MQ-GPS User’s Manual

© Copyright 2005 MaxQData, LLC

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Q U ICK START GUIDE.....................................................................................................................................3

MO U N TING THE GPS MODULE.................................................................................................................9

WIRING .............................................................................................................................................................10

“FLIGHT” Q U ICK START .............................................................................................................................12 “CHART” QUICK START...............................................................................................................................24 COMPARING TWO DATA FILES ...............................................................................................................36

WO RKING WITH BEACO N S .......................................................................................................................39

TIMESLIPS ........................................................................................................................................................48

ABO U T MAXQDATA .....................................................................................................................................56

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Quick Start Guid e For technical assistance, em ail Info@MaxQData.com . For the latest software and d ocum entation, visit http://www.M axQData.com . Mounting GPS m od ule: Mount the GPS m od ule so it has a cle ar view of the sky. The b est loc ations are the roof or re ar d e cklid . Other g ood loc ations are the d ashb oard or the re ar parcel shelf. The b ase of the GPS m od ule is m a g netic. Pocket PC: Mount the Pocket PC securely in a d ry, cle a n loc ation. You can m ount the Pocket PC with hook-and -loop strips, or you can purchase a third -party vehicle m ount m a d e specific ally for your Pocket PC. Software Installation You will ne e d to connect your Pocket PC to your PC using ActiveSync in ord er to install the software to it. Ple ase re fer to your Pocket PC m anual for instructions on how to d o this. The MQ-GPS software CD contains a file na m e d “MQGPS PPC2K3 [...].exe” (the exa ct na m e d e pend s on the version; you can d ownloa d newer versions from http://www.MaxQData.com ). Run this file to install the Pocket PC software. The CD also contains a file na m e d “M axQData PC Chart [...].exe” which installs the Chart applic ation onto the PC. .

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Enter Vehicle m ass On the Pocket PC, run M axQData Setup (“Start->Prog ra m s->MaxQData Setup”). In Setup, expand “Sensors requiring ca lib ration”, then “GPS Roa d power”, then “M ass”. Tap on the num b er “3300” and enter the m ass of your vehicle. .

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Configure Serial Settings Tap “Setting s->Serial Port Setting s...” Ensure that the word “N O NE” is entere d for “MQ Port:”. For “GPS Port:”, enter the COM port na m e you use for your GPS port. If you use a wire d connection, this will b e “COM1” in m ost cases. If you use a Bluetooth wireless connection, consult your Pocket PC d ocum entation to d eterm ine which COM port is the “Outb ound ” COM port. This is often “COM7” b ut m ay b e a nother na m e . Check the “Is Bluetooth” b ox und er “GPS Port:” if appropriate. Le ave the other setting s as shown unless you have other instructions for M axQData. After config uring these setting s, tap “OK” and then tap “File->Exit” to le ave Setup.

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Using Flight Flig ht is what you use to “flig ht record ” your run. You also use it to watch instrum entation values in re al tim e. To the le ft is a scre enshot of Flig ht showing the im portant scre en elem ents. Flig ht shows eig ht d ifferent scre ens: two b ar chart scre ens, two strip chart scre ens, two X vs.Y scre ens, and two num eric sum m ary scre ens. Here, a strip chart scre en is shown. You m ove b etwe en scre ens b y pressing the d irectiona l pa d up/d own or le ft/rig ht. Record ing a ¼ m ile run Flig ht com es preconfig ure d to record tim eslips for ac c eleration runs. Power the GPS m od ule and connect it to the Pocket PC. Cycle throug h the scre ens until you find the “GPS Satellite count” value. This tells you how m any satellites are locke d . W ait for this count to b e at le ast 4 b e fore record ing d ata. N ote that this can take up to 15 m inutes (in rare c ases) the first tim e you use the system , or if the GPS unit has b e e n unuse d for several we eks. After this initial a cquisition, the tim e to first lock is usually well und er a m inute. To clock a ¼ m ile run, tap anywhere ne ar the m id d le of the

scre en, then tap the “Start Flig ht Record ing ” b utton. Then launch the vehicle. At the end of your run, tap the m id d le of the scre en a g a in. A d etaile d tim eslip will autom atic ally b e g e nerate d and d isplaye d in Pocket Internet Explorer. To return to Flig ht, tap the “X” in the upper rig ht hand corner. .

