Pre-ordered MK3 Race Capture Pro for use in a chumpcar endurance race car. Looking for tablet recommendations for mid size display with good visibility in day light and robustness for keeping powered up etc.
Anyone have a success story?
Tablet recommendations
Hi,
We have some recommended tablets here: https://wiki.autosportlabs.com/RaceCapt ... ed_Tablets
We certainly love the Nvidia Shield! We're also in the process of testing the newer Fire 8" tablet, too.
Let us know what you find out.
We have some recommended tablets here: https://wiki.autosportlabs.com/RaceCapt ... ed_Tablets
We certainly love the Nvidia Shield! We're also in the process of testing the newer Fire 8" tablet, too.
Let us know what you find out.
Hi Brent, what was the outcome of your Fire tab testing? The Shield seems to be unavailable from Nvidia and pricey on Amazon. I'm getting ready to take the plunge into your system!brentp wrote:Hi,
We have some recommended tablets here: https://wiki.autosportlabs.com/RaceCapt ... ed_Tablets
We certainly love the Nvidia Shield! We're also in the process of testing the newer Fire 8" tablet, too.
Let us know what you find out.
To add to this I have an Nvidia Shield set up in my track car and used it last weekend, worked very well. Here are the highlights:
1) Nvidia Shield 8" tablet - easy to read with sunlight and without, though I used a tinted visor. It's polarized though, noticed this with my sunglasses as the alignment was crossed basically making the screen look blank. My visor is just tinted so this didn't cause a problem, but if you have a polarized visor and have your tablet sideways you may run into issues, so check this.
2) Power - 12V to 5V converter. Just picked up a 90-degree 12V to 5V adapter on ebay so it powers when ACC is on.
3) Initial Power Up - I couldn't figure out how to get the tablet to auto power on when USB power was provided, so if it's not already on, you need to hit the power button. I then was able to configure via rooting and a couple apps (Tasker is one, forgetting the other at the moment) disabling airplane and sleep modes if active, enabling wifi, auto connection to the rc pro's wireless network, screen turned on with indefinite timeout, and starting of the RaceCapture app (configured to auto load the dashboard). This all generally applies when USB power is applied so that the screen lights up and connects to the rcpro, which is important with what i do when USB power is removed.
4) Power removed - this is for when the car goes off. The tablet goes into airplane mode, sleep mode, screen timeout in 7 seconds. This massively conserves power, giving me about 30 days of standby on a full charge.
5) Mount - I had a shop build me a mount that created a flat bracket that bolts to the two bolts that hold my steering column to the dash bar. I then used a cheap $10 case of Amazon that the Nvidia Shield can snap into, and this is screwed to the mounting bracket. This is all hard to explain but the point I'm making is if you use a cheap snap-in case as a base, you can build a very simple mount that allows you to easily pull out the tablet when necessary. I tried to upload a picture but I'm getting an error saying I'm uploading an empty file. Hoping this image is viewable from another forum:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/attachments/im ... pg.334270/
I plan to do a write-up on all this when I do my second tablet display as the one I'm using right now is going to be my primary dash cluster once some warning light features are added to the RaceCapture app.[/img]
1) Nvidia Shield 8" tablet - easy to read with sunlight and without, though I used a tinted visor. It's polarized though, noticed this with my sunglasses as the alignment was crossed basically making the screen look blank. My visor is just tinted so this didn't cause a problem, but if you have a polarized visor and have your tablet sideways you may run into issues, so check this.
2) Power - 12V to 5V converter. Just picked up a 90-degree 12V to 5V adapter on ebay so it powers when ACC is on.
3) Initial Power Up - I couldn't figure out how to get the tablet to auto power on when USB power was provided, so if it's not already on, you need to hit the power button. I then was able to configure via rooting and a couple apps (Tasker is one, forgetting the other at the moment) disabling airplane and sleep modes if active, enabling wifi, auto connection to the rc pro's wireless network, screen turned on with indefinite timeout, and starting of the RaceCapture app (configured to auto load the dashboard). This all generally applies when USB power is applied so that the screen lights up and connects to the rcpro, which is important with what i do when USB power is removed.
