Data acquisition
My Aim dash unit is acting up. It locked up (maybe only the RPM's) 2 times and required being shut down(car power off) to get back in operation. If anyone knows how to fix, please let me know. I like the shift lights and being able to measure both water and oil temp.
I have been considering some data acquisition equipment. I have Harry's Lap timer but have not gotten it set up/ installed in my car. I am open to spending some money. Any suggestions?
Mark
1990 Van Diemen, the Racing Machine, CM AutoX, 2016 Frontier
You can try to make a street car into an autocrosser or you can do a lot less work and make a race car into a great autocrosser
Mark, what AiM unit do you have? Dashes that "freeze" are often because either a power connection or ground is intermittent OR there is a firmware mismatch.
AiM Sports in Roanoke and Lake Elsinore California has great customer service. Call them and see if they can do a remote diagnostic session, if you have internet access and can connect to the dash while you're on the phone.
I have had more than a hundred folks who have used RaceChrono or Harry's buy AiM, Video VBox or other equipment to replace those, just because of reliability.
For a dash (display)/logger, I really recommend either AiM (EVO4/G-Dash or MXL2 or MXS), or a C125 MoTeC.
Call AiM, they'll stand behind the product, even if it's older.
-Peter Krause
1984 Tiga SC
www.peterkrause.net
"The Driver is the Greatest Performance Variable in the Racing Equation"
I've seen this problem 3 different ways:
1) master switch is going bad and bouncing. Dash locks up.
2) internal power problem
3) using a line from the coil directly to the tach input (there are two, and one is supposed to take the trash that exists on a coil connection). This one will eventually kill the dash completely. If you don't have one, get the AIM tach amp. And then you need to protect that with a big-ass capacitor and a zener diode, because if the voltage drops below a certain point while cranking the amp blows. I lost two that way, and while the chip that needs to be replaced is only $1.89, the specialized equipment that's needed to replace such a small device will send you looking for a very expensive expert. Without protection, the amps are an $80 fuse.....
I ordered a Flexx tablet which runs windows so I can use the AIM race data software. I may also upgrade to an AIM Mychron5.
Mark
1990 Van Diemen, the Racing Machine, CM AutoX, 2016 Frontier
You can try to make a street car into an autocrosser or you can do a lot less work and make a race car into a great autocrosser
Mind explaining the install of the cap and diode Rick? I'd like to prevent the tach filter from becoming a fuse...Originally Posted by Rick Kirchner
Gary
Gary Tholl
#24 BlurredVisionRacing
I'd have to go back to my notes for completeness, but you go to Digi Key and get a 12V zener diode and a large 20v or so cap (by large, I mean as big as, if not bigger than, a D-cell battery). The zener goes across the + to ground with the cap in parallel. In series with the circuit is a 1A or so blocking diode. I think I also put a resistor in series to limit the inrush current. The power for the amp is taken off the junction between the two diodes and the cap.
When you cycle power, the cap charges to .75 V less than the open battery voltage. The Zener clamps it at 12 if it's over. When you hit the starter, the starter tries to suck power out of the cap but can't because the series diode blocks it. Instead, the cap powers the amp and keeps it powered at Vopen-.75V until the battery recovers from the surge. I sized the cap to provide something like a minute of reserve.
It's not totally fool proof. If you let the open battery voltage drop below 10 volts you'll still blow the amp when you crank, but it takes a higher level of stupidity to get there, like cranking the motor until the battery is dead. I switch the dash and amp off if I'm going to use the starter that much.
Finally something I can talk about with some expertise.
Check out the coil signal conditioner that the guys who make Race Capture Pro sell.
http://www.autosportlabs.net/CoilX
Assuming your data acquisition system wants a 5 v signal this looks pretty good.
Jim
Look into SoloStorm by Mike Marich at Petrel Data Systems
http://www.petreldata.com/product/so...-android-v2-2/
Autocross dedicated
Programmed by a fellow CMOD driver
Phil
If you're looking for a serious system to help you go faster, have a look at the ApexSpeed sponsor - CDS. CDS is one of the only US-manufactured data systems currently available, and the owners are long-time SCCA members and open-wheel racers.
....and we have helped SCCA drivers win over 100 national championships, including at least 5 from last year alone (FV, SRF, SRF3, FE, GT1).
One thing to look closely for any data system is the software. Any system can take data points and give you squiggly lines on a chart, but it takes a more advanced software offering to help you turn that data into actionable information in the limited time you have between runs or sessions.
Beware of any system that touts the ability to do "math channels" in the basic offer, because this generally means that you have to build the data yourself, rather than the software doing most of the work for you. The more advanced systems already have handling analysis, suspension math, gear calculations, g-summing functions, etc. built into the software, so that you can spend your time working on the car and thinking about driving, rather than on re-inventing the wheel with "custom" pages that everyone else already has.
Give us a call or drop an e-mail and we can help you figure out what can work for you.
Marshall Mauney
Milwaukee Region
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