Lap Timing Software

[tsmsoccer 11]

Last weekend I spent some time tyring out Ultimate racer 3.

Up to now I have been using either Laptimer 2000 or Slot race Manager (SRM)

 

When I was racing by myself I used laptimer 2000

 

Pros

Windows based

Big display Numbers

Sounds when cars passing sensors, start of race and end of race

Software is free

 

Cons

No real database to store car times and improvements to cars

I have been unable to get the power to cut out at the end of a race even though the software claims to have this feature

 

When a group of us are racing I have been using SRM

 

Pros

Big display numbers

Great database to store all the information you would require about your cars

Software supports the use of Tree lights for the starting of races

You can run single, practice, timed, number of laps, and tournament type races

Software works with the cutting of power to the lanes at the end of a race.

Software is free

 

Cons

DOS based not supported under Windows

No sounds for cars passing sensors, start of race and end of race

 

Anyway as I said last weekend I decided to look at Ultimate Racer 3. Here is the link

Ultimate Racer 3

 

Pros

Windows based

Big display numbers and you can change the view of the racing pane to suit yourself

Sounds when cars passing sensors, start of race and end of race. You can change the sound to suit yourself as the software allows you to enter any sound type file with a “WAV†extension

Software is free

I managed to get the software to work with my tree lights so that at the start of a race you get a red, amber and then green light

I also managed to get the software to work with my relay switch so that the power to track is cut for a few seconds at the end of a race automatically. I had to fiddle with the parallel port settings on the computer to get this to work properly but in the end I sorted it so it works with the software

The database to keep all the information on your cars is excellent. Basically it is a Microsoft Access backend.

Software supports First arrived, limited duration, Limited laps, staggered and Practice type races.

 

Cons

Now that I have setup the software to work with my hardware there are no cons for me. Looks like this is the software I will be using going forward . More testing to be done this weekend

 

 

Is anyone else using Ultimate Racer 3?

[tsmsoccer 11]

I forgot to mention that Ultimate Racer 3 also has a "Track Editor" to allow you to design track layouts. While this was not a requirement for me it maybe very usefull to others.

 

Charlie

[hoffy 0]

One of the biggest dramas with Windows based software (& is it really a drama? How pedantic do we want to get) is the timing accuracy. I believe that Windows will only time to 1/100 (or is it 1/10) of a second. DOS (Unless you are running from a DOS command prompt in Windows....never run you timing system like this) will time to 1/1000.

 

What I would really like to see is a LINUX bases system. I think that this would overcome quite a few of this issues

[tsmsoccer 11]

Unless you are running from a DOS command prompt in Windows....never run you timing system like this) will time to 1/1000.

 

Hoffy

 

I believe you are right to achive 1/1000 second accuracy the timing software in DOS based applications speeds up the PC timer. Unfortunately one side affect is that this prevents sound being used during timing, because the waveforum of every sound is created using the PC timer. When playing a sound, the timer is reset back to it's original speed by the controlling hardware and as a result the timing software freezes. This is the way that SRM works as far as I can work out.

 

For me in order to gain the functionality that Windows gives I am happy to reduce the timing accuracy.

 

Charlie

[RePete 1]

Hey Charlie

 

Interesting thoughts about Ultimate racer I have been using the track planner for ages but found the timing software confusing and unclear to set up but maybe I was just beeing lazy

 

While a windows based program is appealing I think the small inconvenience of restating in DOS is outweighed by the timing accuracy of SRM

 

At least when you have a race decided by a few 100ths of a second you know its accurate and not just averaged

 

Apparently a windows clock runs at 18hz which means a windows based program can only time accuratly to 1/10th of a second and when you consider that you test and tune to reduce your lap time I dont think 100th of a second timing is being pedantic

 

Once you sort out SRM I think its worth the hassle for the accurate timing but thats just me

 

 

Maybe I should take another look at Ultimate racer and see if I can work it out

[tsmsoccer 11]

Interesting thoughts about Ultimate racer I have been using the track planner for ages but found the timing software confusing and unclear to set up but maybe I was just beeing lazy

 

Pete it may be worth taking another look at ultimate racer I am using the latest version 3.0.24 it is a lot easier to setup and use compared to earlier versions.

using the cable you made up for me I simply configured the software as follows

 

Configure software for pin3 on the LPT port to be in high state default is low

For lane 1 slot car detection is pin number 10

Power control to cut power at end of race is pin 8

 

For lane 2 slot car detection is pin 11

For lane 3 slot car detection is pin 12

For lane 4 slot car detection is pin 13

 

for the tree gantry

green light is pin 6

orange light is pin 4

red light is pin 2

 

 

 

Once you sort out SRM I think its worth the hassle for the accurate timing but thats just me

 

I agree SRM has also served me well but I did not like the fact that you do not get any sound when the cars pass the timing device to indicate that a lap has been recorded.

