FiTech Handheld

User Manual
Contents
Introduction and Important Notes ............................................................................................................... 2
Disconnect if Storing Vehicle .................................................................................................................... 2
Connecting to FiTech System ........................................................................................................................ 3
Buttons/Navigating ....................................................................................................................................... 3
Dashboard (View Live Data) .......................................................................................................................... 4
LARGE Gauges (View a Mini-Dash Panel) ..................................................................................................... 4
Showing Actual Dial Gauges! .................................................................................................................... 5
Making changes (Tuning) .............................................................................................................................. 5
PRO Tuning................................................................................................................................................ 6
Reading and Clearing Faults (Fauld Code menu) .......................................................................................... 6
Writing Calibrations (Write Cal to ECU) ........................................................................................................ 7
With LS Systems DO THIS “Write Cal to ECU” FIRST ................................................................................. 7
Reading Calibrations (Read Cal from ECU).................................................................................................... 7
Renaming Calibration Files on Laptop ...................................................................................................... 8
Making Log Files (Dashboard and Data Logging) .......................................................................................... 9
Accessing Log Files (Connecting to a laptop) ............................................................................................ 9
Updating Firmware of ECU ......................................................................................................................... 11
For Bug Fixes Only ................................................................................................................................... 11
For Upgrades ........................................................................................................................................... 11
Updating Firmware of Handheld ................................................................................................................ 11
Connecting to Laptop Software (for using FiTech Laptop Software) .......................................................... 12
Copy and Install Laptop software to your laptop ................................................................................... 12
Set Handheld to “Laptop Software Connection” .................................................................................... 12

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Handheld User Manual

Introduction and Important Notes

Welcome to the new FiTech Handheld controller! Some cool features are: Touch screen + navigation
button pad, large display, brilliant colors, several gigs of datalogging memory, 2 USB C connection
options (one on a dongle to avoid connector damage), and a nice soft finish.

The handheld is what is used to make changes to the calibration (settings, parameters, AFR targets, idle
speeds, spark tables, shift points, etc.) and for viewing what’s going on in your system. It is not required
for operation after you’ve performed the required initial setup and basic tuning. You can disconnect it,
and put it in the glove box after things are running well. Don’t leave home without it, though - if you find
a problem and want to see what’s going on – you’ll want to have it handy.

Disconnect if Storing Vehicle

It is recommended that the handheld be disconnected if the vehicle is to be parked for more than a few
days. There is a small current drain when connected (even with the screen blanked out). Disconnecting
the vehicle battery is also an OK way of preventing such drain. All FiTech systems will retain their
memory and learning, even with battery or handhelds disconnected, as long as they were allowed
proper time to save the settings with the key off and battery connected.

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Connecting to FiTech System
This is not hard. It’s just a cable. Make sure the cable doesn’t get pinched and cut anywhere. Make sure
there is sufficient grommets and gaseous fume barrier used when passing through firewalls. One side of
the cable connects to the wire harness of your FiTech system, and the other to the handheld.

Buttons/Navigating
The soft buttons on the right are for navigating menus, changing values, and sending values to the
“ECU” (computer, brain, the thing that actually runs the engine and/or transmission). You’ll see that
there are left, up, right, down, (←↑→↓)and OK buttons.

If you want to use the arrow pad to navigate BACK, just hold the UP (↑)button for 2 seconds.

If you want to scroll down by ones, click DOWN↓), and up is UP (↑).

To adjust calibration values, or to make a value be Large or Show or Hide (from various menus), use the
LEFT (←) and RIGHT(→) arrows. On calibration values, holding LEFT (←) or RIGHT(→) will quickly adjust
the values. Remember that the just-changed calibration values need to be “sent” to the ECU by clicking
OK, or tapping “Send to ECU” on the screen (and receiving the “Sent to ECU Succeed” message – and the
Ignition Key must be ON to allow this to occur – otherwise it will not send the changes. Most changes
can be done on the fly. All changes are permanent after the key is turned off for about 10 seconds (the
ECU goes through an IAC reset, and then does the memory rewrite. Some special modes are not saved –
such as TPS Zero mode, and Trans Dyno mode – they always reset to off.

