Paul Eastham
Well Known Member
I received a few questions about this thing I mentioned on another post, so here it is.
I've got an older Dynon EMS with no USB port for logging. You can still download log files using a windows laptop, but my windows laptop which was new in 2000 finally died. And carrying a laptop to the airport every time, hooking it up, running that infernal support program, etc is a bit of a pain.
Dynon also exports the data over the serial port while you fly (as do many other devices like your EFIS and standalone GPS receivers), so I wanted to build something that would easily let me log and remove the data from the plane without a lot of hassle.
Here it is...it needs to move off of a breadboard at some point but it works fine. The SD card is held on the reverse side of the little red circuit board. I just plug the breadboard directly into my serial port which I built into the subpanel -- it's pretty light so it doesn't even need to be screwed in, though I will at some point. Then I just carry the SD card to and from the airport and analyze when I get a chance back home.
Here is a schematic:
The only slightly tricky parts of this are you need to solder some headers onto the RS232 board, and you need to get ship's power to it somehow. Or just use a battery then you can skip the whole LM317 part of the circuit.
Parts list:
Sparkfun OpenLog $15 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13712
RS232 level shifter $10: https://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Compac...081914&sr=8-1&keywords=rs232+converter+nulsom
Headers for breadboard $1 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/116
Breadboard $5?
SD card (fast one needed to handle high baud rate!) I used this one for $11: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CVOLFGA/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
LM317 voltage regulator $2 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/527
Resistors - 100 and 300 ohm
hookup wire
Looking at graphed engine data is quite enlightening, if you're on the fence I'd recommend taking the plunge!
I've got an older Dynon EMS with no USB port for logging. You can still download log files using a windows laptop, but my windows laptop which was new in 2000 finally died. And carrying a laptop to the airport every time, hooking it up, running that infernal support program, etc is a bit of a pain.
Dynon also exports the data over the serial port while you fly (as do many other devices like your EFIS and standalone GPS receivers), so I wanted to build something that would easily let me log and remove the data from the plane without a lot of hassle.
Here it is...it needs to move off of a breadboard at some point but it works fine. The SD card is held on the reverse side of the little red circuit board. I just plug the breadboard directly into my serial port which I built into the subpanel -- it's pretty light so it doesn't even need to be screwed in, though I will at some point. Then I just carry the SD card to and from the airport and analyze when I get a chance back home.
Here is a schematic:
The only slightly tricky parts of this are you need to solder some headers onto the RS232 board, and you need to get ship's power to it somehow. Or just use a battery then you can skip the whole LM317 part of the circuit.
Parts list:
Sparkfun OpenLog $15 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13712
RS232 level shifter $10: https://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Compac...081914&sr=8-1&keywords=rs232+converter+nulsom
Headers for breadboard $1 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/116
Breadboard $5?
SD card (fast one needed to handle high baud rate!) I used this one for $11: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CVOLFGA/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
LM317 voltage regulator $2 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/527
Resistors - 100 and 300 ohm
hookup wire
Looking at graphed engine data is quite enlightening, if you're on the fence I'd recommend taking the plunge!
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