Autox setting start and finish?

[froggy47]

I am new & figuring this app out.

Segment selection track name & start finish.

So I drove down my street a little to set start and it's a blank box.

Below this is lat. long. and heading

and below that is a finish flag with same empty boxes.

Am I supposed to type into those boxes? What?

So I drove away to get back to this computer and now in the first start box is 9.0000000?

What is that?

Please help, I can find nothing in the "slim" user instructions on how to get this screen ready to function.

Thanks.

[Weston@HPTuners]

I'm assuming you're in "Segment" mode... If you press the icon to the left of the coordinate boxes, you can set each position based on where you're currently located. This allows you to walk to the start line, and/or the finish line, and set the position there.

For Autocross, you may consider just leaving the start coordinate blank, which will cause it to auto-start upon movement from a stop. If your event's timing starts at a point after the vehicle's actual start, then that's when you might want to set a specific start coordinate.

You can optionally set the finish point to make the timing automatically stop at that point, and then the overall session will stop about 15 seconds after. Obviously, a smartphone's GPS accuracy will not perfectly match the high-precision laser timing system used in most autocross events, so the run times calculated here are an approximation that will depend on the quality of the GPS data and start/finish coordinates. The main objective is that it records the data and video to cover the time span of your session, which it does very well.

If you don't opt to set the finish point, then the session just ends whenever you press one of the navigation tab buttons other than "Record".

[froggy47]

I'm assuming you're in "Segment" mode... YES If you press the icon to the left of the coordinate boxes, you can set each position based on where you're currently located. This allows you to walk to the start line, and/or the finish line, and set the position there.

Do I press on the little blank box with my finger? Doesn't seem to work? Sorry if I'm just being dense?

For Autocross, you may consider just leaving the start coordinate blank, which will cause it to auto-start upon movement from a stop. If your event's timing starts at a point after the vehicle's actual start, then that's when you might want to set a specific start coordinate. Timers are 10 - 20 ft from start.

You can optionally set the finish point to make the timing automatically stop at that point, and then the overall session will stop about 15 seconds after. Obviously, a smartphone's GPS accuracy will not perfectly match the high-precision laser timing system used in most autocross events, so the run times calculated here are an approximation that will depend on the quality of the GPS data and start/finish coordinates. The main objective is that it records the data and video to cover the time span of your session, which it does very well.

I have Dual 160

Android phone - motox gen 1


If you don't opt to set the finish point, then the session just ends whenever you press one of the navigation tab buttons other than "Record".

[froggy47]

I got it to work, user error, I was pressing the "blank boxes" BEFORE I pressed the green/checkered flags.

New questions:

With the phone mounted on the windshield, the landscape orientation, when I press a flag the screen flips 90 degrees, so you have to hold your head at 90 degrees to read it. Can I cancel this, or suggest to the developers that this is less than ideal from a user perspective? With a helmet/roll bars/ etc. it's not that easy or fun.

Throttle - auto ranging - what is that for, I turned it off? I was getting WOT and my engine was at idle.

I am looking to replace HLT with this as HLT seems to be lagging for android phones & is excessively "over engineered" and complicated to use. I hope android is not going to be "red headed stepchild" like it seemed to be with HLT.

The app seems well featured and easy to use. Maybe clarify in the print documentation regarding setting start/finish for autox. You may not know but the number of autox racers far outnumbers the number of track racers every weekend. HLT is very oriented to track. Autox is an afterthought IMO. Hint: add more autox features & DOMINATE.

I have not tried putting this test lap onto my YT channel yet, so will add some comments later on how that goes.



I downloaded RR3 - free to my desktop. To make a video to upload to YT. The app says to go to the main "Sessions" screen. Can't seem to navigate to that? Where is it?

I found Recieve Files/Network transfer/wifi whch would seem to be where I want to start. Doesn't say anything about "main sessions screen".

When I initiate wifi transfer on the app I get "No devices found".

Am I in the wrong place?

I know the Trackaddict app sees my network because I was able to print the documentation from the app to my wireless printer on my home network, by just initiating the print request from the app.

********************************

If the wifi transfer is not that well developed I can use a cable. Where does TrackAddict like to put it's files (what folder) on an android phone? I looked & did not find anything. I know with HLT his app puts the files on the android phone in a folder that windows explorer can't even see. Had to use ES file explorer (app) to move the hlt files on the phone to where a windows computer can see them.

