I think I'll try it sunday morning to see if it will give me an error like the first time I tried it...then it crashed.. Started it up again and left the curve alone, and it continued to work so I tested the timer boards with it..all worked ok.

John

Charlie..
What a difference a few keystrokes makes in the curve editing!!
I just hooked up one of the new timers and my CDI to my test engine with a totally new curve I made. The engine started the second flip and idled at 1900 rpm so smooth.. Then advanced the throttle slowly thru midrange up to top end of 6500 rpm and not so much as a burp.. It's working great! I have a newly converted engine from a Shindaiwa weedwhacker to try tomorrow..25cc two rings with a homemade carb adapter and a walbro carb. I expect that engine to work as well as the 1.4 Cox I just tested.. If you want my curve to test on an engine I'll post it...

John

To start with a curve, the best way to doit is to make a straight line started with the original ignitionpoint of the engine.
Normaly the advange is not more the + or - 5 degrees of the original ignitionpoint.
Race-engines can make more degrees, sometimes they make + or - 15 degrees of the original ignitionpoint.

A twostroke engine like a weedeather have a ignitionpoint ~30 degrees BTDC.
If you gone make a advagne curve, you have to start with a line 1000rpm till 8000rpm 30 degrees BTDC.
To make this line you only need two points into the tablemaker, one at 1000rpm and one at 8000rpm
If the engine runs smooth with this advange ignitionline, you can change the 8000rpm point to put the point down to 25 degrees BTDC.
If the engine runs better, you can ad more points to the line and change the BTDC-points of the line.

NEVER START WITH MORE THEN 5 DEGREES DIFFERENS BETWEEN THE ORIGINAL IGNITIONPOINT AND THE ADVANGE.

Hi Rob..
Strangely enough, that's exactly what I did last night. The curve I made is exactly like you said, and then I added the rest of the points to make a smoother curve. The engine runs it's best that way. Now I have to buy some different props and experiment some more! It actually works better than I ever could have imagined!

I used to have a mechanical advance linkage connected to the throttle on the carburator.. The software and curve now imitates that setup 100%. What a wonderful world of electronics we live in. I particularly like the tracking software and the ease of editing the curves and uploading to the PIC chip. Clearly a plus for the novice types who just want a simple to use, easy to work with ignition system. There are no secrets to learn..it's all there in black & white for the reading and results in a great system for anyone wanting a high quality ignition..one step above all the rest I think.

I would like to express my total appreciation to you and the programmer for working so hard on this project.. I believe you can now market this system and get paid back for all your extremely hard work and effort to make this system possible. I know for a fact that if I couldn't build this system I would definitly buy one from you... It's that good! I just hope that others will see the same point of view and take advantage of the simple system it is and appreciate all the hard work and many, many hours you have dedicated to this system!

I am currently researching some ignition coils to use that are reliable for a CDI. I found a few that sparked my interest. As the information is found, I'll be listing them on the forum for those interested.. S&S Machine's website listed a few ready made and wired ignition coils for around $20 U.S. They have spark plugs, boots and wired Hall Effect sensors also. Check them out first, for R/C plane engine coils and wiring...good quality stuff for our needs. Also, BCCHI has a few coils left over..see what he has to offer.


John

This project will be a open source project and we wll never sell it.
We will improve it, not only the software but also the hardware.
But, we don't hurry to do this it's not project number one anymore.

The new project we gone make will be a professional product.
The PCB I working on is 10x16cm and weight about 300 gram without the metal case.
Thats not the weight to use for RC-models, more to use for cars and bikes.

New TCI-version, here you can also find the newest IgnitionControl software (version 1500 - 29 Nov 2010)

Software looks good without problems and we start multi language Spanisch - Dutch and English

http://www.electronics.gompy.net/tci-02/

Hi Rob!
Is it new HEX file? As I remember pin.9 is a HV generator? What is R2 connect to what? Is it RESET? Is X1 the same or we don't need it? Is R3 and R14 really 33k may be better ~680R? BT151 is SCR, may be mistake. And what do you think: can I run ignitioncoil from 8VDC(2LiPo) or we need strongly 12V? Sorry for frash, english not so good.
BR Iura.

No the HEX isn'tt new, only the program.
Pin 9 is still a extra output, you never know we can use him into the future.
I've to draw a better schematic, but I was in a hurry last night.....and it was late [&o]
X1 is a resonator, but you can use a cristal too but you need 2 extra capacitors to ground.
I'll draw this option into the final schematic and maybe I designe a PCB too for use with a cristal.
BT151 must be BA159 and R2 is connented to the MCLR of the PIC.
R3 and R14 are realy 33k, they have only make the gateline zero and unload the capacitor.
It's possible to connect Q 3 and 4 direct to the pic, but for safe (current) I use the BS170.
It's possible to run the Ignition from 6 Volt if you gone use a 5Volt lowdrop regulator.
If you gone use more then 8Volt, you can even run the ignition with a normal regulator.

Thanks.

After 2 months I finally got the USB-TTLmodule...I tought that i will never get it

So i will start my project at the weekend...i want to build a scooter CDI(minarelli), hope it will work. I tried a lot of PIC CDIs, but never get the result i want.
GOmpy do you have some notes for use it with a scooter?
I had problems before with the voltage..if i connected to the scooters alternator it has always restarted... i think because of the alternators messy voltage.

Enough small and big capacitors to eliminatie the spikes.

Rob..
Just wondering about something with the resonators...The ones I bought, didn't say they had capacitors inside them.. The new ones I bought and replaced the old ones with say 15pf capacitors built in, so I looked up the spec sheet on the old ones and sure enough, no mention of capacitors! So when I replaced the old with the new and reprogrammed the PIC with the newer hex file, I had already fixed my oscillation problem without knowing it. Does this make sense to you?

As a test, I resoldered the old 16mhz resonator to the boards without the capacitors inside and my problem came right back...so It was the resonators all along I think. Now if I had chose to use the crystals instead of the resonators, I would have had to add the capacitors right from the start and none of this would have happened in the first place.. What is the part number of the resonators you are using? My new ones are Murata CSTLS16MOX53-AO ....The old one was a Murata CSTLS16MOX53-BO....The new one says 15pf and the old one did not! Could this be what my problem was??? I sure hope so...Everything placed back to original on the board with the new resonator makes it work perfectly.

John

There are two types of resonators, ceramic with 3 leads and L/C with two leads.
The last one can also have three leads, but the thirt one is a mecanical lead.
This resonator you can also find into remote controls for radio and tv, the yellow or blue cubic part.

The yellow part is also a resonator.



BTW, you can place two 15pF capacitors with the old resonator and you have fix the problem.....just try

Thanks Rob...
I had a few small caps on hand so I did solder them to one of the old resonators..fixed the problem right away! Now I have to reorder many new parts to fix up my other timer boards.. Better to add a few parts than remake the boards..all will work fine I think now.. Thanks again..

John

Hi Gr. This is an output from MURATA catalog. No any differences, only package. May be the first one is a factory defect.

Must have been all defective cause I ordered 5 of them and all 5 act the same.. placed 5 new ones on the boards and now it works..

John