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I brought the Garmin Catalyst to LRP with my 944 this past Saturday. I'm racing at Summit Point this week so my Cayman was at the shop.
My thoughts -
1. As you can see from the picture below the screen is big which was surprising but nice.
2. I used one Samsung Galaxy Buds Live bluetooth ear piece and it worked very well. I went out for one run with one in each ear and it muffled the engine noise more than I wanted so found running with one ear piece in was optimal.
3. Although the Garmin unit itself has a battery it will not power up the camera without a separate power source. The battery in the unit is great because you can just pull it off it mount and review the video and data on the unit.
4. I have to admit that I installed the device, setup my profile, and went without reading any instructions. I only got a little audio feedback about braking going into the uphill of LRP but it was silent otherwise. Curious if it says more than that. (Just looked and I enabled coaching for braking and apex which I did not have enabled - so there you go!)
5. There is a large green/red time display letting you know if you are ahead or behind of your best time.
6. There is a coaching mode which I started to look at but I think at one point it was telling me on my optimal lap I broke "119 feet later" so I am thinking did it compare this to my out lap?
7. The video that I pulled from the unit did not have a data overlay. Again, not sure if that is a function I need to enable.
8. The opportunities mode is VERY cool. It tell you where you are losing time for each segment, gives you data to show you, and then embeds a thumbnail of your best segment as a video so you can pull it up. Again I wish that there was a data overlay on the video to show throttle and braking.
9. It is cool that it breaks down the track into sectors and tells you where you can improve. That being said, it was hard to judge this device in a car I drive at the track once a year with very old tires. I'll have it in my Cayman at Summit Point for the practice session this Thursday and also plan on reading the instructions to see what functionality I can get out of it.
10. For its size the unit stayed pretty steady. The magnetic mount makes it easy to put on and take off but holds it tight when driving.
Bottom line is I think this is a cool device that lands halfway between a full data system and an AIM Solo. More to report after this weekend.
People are using earbuds as you are, but I've used Roux and Stilo Raceceiver cables, too. Will supply an IMSA Y-cable for those interested. I prefer BT. Everyone with BT in the car audio is using that, and likes it.
Important to know that the kit comes with cig lighter power AND hard wired power transformer. Some folks are wiring their cars with hard wire, then using the suction cup mounts I can supply for the camera, the included suction cup for the device and the cig lighter plug to transfer from car to car in a few minutes.
LOVE the "no RTM" before use. It's NICE!
You are probably looking for (and are at a level you can gain benefit from) the Advanced Coaching mode, enabled in settings.
Thee screen, color bar and lap info is really nice and really readable. More frequently updated than most systems.
The video is NOT available with overlay. Only way to view the data is with the video in session review on the device. You can offload the optimal lap complete (stitched together best POSSIBLE segments, no audio) from the session folder, as well as raw video with great audio from the session folder on the micro SD card. The power required to render data real time is not what was in the design brief for this product, nor was the inclusion of car info. It's not a competitor to AiM/VBOX/MoTeC, it's complementary, as you've found out.
A tether is in the works, plus I'll have a 3D printed plastic security clip available shortly, but we had no loss of units from the mag base (despite crashing curbs in purpose built race cars and even an impact with T10 wall) this past weekend in six cars.
The real-time coaching with the post session review highlighting a prioritized triple opportunity display is something no other system does. Basically taking the squiggly lines and turning them into an action plan, both in the car and after the session using the touchscreen on the device. You can highlight sections of the data and/or video, expand and shrink them with touch screen gestures, it's quite intuitive.
Glad you found value and it is the next step, especially with the AI to expand as you get better, over the current "what you did, now you figure it out" logger systems.
Originally Posted by LuigiVampa
I brought the Garmin Catalyst to LRP with my 944 this past Saturday. I'm racing at Summit Point this week so my Cayman was at the shop.
My thoughts -
1. As you can see from the picture below the screen is big which was surprising but nice.
2. I used one Samsung Galaxy Buds Live bluetooth ear piece and it worked very well. I went out for one run with one in each ear and it muffled the engine noise more than I wanted so found running with one ear piece in was optimal. https://www.amazon.com/-/es/gp/produ...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
3. Although the Garmin unit itself has a battery it will not power up the camera without a separate power source. The battery in the unit is great because you can just pull it off it mount and review the video and data on the unit.
4. I have to admit that I installed the device, setup my profile, and went without reading any instructions. I only got a little audio feedback about braking going into the uphill of LRP but it was silent otherwise. Curious if it says more than that. (Just looked and I enabled coaching for braking and apex which I did not have enabled - so there you go!)
5. There is a large green/red time display letting you know if you are ahead or behind of your best time.
6. There is a coaching mode which I started to look at but I think at one point it was telling me on my optimal lap I broke "119 feet later" so I am thinking did it compare this to my out lap?
7. The video that I pulled from the unit did not have a data overlay. Again, not sure if that is a function I need to enable.
8. The opportunities mode is VERY cool. It tell you where you are losing time for each segment, gives you data to show you, and then embeds a thumbnail of your best segment as a video so you can pull it up. Again I wish that there was a data overlay on the video to show throttle and braking.