 

There also seems to be a lot more development going on with Ultimate racer. Check on the link below to Slot Car Illustrated

 

Ultimate Racer

 

Apparently a windows clock runs at 18hz which means a windows based program can only time accuratly to 1/10th of a second and when you consider that you test and tune to reduce your lap time I dont think 100th of a second timing is being pedantic

 

I agree Pete but the way we run our club races is we run timed races and use the laptiming software to record full laps we then manually check how much of the last uncompleted was completed by checking where the car has stopped on the track at the end of the race in 10ths of a lap.

 

Charlie

[RePete 1]

Apparently a windows clock runs at 18hz which means a windows based program can only time accuratly to 1/10th of a second and when you consider that you test and tune to reduce your lap time I dont think 100th of a second timing is being pedantic

 

I agree Pete but the way we run our club races is we run timed races and use the laptiming software to record full laps we then manually check how much of the last uncompleted was completed by checking where the car has stopped on the track at the end of the race in 10ths of a lap.

 

Charlie

Yeah your format of racing doesnt really require accurate laptiming its just that I'm too lazy to keep paper records of the meet

 

I like being abe to set up the drivers names for the meet in the PC and then not having to worry about anything till the end of the night

[hoffy 0]

 

Apparently a windows clock runs at 18hz which means a windows based program can only time accuratly to 1/10th of a second and when you consider that you test and tune to reduce your lap time I dont think 100th of a second timing is being pedantic

 

I agree Pete but the way we run our club races is we run timed races and use the laptiming software to record full laps we then manually check how much of the last uncompleted was completed by checking where the car has stopped on the track at the end of the race in 10ths of a lap.

 

Charlie

Yeah your format of racing doesnt really require accurate laptiming its just that I'm too lazy to keep paper records of the meet

 

I like being abe to set up the drivers names for the meet in the PC and then not having to worry about anything till the end of the night

ditto.

 

The software that is used by all of the tracks at our club was written by one of our members. Its DOS based & works quite well, but its greatest limitation is that it doesn't write to a file. So at the end of the night, a quick photo of the screen is generally the way that we record the results. A newer version has been written, which does produce a CSV file, but I have yet to try it. Its greatest feature? The lane rotation system & the fact that you can split drivers into 2 groups. this makes it easier A & B grade type racing.

Edited July 10, 2006 by hoffy

[kalbfellp 69]

I agree with Pete. We all use Trakmate down here now and it makes things easy,the results are samed straight to Excel file and I copy them to a flash drive that it. I can then add them to our web page etc without having to re enter all the info. Great for Proxy races when you can have up to 30 entrants.

 

Phil

[Rob E. 0]

Hey Phil,

 

What version of Trakmate are you guys using? For years, I'd been quite happy with the old DOS version, but I recently got the new interface kit to upgrade to the V5.5 windows one.

 

Haven't set it up yet, but I'm quite looking forward to it, for the very reason that you mention, easy handling of the results.

 

Charlie, sounds like you've found a winner there too. Must check it out. Thanks for the "heads up".

 

Rob E.

[kalbfellp 69]

Rob: Claremont College has been using the windows version for several years but I only started using it about a year ago and have updated each new version so we are now using 5.5. All the HMCC tracks have converted to the new version since Christmas so it is easy for me to collate the results. All the computers now have USB so I just copy the info to my flash drive. We have spreadsheets with macro's so no more entering data or calculating points or results.

 

Phil

[Stevo41 0]

Now that I finally have a (small) track, I really need to look more into timing options. I have a spare PC lying around from when we bought a lap-top, so all I need now is to try to enrol in an electronics course at the local TAFE