Data Loggers, who uses one???

rain902 · Postby **rain902** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 11:35 am

TCR wrote:Good to see another DL1 user in Oz.

Just hooked up my Dash 3 last week and am set to give it a run at Morgan Park this weekend. There's two of us sharing the car this weekend as part of the 1Hr race, so it'll be good to have some data from another driver for comparison.

I see you on the racetech forum - thats a great resource! If and when you get your TPS connected, feel free to share with me the details of how you did it.

Come to think of it, PM me your email addy and I will scan and send you a coupla pics from the Competition Datalogger Book - it doesnt tell you how to put it in, just some photos of it. The book is priceless for allowing you to use the data - as it says - capturing it is the easy part, interpreting it is the hard part.

Funnily enough its british and while purposefully generic its largely written around the DL device

No doubt expensive if bought in australia, but i bought it from amazon US and it was fantastic. This is the same book that you see for sale on the racetech website.

Dont forget to have 2 different CF cards - one for each of you, that way you can keep your data separated and it will correspond well together - each of you will have RUN_(date_time)_1 for your first session etc rather than having 1 CF card so your mates first session will be #1 and yours will be #2 - can get confusing quickly. Write your names on them or at least number them and make sure that the timezone is set correctly so you have an idea of when each run was - otherwise you will be racing at midnight in 2071 according to the GPS satellites :shock:

CF cards are cheap as and can be had at any dedicated photography store. Buy the slowest one you can to save money - the DL is outputting a tiny data file and speed only comes into it with cameras that try to transfer 2x 10 meg files for each frame they take, at 7 frames a second. A 2gig one will give you hours or even days of logging. Sandisk is my favourite brand - i use em in my SLR and video cameras as well as my DL and no I dont work for em ;)

Another fun trick I took to is setting up auto logging on above 10km/h and off below 10km/h. This means that when I spin and stall it, then turn the key to restart I dont corrupt my data file as it has already stopped and saved it. Ask me how I know this is important :wink:

Also if you are going to use remote indication and control there is a fantastic momentary switch with integrated LED that is sold by RS Components. Its not a jaycar cheapie and has no sharp edges, looks like it was designed for the purpose. Looking at its specs it would not be uncomfortable in an F1 car. - Im so impressed wiht it that Im going to get a set of them for steering wheel control when I get my Dash2

SKYHI · Postby **SKYHI** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 12:10 pm

I'll definitely get the TPS hooked up, just ran out of time to do before this weekend. When I do I'll be happy to share any helpful info.

I've seen a couple of data logging books around and have been meaning to get one. Actually the wife asked me today what I want for my birthday, so that might be just the thing

Good point about the seperate CF card, I'll see if I can get hold of a second one today before I leave. We'll actually be co-driving in a one hour as well so there will inevitably be data from both of us in one session anyway.

I'd though about setting up the auto start and finish, but have decided to install a seperate on/off switch for the logger instead. I can still reach the logger to start logging and the dash has the GPS and logging status on it, we'll see how it goes.

PM sent

rain902 · Postby **rain902** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 12:31 pm

yeah I hear you - i put in my remote control button and light thinking that i wanted to be a control freak and make sure that everything was logged and under manual control - but my first weekend yielded very little data as every time i stalled or rebooted the car or drove into the pit and turned off without pressing stop (and face it, pressing stop isn't high on our mind when we come back in from an event, or when we spin and stall and want to rejoin in a hurry)

Every run I had that i didn't close properly was corrupt - I rang meridian and asked about it and they said 'erm yes - best to program an auto stop'

I programmed the auto start as well as it can be hard to see the LED with the roof down and shaking the kitty litter off your tyres and checking for damage tends to be a priority over restarting the datalogger.

I havent looked back since!

If you are sharing a car in the 1 hour the pitstop for driver change will yield a second run that you can use to indicate the driver change if you cant get a chance to get another card.

SKYHI · Postby **SKYHI** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 12:56 pm

Yeah, good points.

I've not yet had any isues with leaving the track and stalling the car, and I guess I've just gotten into the habit of hitting the start stop button before and after each session. I guess my only concern is coming to a stop when gridding up and then the logger not starting again until after I've launched off the start line. Might give both ways a try and see what happens.

Thanks.

rain902 · Postby **rain902** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 1:11 pm

the other option is to run the logger form its own power supply - a small 1.2aH SLA battery charged by the car, but reverse isolated with a diode so that it only feeds the logger constant 12volts and not the rest of the car. Issues here are weight, legality, an extra switch to isolate the logger from the battery when the car is stored or otherwise off.

pepejesus · Postby **pepejesus** » Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:42 pm

Just ordered a Qstarz BT-Q818XT 10Hz to use with my Nokia E63 and RaceChrono.

Will let you know how it goes!

SKYHI · Postby **SKYHI** » Wed Oct 06, 2010 9:23 am

The second car I raced at Morgan Park last weekend was fitted with a 10Hz GPS receiver and Nokia phone running Race Chrono. It was the first time I'd actually seen the program in use and was pretty impressed with what it could do considering the price

I'm trying to get a copy of the data from the owner so I can do some data analysis, and help him make up the 2-3 seconds to match my times.

pepejesus · Postby **pepejesus** » Wed Oct 06, 2010 1:29 pm

The GPS receiver is costing me less than $100 delivered, so it's gotta be worth a go.

TCR, can I have a look at your data as well? I'd just like to have a play around with Performance Tools and Circuit Tools before I get my lap timer up and running.

Also, if anyone has any data from Barbagallo or other WA tracks (I noticed there are RaceChrono track maps available for RAC Driving Centre and Collie Motorplex) that they'd like to share I'd really appreciate it.

Guran · Postby **Guran** » Thu Oct 07, 2010 3:30 pm

Have you tried here:
http://performancebox.co.uk/dlfiles.html

Not sure what they have for WA as the page doesn't load properly from my iPhone.

Btw the circuit should be automatically recognized when you load files with Circuit Tools.

pepejesus · Postby **pepejesus** » Thu Oct 07, 2010 9:01 pm

Cheers Guran, but what I was actually asking for was the laptime logs themselves, just so I have some data to play around with before I hit the track and create my own.

Guran · Postby **Guran** » Thu Oct 07, 2010 10:36 pm

Yeh some of them have sample laps included in the zip files. Not all of them though. Worth a look if you haven't already. Otherwise maybe just try google search?

pepejesus · Postby **pepejesus** » Thu Oct 07, 2010 10:44 pm

Ah! I'll try downloading some of those then. Thanks Guran.

SKYHI · Postby **SKYHI** » Fri Oct 08, 2010 9:38 am

pepejesus wrote:TCR, can I have a look at your data as well? I'd just like to have a play around with Performance Tools and Circuit Tools before I get my lap timer up and running.

I'll check with the other driver to see if he has any problems with me sharing the data, personally I don't.