Harry's GPS Suite Forum

Hello,

So today was my first autocross run ever and last night I bought the LapTimer, the petrolhead edition.
I did not want to mess around too much today, so as soon as I've got to the autocross stage and parked my car I went into the app:

1) Went into prepare race and set 'Autocross'
2) Went to the finish line and set Finish (in the right direction).
3) Went to the starting line (which is like, 10 meters away (max)) and hit start. It allowed me to choose 'staging' or start, so I chose staging whilst moving 5 meters away where the staging area was and set it in the right direction.


I went to the car, mounted my phone and then chose the camera mode (2nd icon -> smartphone only). I tested the app last night whilst driving and it was working great. It also worked great when I staged, it detected that and allowed me to hit the 'staged' button. It started recording video as well as data - or so I thought - when I mashed the throttle away from the starting line.

SO here's what I am here for:

1) I noticed during my runs that the app did not detect the finish line and didn't actually stop timing. So I had to hit 'stop' myself when I was parked.

2) It didin't record video with the laps it recorded. I suppose it might've defaulted to non-video, after I locked/unlocked my phone in-between stages?

3) It did record 1 video, which is 1:42 min, but there's no such recording in the app within the 'Lap list'
https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=fd1f7e26 ... 7cUSgv66Qg

4) I see it sees that I did 4 runs. 3rd magically disappeared as well.
1 run seems to have no GPS data?
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AqCJmE8mfh_9hYAc0D35KrNntH37Ow


So I am just a tad confused about the operation of the app. I am an IT guy so I thought I understood what's going on, I was a bit sad to see that I only got home with that 1 video without any overlay data to put on top of it..

Yesterday I also did some test runs in the city with the manual 'start' and they seem to be fine. So I am sure that this is something related to the 'autocross' mode and the auto start/stop that messed with me today.

Hi,

That's hard to say after the fact. The video operation mode stays as set until the app is restarted. This means a simple lock / unlock will not change the mode. However, it will interrupt any recording - video in particular. So before interrupting the app, always make sure you have stopped or canceled the last lap.

For the missing finish detection: that's probably due to the driving direction set. You may want to recheck if it pointed into driving direction. In general, LapTimer should work with start and stop triggers near-by, so this should be fine. You may check the trigger position by exporting one lap to .kml and watch it in Google Earth too. This often reveals problems with GPS accuracy and / or a misplaced trigger and helps for the next track day's setup.

Videos recorded are always session videos, so the one you see may cover two or more laps. You can add it to your laps for overlay by identifying the lap from the video and adding it to the lap from Lap List ‣ Lap Details ‣ Add Video.

- Harry

For autocross data, you absolutely need an external GPS. The internal GPS in a smartphone is simply not good enough. It doesn't update fast enough and isn't accurate enough. IMO, the minimum for iOS is the Dual XGPS160 with a 10Hz update rate. You have more choices with Android.

Hi there guys...

I am having the exact same problem. It triggers perfectly on the start line but not with the finish line.

I guess I am setting the direction of travel wrong as explained above. Please could someone explain carefully how to set the direction on my Samsung S5 perfectly??

Thanks in advance!!!

First, you should always test your track by walking the course after setting start and finish POI's. You may have to go into Expert Settings and turn on Allow Low Speeds first. Any setting change won't take effect until you sent the program to the background and pull it back up. Change the setting back before you start running.

If I remember correctly, a compass should appear in the wizard when you set start and finish. If not, there's likely a compass app on your phone. Point the phone in the direction of travel and record the compass reading in degrees. Then go to lap list, touch the line for the track and touch the POI you're adjusting. Scroll down to the bottom, touch the direction line and enter the compass reading and save.

To see if things look right, touch Map at the bottom of the track page. POI's that have directions set will appear as lines. If no direction has been set, you'll see a flag with a ball in the middle. Start and Finish will be bars with a checker pattern. There will be a red triangle associated with each line. The narrow tip of the triangle points in the direction of travel.

I am having trouble setting the start and finish lines for AutoX. when it is mentioned that you pint the phone in the direction of travel does that mean that the phone is level and you point the top of the phone or the phone is vertical like you are taking a picture and point in the direction you are travelling, much like you are taking a forward picture in the direction you are travelling.

Also, I am using a Dual XGPS160 with a 10Hz update rate. When I set the set the Start and finish line, can I do that with the iPhone's internal GPS, or should I have the Dual GPS with me?

Hi,

Just make sure the compass is showing reasonable results. It is not necessary to hold the smartphone flat, but leaning the top towards driving direction is a good idea. You can catch start / finish using the internal GPS. Just make sure the device is not covered and has good reception. A misplaced trigger may be missed, so accuracy is important.

- Harry

Thanks Harry! I'll practice setting up start/finish points on my street to sort it out. Dumb question: Te compass headings should correspond to the actual direction, yes? OK, that was the confusing aspect as depending on the angle of the phone, the compass would vary headings.

I know the trigger points work great on defined tracks. I'm working on getting it to work well on AutoX sessions for me as well.

Thanks much! Rich

The compass hand will show North and the top of your phone should point into driving direction.

- Harry