Kiwi 3

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jwmelvin
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Kiwi 3

Post by jwmelvin »

Has anyone gotten a Kiwi 3 to connect with HLT? I received mine recently and just gave it a try, iOS 9.2 and HLT GP 19.0.29. Nothing seemed to happen, HLT did not report an OBD2 device.
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Harry
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Re: Kiwi 3

Post by Harry »

Please make sure BT Low Energy Accessories are enabled in LapTimer ‣ Administration ‣ Settings ‣ Expert Settings and your device has BT enabled in general. With this settings, the Kiwi3 should connect automatically and should get available in Sensor List.

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jwmelvin
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Re: Kiwi 3

Post by jwmelvin »

Yes, Use BTLE Sensors is enabled in HLT settings. And my device has BT enabled. Does it matter if I have the Sequential Requests (BT1) enabled, as I do (or any of the other advanced settings)?
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Harry
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Re: Kiwi 3

Post by Harry »

No, should not have an impact...

In Sensor List, when switching from "Available" to "All" sensors, do you see the Kiwi 3 OBD row in the Engine Sensors section? What does it show? It should show a red status in the beginning, and show "Searching..." and "Not Available" alternating. In case the sensor is detected, to will go to yellow / "Available" and green / "Connected" later. In case it can't connect for some minutes, it should go to gray / "Disabled".

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jwmelvin
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Re: Kiwi 3

Post by jwmelvin »

Thanks Harry. Upon trying again, it seemed to work to a certain extent. It eventually connected and gave some data. It didn't always reconnect all that well. For example, I received an alert notification from some app (Hangouts, I think) and the OBD2 feed was gone after that. Switching to the home screen and then back to HLT didn't restore the connection, so I tried again, and it seemed to start the connection (reported kiwi3 as the device, from the Engine realtime screen) but never gave data, and then a third time eventually restarted the data feed.

Even when connected the update rate was only 1Hz. Not sure if that's because I was on internal GPS at the time, because my car has a slow bus, or because the Kiwi3 is limited.

So far I'm not all that impressed with the Kiwi3; I was certainly hoping for something better but it seems like more of the same.
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Harry
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Re: Kiwi 3

Post by Harry »

My personal experience with the Kiwi 3 is different so far. There are two differences however...

First off, the Kiwi 3 is working with my car's (CAN) bus, there are no LapTimer triggered disconnects due to problems with the protocol. In case your adapter disconnects frequently and delivers 1 Hz only, there is probably an issue with bus communication and the Kiwi is not the root cause for your issues. To trouble shot this area, please consider following the instructions in viewtopic.php?f=39&t=1500. When sending the log, please add car make/model/year too.

The update rate shown in Sensor List is independent from the GPS rate (the storage rate however, is). The comparably slow BT Low Energy communication will have only little impact for slow car busses. It will have an impact for fast buses only. Even with an old bus, you should see 2 Hz in case communication between LapTimer and the adapter is working fine.

A second difference is that I still run a test device I received from PLX some month ago. I do not have access to the production versions yet and will try that too once I get some. I run the latest firmware version too, please check the instructions to make sure yours is up to date too.

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FergusH
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Re: Kiwi 3

Post by FergusH »

Any update on this? I'm looking for a new OBD adapter and I'm wondering if I should go with the GoPoint BT1 or the new Kiwi 3. I'm on iOS, driving a Cayman 981.
Sinister Stairs
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Re: Kiwi 3

Post by Sinister Stairs »

I just received my Kiwi 3 tonight. I popped it in long enough to verify that Harry's could connect to it, but I haven't tried logging yet. E90 335
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Harry
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Re: Kiwi 3

Post by Harry »

I received two production Kiwi3s yesterday. For a CAN car, they are slightly faster than the BT1 (got 7 vs 5 Hz). Tested it with a LR Defender, which comes with a comparably slow OBD gateway / bus. Other CAN cars will show 1 or 2 Hz more.

For non CAN bus cars, the Kiwi3 will be the same or a bit slower than the BT1. The better speed for CAN results from the availability of Multi CAN requests for ELM327 compatible adapters (where several PIDs are requested at once). This is a feature available in GP. This multi requests are not available for non CAN cars and the BT1.

Connection making works without pairing and should be even easier than with the GoPoint. However, I had to unplug / plug the Kiwi3 several times to get a connection. LapTimer found it fast, but the adapter didn't respond initially. PLX addresses this issue in their manual, so it looks like they are aware of it. I hope to see a firmware update here.

When ordering from Europe (the Kiwi comes with a CE certification most OBD adapters are missing), take care to not select USPS as the carrier. My parcel has been sent In late December. So the delivery took 1 and a half month...

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FergusH
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Re: Kiwi 3

Post by FergusH »

Thanks for the update. Doesn't seem like a compelling upgrade over the BT1 (which is what I have right now; I had an Automatic but found it quite unreliable).

What's the process for connecting the Kiwi to the phone if you don't manually pair them?
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