[Weston@HPTuners]

I got it to work, user error, I was pressing the "blank boxes" BEFORE I pressed the green/checkered flags.

New questions:

With the phone mounted on the windshield, the landscape orientation, when I press a flag the screen flips 90 degrees, so you have to hold your head at 90 degrees to read it. Can I cancel this, or suggest to the developers that this is less than ideal from a user perspective? With a helmet/roll bars/ etc. it's not that easy or fun.

You would typically want to do all of your track and start/finish setup prior to being in the car and waiting to start a run... That screen you are reaching there is really intended for walking up to, or near, the start or finish line with the phone in your hand. It forces the phone into Portrait orientation so that the user interface will be aligned properly for the compass reading, which is needed for the bottom option on that screen.

For autocross, I'd just do the setup during the morning course walk... If I wanted to set a specific start point, rather than auto-start upon movement, I would press the green flag button, then when I'm standing between the start timing lights, press the "Set Point Here" button. Then I'd use the checkered flag button to do the same for the finish point, and that's all there is to it.

For circuits (ie road courses and ovals), TrackAddict is typically able to offer a known start/finish coordinate for the track you're at, or you also have the option of pressing a large on-screen button the first time across the start/finish line (this would be done while on the Record screen).

Throttle - auto ranging - what is that for, I turned it off? I was getting WOT and my engine was at idle.

OBD-II throttle data is reported as 0-100% based on the 0-5 volt reading from the TPS. Some cars use that full range and have no issue, but many others use a smaller range within it, like 0.5 - 4.5 volts, so that will skew the percentages. It varies by car, but typically ends up being seen as something like 12% - 83%, so it looks like you're on the throttle a little when you aren't, and it also never goes to maximum. Auto mode simply adapts the display to fit the range that you actually used, but if you never went full throttle in your session, then it would display a lower point as if it were full throttle.

I downloaded RR3 - free to my desktop. To make a video to upload to YT. The app says to go to the main "Sessions" screen. Can't seem to navigate to that? Where is it?

I found Recieve Files/Network transfer/wifi whch would seem to be where I want to start. Doesn't say anything about "main sessions screen".

When I initiate wifi transfer on the app I get "No devices found".

Am I in the wrong place?

The guidance about going to the Sessions screen only applies to doing a WiFi transfer to another device that's running the TrackAddict app.

When sending to RaceRender, just go to its "File" -> "Receive Files over Network / WiFi", and then the app should be able to find it (if you are on the same WiFi network, of course). Press the Refresh button in TrackAddict to make it do another scan, if it doesn't show up the first time... The success of these broadcast transmissions can vary depending on network conditions and equipment, but works well in most cases.

If the wifi transfer is not that well developed I can use a cable. Where does TrackAddict like to put it's files (what folder) on an android phone? I looked & did not find anything. I know with HLT his app puts the files on the android phone in a folder that windows explorer can't even see. Had to use ES file explorer (app) to move the hlt files on the phone to where a windows computer can see them.

If you go to Share -> USB File Sharing, it will display the guidance for this... It's in the "Android/data/com.hptuners.trackaddict/files" directory on whichever Storage location you have it located on. Your device may have up to 3 different volumes/drives that look similar, but actually correspond to Internal/External/SDCard. You'll want to use the "Storage" button to make sure it's on either External or SD Card space (if applicable) so that it's accessible to other apps and via USB.

By default, new sessions would have been placed on the Internal storage space, which is reliably available (that's why it's the default), but Android typically wont let other applications or USB connections access it. If you desire, the "More Options" screen can be used to change the storage location for any new sessions you record, so that they will automatically be placed in an externally accessible location.

[froggy47]

All set,

Got the wifi xfer to work, added display objects, creating final video now.

One glitch, I added track map & it appears (so far) to look like a straight line. The real "track" was a loop around the block.

When I previewed the video on the phone, it WAS a loop just like I drove with start/finish correct & all.

Did I set up something wrong in RaceRender?

[Weston@HPTuners]

It's hard to say for sure without seeing the data, but by default, RaceRender's track map plot will show just the best lap... this makes for a cleaner map image in most cases. If you had inadvertently triggered the start & end of another lap without actually going all the way around the block, then that shorter/faster "lap" is probably what RaceRender is showing. One way to resolve this in RaceRender is to double-click on the Track Map display object, which should open its properties box on the right, and then change the "Draw Selected Lap" setting to be either a specific lap, or all laps.

[froggy47]

That is probably what happened, thanks!