Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Repositioned the Woodward Display for Better Viewing

Well, After Driving the Car since last September with the Woodward Enhanced PakTrakr Display mounted on a new test Cluster location, and noting that it was low and hard to see the information at the bottom of the display - Total Pack Volts - I had been thinking for some time to reposition it up higher for better and easier viewing.

Well Finally - 8 months later - I get the idea, the method, and the bug to get it done! So - now here it is - I simply removed and rotated the two pieces of aluminum angle - which moved the display up about an inch, giving better viewing and clears the steering wheel line of sight better! Also, I inserted a small piece of foam, to bring the display away from the plywood a bit to clear the cable from the voltmeter.

You can see from the comparison pictures - that the displays top edge is now even with the Analog Voltmeter and Ammeter, instead of below them, as it was before. This Side view also shows the SD Card used to log data with .csv or comma delimited format, which I simply open with Excel, and then select the columns of data that I wat, or re-arange them in my own preference for better viewing.

Also - the part that bugged me about making the repositioning, as the data cable coming out, and the thickness of the voltmeter, being thicker than the space from the cable to the back of the Woodward case. So I tested three different materials to prop the case out a bit so the cable would clear. I finally settled on some simple 1/8" thick yellow craft foam, and two Velcro connector squares to set the depth offset so the cable would clear the face of the voltmeter without binding, and yet still have enough grip in the two small 1"x 1" aluminum angles to hold the display.

So - Now - the drive is more comfortable, in that I am not haveing to repeatedly strain or lean forward to see over the steering wheel so as to see the digital valu of the pack voltage on the display, and it is generally more comforatable because it is in a nice Horizontal line of sight with the other two guages!

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