I hear ya...And when it comes to building a menu driven interface, Python may be your friend in this case....

I'll have to see what I can find out there..

 

Just some FYI:

https://pypi.python.org/pypi/obd

 

Choices , choices:


May have to grab one myself..

 

Is this what you're looking for? A simple wired USB to OBD2 interface cable with no Bluetooth or WiFi? I have one I purchased at the same time as Scan XL Pro for Windows. Not sure if it is Elm327 or not. I'm thinking not, because of size of plug would eliminate the necessary electronics you always seem to see.

https://www.scantool.net/obdlink-sx/

 

Wish I knew what all the Acronyms met.

Think I'll get as it looks exactly the same as the one listed in the article and will get here before I start classes. Gonna look over the others tonight and see which looks the best.

Thanks.

Just needed something to convert voltage into bytes and vice versa. I want to do the programming of the software myself.

 

As I understand it you send a hexadecimal request in the data stream to one of the devices on the data bus (for example the PCM, BCM, TCCM, etc), which (if it recognizes your request) in turn will respond back also using hexadecimal info in the data stream. If you know the address of the response info and how to interpret it, then you have communicated with the device. The ELM327 is a way to shortcut this communication as an intermediary, but it has it's limits and its own set of commands. The device you linked to is definitely ELM327.

FYI I have previously typed Hexadecimal code (I found in another forum) into a terminal in Scan XL Pro and effectively communicated with my TCCM on the data bus using the OBDLink-SX. There is a thread on this site about it. This (and the apparent absence of internal electronics) is why I wonder if the OBDLink-SX is different. I could never get a terminal on Android to work with a Bluetooth Elm device for the exact same commands. I always assumed it was because the ELM device didn't understand what I was sending it.

But I admit I really only know enough about this to be dangerous.

In any case good luck

 

My very limited understanding was that the pins were analog and your hexadecimal stream was digital therefore the elm327 acted as a translator and nothing more. Shouldn't you be able to send any hexadecimal code to the OBD2 through the elm327 and receive the corresponding response?

I could very well have this wrong as programming is my expertise, not hardware or cars.

 

I'm 100% positive that the communication on the vehicle data bus is 100% digital. Think of the Elm327 as a translator between two digital languages to allow easy connection and communication via different vehicle communication protocols.

http://www.obdtester.com/obd2_protocols