I recently received a "new" laptop and figured Id see what my car was doing now that I have it and some ALDL scanning software. I have read and re-read the articles from Craig Moates, etc etc on how to make a cable and it seems easy enough. BUT, my question is, is that Ive seen a couple different ways to make them. Some use 3.9K resistors? or 10ohm resistors and some dont. Some use jumpers on the A and B terminals and some dont. I have a 9 pin port on my laptop(COM port???) but wanted to get some expert advice on where to get the materials to make this cable to get my laptop running.....thanks in advance. p.s. The software I have found that I like is WinALDL and ALDLMON?? They both seem similar but I wanted to get some opinions on those as well. Thanks again guys.....

By the way....Here's a link to the ALDLMon software if anybody is unfamiliar with it........


ALDLMon

Which ECM and what .bin (BCC) are you using?

John

Usually just the 2-transistor cable is a good place to start. If you have a 1227165 and want to do 8192 baud communications, you'll want to have the 10k resistor between pins A-B. For a 1227730, it's not needed.

If you need some parts that Radio Shack doesn't have let me know. I've got some 'spare' stuff laying around ;^).

Im using the 730 ECM and do I need a .bin to aquire data from the ECM ??? If so I guess Ill use the AUJP .bin. Could somebody make a list of parts I would need to get this thing going? I have both a parallel port and COM port on the laptop. Thanks for all the help guys......

If you have a 'stock' memcal already running in a 730 TPI and you just want to analyze and monitor your car's operational data, which is a good starting point, then do the following:

- Download my free ECM853 software (used to log data, graph it, and what-not) from www.moates.net

- Assemble a 'Two-Transistor' cable as described on www.moates.net and splice it into your ALDL plug.

- Hook the cable up to your serial port and log data.

That's really all there is to it. No sense in worrying about chip burning or any of that quite yet. First log some data and see what's going on. Should cost you about $5 bucks.

yeah Im just curious what's going on with my car. Ive had a "idle" problem for about two months now and cant figure it out. Im tired of guessing and have checked everything that I can without scanning the ECM, so it will be nice to see whats going on in real time. Im not too much worried about chip burning yet....not until I get familiar with how the computer works exactly. I looked at the 2 transistor diagram.....but I was wondering if somebody could "walk" me through it. Im going to get the supplies today....all I need is the COM cable and some transistors correct????? Anything else I would need? Thanks in advance......