SDS CDI vs Pmag

[Canadian_JOY]

Ross - I'll chime in as a very basic user... I want automation rather than having to forever fiddle with ignition. That's one of the reasons my first EI is a P-Mag. I know the CPI controller allows an incredible amount of control over the ignition. I haven't read the user's manual recently, but my hope would be for a couple of quick button pushes to set the CPI into some default auto mode where the ignition provides as much advance as is needed to ensure good power, good economy and good protection of the engine. Not all of us are engine tuners, nor do we want to be. Ideally I'd like to mess with the CPI controller once at installation and then tuck it up behind the panel, never to be touched again. "Easy Mode" for me, please!

[Kyle Boatright]

Originally Posted by tspear

I still think it funny how Ross's poor green color gets maligned on multiple boards.

Good luck on the next release.

Tim

As Kermit the frog said "It ain't easy being green..."

[rv6ejguy]

Originally Posted by Canadian_JOY

Ross - I'll chime in as a very basic user... I want automation rather than having to forever fiddle with ignition. That's one of the reasons my first EI is a P-Mag. I know the CPI controller allows an incredible amount of control over the ignition. I haven't read the user's manual recently, but my hope would be for a couple of quick button pushes to set the CPI into some default auto mode where the ignition provides as much advance as is needed to ensure good power, good economy and good protection of the engine. Not all of us are engine tuners, nor do we want to be. Ideally I'd like to mess with the CPI controller once at installation and then tuck it up behind the panel, never to be touched again. "Easy Mode" for me, please!

We'll still offer the original CPI to those who want to blind mount behind the panel as the new design won't be suited to that.

We send out all of our ignitions with a base map duplicating what a basic mag does- say 24 degrees total advance above 1400 rpm and no MAP advance. We'll custom tailor your curve depending on CR and fuel used (91 or 100LL)

The LOP switch allows the user to add whatever amount of advance you program in on top of that. We feel this gives the widest detonation margins and avoids excessive advance as some of the other EIs plainly have. We also disable the LOP switch input above about 25 inches as further protection in case you forget the switch position.

We understand that all users are not timing/ engine savvy and many just want a basic ignition. People should also understand that pre-set proprietary curves put out by some of the other EI makers may not suit different engines with CR changes or operating on different octane fuels but since people can't easily see what they have or do anything about it, they blindly operate them, hoping all will be ok. We prefer to give people the info and choice to change curves easily without any add-on devices if they want. Our philosophy differs from the others in the field.

We're going to try to keep the price of the new system below the other big players in the market and give you higher reliability, less maintenance and more features for less money.

[tspear]

Originally Posted by Kyle Boatright

As Kermit the frog said "It ain't easy being green..."

lol, well played.

Tim

[Chkaharyer99]

Originally Posted by rv6ejguy

Preliminary design work on the next gen CPI will begin on Sept. 1 after we finish some additional engine running on our test stand this week.

All I can say so far is that it will be completely repackaged to take up about 1/4 the panel space of two of the current CPIs and there will be a single head to access optional dual boards, all integral. Also, the much hated green will be gone.

Pretty much all the proven software and basic hardware will remain as is.

Planned release is early 2018 but that's dependent on how busy we are with filling our regular orders and how long it takes to get it all developed and properly tested.

Looking for customer feedback on any additional features people might want.

We'll offer 4, 6 and 8 cylinder systems as we do now. They will all be released simultaneously so no waiting for a 6 cylinder system...

This is great news!

Will the next Gen CPI be a plug and play replacement for the current much hated green CPI's?

Any plans to change the EM-5 LCD Controller/display?

Thanks

[Masterplumber]

I have your controller and it is tough to read as the display is quite small and so only can show limited data with each screen. What would be nice is an serial interface with my GRT EFIS display, perhaps as an option screen on the engine pages. Allow me to see a lot more data at once. Maybe control settings from there as well.
I like having my Trig transponder controlled like that quite a bit.
Just a thought.

John Koonce
RV 10
N78MU

[rv6ejguy]

Originally Posted by Chkaharyer99

This is great news!

Will the next Gen CPI be a plug and play replacement for the current much hated green CPI's?

Any plans to change the EM-5 LCD Controller/display?

Thanks

The Gen 2 will likely have a different connector with more pins so the harnesses will be slightly different. All the FF bits will be the same. So, with minimal harness changes, the Gen 2 could be substituted for a Gen 1.

No plans to change the EM-5 programmer display. We just spent a lot of money on new boards last week to use the wider temp spec LCD and offer the dimming and contrast adjustment. We also have a lot of expensive keypads on the shelf...

[rv6ejguy]

Originally Posted by Masterplumber

I have your controller and it is tough to read as the display is quite small and so only can show limited data with each screen. What would be nice is an serial interface with my GRT EFIS display, perhaps as an option screen on the engine pages. Allow me to see a lot more data at once. Maybe control settings from there as well.
I like having my Trig transponder controlled like that quite a bit.
Just a thought.

John Koonce
RV 10
N78MU

The Gen 2 CPI will have a larger display.

It would take too long to develop an interface with other engine monitors at this time but that's something we've considered so we'll have serial output capability on this device to be able to possibly add features like this when we have time to write and validate software to communicate with other devices.

[DanH]

Originally Posted by FLY6

Is my thinking correct to see the only big difference in the two unit would be that the SDS can be programmed for more advanced curves?

Much less advanced curves.

Get a copy of Nigel Speedy's recent Kitplanes article titled "The Effects of Ignition Advance on Cylinder Head Temperature, Speed, and Efficiency" (June 2017). Nigel is a professional test pilot, who put a lot of time and money into finding his optimum ignition timing for both best power and best economy mixture settings. It turns out that best power, as you might use for climb, requires little or no advance beyond the fixed setting specified by Lycoming, Superior, Titan, etc. The data says the pre-programmed ignition systems are wrong; when you try to use the expensive horsepower you bought, all they do is increase CHT. They advance when advance is not wanted or needed.

There is benefit to significant ignition advance when mixture is set LOP, up high. Even so, Nigel notes that running fixed timing and simply climbing to a higher altitude can result in near equal efficiency....with lower CHT. Higher altitudes are easy when you don't fight CHT in climb.

Mike Robinson has done a fair bit of ignition test flying also, and can tell how closely his data compares with Nigel's. If I ever find time to return to experiments, I intend to gather a similar data set for an angle valve.

There are only two systems which allow programming dual ignition maps (one for best power and one for LOP), and changing between them in flight with a single switch flip, SDS and Ford/MegajoltE. Only the SDS is self-programming; the EDIS/MegajoltE requires a laptop. And as noted, the SDS system now switches to the ROP map automatically above 25".

Nice one Ross.

[FLY6]

Thanks Dan I will look for the articles you mentioned. Thanks everyone for your input, I obviously have a lot more reading in front of me.