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Detecting ignition pulses

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doctor_prox

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Hi all, i want to use a PIC chip to read in pulses from a vehicles ignition system. My idea was basically to wrap a coil of wire around a HT lead which will then produce some current in it when the spark plugs fire, and then to detect these pulses on the pic chip.
Thing is i have no idea where to connect the coil of wire and how much voltage it will have etc in order for it to work. Will it have to be stepped down or what.
The bikes electronics are 12v so i was thinking of using a 5v voltage regulator for this to power the pic, then where does the coil of wire go, is it from +5v to an input pin on the chip or what?
Any help is appreciated.
 
What kind of ignition does it have? distributer or electronic? what kind of vehicle?

There may already be a low voltage signal in there that you could tap into.
 
Depending on the bike, some use spark plug mounted coils so you cannot get to the high voltage side. Easier to tap into the coil signal. Four cylinder bikes almost universally fire two plugs with one coil. Some 360 degree parallel twins also. Hardly Rideables use wasted spark also.
If you use a spark plug wire wrap you will have to limit the sensed voltage some way (fast zener?) and have to have both ends of the wrap connect back to the input circuit (essentially a pickup coil). Timing lamps generally have magnetic steel laminated clamps with a coil to trigger the Zenon tube. Why not buy a cheap one and use the clamp?
 
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