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Dashboard (View Live Data)
Dashboard will show a bunch of information about what’s happening with the system. You can scroll
down it to see all that is going on. You can even record what’s happening by simply pressing the OK
button, or Log On button. These log files are stored on the handheld, and can be retrieved by taking the
handheld to a laptop and following the instructions in the “Retrieve Log Files” section.

LARGE Gauges (View a Mini-Dash Panel)

Large Gauges will allow up to 4 parameters to be viewed in a large font. To select which items are
shown, just set the value on the right to be “Large”. If you try to select more than 4 items, it won’t allow
it, so you’ll need to set a Large item to “OFF” before you can select a new item to show.

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Showing Actual Dial Gauges!
A bonus feature is that if you select 1 or 2 items, a special gauge panel will be displayed with AFR, AFR
Target, TPS, MAP, and RPM, plus the 1 or 2 items that were selected.

Making changes (Tuning)

When trying to change parameters on a FiTech system, it’s important to be connected to the vehicle
with the ignition switch on. It is also important to send (press OK on) each parameter that is changed,
individually. This method was chosen to avoid accidental changes made while scrolling menus, and to
build the habit to be deliberate with the change.

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PRO Tuning
In Display Setup, you can allow access to (by changing the item to “Show”) the PRO Tuning and possibly
POWER ADDER and/or N2O Tuning if you have a Power Adder EFI system. These groups allow finer
tuning and access to other settings.

Reading and Clearing Faults (Fauld Code menu)

Entering this menu will show any LONG TERM SAVED CONFIRMED FAULTS. This may show faults that
have been cured. When fault conditions are first detected (maybe a sensor voltage is out of range), it
may take a few moments before it is determined to be a long-term fault. Once detected as a long-term
fault, it takes many trips before stored faults are automatically erased from the ECU memory. If you’d
like to erase any recorded faults, click “OK” or tap “Clear” from within the Fault Code screen. If the faults
show up again, then you’ll know there is something that needs to be addressed. Some faults, such as
FAN Relay faults may show up if you haven’t properly set up the system to tell it that you’re not using
the ECU to control the electric fans. Some systems will show a coil fault if connected to a CDI box (this is
normal, and sorry for the inconvenience).

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Writing Calibrations (Write Cal to ECU)
Sometimes, when setting up a FiTech system or when going back to a backup calibration, you’ll need to
use the “Write Cal to ECU” function. This needs to be done with the ignition switch on, while connected
to the system.

If you’ve written a default calibration to the ECU, you WILL need to do the initial setup again. Key points
in initial setup would be Engine size, cam selection, desired warm idle speed, and on some systems –
which type of RPM input is being used (Tach or 2-wire).

With LS Systems DO THIS “Write Cal to ECU” FIRST

Because of the many calibration differences for 24x and 58x and 4L60e and 4L80e transmissions, use the
correct calibration to “Write Cal to ECU” before even attempting to start the engine. You’ll regret
missing this step if you have a 58x system.

Reading Calibrations (Read Cal from ECU)

When you’ve made some changes to your calibration, and want to create a backup, it’s a good idea to
do a “Read Cal from ECU” to save the calibration to your handheld’s memory card. It’s recommended to
do this every few months or after making an improvement that you want to keep.

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Renaming Calibration Files on Laptop
The file names can be changed by connecting to a laptop, and manually changing the file name of the
backup calibrations. They can also be copy and pasted and renamed (like if you want a special economy
shift points tune, or switch between E85 and straight gasoline regularly, you might want separate tunes
for things like starting, spark, accel pump, and target AFR). There is almost no limit to the number of
calibration files that can be saved in this folder but pay attention to not make the file name too long.
Using the word “default” at the beginning of a calibration file will prevent being able to READ cal from
ECU to that file anymore, if you want to protect a particular file – but they can still be written.

