I rely on the stock lx tach as of now. It seems pretty accurate but it could be off. For security and sleeper purposes i can't get an aftermarket tach. The next best thing would be sequential led's. A series of 3-5 led's illuminated at various rpm.

I found these from searching. These are powered by the cigarette lighter which is gay.
http://www.proven-products.co....r.htm
http://www.autospeed.com.au/cm....html

How can i make my own from scratch?

 

It would seem to me that you could make up one using a couple of the MSD rpm modules. I don't know the correct name for them, but they are the ones that people use for VTEC activation. You select the RPM that it looks for by selecting a different "pill". Then just have them power the LED's that you place in the dash.

Wes

 

what's so gay about it being plugged into the cigarette lighter? it's an easy install and the box is hidable and the lights look small enough to hide in front of your gauges....and it's only 50 bucks

 

**** my lighter is burned out,cut the wire and look for a 12 volt source.i know you want to know how to make your own but is an idea

 

Anything that uses a cig lighter for a power source can be hardwired.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Wes V &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It would seem to me that you could make up one using a couple of the MSD rpm modules. I don't know the correct name for them, but they are the ones that people use for VTEC activation. You select the RPM that it looks for by selecting a different "pill". Then just have them power the LED's that you place in the dash.
Wes</TD></TR></TABLE>
MSD RPM Pills. Now i have to figure out how they work. Thanks

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by donuttes &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what's so gay about it being plugged into the cigarette lighter?</TD></TR></TABLE>
It looks cheap. Not for me.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the box is hidable and the lights look small enough to hide in front of your gauges</TD></TR></TABLE>
No box either just four or five led's somewhere easy to view.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by riceburner247 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Anything that uses a cig lighter for a power source can be hardwired.</TD></TR></TABLE>
That was the plan until i decided to make my own.

I figured out how to make a dimmer switch using a potentiometer (adjustable resistor).

 

I think you can take that kit apart and mold it into the dash quite nicely....

 

You should be able to bolt the box in under the dash, and if it simply uses the electrical pulses from the alternator you should be able to splice it in somewhere and have it work perfectly.

In fact...splice into the wire feading the cig lighter

 

Bump because i would like to try this as well...any electronic gurus want to input?

 

you don't have to be a guru to take the box apart and extend the wires so you can put the dials and LED's somewhere else.

 

Im talking about building one from scratch, not buying the kit

 

ciggarette lighters are for wusses, mine came without that fancy feature

and I agree that anything plugged into a cigg lighter (with the exception of a phone perhaps) looks really cheap.

 

I had thought about doing this a long time ago on my other car (a dodge neon acr) the only problem was the tach did not send a normal electronic pulse. Someone had once explained it to me, it is like a triangular pulse or something not exactly sure. But with our cars I dont know if the electronics were that complicated. My idea was to use three variable resistors in line with eachother and each once of them connected to its own led. Now you could use 100 resistors with 100 different led's but that would seem too much but the options are endless. The first variable resistor would need a resistor in front of it (unsure of the resistance) but that would keep the light from coming on initially and then a different resistance resistor in between the other two which would allow you to have more space and adjustability between each of the lights lighting up. As i type this the more lights and resistors you had the more adjustability you would have as well.
The other thing you could do but it would be much more complicated would be to make a system similair to a wheel speed sensor (like new cars have to work with their abs) Each time a tooth goes past the magnetic sensor a electronic pulse is made. Now you could do something like that maybe even utilizing the crank sensor or making a setup similair to that off of the crank pulley. THis would be much more complicated but also a possibility.
Hope that helps a little. It would be easier if I could draw a picture and post it but i dont have a scanner. Just send me an e-mail if I can clear anything up.
E-Mail: turboacr@msn.com
Steve