9. It is cool that it breaks down the track into sectors and tells you where you can improve. That being said, it was hard to judge this device in a car I drive at the track once a year with very old tires. I'll have it in my Cayman at Summit Point for the practice session this Thursday and also plan on reading the instructions to see what functionality I can get out of it.
10. For its size the unit stayed pretty steady. The magnetic mount makes it easy to put on and take off but holds it tight when driving.
Bottom line is I think this is a cool device that lands halfway between a full data system and an AIM Solo. More to report after this weekend.
__________________ -Peter Krause www.peterkrause.net www.gofasternow.com
"Combining the Art and Science of Driving Fast!"
Specializing in Professional, Private Driver Performance Evaluation and Optimization
Consultation Available Remotely and at VIRginia International Raceway
A tether is in the works, plus I'll have a 3D printed plastic security clip available shortly, but we had no loss of units from the mag base (despite crashing curbs in purpose built race cars and even an impact with T10 wall) this past weekend in six cars.
I know this will shock you to your core but I am not really a RTM type of guy!
While the magnetic mount is excellent I am concerned that the unit will absolutely come loose on any kind of real impact. I looked at the unit and did not see any area were a tether could be attached. I view that as a big design flaw which needs to be rectified.
The unit is being mounted in my Cayman and hope to have it up an running for the practice day this Thursday at Summit Point.
I know this will shock you to your core but I am not really a RTM type of guy!
While the magnetic mount is excellent I am concerned that the unit will absolutely come loose on any kind of real impact. I looked at the unit and did not see any area were a tether could be attached. I view that as a big design flaw which needs to be rectified.
The unit is being mounted in my Cayman and hope to have it up an running for the practice day this Thursday at Summit Point.
Stop over in my paddock at summit... this was my way of mounting my cell phone and apex pro... I did this because apex just came out with video and data ( lights). some aluminum channel and I fired up the welder.. solid as hell Welded up Mounted.. bolted to camera type mount for removal
We didn’t experience any spontaneous disassembly of the Catalyst from the mag mount in over a dozen cars at the NASA weekend, but I understand the desire for more security.
There is a 3D printing file for a “security clip,” sandwiched between the AMPS and the mag mount that holds the device in the tongue and groove of the mag mount. I’ll have them in about a week. Easy fix for those that feel they need it.
I do know there is a tether in the works from Garmin. I even think there exists the possibility to retrofit.
I didn't have any trouble with the stock setup with half a dozen people, some pretty aggressively crashing curbs (and one literally crashing ) yesterday at VIR.
hmmm? Lighting McQueen had an assistant like that in cars3. “ you have hit the wall”
Stop over in my paddock at summit... this was my way of mounting my cell phone and apex pro... I did this because apex just came out with video and data ( lights). some aluminum channel and I fired up the welder.. solid as hell Welded up Mounted.. bolted to camera type mount for removal
LOve it, I do not have a welder for aluminum, can you make me one? Will cover costs plus markup>
Thank you,
Tom
LOve it, I do not have a welder for aluminum, can you make me one? Will cover costs plus markup>
Thank you,
Tom
Sure, No problem.. What I did was POP-Rivet a peice of alu where the vents go, covered in alcantera.. and I use dzues tabs to connect the mount to that part.. I have a UAG military grade cover for my phone and it slides in the channel perfect with a little interference... (Gotta pull pretty good to get it out, but thats the point) ... I made this one "push" a little on the dash for more stability vidieo-wise, The video from my first one (I phone 4) Looked like you were watching a video after consuming massive amounts of Jack Daniels... Are you going to summit?
Stop over in my paddock at summit... this was my way of mounting my cell phone and apex pro... I did this because apex just came out with video and data ( lights). some aluminum channel and I fired up the welder.. solid as hell
Welded up
Mounted.. bolted to camera type mount for removal
I will stop by! My welding skills are poor and involve several grinding wheels. Welding aluminum would be a whole 'nother level of skill for me.
Originally Posted by ProCoach
We didn’t experience any spontaneous disassembly of the Catalyst from the mag mount in over a dozen cars at the NASA weekend, but I understand the desire for more security.
There is a 3D printing file for a “security clip,” sandwiched between the AMPS and the mag mount that holds the device in the tongue and groove of the mag mount. I’ll have them in about a week. Easy fix for those that feel they need it.
I do know there is a tether in the works from Garmin. I even think there exists the possibility to retrofit.
More soon.
Very interested to see what you have and hope never to be in a position where it needs to be put to the test.
This thing looks pretty cool, a couple of questions that maybe I missed.
What's the GPS update rate? Most phones are only 1 Hz which makes apps like Harry's Lap Timer and others really only accurate to +/- 1 second unless you are using an external GPS device.
Why no OBD2 interface? Seems like if it's meant to coach me to "GAS GAS GAS! MORE GAS!" it would need to have throttle position data to know how much I'm on the gas.
I suppose it could all do it strictly via speed, but that seems a bit limited.
09-14-2020, 11:55 AM
) yesterday at VIR.
