Just wondering which is correct here. I know it's only a 1/10th or there abouts
At the last clubday (August) my son in one of the heats according to his Alfano was as follows:
Heat 2Alfano - 48.850
Transponder - 48.753
Heat 3
Alfano: 48.43
Transponder:48.552
Is there a setting that i should be looking at, or is this just the "norm" that they are always out by a touch?
At the last clubday (August) my son in one of the heats according to his Alfano was as follows:
Heat 2Alfano - 48.850
Transponder - 48.753
Heat 3
Alfano: 48.43
Transponder:48.552
Is there a setting that i should be looking at, or is this just the "norm" that they are always out by a touch?
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Comments11
Hi Joe. No there's nothing going wrong. It's just that the timing transponder finishes the lap at a different point to where the Alfano strips are. So they vary a little.
Hi Joe,
As Roger said.
For your info, the transponder strip at Oakleigh is right near where the chequered flag is waved (naturally!). The Alphano strips, 3 of them, are
1. About 20M after pit corner
2. About 20M after the starters box on the back straight
3. Just before the entry to Tonykart corner.
Cheers,
Jim
ok thanks Jim, Roger....my thought here is then (this might sound dopey) but here goes...
Does the Transponder use the same strips as the Alfano or are you both saying there are six (6) strip in total (3 for the Transponder and 3 for the Alfano) I would think so because then you would also need strips for the Mychron??
Like i said the difference in times is minimal but when your scratching for every 1/100 the young guy starts to ask questions i simply cant answer.... hence why i come to the experts here who can normally guide you nt he right direction.
Now for the really silly question.... which time would you both think is correct? I would think the Transponder becasue thats the one that we all race with.
There is generally only 1 transponder loop on the track at the start finish line.
The Alfano strips are just a row of magnets in the track that are picked up by the sensor. Mychrons work on the same system (athough some people use infrared becons which are totaly different.)
The alfano/mychron strips are totally separate to the transponder system and dont interfear with each other.
For the transponder there is only one point. Both times are correct.
Your alfano will start the lap on the first strip you come across unless you set it otherwise. During a race you can't really set it to start on the main straight strip because the roll arounds will throw it out if you use a cut through.
The transponder and alfano are both recording accurate times, they are just starting and finishing the lap at different points.
eg. your sons lap on the alfano may be finishing at tonykart corner for a particular heat whereas transponder is always finishing at the same spot every race. So in essence you are looking at two different laps as they started and finished at two different points.
To get the closest match you'd want the alfano to start the lap on the strip closest to the transponder strip. But as I said before this isn't always possible due to roll arounds.
Joe Cavallo said:ok thanks Jim, Roger....my thought here is then (this might sound dopey) but here goes... Does the Transponder use the same strips as the Alfano or are you both saying there are six (6) strip in total (3 for the Transponder and 3 for the Alfano) I would think so because then you would also need strips for the Mychron??
Like i said the difference in times is minimal but when your scratching for every 1/100 the young guy starts to ask questions i simply cant answer.... hence why i come to the experts here who can normally guide you nt he right direction.
Now for the really silly question.... which time would you both think is correct? I would think the Transponder becasue thats the one that we all race with.
Joe,
Yeah both are correct, but I would recommend you balance the "laptime" view with the "racecraft" view on race days. His laptimes may say xyz, and don't ignore this, but how does he look relative to the karts around him, where is he faster, where is he slower? After the race, get him to reflect along these lines and he'll start to pick up more and more, and this is probably worth more than stressing over a tenth here or there on the laptimes.
Additionally, in a race situation the laptime can be affected by heaps of variables, traffic being the big one.
Cheers,
jim
The worst is when you qualify badly, and have a laptime on your own timing system that would have been pole. It's happened MANY times!! I've heard more people than I'd care to count grumbling that the track timing system is "wrong".
Col Fink said:The worst is when you qualify badly, and have a laptime on your own timing system that would have been pole. It's happened MANY times!! I've heard more people than I'd care to count grumbling that the track timing system is "wrong".
Interesting
Obviously you can't compare if the decoder loop and the magnetic strip (that you have started your onboard timer at ) are not in the same spot
You can start your alfano at any strip in the setup and we have an additional magnet in the roll around to keep them in sequence
but if there is a reasonable distance between the two starting points then I guess anything can happen in that distance
You would need an IT Guru to figure out programming loops and processing speed to see if there was a margin of error if several karts crossed the loop together (close proximity) and their times were then ever so slightly effected by the processing capacity of the system
No Stress Jim,
he is just of his P's and it was his first meeting the other day without the big red plate showing.
he still has plenty to learn, and I am sure that as he learns his times will come down. His times were coming down until the rains started half way through the final. But so far so good.
Thanks Joe
Jim Lane said:Joe,Yeah both are correct, but I would recommend you balance the "laptime" view with the "racecraft" view on race days. His laptimes may say xyz, and don't ignore this, but how does he look relative to the karts around him, where is he faster, where is he slower? After the race, get him to reflect along these lines and he'll start to pick up more and more, and this is probably worth more than stressing over a tenth here or there on the laptimes.Additionally, in a race situation the laptime can be affected by heaps of variables, traffic being the big one.Cheers,jim
My advice would be to hide the laptimes with sticky tape until he comes in! Kids get WAAAAY too distracted by laptimes. They turn better laps when kept in the dark, in most cases, especially when they're really new to the sport (and terribly concerned with being slower than the other kids).
ahhh very good idea..... theree have been times and i just know when he has pulled something that he is happy with, because he is out of that kart so fast and you can read it on his face.
Maybe i try that and see what happens.
I can also tell you that when there was nothing special, i also know.......
good idea, will do this
Thanks
Joe
Col Fink said:My advice would be to hide the laptimes with sticky tape until he comes in! Kids get WAAAAY too distracted by laptimes. They turn better laps when kept in the dark, in most cases, especially when they're really new to the sport (and terribly concerned with being slower than the other kids).