I love the idea of being able to adjust my shift points with a computer. That is too cool. ;D

 

Thats the beauty of this thing AlpineRam it has 3 programmable memory's that you preset the calibrations for your shift points.<br> <br>This way depepnding on how hard you are working that truck, you can flick the switch and enter one of the three pre programmed modes that you set up. You can leave the laptop at home and have harmony with your lovely wife seated next to you. <br><br> And you can enter this calibration mode with out the vehicle even running. as long as the key is on you can fire up the software with your laptop and tweak your transmission till the early morning hours without a sound.<br><br>

 

Well I have read the manual Top mailed me and I am impressed. Looks like a cool piece of electronics to manipulate the tranny. <br>I'd love to have a warmup program. Something like get into OD as soon as possible but don't lock up. Should get the tranny and the coolant up to temperature quite fast. <br>About the other points- I love the sound of my truck. If I work the truck the seat on the right side of the vehicle is called &quot;place of fear&quot; and my wife hates being there. ( I'll have to buy her a RAM of her own... and bomb it .. Anybody got a tree growing dollar bills for me ??? ) <br><br>AlpineRAM

 

This controller really sounds great. It addresses several &quot;issues&quot; I have with the auto tranny.<br><br>I do have a two part question you may already have addressed in your article write up:<br><br>1) Is there a &quot;stock&quot; setting. Or do you have to remember what everything looked like before you started adjusting the numbers?<br>If you play with the shift points for a while, then decide you dont like any of you new settings, how do you get it back to &quot;stock&quot; and start over?<br><br>2) How easy/difficult is it to install/de-install? <br>Does it take seriouse tools and knowlege, or can it be done on a Saturday morning in the owners garage with just a few tools and basic level of conciousness?<br><br><br>Really looking forward to reading your article top!<br>Thanks<br>Rich

 

Is it about as difficult to install as a car stereo, maybe easier because all of the connections are spliced/tapped at the harness near the PCM. There will be a bypass kit that just plugs in to completely remove it, but you can also program it fora stock setting.

 

[quote author=emjay link=board=7;threadid=8406;start=15#82883 date=1040417545]<br>Is it about as difficult to install as a car stereo, maybe easier because all of the connections are spliced/tapped at the harness near the PCM. There will be a bypass kit that just plugs in to completely remove it, but you can also program it fora stock setting.<br>[/quote]<br><br><br>Thanks emjay!<br><br>This is sounding better and better. <br><br>Rich

 

I really like the &quot;Plug and Play&quot; idea better.<br>It leaves less of a mess if I ever traded the truck.<br><br>Ed

 

Still trying to sort through all this. My auto is still stock. Is it implied that to utilize this controller, you MUST have a laptop computer available to upload the program? If such is the case, I consider that a very limiting factor. I'm having enough trouble coming up with BOMBing funds, let alone having to consider the need for a laptop.<br><br>~Dave

 

Im thinking a lot of these questions (including mine) will be answered when SFtopSGT and Drammer(?) get done writing the article(s).<br><br>Rich

 

Dave, I don't have a laptop yet either, but they have used a serial cable up to 50' long when testing this thing. It is assumed you could use a longer one, but they haven't tried it.<br><br> Having said that I am planning on taking my PC Tower,small extra monitor, keyboard and mouse and placing it on a small rolling cart and rolling it up to the open door of my truck. The unit comes with a 6' cable so that will be more than enough.<br><br> No lap top, No hassle. I will be getting one eventually, but I wont need it just to use this controller.

 

Rich, the controller has three separate memory areas accessible by the flick of a toggle switch. I plan on programing one to the now stock mode, and the other two will be used for test purposes. This way I can just toggle the switch and be right back to stock mode. <br><br> Once I get more comfortable with the idea of changing the settings, I will be able to use all three in a custom fashion. Having this ability is one of the features I like so much, you can quickly fall back to stock mode and start over. In actual testing I don't think it will be necessary as the software program is very specific in how you set it up, and looks to be rather simple as long as you take the time to gain a good understanding of what you are working with.<br><br> If you haven't done it yet, download the free software from the website and have a good look at it. The designer has done a very good job of making this controller user friendly. And I hear this thing is coooool!

 

[quote author=SFtopSGT link=board=7;threadid=8406;start=15#83112 date=1040443711]
Dave, I don't have a laptop yet either, but they have used a serial cable up to 50' long when testing this thing. It is assumed you could use a longer one, but they haven't tried it.

Having said that I am planning on taking my PC Tower,small extra monitor, keyboard and mouse and placing it on a small rolling cart and rolling it up to the open door of my truck. The unit comes with a 6' cable so that will be more than enough.

No lap top, No hassle. I will be getting one eventually, but I wont need it just to use this controller.
[/quote]

I think having an el cheapo obsolete antique desk top available in the shop for loading software is a great idea. I have a tiny lil color monitor here I got for 5 dollars at a yard sale and it works great...heck I have a 486 with a 1.3 gig HD I could probably use for stuff like that...good idea. I better see where to program my 6 spd now. ;D

 

Scotty <br><br>If you have a six speed then you probably would not like where they stick the data plug on the shift controller.

 

6 speed shift point adjuster = cattle prod?

 

Scotty hit on a great point I had not thought of. There are a lot of those small obsolete PC's out there for sale really cheap!. I think I will look for one and set it up in the garage to use out there.<br><br> A great deal of info can be stored in it that would be very handy to use when working on the vehicles. Not to mention repair manuals and TSB's.<br><br> A fellow should be able to get one very reasonable out of the trading journals they sell at the quick marts. You can also get those indestructible key boards that are made for that kind of work space.<br><br> Then I will have access to my Emjay Strategy controller programming software anytime I want without a laptop.<br><br> Thanks for the tip Scotty!