Jim Roal's Software

Welcome to my software page. I am an amateur at writing software so don't expect too much. I learned C++ and FORTRAN in college but the rest I taught myself. I have a mix of Android, .Net Windows applications (C# and VB), and web. I also have some real old DOS applications from "back in the day". I host most of the newer work on external repo's like Sourceforge and gitHub so others can leverage this effort. I also occasionally participate in Stack Overflow to learn from others and help others with what I have learned.

This is an Excel 97 spreadsheet. It will help you select the proper size of fuel injectors, fuel pump, and FMU. It will calculate airflow rates too. It also has a worksheet for estimating power and performance for both naturally aspirated engines and forced induction engines. It can estimate BSFC and calculate air and fuel requirements based on desired air fuel ratios too. It also has a listing of OEM injectors and their flow rates. Then I got carried away and added a virtual dyno that lets you enter a set of times to speeds and graph power and torque. It will even give you engine speeds for all your trans ratios. If you don't have Excel '97 or newer, just go to Microsofts download page and get their free viewer.You can also upload it to Google Drive and open it in Google Sheets. The name "injectors.xls" does not really describe all that it does anymore.

SDADatalogger B&B Electronics 232SDA12 data logger program

This program is written in C#.Net 2008 for the B&B Electronics 232SDA12 data logger module. It runs in Vista and XP (requires Mictosoft .Net 3.5). It may run on some older platforms as well. It logs the data to a CSV file for easy viewing with most spreadsheets and databases. It has scalable gauges for each channel and a scope window. It reads maps for each analog channel to convert to engineering units. Very handy for automotive type work such as tuning or troubleshooting. The data acquisition modules from B&B are very inexpensive (like well under $100). Here is a link to the installer http://jimroal.com/exe/SDA232/publish.htm

Visit the SoruceForge page for the details and source code: https://github.com/jroal/SDADatalogger or http://sourceforge.net/projects/bb232sda12datal/

Weather Web Uploader

This program is designed to run with any weather station that uses Weather Display software. It reads the data file created by Weather Display and uploads the data to the Weather Underground. Weather Display can do that directly but they charge for that. My program is free. It is also very configurable so it can really work with any program that creates a CSV data file. It is written in C#.Net.

Weather Station Data Logger

This is an open source project on Source Forge. This program was written by Weber Anderson but I have contributed to it. The software directly reads and parses Oregon Scientific WMR100 USB data. It uploads to Weather Underground, Citizens Weather Observer Program, PWS, and an html page you choose. It stores the data locally in csv but there is also a program to pull that into a database. I have integrated X10 controls into it to control sprinklers and HVAC as well by creating a plug-in using the UDP interface to WSDL. I made that project open source as well and you can find it here.

You can also install the executable for the X10 plugin I created here. This plugin I createdn alows you to control X10 devices using weather data. It includes a complete thermostat control. It is a work in progress.

Drivetrain Designer

This program helps design gear ratios (transmission and final drive) and tire sizes for vehicles. It gives a plot of engine speed versus vehicle speed in each gear. I am adding more functions but this is a good start. It helps select gear ratios and tire sizes. It has a plot of the speed versus rpm. It also handles speedometer calibration including Ford PSOM and the old gear sets methods. Click the title above to run the Windows installer. Sadly I lost the C# source code in a hard drive failure. I have some older source code but many features were not implemented in that older version. I may try to recreate this as a web tool going forward. This program is a modern replacement for the old DRIVE.EXE below.

Android Bluetooth Volume Manager

This is the first Android application I wrote. It captures the current media volume setting, max the media volume when a Bluetooth streaming device connects, then set the media volume back down when the Bluetooth streaming device disconnects. I captures your location on disconnect from Bluetooth or car mode too so you can find your car. You can also scan for Bluetooth A2DP devices to see what is currently bonded. It runs as a service. Here is the open source project: https://github.com/jroal/a2dpvolume for all the details. You can scan the image below with your Android device to find it on Android Play Store.

Android Bluetooth Connect Widget

This is a simple widget to put on a homescreen to connect and disconnect A2DP sinks. These are available on the Play Store. Open source projects below.

Version for Android 4.1.2 and older: https://github.com/jroal/a2dp-connect

Version for Android 4.2 and newer: https://github.com/jroal/a2dp-connect2

Other Android Dabblings

Car Mode toggle with A2DP Volume message tester. This will let you toggle Car Mode on your Android device. It also sends test strings to the A2DP Volume message reader. (right click, save as to download)

Notification Tester for Android can by used to enter/exit car mode and test notifications in Android. See details here: https://github.com/jroal/a2dpvolume/wiki/Notification-tester-app

Garmin Virb action camera control This is both an Android mobile app as well as a wear app to control a Garmin Virb camera. The goal is to start with simple start/stop recording, and snap a photo using the Garmin WiFi interface.

Old DOS programs

The programs below are very old and dated now but they still work. You can run them in a DOS window in any version of Windows. Just double click the file after your download it

DRIVE.EXE Gear/Tire selector

This program will allow the user to select the proper gear ratio and tire size for the desired speed/rpm. It will also convert radial tire designations to tire dimensions and visa versa. It allows you to enter 6 transmission gear ratios (including reverse if you like) and it will show a chart of speed vs. rpm for all gears. It will calculate speedometer PSOM constant and speedometer drive/driven gear parameters for Ford vehicles and others. You can change nearly any input value and the program will recalculate the rest based on your changes. It allows you to save data files too. Similar to GEAR.EXE but much nicer to use.

GEAR.EXE Gear/Tire selector

This program will allow the user to select the proper gear ratio and tire size for the desired speed/rpm. This program will also tell the user how to calibrate a Ford PSOM speedometer to tire size changes.

SPEED.EXE Speedometer Calibrator

here

POWER.EXE Horsepower Estimator

This program will estimate the average rear wheel horsepower applied to the track by an automobile during a quarter mile drag race. Rolling resistance, aerodynamic drag, and inertial forces are all considered and reported. Tire slippage and power peaks are ignored. This is not the same as rated horsepower but can be useful for comparing engine performance.

CARB.EXE carburetor/throttle body sizer

This program will calculate carburetor and throttle body requirements based on pumping characteristics of an engine. Carburetor size is given in CFM and throttle body inside diameters are given in millimeters. It will also size multiple plate throttle bodies. The throttle body calculations are based on power curve fit approximations to actual flow data. It reports all values for a range of volumetric efficiencies the user can designate. It will estimate the minimum fuel pump and injector size too. This program was written in C.

Note: PSOM stands for Programmable Speedometer Odometer Module. They are found on all 1992 through 1996 Ford F-150 through F-super duty trucks and Econoline vans. PSOM's have a normal speedometer needle but a digital odometer.

Freeware: This software is absolutely free of charge. Copy and distribute freely. Source code available by request.

Disclaimer: This software has been tested in every day use by a professional automotive repair facility and found to be accurate. However, no warranty as to the performance of this software or the reliability of the output from these programs are made. All speedometers must be checked against highway mileposts to be sure they are accurate. This software is distrubuted as is.

True Airspeed Meter Project

This was a project Eric Richman and I did in college. We created a low cost true airspeed meter that used an HP48G calculator, or a Windows PC, and capture, datalog, and display true airspeed.