Geoffrey, you use MoTeC, right? What does a good system cost? It does not use GPS, right?

 

I'm sure Geoffrey will also speak up but I use MoTeC. A lot of the money in any system, is the transducers. My system has 2 axis G, a few temps and pressures, throttle, steering position, front and read brake pressure, 2 shocks position sensors, speed and rprm (I think that is all of them). It was around $8k. Again, though, realize the each sensor typically costs $200-$350 so it adds up in a hurry.

MoTec can use GPS as an add on. They also have video integration with any video you capture.

 

The thing that data naysayers fail to understand is that data is fun, at least to us geeks.

I highly, highly, highly recommend buying a system that is expandable (most are) because you may want to add more sensors as you go along.

Most data acquistion devices on the market can easily give you GPS position, speed, and RPM, as well as lat and long Gs. These are the very basics, and they are sufficient for newbies.

I must say I found data much, much more useful once I installed steering position, throttle position and brake pressure. Why? Because you are not always doing what you think you are doing, and unless you look at your inputs directly, you are trying to extrapolate your inputs by looking at the results. As such, the next time I do this, I will have steering position, throttle position and brake pressure from day one.

 

Charlie, yes, I have a MoTeC ADL2 with most of the options enabled in my car and CAN linked to the other electronics in the car. The basic MoTeC ADL, ADL2, SDL all can use a beacon, or a 10hz or a 20hz GPS input, or both Beacon and GPS. I have not purchased the GPS module for my car because for what I'm doing, it does not buy me anything that I care about.

It depends on who's DAQ system you are talking about, and what sensors you are wanting to read. For instance, my car has linear potentometers on each shock and they are sampled at 1000hz, it also has a yaw sensor, 3 axis g-force sensor, infared tire temp sensor, steering angle, front and rear brake pressure, etc, the list goes on. I'm thinking of adding a second 3 axis g-force sensor, one for the front and one for the rear along with IR ride height sensors.

 

Damn - you have expanded a lot since we chatted in FL. How do you like the IR tire temps? Did you do the maths for downforce from the shock pots?
I was concerned about the huge increase in spring rates and whether the calculated downforce would still work - well it works fine and I could see the massive increase in downforce this year, with the tunnels.

 

Hi Mark,

We can chat offline. I'm not sure of what I'm seeing with the maths and the shock position sensors because I am not sure if my car has much downforce (stock body) or if the math needs to be modified (more smoothing) for a GT car rather than a formula car with downforce. This is why I want to install the IR ride height sensors, to get a "second opinion" if you will.

 

So if I'm shooting with a standalone AVCHD camera, I can integrate that video easily?

 

The video integration is a chasecam product that has been modified to work with the MoTeC dash.

 

I really appreciate evryone's input. I have looked at many of the vendor's web pages, and will talk with the guy who helps set up my car tomorrow. Right now I am still considering the Traqmate + Chasecam combo vs DaVid. I like the idea of video synced to data, but can see where brake pressure, throttle position, and gas pedal position would be very helpful.

Thanks again guys. Your willingness to share your knowledge is wonderful.

 

will also talk with Veracity

 

Yes, though easy is relative. You set two sync marks in the video to match 2 data points and it is synced. With Chasecam, it is automatic now as Geoffrey said.

 

+1 for traqmate. Have it, use it, like it.

 

Three settings on TraqMate -- 10, 20, and 40 Hz. Recording hours on the unit are: 22 hours at 10Hz, 11 hours at 20Hz, and 5.5 hours at 40Hz. If you bring your laptop to the track and are running something like Cups & Saucers (7 hours in 2 days), you can upload / clear after day 1.

 

What formats can it work with, .mov?

 

I have to agree with others, until you are more experienced, your time and money would be better spent doing more DE's than on a datalogger. That said, I have a TraqMate and really like it. Very easy to install and use. I use TrackVision to overlay the data onto video so I can review my videos with the data to see where I gained speed on certain laps and why. I'll then go into the TraqView software and really analyze the data to see exactly what I did to make that speed.
I record speed, RPM, thottle position, braking, G-Forces, lap times, track location, and track map.
See this video for an example with the data overlay.

Here is an overview of most GPS data loggers.

-Scott