I'm jumping the gun here though as I still haven't found a regulated power supply. There's a lot of 2-5amp units and I've mailed a lot of companies but no luck so far.
Also, I'm finding more people that have either bought from British Diagnostics or tried to contact them and none of them have ever had a reply.

 

If you just read values you can get by with a fairly hefty battery charger (& full battery) at least for a while.

May help to put a meter on the battery (or anywhere) and watch the voltage isn't dropping far.

Problem is if you wish to program any module but you likely never need to...

 

How much do you want to spend?
I got a real stout one an Iota DLS-55 about $150 used and there are plenty on EBay.
But I will suggest what I thought was a decent idea?
Some guys have built their own using PC/server power supplies?
I don't remember if they posted instructions but those used power supplies are cheap and everywhere.

I think as JagV8 said if only reading things maybe you can get by with a battery charger? I always make sure the battery indicator in SDD is green as I know if the voltage drops below 12.6 VDC SDD will choke. I know Jaguar does note that whatever you use they want <50mv rms noise and ripple rating for the power supply. The biggest problem with using a battery charger is they are terribly noisy electrically because batteries don't care how much noise is in the signal.

This is a messy document but directed at pre-2003 cars specifically so maybe a small bit of help? Since I had a 2005 and currently have a 2014 model I never tried this way? You may already have seen this? Note the links are all dead because of age.
Sorry if it only muddies the water?

Too bad about British Diagnostics as I have been recommending them and now they seem to have died or at least stopped responding?
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Hi clubairth1. Thanks for that.
British Diagnostics may well still be in operation but they just don't respond to any mails. I can maybe see why they don't as really, you can get bogged down with queries from users that don't understand how the install is performed. I've not found a seller yet that will help, even though just a yes or no answer would do the trick, so I'll just ask on here and hopefully get help from people that have performed a successful install.
I see in the info you sent, a mention of vista. Vista was, as far as I'm concerned, a complete disaster for Microsoft. It was just full of gizmo and was never a step-up in any progress at all. It was the first thing I had to do when I got it was to dump it and I'm not suprised it wasn't suitable for what we want out of IDS.
The power supplies you mention. Are you referring to a supply out of a tower/desktop PC? I've been thinking about these but Ebay over here is really not full of them at all! I'm now wondering what sort of amps they would handle as the sale posts I've seen don't usually have any specs mentioned. A full blown 50amp regulated power supply over here in the UK would be in the region of £400 to £500 and at that price, not always a new one, so I'll need to look into the supplies you mentioned earlier.
Not giving up though. I've always wanted the kit to read my old XK8 and I'll get there in the end.

 

I can't find a ripple rating but here is a 40A regulated and adjustable DC power supply for about $65? I wish it had more details on the spec's?

This is the style of power supply I was thinking of when I mentioned server power supplies. Maybe a incorrect term too?
Now these are all no-name brand Chinese units so quality will be suspect as will the ratings so will it work? Maybe? Of course all the Iota's are Chinese made as well.

I kept looking for a used Iota on Ebay and got one for around $100 a couple of years ago.
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There are quite a few units on that page. I'm wondering which one you had in mind as some of them are similar. They list the spec in different orders as well.
I could ask them for more specs. Is there a more technical term for ripple or will they know what I'm asking about?

 

The power supply should have a noise and/or ripple rating but again you find published spec's at higher price ranges more common. If it's not listed than it probably is not rated or is noisy. Cheap units just say power supply and nothing else.
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I've just had a guy message me with a regulated power supply but its only a 30amp example. Do you think it may be a bit on the small side or could it be ok to use?

 

30 Amp is a bit small but I think good enough for our work.
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Thanks for that clubairth1. I was trying to think of a time where a lot of draw would take place that would put an over-load on the power supply. I suppose it may in the event of starting the engine but I could disconnect the supply while I started the engine and re-connect after the engine was started.
A bit long winded but could work I think.

 

The only reason I hesitated is I have measured the power supply putting out 30 A before when working on my car and others. So I don't know exactly how much the car can draw while SDD is operating. Again look at the battery symbol on the SDD screen and if it's green you should be OK.
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Funny, I just had a mail from Amazon UK with a link to a power supply but it looks a bit cheap and from China.
Not sure if its a regulated example but there are a few questions from would be buyers on the subject.