4) Power removed - this is for when the car goes off. The tablet goes into airplane mode, sleep mode, screen timeout in 7 seconds. This massively conserves power, giving me about 30 days of standby on a full charge.
5) Mount - I had a shop build me a mount that created a flat bracket that bolts to the two bolts that hold my steering column to the dash bar. I then used a cheap $10 case of Amazon that the Nvidia Shield can snap into, and this is screwed to the mounting bracket. This is all hard to explain but the point I'm making is if you use a cheap snap-in case as a base, you can build a very simple mount that allows you to easily pull out the tablet when necessary. I tried to upload a picture but I'm getting an error saying I'm uploading an empty file. Hoping this image is viewable from another forum:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/attachments/im ... pg.334270/
I plan to do a write-up on all this when I do my second tablet display as the one I'm using right now is going to be my primary dash cluster once some warning light features are added to the RaceCapture app.[/img]
I'm using an Amazon Fire HD 8". It works well. It's reliable and has no bluetooth connection issues. It's response as a dashboard seems perfect, but the response to touch input is a little laggy and loading sessions and even displaying the sessions can take a few seconds. I'm not sure if that would be better on a higher end tablet or if its inherent to the software. Compared to an iPad Pro its a complete turd, but that's to be expected i'd guess. 
Visibility is good, but washes out a little in bright direct sunlight. Still readable though. I don't use a tinted visor.
So far it works well enough that i'm not compelled to find something else. Nice sharp, big screen for $99. It's also fairly sleek with its thinness and small bezels.
Visibility is good, but washes out a little in bright direct sunlight. Still readable though. I don't use a tinted visor.
So far it works well enough that i'm not compelled to find something else. Nice sharp, big screen for $99. It's also fairly sleek with its thinness and small bezels.
The Fire 8 tablet does work really well - bright screen and the BT connection restores quickly and solidly.
The touch response you're seeing I believe is a universal issue we're working on resolving by using the latest version of the Kivy framework. They have a fix in the framework that helps distinguish scroll gestures from tap gestures, and will greatly improve responsiveness across all devices.
Trying to see if we can get that in for 1.9.2 or 2.10.0.
The touch response you're seeing I believe is a universal issue we're working on resolving by using the latest version of the Kivy framework. They have a fix in the framework that helps distinguish scroll gestures from tap gestures, and will greatly improve responsiveness across all devices.
Trying to see if we can get that in for 1.9.2 or 2.10.0.
More recommendations.
Hello, do you have any other tablet recommendations,
Amazon doesn't ship the Fire tablets to Sweden unfortunately and we are looking for a replacement tablet for our racecapture system.
Do you have any regular brand tablets that you recommend?
We send telemetry data from the tablet as well so 4g connectivity is a must.
Thank you for your reply.
Amazon doesn't ship the Fire tablets to Sweden unfortunately and we are looking for a replacement tablet for our racecapture system.
Do you have any regular brand tablets that you recommend?
We send telemetry data from the tablet as well so 4g connectivity is a must.
Thank you for your reply.
Hi,
If you are needing a tablet that also has cellular connectivity, then perhaps your cellular carrier may sell a connected tablet. Try one with a fast processor and bright screen, and Bluetooth support. (Assuming RaceCapture/Pro)
First test we would do is ensure the BT connection recovers reliably if RaceCapture is power cycled.
Keep us posted on what you try!
If you are needing a tablet that also has cellular connectivity, then perhaps your cellular carrier may sell a connected tablet. Try one with a fast processor and bright screen, and Bluetooth support. (Assuming RaceCapture/Pro)
First test we would do is ensure the BT connection recovers reliably if RaceCapture is power cycled.
Keep us posted on what you try!