"Home Dyno" program. Still around?

[JohnNeiferd]

SECOND UPDATE:
I've been trying to get it to work, but I can't get the WAVE file to come out quite right. I think it has to do with my inductive pick-up set up. I'll need some help. Check it out in post #11.

DOWNLOADS:
Download for Street Dyno
http://www.beretta.net/goodie_bin/street.htm
Download for PowerDyn Trail. (Can't use horsepower and torque, but you can use the tachometer feature it has)
http://www.powerdyn.fr/powerdyn/setup_us.exe

Original:
I've run into several sites where people mention a program called the "Home Dyno." It basically is a pickup you connect to your spark plug wire, and then you plug the other end into a recording device. You follow the instructions, something like get in second gear and floor it from 1000 to redline or rev. limiter. Then you upload the audio file and the Home Dyno program analysis the spark data you collected based on a large amount of data you input (car weight, temperature, altitude, coefficient of drag, etc.) and it will output a dyno graph for you. I've heard this is more accurate than G-Tech.

However, I cant seem to find this anywhere. The links to its homepage are down. I think the company was bought out and the product was discontinued (sadly), but I'm not sure. Does anyone have any information about this and where I could get one? I'd really like to get my hands on one.

If its discontinued would it be unlawful to put to put software file on the internet for free download and put the schematics for the pickup on internet as well? If it'd be legal could someone do this if they have this product?

Here are some links about it.
http://autospeed.com/cms/A_110474/article.html
(They talk about it in the first paragraph under "Dyno Numbers")

http://www.team3s.com/FAQhomedyno.htm
(Lots of information about it.)

http://members.fortunecity.com/jasoncuadra/id47.htm
(This guy wrote his own program based on the Home Dyno)

[theholycow]

I don't know anything about this particular program, but the concept of putting up unavailable software for people to download for free is pretty common; you may be able to find some legal opinions on it by searching for "abandonware".
http://www.google.com/search?q=abandonware+legal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware

I suspect that it will be illegal to do, however, IMO it's unethical NOT to do.

[JohnNeiferd]

I'll keep updating this post with software as I find it.

I happened to find this

http://www.ontrackdigital.com/

Thankfully its still in production, looks similar to Home Dyno but I'm not sure if it allows you to input frictional losses through the drivetrain and the coefficient of drag and such. At least it still uses weight and weather conditions.

What do you guys think of this? Would it be worth it? I'd like one of these over G-Tech cause I heard that G-Tech isn't usually accurate. Especially when it gets off balance from 0 because the vehicle gets slightly higher when accelerating hard.

[GasSavers_landon]

I have that software somewhere. I look for it tonight or tomorrow.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

See this, another guy did it...
http://members.fortunecity.com/jasoncuadra/id47.htm

Sounds like one just needs to translate data from an audio file into a bunch of numbers that a spreadsheet could handle and knock up a spreadsheet for it.

Could just use injector data like for that java fuel economy calc.... hmmm... combined with that you should be able to make BSFC maps.

[JohnNeiferd]

I'm sure it'd be fairly simple to write a program for someone with the experiance. I don't have any programming experiance at all, so I'd rather purchase a program than spend a few years just trying to figure out how to program. What are BSFC maps anyway?

I'd be nice if someone made a program, especially one with an open-source so others could add in features if they wanted. That way we could use MPGuino for fuel economy (or ScanGuageII or SuperMID) and a dyno program to see our HP and torque numbers. It'd be very helpful when tuning to move peak power to lower RPMs and it'd also be interesting to see how much fuel economy and how much performance you gain at the same time by increasing engine efficiency.

[JohnNeiferd]

FOUND SOMETHING!
This link has a schematic of a home built pick-up, its simple.
http://www.drivewerks.com/tech/street_dyno.htm

This link has a newer version of Street Dyno than the last link.
http://www.beretta.net/goodie_bin/street.htm

Sorry just got a tad excited for a second. This is Street Dyno, and old program that is similar to Home Dyno. This program was also discontinued, I don't think it was ever actually sold, just a free program. It looks fairly good. I'll have to test it out as soon as I buy an inductive lead. I'm looking forward to this.

[JohnNeiferd]

Landon,

Sorry, I must've accidentally skimmed over your post earlier. It'd be great if you could find the software. From the screen shots I've seen, it looks better than Street Dyno. How many times did you use the software and what was your opinion of it? I'm anxious to start trying these out so I really appreciate you taking the time to look for it.

[dieselbenz]

If you have an Iphone or Ipod Touch, this is for you.
http://www.dynolicious.com/

[JohnNeiferd]

Well, I tried putting together a pick-up for the spark plug wire signal. I connected it directly to the spark plug wire and used a 50K 1/2 potentiometer to try to knock the voltage down low enough. Looks like I've blown the pot for obvious reasons but at the end of the mic jack my DMM was saying I was only putting out around 220 millivolts. My goal is around 60-75 millivolts. So I added in another pot of unknown value I found around the house. It dropped the voltage down to around 200milivolts. The pots with sometimes have a spark on the inside if I turn them up too high (probably because they are blown.)

What type of device would I use to drop the voltage down to 60-75 millivolts? Should I buy some standard resistors rated at 10M Ohm? I understand my main problem is the resistors aren't made to handle that kind of watts, but I'm not sure what else I could use. Any ideas? I can wire stuff together, but when it comes to what each component does and how it does it I'm not very knowledgeable.

I'd rather build something cheaply than pay $25 plus shipping for an inductive pick-up built for these programs. Any way to built an inductive pick-up that isn't directly in contact with the spark plug wire and getting 30,000volts?