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Using Chart Chart allows you to view flig ht record ing s. The versions for the Pocket PC and for the PC are id entica l exc ept that the PC version g ives you m ore scre en d isplay are a and uses a slig htly d ifferent scre en layout. Run Chart and sele ct “Loa d … ” from the “File” m enu. This loa ds the file into m em ory b ut d oes not d isplay it. To d isplay it, tap one of the two g rey file sele ctor b uttons (in the scre enshot at the le ft, these b uttons re a d “Run007” and “Sele ct… ”). You ca n sele ct the sa m e file for b oth, or you ca n “File->Loa d … ” another flig ht record ing a nd sele ct two d ifferent files. You ca n se e the tra ck m ap im m e d iately b y sele cting “Show GPS m ap A” from the “M ap” m enu (“A” re fers to the file sele cte d on the le ft sid e; “B” re fers to the file sele cte d on the rig ht sid e ). To view the va lue of a sensor, tap one of the thre e sensor value sele ctor field s und erne ath the filena m e b utton (in the scre enshot here, the three sensor value sele ctors for “Run007” re a d “+0.00g ”, “Sele ct… ”, and “Sele ct… ”; only one va lue is currently b eing d isplaye d). You will then sele ct a sensor value from a list. The top and b ottom of the g raphing are a are always the m inim um and

m axim um values for that sensor. The c enter of the scre en (at the vertica l crosshair) is always the “current” tim e, or “t”. The sca le le ft to rig ht on the scre en is d e fine d b y the tim e sca le, which is shown here as +- 20 second s. The che ck m arks next to the sensor value sele ctors turn off tra c es one b y one to m a ke the scre en e asier to re a d .

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MQ-GPS Datasheet System c apa b ilities

? Strip/Stre et: full “m a g azine test” perform anc e c alculations, includ ing: o Tim e to spe e d (e.g . 0-60, 5-60, 50-70, 0-100, ...) o Tim e to d istanc e (60’, 330’, 1/8 m ile, 1000’, ¼ m ile ) and spe e d at d istanc e o Lateral a c c eleration

? Roa d ra cing : track m apping, lap and se g m ent tim es c alculate d from GPS position, lap count, “continuous” lap tim e m e asure m e nt (Tim e sinc e last here )

? Horsepower ? Altitud e ? GPS UTC tim e (synchronize d a m ong a ll vehicles) ? Autom atic start and stop of flig ht record ing s b ase d on vehicle spe e d ? Color g raphic re al-tim e d isplay fe aturing four d isplay m od es: b ar g raph, strip chart, X vs. Y,

and num eric; touch-scre en operation ? Days of record ing tim e, lim ite d only b y availa b le Pocket PC m e m ory (a low end Pocket PC

with 16MB fre e stora g e m e m ory could hold as m uch as 24 - 48 hours of flig ht record ing s) ? Color g raphic tim eslip im a g es, Excel spre a d she ets, we b pa g e result sum m aries ? Analysis software for b oth Pocket PC and PC, includ ing d ata file overlays, lap/se g m ent tim e

lists with m in/m ax/avera g e, m a nual a nd autom atic b ea con pla c em ent, GPS track m ap full/zoom , export to Excel™ a nd text files, tim eslip g eneration

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Mounting the GPS Mod ule

The GPS m od ule has a m a g netic b ase that will ke ep it in pla c e on a rooftop or re ar trunklid . You can also use Velcro™ or d uct tape to atta ch it to non-m a g netic surfa c es. It is very im portant that the GPS m od ule have a cle ar view of the sky. The b est loc ation is the rooftop. It is ac c epta b le to m ount the m od ule und er the front wind shield or re ar wind ow, which will g ive it an unob structed view of approxim ately half of the sky.

Mounting the Pocket PC

There are num erous m ounting solutions availa b le for m ounting Pocket PCs in c ars. Check with a vend or such as http://www.m ob ileplanet.com to se e if there is anything that suits your ne e d s.

At M axQData, our favorite approa ch is to fasten the Pocket PC to the d ashb oard with Velcro™. A few jud iciously applie d strips on the b a ck of the d evic e and on the d ashb oard are usually enoug h to hold und er hard testing .

If you have Flig ht set up to trig g er a flig ht record ing autom atic ally, then you c an even put the Pocket PC in a g love b ox, center console, or otherwise hid d en out of sig ht.