 

In the questions ripple was asked about but the answer kind of just stepped around it?
No numbers but he thinks it's low ripple?
Without a number I don't know?
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I'm not really sure what they put inside a PS to control the "ripple" Probably, in the old days there would be a copper wound transformer of some size.
I have a nice old mig welder that has good quality components inside it which gives it good control. The modern units aren't so good to use and regularly fail.
I'll do some more looking around for some good information on the subject.

 

Hi. Due to a rather expensive issue with the wife's Mazda CX5 I've had to divert my finance and attention in another direction! As soon as I have that sorted I'll carry on with this little "project"
It'll be a while as I generally do my own vehicle maintenance and this job will be a biggy!

 

Im also using the iota dls-55. Also got it on ebay for $100. Super low ripple. Plenty of power. Plus they have different modules you can plug in for different types of charging algorithms. I got the regular lead acid module and the one for AGM batteries. Cant beat it for the price

 

Well I'm finally back on my "project" after a lot of shall we say "projected mechanical opps" on the wife's Mazda CX5 2.2d. This was a major top-end rebuild to the cylinder head and I really don't recommen anyone makes a purchase of one unless they are a very capable mechanic!

I've had a good result (I think) with the IDS/SDD programe. I purchased JLR 131.03 from tools4car.co.uk this is a download.
I got the heads-up from a friend of mine who had loaded it onto a laptop running XP Pro which was recommended by tools4car. They also sell it inside a VM if you don't have an XP Pro laptop. I've loaded it onto XP Pro native. I've personally worked other programs inside a VM and things don't run as fast and its generally unreliable I think.
After loading it up I plugged in the Mongoose cable and got a green flashing light from it. Encouraging I thought, so I entered the VIN number of my 97 XK and it recognised the car and showed a list of what the car left the factory with, so, on the face of it, it looks like its workig. The big test will be when its plugged up to the car when I've put it all back together. Still looking for a suitable power supply so that will be the next job. I'll keep you informed. S

 

Hello Steve and other readers,
the JLR 131.xx version is the correct version for Jaguar vehicles up to around 2007 (newer ones also work to a limited extent). From version 132 onwards an online connection to Jaguar is required, which costs a lot of money. I strongly recommend installing the software on an old notebook and not via VMM. Operating system must be Windows XP 32 bit in English. A 20GB HD (better SDD) is sufficient. Plus the Mongose Clone cable and you can read everything. I wouldn't want to describe any control devices with a clone cable, but I would with the original. For vehicles up to around 2002, IDS is automatically called up, for others SDD. I hope I was able to provide some overview.
Greetings, Willi

 

We have to be careful when talking about SDD?
There are many ways to get and use SDD. I run V163 and am never connected to the internet while working on a car. I have run this setup for over 6 years so yes it works 100%! Now I do run updates when it's connected to the internet in the house. I have spent dozens of hours downloading updates too.
Again many OS's can and have been used. I run Win7 Pro and again have for 6+ years.

While I don't use a virtual machine either many have with no problems. But for me it never worked and I had to again wipe the HD and start over.

I have used my Mangoose Chinese clone cable for years and multiple cars and it works 100%.

Just too many variations to say only one way works. You will find what works for one guy does not for another. It's a frustrating install at best and with no help from Jaguar!
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Hello,
Everything higher than Vers.131 basically requires a connection to the Jaguar server. But only if it is the original IDS/SDD version. There are also hacked versions.................As well as the Mangoose Clone Cable. But I never dared to try versions higher than 131 because you don't know what other viruses and other malware might be on them. My previous Jaguar vehicles didn't require a newer software version.
So I believe you that version higher 131 also works on Windows 7 or higher. I also work with the Mongoose clone cable. I wouldn't dare to re-describe an engine control unit, for example. I don't trust the quality and compatibility with the original Mongoose cable. But I know that if the ECU description goes wrong, it's stupid. And then in a virtual machine?
Rewriting small things, re-encoding keys, only a few bytes are written at a time. I also do that with the clone cable.
For big jobs I still have an original WDS and a CTEK 25 Pro for the battery.
Greetings, Willi