No success using HLT at Lime Rock Park

lunat1ck · Post by **lunat1ck** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 10:56 pm

I tried to use HLT for the first time yesterday, at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT. I was unable to get ANY data taken whatsoever, and I'm at a complete loss as to why.

I have an iPhone 4, and the latest available version of HLT. I also have an external GPS device (XGPS150) and get ODB data using the PLX Devices product. Both of these devices seem to be functioning correctly. The XGPS150 connects via bluetooth just fine, and the iPhone connects to the PLXDevices wireless network. In HLT, the software shows that both devices are working just fine.

I defined myself as the driver, loaded the data for Lime Rock Park, selected my car, and then hit "Start Driving". The timer screen is then displayed... and NOTHING happens after that. I ran all 4 sessions, and must have run 60-70 laps, but never did HLT record a single thing.

After the 1st session, I tried changing the POI Detection setting to "Wide", with the same results.

After the 2nd session, I tried reloading the data for Lime Rock Park (I had previously done so before arriving at the track), but still had the same results.

After the 3rd session, I noticed that I had "Online Racing" -> "Publish" set to "Lapping", so I set it to "Never", but *STILL* got no data. I was wondering if the inability to contact Harry's server might have caused a problem.

I could not find anything in the HLT interface to indicate why it wasn't working. If you look at the LRP GPS data in the map, it sure looks like those data points are correct.

How can I gather additional diagnostics to figure out why it wasn't working?

What else can I try changing to possibly get this to work? Perhaps NOT use the external GPS device? Not connect to the PLX device? Both of those options occurred to me after the day was over, and I want to come up with a plan before I head to NJ later this month. I have 8 chances (4 sessions on 2 tracks over 2 days) to try to get some valid data, so there's only so many things I can try (my track time is VERY valuable to me, so I'm not going to ruin a session by pitting 5 times to tweak HLT -- each session gets one chance at each attempt

Lime Rock Park is one of the most popular road courses in the NE part of the US, and I can't believe I'm the first person to try to use HLT there, so I am at a loss to explain why it didn't record anything.

Post by **Harry** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:14 pm

Hi,

The Lime Rock track set seems to work fine, I see 10 lap times from today and have >1000 overall on my server. The online setting does not influence LapTimer's timing and recording operation, a connection to the server is an option - nothing more. As a complex accessory combination (like the one you use) can introduce problems I have documented some checks for he GPS connection here: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2 Please test this around your home, both with the internal GPS and the XGPS connected. One thing not discussed in the article above is the small radar icon visible in the last (Satellites) snapshot. While turning, LT actively searches for triggers. Finally, please make sure you have not only loaded Lime Rock, but have no conflicting track sets too. You get a warning in Lap List if you have conflicts.

You can test LapTimer off track pretty easy. Just set a stop / go trigger in front of your house and drive around the block. Test this both with the internal GPS and the XGPS. The OBD connection is usually not an issue for trigger detection.

- Harry

Post by **Harry** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:39 pm

Just came across a similar situation like yours: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=617&p=3036#p3036 Please check, this might be a general problem with 'too good GPSes'.

- Harry

lunat1ck · Post by **lunat1ck** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 3:12 pm

Good news!! I just got back from 2 days at NJMP, and by accident, discovered the source of my problem.

Now, I would really like to claim this I found this a thoughtful analysis of the problem, and good trouble shooting methodology, but the honest truth is... I just forgot to turn on the external GPS before my 3rd session on the first day (I was already strapped in, couldn't reach it, and didn't want to get unstrapped 'cause I like being first in line, and I was running behind).

Well, without the external GPS device, HLT had no problem timing my laps for the rest of day one and all of day two.

I'm happy to run with this, since I now have a ton of lap data to play around with the overlay software (as promised, I'll post my reviews of the editing process, probably in a week or two). However, it sure would be nice to figure out why the external GPS isn't getting along with HLT.

Harry, I should have followed your previous advice (see above, this thread) and tested this out at home, but just didn't make the time. If you would like me to run a debugging version of your code, maybe, or do anything special to diagnose this, I'd happy to do so. I can reproduce this trivially: just link the external GPS, and HLT won't ever trigger. If there are some application or system logs, perhaps, that might be useful, or anyway to acquire more information that would help, just ask.

In any event, I get to move on to the next challenge now: comparing the data overlay features of DashWare, RaceRender and TrackVision. I have some late nights ahead, but then I'm a hacker so I'm used to this

Post by **Harry** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 6:06 pm

Same issue here: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=543&start=40#p3301

Do you have any manual or other recording from your XGPS? In case you have, please export a lap too.

- Harry

lunat1ck · Post by **lunat1ck** » Fri Jul 13, 2012 4:13 pm

Harry, I'm driving Lime Rock Park again on Monday, and would love to get more accurate GPS data out of my XGPS device. Is there anything I can try differently this time? In particular, if there are changes in v16 that might help resolve this, I'd be more than happy to be a beta tester (if you have anything ready).

If you want me to try a few different setting, I'd be willing to try them during one of my sessions. I can always try a lap, and then pit and change configs and try again, if necessary.

Whatever I can do to help figure out the root cause here, just let me know.

Post by **Harry** » Fri Jul 13, 2012 4:23 pm

Play around with the detection corridor, set it to Wide e.g. Or even enlarge it using LT's expert settings. The beat approach is always to export to Google Earth (either a automatic recorded lap looking odd - e.g. 2 laps in one, or, in case you got nothing, a manual recording using the Stopwatch), as it shows both the plot and POIs. You may play around with the sensors too, so e.g. Switch between Dual and the internal sensor.

Harry

lunat1ck · Post by **lunat1ck** » Fri Jul 13, 2012 10:51 pm

Thanks. I'll make a list of things to try, and see if I can't get this to work.

I did some more reading on the forum here, and discovered that I need a firmware upgrade for my XGPS150, because it only connects to HLT at 1.0 Hz, not closer to 5.0. I'm waiting to hear back from Dual on how to do this (they don't post it publicly, from what I can tell).

I'll let you know how things went when I get back on Monday evening...

Post by **Harry** » Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:48 am

Please check the announcement section in this forum, there I a link on how to request the firmware update.

Harry

lunat1ck · Post by **lunat1ck** » Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:06 pm

I found that link, and submitted a request for the details, but more than 48 hours later they have not yet responded to me.

I can't say Dual is impressing me with their service response time, but I'll reserve final judgment until I've completed the upgrade process, which others seem to have had a lot of trouble with.

I'm a little surprised that they haven't just made everyone life easier, including their own, by making the firmware a self-service download off of their website. It's not like you can do anything useful with the firmware if you don't have the actual hardware device it is made for.