Head up Display - volunteers needed!

[speedview]

Hi folks,



I've started a company to sell SpeedView Head up Displays (HUDs). These little gadgets project your speed onto the windscreen so that you can see your speed and see where you’re going at the same time:







Dead handy if you’ve fitted a mario-kart sized steering wheel like I have on my MX5, or stopping 9 points turning into 12, or just as a bling toy! It has a few more tricks up its sleeve too - see a quick video here:

www.speedview.co/gallery/video



I'm looking for two volunteers (enthusiasts, gurus, stupendous badasses) to give it a whirl on a variety of Pugs, in exchange for getting it really, really, cheap - £40 for a Head up Display. You know you want one: bling and something to fiddle with on Boxing Day... ;-)

Here's the deal: I have the "normal" instructions but I would like specific instructions for each vehicle. Something like these:

www.speedview.co/forum/showthread.php?tid=2

I'll sell you a unit for £60 including post (already £10 off RRP), then refund you £20 when you upload the instructions to the forum. You'll need to be a little bit handy - I don't have the wiring diagram for any Pugs so you'll have to know how to find those, or perhaps even give one of the mechanical<>electrical converters a whirl - but otherwise installation is pretty straightforward.

I'll be taking two volunteers for each model, across the various forums.



Anybody interested in being the first? Or just have questions? You can catch me in here, by PM, or on [e-mail] - I'm all ears :-)



For your troubles, a couple of photos of my toys (sorry, no Peugeot...)







If you'd like to know who on earth would do such a thing, or more about the company, click here...

www.speedview.co/about

[Piston Broke]

Is it wired in, or does it simply plug into the OBD port on newer cars?

[speedview]

Hi Piston Broke,

Wired in: earth, ignition 12V, vehicle speed signal (also known as VSS, speed pulse, or GALA)

I'm targeting the older cars first as they're usually the ones in the hands of enthusiasts and they tend to be the most modified/leave the most to be desired in terms of a speedometer.

This signal is usually available in the newer cars too often behind the radio, but it is not a plug and play device.

There's a work-around for vehicles with mechanical speedometers too:

www.speedview.co/forum/showthread.php?tid=7&pid=12#pid12

[undernutter]

Hi there speedview, Seasonal greetings to yer 8)

The HUD's look good, I must say, and thats a very good offer you've got there, but I think right now I'd only be looking to buy one if it was operated by GPS as opposed to the existing vehicle system. I know for a fact my 205's speedo (mechanical drive) is out slightly, as it has 14" as opposed to 13" roadwheels.

Just out of interest, do you know how I could go about setting this up correctly?

Now, that chop-top Jaguar, that is really quite something. Do tell us more 8) 8)

Dave

[speedview]

Cheers undernutter!


I'm going to point you towards the SpeedView FAQ here:
www.speedview.co/faq


Believe me that you DO NOT want GPS - GPS is completely and utterly useless as a speedometer and the FAQ will explain why.


Fixing a speedo that reads wrong is one of the things that the SpeedView is great for - it really doesn't matter what you've done to the engine/gearbox/diff/wheel size/tyre size etc; the SpeedView will show the right speed.

How?

The SpeedView gets its speed signal from the car. This is the only way to get a precise speed signal, but it is not an accurate signal. The signal will be wrong, but it is always wrong the same way so we can correct for this.Not accurate means that “70 mph” could mean a real speed anywhere between 63 mph and 70 mph. Precise means that if it shows “70 mph” when you speed is 63 mph, then the car always shows 70 mph when your real speed is 63 mph.

You can make a signal that is precise but not accurate precise AND accurate by correcting it. In the example above, if we make the speedo show 63 mph when the car is telling it 70 mph, then it will always show 63 mph when your real speed is 63 mph and you now have a precise AND accurate speedometer. Scientists and engineers “calibrate” (adjust) instruments like this all the time.

Inside the SpeedView is a “fine adjustment” setting that we use to do just this. The speed shown by the SpeedView is a percentage of the speed that the car tells the SpeedView. If we ask for 100%, then when the car says it is doing 70 mph the SpeedView will show 70 mph. If we ask for 50%, then when the car says it is doing 70 mph then SpeedView will show 35 mph. If we ask for 200%, then when the car says it is doing 70 mph then SpeedView will show 140 mph.

By using this “fine adjustment” setting you can make the speed shown by the SpeedView right: accurate and precise.


My own winters and summer tyres are different sizes: (tall narrow 14s for winter, wide lo pro 15s for summer)




My car is supposed to make 4000 pulses every mile on the VSS wire.

When I connected up the Head up Display, and told it to look for 4000 pulses each mile, it read a little bit faster than I was actually going. There's a fine adjustment in there though, so I asked it to show 97% of the speed the car was telling it, instead of 100%. Now it reads spot-on.

I have the opposite problem with the winter tyres. They're a little bigger than my summer ones, so it reads too slow. I dial in 103% and its spot-on again.

There's enough adjustment in the unit for ANY (road-going!) combination of car/wheel/gearbox you care to try it on.

Page 8 of the installation manual shows you how its done:

www.speedview.co/faq/download


Here's how we add the vss to a mechanical speedo - not that complicated!

www.speedview.co/forum/showthread.php?tid=7&pid=12#pid12



Jaguar?
www.speedview.co/about

Once upon a time there were three young men in a pub, scheming various daft things that they might do next summer. Unfortunately for them, an evil company called eBay had published an app for Android smartphones, and when they awoke the next morning they discovered that they had bought an old Jaguar. This Jaguar happened to have broken down in a British Car Auctions car park 250 miles away, had been condemned by a Jaguar specialist, and needed “recovering on a truck.”

Undaunted, they duly set off in a Suzuki Swift, armed with a wiring diagram, some jump leads, and a bag of tools. After some headscratching, an easi-start induced explosion and the removal of half the engine bay to massage electrical connections into life they drove the Jaguar home, much to the seller’s irritation.

Copious quantities of 150x150x5 mm box, 4 mm plate, cutting discs and MIG wire later the Jaguar has become a four door phaeton. (Phaeton being the proper coachbuilding term for a car with two or more rows of seats and minimal weather protection, and not an overweight VW Passat)

Still needs the interior and wiring refitting and an IVA. Some 17” Daimler rims or 18” XJR rims and a lick of paint wouldn’t go amiss either. Summer 2012 perhaps? ;D

[speedview]

Tweaking a mechanical speedo:

www.algeo.com/~joe/speedo.htm

Pain the bum, but possible!

[undernutter]

Hi again, thanks for the info there, really quite useful I must say!

I'll certainly be thinking about one for the 205 come the new year if I can get some money together: I'll keep you posted

Also, some of the chaps on bmw5.co.uk may well be interested
(I go by "hippie dave" on there, by the way )

All the best,

Dave

[speedview]

Cheers Dave!

You know where I am if you fancy one

I'll head over to BMW5 but it may be some time as cash is tight as a startup so I'm offering the initial units in the free or very low cost forums first!

You're welcome to direct folks here though - the discount for the first people offer stands even if I'm not on their forum.

Cheers,

--
Marko