Wirelessly logging a Cycle Analyst using bluetooth

Introduction

I'm using a relatively simple setup with Bluetooth to wirelessly log my Cycle Analyst's serial data to my phone and/or tablet. There are only three wires to solder and no programming is required. It costs about $45 (cheaper is possible though).

This setup plugs into the CA data port (v2.3) and passes the CA serial data to a Bluetooth radio board for transmission. Using a free Bluetooth terminal app (I'm using Blueterm), I can easily connect to the board and receive, display, and save the data on my phone or tablet.

This might also be done with the Alltrax AXE serial port, but different components are needed to handle the AXE serial signal levels (RS-232) vs the CA's signal levels (TTL/CMOS).

Parts required

Soldering the three wires to connect everything:

  1. Battery red wire is soldered to board's VCC pad
  2. Battery black wire is soldered to board's GND pad AND the jack's sleeve (the long tab)
  3. Board's TX pad is soldered to the jack's ring contact

Software

I've used Blueterm on Android with success. I imagine other free Bluetooth terminal applications "should" work. I was on Android. Perhaps iOS equivalents exist.

Baud rate

The Cycle Analyst outputs data at 9600 baud. The radio board's default is 115,200 baud. To change the baud rate on the radio board to 9600 (following instructions provided):

  1. Power up the board with the battery pack on/off switch
  2. A red LED should flash on the board
  3. Ensure your device's Bluetooth is "on"
  4. Use your terminal program to connect to the board (the "FireFly" device)
  5. In the terminal program, enter "command mode" by typing $$$
  6. Type D - the board's current configuration should print out
  7. Type SU,96 (changes board to 9600 baud)
  8. Type --- (three dashes, this saves the setting)
  9. Power off the board

Entering command mode (typing the $$$) must be done within 60 seconds of powering up and connecting to the board. After 60 secs, the board won't recognize typing $$$ unless you re-power.

How to actually capture data

  1. Turn on the board from the battery pack
  2. Connect to the board using your device & terminal program
  3. Power up the Cycle Analyst
  4. After a second or two, you 'should' see data in the terminal window
  5. On power-up the CA puts out a tab-delimited header record followed by tab-delimited data records
  6. Note: Cycle analyst settings allow data/sampling transmission at 1x/sec or 5x/sec

Hopefully what worked for me will work for you.