The official "Post your custom-from-scratch dash" thread

[everlast]

I haven't seen any thread like this, so I'd like to start one. I have two dashes in development at the moment, one is simply a modded "Analog Bar" dash and one is from scratch.

I'd like to limit this thread to dashes that are completely from scratch, since most people modify the original dashes with very little changes.

It would be nice to post any "neat things" that your dash does. For instance, my dash from scratch (called SlimFull) has some neat things, like gauges that disappear when irreverent and dual histograms. Be sure to include special instructions, like backgrounds, custom.ini additions, and fonts if necessary.

Screen shots are a must!

I'll post some preliminary screens from SlimFull shortly.

[everlast]

Here is SlimFull, my (somewhat failed) attempt at a low CPU, high performance dash. In incorporates only the things I need, not for everyone but it has some good tidbits that others could benefit by. The screenshots are simulated; I'm not near my car at the moment, so no histograms work.

- shift light -
A horizontal bar rpm gauge. It's range is 1 rpm, set where you want it to light up. It has a transparent face and font, with a warning color that coincides with the top of the range, so it simply goes from black to pink in 1 rpm, say 5799 to 5800. I put an indicator in front with the word SHIFT in black, attached to a "null = 0;" output channel in my custom.ini for performance.

- dual afr / target histogram -
This is super handy; it shows the AFR and target on top of each other, like MLV does. Great for quick glances. I used spaces to move the labels around. AFR Target needs an entry in custom.ini to divide by 100 to get it to work, fyi.

- histograms -
The histograms are all the same vertical limits, so they are comparable to each other easily.

- ase, cl idle and wse -
These indictators are dark in the screen shots. They go dark when out, so not to clutter the screen.

- tps -
Your typical bar graph for TPS, with a label indictor with the numeric value. The bar graph limits are 0 to 100, but the numeric one goes from -50 to 150. When out spec, it lights up yellow to alert you that you need to calibrate your TPS.

- ego -
It gently lights up whenever ego correction is in use, and goes black at 100%. Easy to spot when EGO is active at a glance.

- invisible gauges -
The lost sync counter, warm up enrichment and (not visible) Config Error gauges are invisible when unlit, decluttering the screen. No use having them on when they're not used. The Lost Sync is visible from a count of 1 and up.

- main RPM gauge
The tach uses a standard circle gauge, with a black circle nulled gauge to cover the middle, transparent fonts and a bar gauge for the labels (because the labels on the circle gauges suck). Also give a nice ring effect around the tach.

Performance isn't as good as I'd hoped. My machine is horribly slow (CPU index of 12000 or so) so I can't except much I guess.

Phil, I'd love to know what gauges zap the most CPU. Do histograms take more CPU when they're wider?

[isac]

Can I try SlimFull?

If so, please email to isac.araujo_at_gmail

Thanks

[everlast]

I still have a couple of small fixes to do, then test. I will post everything up here when I'm done, likely this weekend.

[gurov]

i don't expect anybody to like this, but this is what i use:



afr and afr target overlay, so if the lines are close, i know i'm good on fuel. this is PAINFULLY slow in TS. because it's overlayed transparrent histograms, which, i believe, is the ONLY way to look at any kind of data.

[UnaClocker]

It's too bad they have to be from scratch. I liked the style of analog bar, I just wanted different colors, added a ton of things to it, and re-arranged everything. I still need to complete my work on it anyways.

[everlast]

Start a new thread with modified versions of the shipping dashes!

[richyvrlimited]

SlimFull looks fantastic.

Great thread, I just use a slightly modified version of the original dash, I have no sense of style/what looks good so can't fathom out making a good useable dashboard.

[everlast]

Got really busy and didn't get to test the dash.. I will tonight and post it up for you guys to try out.

[zmanco]

Here's what mine has evolved into for tuning. It's very busy, but it has all the data I need on screen. My laptop is a decent size so I can quickly find the value I need when it's sitting on the passenger seat. I did not worry about aesthetics - as those of you with any sense can easily tell

2010-08-02 12 01 48.jpg (170.28 KiB) Viewed 684 times

The sections are grouped according to function:

Upper left: general conditions. Coolant and MAT change colors as the temps go up.
Lower left: idle tuning
Upper right: additional detail (I routinely travel up down 1-2k+ ft elevation hence the barometric info)

The AFR gauge also shows the AFR target in bold. The EGO Correction gauge shows the AFR Error in bold.

Boost duty is really too small but it was the last thing added and that was the only real estate left ;)

And last, but not least, MAP is in the center. Given it's a turbo motor, it's probably what I check most often (it has a history tail to show peak MAP, but that breaks often hence needing a restart).

[Perkele]

Here's mine for tuning boost controll and seeing as much as possible at the same time.

If possible I too would like to test SlimFull
tperkamo@hotmail.com

[Zaphod]

I also do like the slimfull - looks very subtle...

Please post it, when you are finished..

[everlast]

I'm a big liar I guess, since I said I'd post it already but still haven't fixed a couple remaining issues. Hopefully I'll get to it tonight when my car gets some love time.

[Monzsta]

SlimFull looks awesome. I'd like to try it as well.

[whittlebeast]

Here is the dash for VE/dyno tuning. This happens to be a Alpha N racecar so one of the big gauges is TPS. If I am doing a Speed density tune I simply change that one guage. Most of the digital gauges change color if the motor is not in the range that I want for tuning re warmup or overheat. The big hole in the bottom right is for the VE table or whatever I am tweaking on at the time. In the lower left is in the same as the stim knobs.

Here is the *.dash if anyone wants to start with it.

http://www.ncs-stl.com/ms2/AWTuningMs2Extra.dash

Have fun tuning

AW

[mcm]

everlast, i liked your dash so much I copied it -- I couldn't wait!

Please do post it however, it does look very nice. Am curious how you achieved that grey line surrounding the main dial gauge, that tapers from one end to the other (overlapping dummy gauges?)

[everlast]

Whittlebeast, that "hole" is a terrific idea, very obvious yet I never thought of it!!

I'll post up my MSQ today tested or not. I SWEAR.

[[L'e$kro]]

We are tomorrow !!
Can't wait!
Nicolas

[everlast]

OK! I fixed some outstanding items; it all seems good.

You need to:

- install the TTF font file (typically drag and drop into to \Windows\Fonts)
- copy the .jpg to the "program files\efianalytics\tunerstudio\dash\background" folder
- copy the .dash to the "program files\efianalytics\tunerstudio\dash" folder
- copy the custom.ini to your projects "projectCfg" folder, typically "My Docments\TunerStudioProject\projectName\projectCfg

Untested under linux (considering a linux netbook for this though).

Obviously, the items onscreen suit my project, so you might have to change some, but I hope you find the layout ok!

[[L'e$kro]]

Thank you very much!
Downloading now...
Nicolas