Autosport Labs

I finished my first race weekend with Race Capture Pro and a Android cell phone for a dash... had many issues...

The open cockpit makes reading the phone screen impossible thru a smoke visor... I have to find a way to turn up brightness or add some kind of shade.

We don't have RPMs working. We are using the isolation board, tapped in to the negative post of the coil, per the instructions. Hopefully we'll have enough time to figure out where we lose the signal before the next race.

Never got lap times to either record, show on the dash, or on telemetry (telemetry worked perfectly) even though it recognized the track...

Everything else seemed to work fine (sensors), but we still need to calibrate/refine the mappings. No problems with GPS antenna or with co-site interference with the radio.

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the update.

Viewability:
Recommend trying an anti-glare film for your device, if you haven't already. That can cut the glare dramatically.

Lap Timing:
Lap timing is based on a GPS target, and it's important that target zone is entered and exited during the lap in order for that lap to register. See the troubleshooting guide here:
https://autosportlabs.net/RaceCapturePr ... ive_Timing

From your description it seems that you have most of this covered - what track were you at? We can check it for a mis-configured target. Also, if you have some logfile data to review that can help as well. Finally, you can also set up a manual start/finish line to experiment with the lap timing, outside of the race track.

RPM:
If you're seeing glitchy / spiky RPM behavior then you may want to try the 2.9.0 release candidate, which has additional software RPM filtering: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic ... wtV_J4pqK4

Thanks for the reply.

We were at Hallett. I think we had it configured to auto track detect, which I thought it had set, as there is no way to hit the record button (the box is under the nose). My crew could see the lat-long-alt-speed change during the race, so we know it was working. I have not looked at the log file (cut down to 256KB attached).

As far as the rpms go, it wasn't erratic, it was not found. The car is mid-engine with the RCP and the isolation board both mounted in the front while the ECU and engine are both in the back. Would the distance from the board to the ECU make a difference?

Hi - thanks for the info. Could you also post your config or email it to us for review?

If you're not getting any RPM signal the best is to put a 'scope on it to see if you're feeding any kind of signal into the Timer input of RaceCapture.

I did some testing and found the correct connection for a tach signal for the engine (off of the ECU), I get a signal, it is between 12 and 15 volts. We did not get a signal off of the negative post of the coil. I could trace a signal to the coilx adapter, but not out. I assumed we broke the original and bought a new one and installed it tonight. I got RPMs for about 10 seconds, and now nothing again (No signal out of the coilx board). What did I do wrong?

I used a sparkplug wire wrap with both the AIM MyChron and the XT Racing systems. I checked for a signal and the voltage from a wire wrap, and got a signal with less than a volt. Would this work directly connected?

We're prepping for our last race before the Runoffs and I need to actually tune the clutches (CVT). I'm now considering hooking up the XT Racing box to just get RPM.

I changed the screen color scheme and the Samsung S4 works great for a dash. I love the lap timing and predictive function.

Thanks for the help

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the update.

Did you mean that you hooked up the CoilX to the (-) of the coil as described in the instructions and it worked for only a few seconds?

Are you able to see any of this on an oscilloscope? Just using a volt meter is really shooting in the dark; it simply does not provide enough information. There are inexpensive 'scopes out there for under $100, like the DSO Nano.

The voltage threshold for RaceCapture/Pro's input uses a 5v schmitt trigger to reduce noise at the hardware level; the trigger threshold input is going to be around 2.4v.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmitt_trigger
http://www.johnhearfield.com/Eng/Schmitt.htm

You can also try one of the MSD tach adapters; one of them may provide a clean signal from your ignition system.

Keep us updated on what you find out!
-Brent

Thanks for the quick reply.

Part of the problem is this is a snowmobile engine setup.

We initially got no signal from the negative side of the coil that we switched to a feed from the MPEM (ECU) that everyone else uses, that don't use a sparkplug wire wrap. I did not try the negative side of the coil with the new coilx yesterday, I went to the normal tach feed line.

We used a scope on it a couple of months ago when I had help from a knowledgeable guy (who owned the scope). I am currently using a multimeter that has a frequency input where I was reading RPM directly from both the ecu and the sparkplug wire wrap, and was reading voltage directly.

Thanks for the help.

Would something like this work?

https://www.iequus.com/Product/9995

Dave

Frankly, I don't know - haven't seen this sensor before. What does the manufacturer say about the type of signal it outputs?

I actually can't find any documentation. It goes to a conventional tach and is used for magneto fired engines or other troublesome installations.

Dave

I bought an Equus 9995 Inductive Pick-up to test.

How do you suggest I test/what data do you need to determine how or if it can be used.

I will share here everything I discover.

Hi

First, I would start a new thread; this has nothing to do with Formula Dash, as you can understand

Next, I would connect up the sensor and use an oscilloscope to measure the signal being emitted from the sensor. If it looks like a clean square wave like you see on our CoilX page, https://wiki.autosportlabs.com/CoilX then we have a good chance of reading RPM.

Post a link to the new thread when you get there.

Thanks!