Wide Ratio O2

[Max]

> There's a beehive behind the scenes, and I'm waiting on paperwork; and
> either way, will be doing some eXperiments on the NTK gizmo this weekend
> (I've tried to check everything else out before firing up the "ion
> pump"). I have a nice trick display already made, and as soon as I know
> the calibration slopes for pump current (it's coming in the mail), I'll
> try it out. So think in terms of multiple weeks, not years, OK?
> 
> I am absolutely convinced that we have achieved "critical mass" amonst
> the group to pull this off. HTH, as you would say.
> 

Mainly being a lurker on this list, I have a little bit of second hand
information to offer on this topic.  The original idea for this came from a
furnace manufacturer quite a while ago and that is why there are the funny
patent laws about who can sell what depending on the use.  I know that the
Horiba unit is 100% analog from a friend that has pulled the lid off of his
unit.  He thinks that the key is limiting the current to the ion pump to
less than 100 milliamps peak.  Another tidbit in talking to race teams that
use the honda sensor for dyno work with big buck race ecu's, is that it has
a narrower range on the order of 10.0:1 to 25.0:1 instead of the 8.0:1 to
99.0:1 range that the $900 NTK one has.  The smaller range would also jive
with the lower price. I think that this limited range is fine for the type
of work that we would be doing.  Several people have tried using the honda
sensor with a Horiba unit and found that after 20 minutes of operation it
dies.  My friend thinks that the current to the ion pump is spiking higher
than what it can handle and kills it dead.

If I can add anything else I'll try.

Keep up the fight.

Steve