Ultra-Gauge Blue Sale ***Ended 3/16****

Ultra-Gauge sent me this link for $15 bucks off of the bluetooth version shipping is $9 to my area thought I would share with TW members


http://ultra-gauge.com/ZC/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15&products_id=113

 

Wonder if that one will have trans temp on it?

 

Mine does...

 

What exactly is this? A scan tool that reads out to your phone with an app?

 

The UltraGauge Blue is exactly that. It's an OBDII port dongle that uses blue tooth, and custom (but free) software for android and ios (apple) to
allow you to read it. I have it for my 4Runner. It's pretty cool. They are continuing to develop and evolve the feature set.
I'm still searching for the 4Runner Transmission temp codes, but I haven't done a thorough search (yet).

The same company also makes a model (the MX) that has a cable and a permanent screen, rather than an app for your phone over bluetooth.

 

Sub'd

 

So when you use this version does it use your data as well?

 

I don't think that it does. I ended up getting one of these during their sale and it just connects with Bluetooth. I've been using it for a couple weeks now and I like it. It seems to only upload or download stuff when you tell it to. The screens took me a little bit to figure out how to set them up how I wanted them. But once I figured out all of the little nuances of it it's actually a really cool device.

 

I'm not sure what the question means, but I'll try to answer just the same.
The app has a configuration for your vehicle. There are lots or parameters that it has such as the engine displacement, size of fuel tank, and lots, lots more that I didn't mess with.

It can track performance measures such as mileage, and horsepower and torque out put and more.
You can also select some of the data to be plotted on a graph.
It also reads (and can graph) information like how often your fuel injectors are firing.
None of that aspect is interesting to me, so I didn't really play with it.

For Tacoma's (or at least some Taco's), it has several custom PIDs, and two of them are for transmission temp.
They measure the tranny fluid temp at two different locations.

For my 4Runner, I couldn't get it to work at first. But I opened a support ticket on the company's website, and they were VERY responsive. They updated info on their servers,
and then told me to click the "download" icon in the custom gauges section, and lo-and-behold, I had about a dozen custom gauges, and one of the two Tranny temps worked for me.

I agree about the software. It took a little bit to get used to it, but now I have it set up so that I really like it.

My phone includes an analog gauge for Tranny Temp, where 200 F is at the top, and I have a digital read out in the center of the gauge.
I also set an alarm to go off at a specific temp (I forgot what I chose), but the idea is that when I am towing, with a quick glance I can see if my transmission is
getting too hot, and the alarm will go off if it gets too hot, but I will sound before I do any damage.

My phone is mounted to an A/C vent just to the right of the steering wheel, so the app and it's displays are right in my face.

The dongle works well. It detects when the truck is turned off, and goes into a deep power saving mode, so it is unlikely to drain your battery.
I think it uses the battery voltage to check when the truck is running, and based on that it automatically wakes up and connects to your phone again via bluetooth.
It works very well.

I get the sense that Ultra Gauge is a small company. I like their product, and they seem to be working on adding new features to the software. For example, they seem
to be getting started on a way for users to share different gauge layouts publicly by using their servers, and the use is tightly integrated with their app.

Their gauges look nice, and are professional -- so there is not complaint -- although I have to confess that the DashCommand app for the Android has better eye-candy when it comes to the look and styling of their gauges. Again... Ultragauge blue is nice, looks good, and is professional and clean, but DashCommand really knocked it out of the park in the eye-candy department.

Ultragauge blue can only be used with the software apps that ultragauge blue makes, but the software is free, and it works well. You can have about five different screens of gauges (if i remember correctly), and you change screens with a swipe on your phone.

I like it, and I'm very glad I bought it.

One cool feature that I liked (and had to tweak a little to get the effect I wanted) is that the gauge can read out whether the torque converter is locked or unlocked.
With a little bit of tweaking, I managed to have the display show the word "lock" and it has a open circle when the torque converter is open, and a filled in gray circle when
it's locked. There is also a 0 or 1 that shows up under the work "lock". It put this just below my tranny gauge.

Below are some screen shots that I took of the app on my iPhone.

I'm a happy customer, and I like the prospect that I may gain new and more features if and as they continue to develop and improve the product. There already were two firmware upgrades since I bought the unit, and both were dog-simple to install. They downloaded easily to my phone through their app, and all I had to do was hold in a button on the dongle and keep my phone near the dongle for a few minutes and the upgrade was completed. There has also been at least one upgrade to the app.

I should also add that (at least on with my iPhone), I can connect with the UltraGauge over bluetooth, AND still use the hands-free bluetooth connection
to make and receive handsfree calls in my car.

I didn't know if I could connect to bluetooth devices to my phone at the same time and use them both. The answer (at least on my iPhone 6s) is YES I can!

I don't know if all phones can do this, or if only some phones support it, or how they would handle bluetooth calls when connected to the ultragauge via bluetooth.

-Phil

 

Do any of you that have purchased the ultra gauge blue stream music through Bluetooth while using the ultra gauge? 99% of the time I am listening to spotify while driving. I am god fathered on unlimited data through AT&T. That and I gave up on clear channel radio years ago. Rock & Roll is alive and well, you've just got to go find it.