Yea, that is interesting. PCA National does not have anything in the minimum rules that says that beacons cannot be placed and some Regions make up additional rules. It was also interesting that last year CVR asked me to speak at their DE workshop on data acquisition where they are embracing it as yet another tool to improve driving skill, especially with the higher skill level groups. I'm glad to see larger Regions supporting the furtherance of driving skills through the use of data acquisition, which with many systems requires a trackside beacon.

Personally, I have not found it to be a problem and some ask that you quietly place it out of sight.

 

Yes, I try and be discrete but sometime you need to go to extremes.. Someone snapped this of me during a NNJR event at Summit Point..

 

LOL! you have too much time on your hands Gary.

 

Perhaps theoretically true, but I haven't noticed any errors in my real-time GPS lap times. I run a Race Technologies DL1 with a Dash 1 display and get real-time GPS lap times that agree with my post-run data analysis. Maybe a couple hundredths off, but essentially the same.

I would prefer the GPS over beacon because it seems like everyone I know with beacon systems has gotten faulty/no readings on occasion. My DL1 hasn't done that.

 

Well, as I just found a new AIM site today and it has a lot more info I should be all set using the GPS..

http://www.aim-sportline.com/pages/c...on_car_mxl.htm

Much better than the http://www.aimsports.com/auto/index.html site IMO.. why the heck have two?

 

I have not had any failures with a MoTeC Beacon.

 

Lateral G figures seem consistently exaggerated with these accelerometer-based devices. I assume it's for the reasons Joe describes. I've always seen the numbers as useful in terms of comparing results from the same box, but in no way accurate in any absolute sense.

In other words, I don't think my street car corners better than many prototype race cars, DL1 numbers notwithstanding.

 

Precisely. You often hear about people using things like GTech and quoting the numbers as if they are absolutely correct.

They are very good for comparing things if you can remove a lot of the variables. Different cars, different surface type, different surface profiles, temperatures, etc.

 

I figured I would use these numbers as a baseline considering it was the 1st event of the year, and see where they go from here...

 

so in a case like Racepak where they offer both a single unit with GPS built in (IQ3 dash) or a box with wired display (G2X), is the box with wire better because you can put the box closer to the cg?