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MG TD TF 1500 - Smart phone timing app

Is there a timing light app out there for smart phones? Seems I can do everything else with these things.

Peter 54TF

Peter Dahlquist

If somebody has done it ....I wonder if they even thought about putting an advance on it?
David Sheward 55 TF1500 # 7427

Nothing much showed up on a Google search. How would you connect #1 plug to the phone?
efh Haskell

USB inductive pickup but haven't loked to see if any are for smart phones yet.
JRN JIM

I'm not sure I want to connect the HT side of my ignition to my phone, even if it is inductive. I might consider a bluetooth pickup but then you'd have to account for the latency and I'm not sure how accurate that could be.
Rob Edwards

I was going to say you could plug it into your OBDll socket and use a bluetooth adatpter.

I'm willing to bet the LED on a smartphone would be too weak for a practical timing light- only in pitch black darkness and then not that bright to shine down to the crank pulley.
JRN JIM

A phone would be too slow, too weak, too breakable, and vulnerable to voltage. Even if it wasn't, I see no advantage to using one instead of an actual timing light.
2:26

I think the last adjustable advance timing light I bought cost around $10.00 from Amazon. It replaced the previous one that I think I paid $7.00 from Fee~Bay, that needed $39.00 in parts to repair it after 20 years of service!
David Sheward 55 TF1500 # 7427

After reading this I did a search on the IPhone App store.
I did not find a timing light App but I did find and download a free strobe/tachometer light.

I tried it out on my lathes and it agreed with previous measurements made with a bicycle speedometer set up as a tachometer.

One late was turning 1320 rpm. I also checked it at double speed 2640 rpm and the LED (Iphone-6) had no problem keeping up with the lathe.


So the issue would be to synchronize the led with #1 plug.

At least you can check your tachometer calibration.

Jim B.
JA Benjamin

Since the app I downloaded is really a Strobe, if there were someway to manually sync it to #1 plug you could see the mark on the pulley referenced to #1 plug.

I wonder if you could use a neon bulb, excited by #1 plug and adjust the strobe until the light appears to be on all the time.

any variation in idle speed would cause the timing to appear to wander however.

Jim B.
JA Benjamin

Jim,
This is what you are looking for. I've got some extra if you want one let me know.
Just pull the wire off number one and insert this. Since the power runs through it you can see every spark.
Mort

I got this at Harbor Freight. About $4-%5 I think.


Mort 50 TD

This thread was discussed between 28/03/2015 and 30/03/2015

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