[plug] VW parts was: Hack, triplej and open source

[Bernd Felsche]

On Thursday 01 July 2004 15:48, Michael Hunt wrote:
> On Thu, 2004-07-01 at 11:50 +0800, Shayne O'Neill wrote:
> > I'm thinking those crazy kit porches with mad blown VW engines.....

> > My brother drives a VW, and it amazes me that despite rumors to the
> > contrary, the crazy thing is so damn cheap for parts.

> This was in reply to Bernd's comment:
> > > Linux is more like a "Volkswagen"; the People's Car. Except much
> > > better because you don't have to buy it. You can build it out of
> > > free parts and it'll still run.

> VW parts are both cheap and expensive depending on weather you buy the
> Brazilian, Mexican, South African, US after market gear or the Genuine
> made in Germany VW gear.

Nice to have competitive seconds and third sources... with cars as
with computers.

I'd dread to think how bad Linux would be if there were only one
distro. Probably be as bad as OpenSewer.

> I recently had some brake work done on my 66 Beetle and had a cork
> acting as the stopper for the brake fluid reservoir. ...
> ... My friend (who did the work for me) offered to price up a
> replacement reservoir that had a proper sealing cap and discovered
> that the Genuine VW part cost over $200 !!! (That's right, $200
> for a piece of plastic that holds about 200ml of brake fluid and
> has a little hose connector at the bottom for the brake hose to
> connect to). And to top it off it

Now you know why they call the official parts sales outlets
"Pharmacies" :-)

> didn't even come with a proper lid, just a little rubber stopper that
> you pushed into place when the thing was full. The after market part
> cost $25 and has a proper sealed lid. Have a guess which one I went for
> then !!!

> To bring this post back on topic I'm trying to figure out a way I
> can log (preferably to my Linux laptop) my engines oil temperature
> (say 30 sec intervals) over a long journey (say an 1 and half
> hours). VW motors are supposed to run optimally at an oil temp of
> about 125 C, but I think mine is running hotter. (At the moment

NTC sensor, stuck to the end of the dip-stick or the sump-plug.
Connect up to a small micro-controller like an Atmel ATTiny2313 (or
smaller if you want to bit-bang UART) and shout serial at whatever's
listening. The µC can handle the calibration, linearisation and
conversion of sensor resistance to temperature.

-- 
/"\ Bernd Felsche - Innovative Reckoning, Perth, Western Australia
\ /  ASCII ribbon campaign | I'm a .signature virus!
 X   against HTML mail     | Copy me into your ~/.signature
/ \  and postings          | to help me spread!