While it will do it *theoretically*, in practice it's not pretty.
As you run longer and longer runs, the maps become harder and harder to
adjust. Now of course, you could just reduce your maps to 1% and the
charts to 99% and use the graphs alone (hey, pretend you have a $5,000
Pi system), and that would work perfectly. But if you like using the
maps, which I do, you'll find that 5 minutes worth of data is tougher to
adjust than a 1 minute autocross...by a lot.
I have done it, though, and it works if you are comfortable doing that
much adjusting. But the right answer is the upcoming road-racing
version of the software.
Before I tell you about that, a couple of details about the current
system on longer runs. If recording with a PC at 20 Hz, you can only
get 3 minutes of data at a time. Switch it to 10 Hz, and you get 6
minutes. With a Palm, of course, you are automatically at 10 Hz, so you
get 6 minutes. Also, the Palm software was designed without the 6
minute limit in place, which means it will record until it runs out of
room or batteries! However, you won't be able to get everything out of
it, at least not in a useful way. The first hurdle is the download from
the Palm itself, which is limited (right now) to 25 minutes. We set
this up this high so we could begin work on the RR version. The second
hurdle is the GEEZ limit of 6 minutes. Now if you are clever, and
determined, you can split your 25 minute recording into several shorter
recordings, and view each of them...but that's not really a lot of fun.
It WILL work. But it's not a great solution.
Here's the theory on the new RR software. No limit to record length,
limited only by your Palm memory. You'll be able to "page in" data a
lap at a time. Once you've set your reference points for the start and
finish of a typical lap, the software will let you just lap forward or
backward with a speed button. The adjustments for succeeding laps will
be the same as for the first lap. What we are hoping to accomplish here
is that you make adjustments to a single lap of data, and the software
applies those adjustments to succeeding laps so that you don't have a
monumental adjustment job to get the data to a useful viewable map.
Very possibly you'll be able to custom-adjust individual laps if you
want to, but we want to try to see if we can keep you from having to.
The limit to single lap will be (surprise) 6 minutes.
In practice, I would think you'd want to open up the same run twice (or
more), and have one lap on the left, and another lap on the right, so
you can easily make comparisons between your individual laps. We are of
course working on that kind of functionality.
We just might price it higher than the standard version of GEEZ;
however, we've told many GEEZ customers that it will be a no charge
upgrade for them. So our plan is to offer it as a no charge upgrade for
any GEEZ owners who have already bought by the time the RR version is
released, and to charge a nominal amount more (like $100 more) for the
RR version to new customers.
I'm guessing that we will make this our top priority after nationals, as
we have a LOT of interest in it. But we also have to make time for
Windows CE version of the Palm recorder software, and of course G-Dyno.
So I'd say maybe October 1....?
--Byron
searle@ca.ibm.com wrote:
>
> I have my new GEEZ (racers package) unit, and have used it on
> short 60 sec AutoSlalom courses.
>
> How successful have people been using it on longer runs, say
> a 5 minute Solo-1 set of laps at the track ?
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