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Making Log Files (Dashboard and Data Logging)
In order to record the telemetry data (the numbers that show up when communicating with the ECU) of
an open menu such as Dashboard or any group in the Data Logging menu, just press OK or tap “Log On.”

Accessing Log Files (Connecting to a laptop)

Everything in the group will be recorded to a .csv (comma separated values) file that can be viewed in
any spreadsheet software, or viewed by the FiTech laptop software. To get the files from the handheld
onto a laptop, you’ll need to first connect the handheld to a laptop with the provided USB C type cable,
and from the bottom of the handheld menus – “Handheld Software mode Selection” there is “Open USB
Mass Storage”, and from there – the folder for the handheld should appear on the screen of the laptop,
or be accessible from the File Explorer on your laptop as something like drive D: or higher if you have
other drives attached. In the part number folder (for example, 30004), you should be able to find the
log_file folder, and in there another folder differentiating which menu the data was recorded from.

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Updating Firmware of ECU
In the event that an ECU firmware is released, with either more features or bug fixes, you can use the
handheld to update the ECU. There are 2 types of updates:

For Bug Fixes Only

Bug fixes – which will KEEP THE SAME VERSION NUMBER, but UPDATE LETTER Version (such as T198i
goes to T198L) – these DO NOT require updating the handheld configuration files, such as those in the
“cal_info” “monitor_info” and “cal_file”. The calibration files in the ECU can be saved by the “Read Cal
from ECU” function to a backup calibration file, and rewritten to the ECU after the firmware update,
using the “Write Cal to ECU” function.

For Upgrades
Upgrade versions – these will have a NEW VERSION NUMBER but may have a lower Letter number (i.e.
T198i is to be replaced by T199A). These upgrades will require a complete handheld configuration file
replacement.

After obtaining the updated software (.hex file is what goes into the engine or transmission controller),
and saving it to a known place on your laptop, you’ll need to transfer it to the handheld with the
supplied USB C cable. The target file location on the handheld will be the “hex_file” folder within the
part number folder of your system. Place the “xxxxxx.hex” file into the hex_file folder, and return to the
vehicle to program the ECU.

Updating Firmware of Handheld

Sometime in the future, FiTech will release an improved version of handheld software (xxxx.bin file).
This file will need to be placed in the handheld’s “sys_bin” folder that is inside the “share” folder on the
handheld drive (connect handheld to a PC with the USB cable, and select “Handheld Software mode
Selection” and “Open USB Mass Storage” to allow the PC/laptop to access the memory card on the
handheld). Once the file is on the handheld, reset the handheld by pressing OK, or disconnecting and
reconnecting the USB cable, and scroll down to “Display Setup” and make sure “Handheld Software
Reboot” is set to “Show”. Then back out to the main menu and scroll down to “Handheld Software
Reboot” and select it, and choose the new version of .bin file that you placed in the “sys_bin” folder.
Confirm with yes that you want to update the software version, and the handheld will go through the
reboot procedure. Please make sure to not disconnect the USB power to the handheld or press any
buttons during this operation.

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Connecting to Laptop Software (for using FiTech Laptop Software)
One of the coolest features of the handheld is that it acts as a passthrough for connecting the FiTech
laptop software to the ECU via a USB cable.

Copy and Install Laptop software to your laptop

In order to connect an ECU to a laptop, you’ll first need to copy the laptop software (from “FiTech PC
Software” folder on handheld) installation to your laptop and run the installer, and install the drivers.
These instructions are on the handheld itself, inside the FiTech PC Software folder.

Set Handheld to “Laptop Software Connection”

This connection mode is accessed from the “Handheld Software mode Selection” menu on the bottom
of the Main Menu of the handheld. This

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