TEC II obsolete?

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Originally Posted by Ken Walsh

General update. I'm largely done with most of my "new home chores" (last 2+ years worth....) related to my relocation from Colorado to the Florida Panhandle in mid-2011......

I hope to get back into serious work on my Manta.... to include revamping my engine management system. I had bought an Electromotive TEC II system ages ago--and it is programmed via an RS-232 port with UNUSUAL signal (voltage) levels. The TEC II still works, but no recent PCs (Windows XP, 7, 8, etc) with RS-232 ports can talk to it(!)--therefore, no tuning possible. Talk about a useless hunk of once-good technology. Electromotive is willing to give me a "good deal" on a later TEC....for only about $1,600. Ouch.... OUCH! I've started a search for another (not Electromotive brand) EFI controller, but all prices are not inexpensive, these days.....

'Might as well revamp the entire EFI system, turbos, and headers if I go that route. Hobbies aren't always cheap, ya know....

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That's the world we live in today. My floppies that had a lot of my early mid-engine design and notes...worthless now. The Holley HP system I'm using will probably always be a good system, but unless I keep this computer forever, I may eventually not have an interface that allows me to maintain it. Designed obsolescence.

Terry,

I've heard good things about the Megasquirt system but I've never used one.

TEC II...... Yep, hard to believe. The ONLY means I have to communicate with it, is with a 15 year old Pentium "full tower", running way-obsolete Windows 95. I'm not a stranger to RS-232 interfaces and UART's but I can't seem to break the code, on the TEC II serial interface. Talks with the Electromotive designer have been a good exchange, but without any hard suggestions.

I've even bought several older laptops via eBay, in an attempt to replace my "full tower", but none of them can contend with the ideosynchracies of the TEC II.

Can you imagine..... driving down the street, with a "full tower", keyboard, and monitor in the passenger seat--with a LONG extension power cord dragging behind you, in an attempt "to street tune" the TEC II...... Ouch, double ouch....!!

Put a blow-up head on top of the tower, and a cup-holder on the side, and it sounds like a match made in heaven.