Protect your Pocket PC from water, severe vib ration, he at sources, and d irt. Use a protective c ase where ne c essary.

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Wiring

Here are the two m ain m ethod s for m aking the conne ction b etwe en the GPS and the Pocket PC:

Pocket PC – Serial cab le If you are using a b uilt-in serial port, you will ne e d a special c a b le that conne cts to the Pocket PC and provid es a DB-9 m ale or fe m a le conne ctor. If the conne ctor on this c a b le is m ale, you can plug the GPS DB-9 fe m a le conne ctor into it d irectly. If the Pocket PC c a b le is DB-9 fe m a le, then you will ne e d to use the M ale-M ale Null Mod e m a d a pter b etwe en the two.

Pocket PC – Bluetooth Pocket PCs that have Bluetooth can conne ct to the GPS using the optional Bluetooth serial a d apter. Plug the Bluetooth a d apter into one end of the M ale-M ale Null Mod e m a d a pter, and then plug the GPS into the other end . Plug in power for the Bluetooth a d apter. Be sure to turn on Bluetooth on the Pocket PC. The first tim e you power on the GPS, you should “d iscover” the serial a d apter from your Pocket PC. Use the “Bluetooth M ana g er” applic ation on the Pocket PC (lower rig ht hand corner of the Tod ay scre en), tap “N ew”, and then tap “Explore a Bluetooth d evic e”. The Pocket PC should find a Bluetooth d evic e na m e d “AIRca b le”. Tap on that d evic e and config ure the Serial Port Profile (no authentic ation, no encryption). Then exit the Bluetooth m a na g er. Run M axQData Setup, sele ct “Setting s->Serial port setting s...” and und er “GPS Port:” type in the na m e of the outg oing Bluetooth COM port. Different m od els use d ifferent COM ports, so you will ne e d to find this in your Pocket PC d ocum entation or from the config uration options for the Serial Port Profile in the Bluetooth M ana g er.

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Calib ration using “Setup”

During the installation of the software, a num b er of "sensor d rivers" were installe d . These are sm all software com ponents that m ake sense out of the sig nals com ing from the GPS and translate the sig nals into hum an-re a d a b le d ata.

A few of the sensor d rivers ne e d to b e c alib rate d for your particular vehicle. The c alib ration is m ana g e d b y the M axQData “Setup” utility. Calib ration d ata is store d in the Pocket PC syste m “re g istry”, which is essentially a hid d en syste m file use d b y applic ations to store im portant d ata. Setup also allows you to save a b a ckup of the c alib ration as a separate file so you can restore it if you lose it or want to transfer to a d ifferent Pocket PC.

Se e the Quick Start Guid e at the b e g inning of this m anual for an exa m ple of using Setup to chang e a c alib ration value. Se e the Sensor Re ferenc e later in this m anual for a d escription of the c alib ration values for specific sensors.

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“Flight” Q uick Start

Flig ht is the applic ation that d oes all of the re al-tim e instrum entation d isplays and flig ht record s your d ata.

Conne ct your MQ unit and run M axQData Flig ht. If you haven’t sele cte d any sensors to flig ht record , you will se e this:

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Tap "Config " and this m enu will pop up:

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N ow tap "Sensors..." and you'll b e presente d with a list of sensors that you can flig ht record . To b e g in with, tap the “Stand ard ” b utton. This will ena b le the m ost com m only-use d sensors. Later, you c an a d d other sensors b y clicking on the m . Flig ht will re m e m b e r the sensors you pick and will autom atic ally sele ct them e a ch tim e you restart Flig ht.

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Then tap "OK". N ow the scre en will show one of the m a ny d isplays. Here we se e one of two strip chart d isplays. The "M ax" and "Min" num b ers are the m axim um and m inim um values se en d uring the last 10, 20, or 50 second s. You can sele ct the tim e rang e on the "Config " m enu. The "Current" num b ers are the current values of the sele cte d sensors.

The num b er in the upper rig ht corner (“000126000” in this exa m ple ) tells you that the conne ction to the MQ unit is operational. As long as this num b er ke eps counting up, you are conne cte d a nd powere d . If the unit b e com es d isconne cte d , sim ply reconne ct it and it will pick b a ck up autom atic ally.

The "\My Docum ents\Run" in the upper le ft corner tells you that any flig ht record ing s you log will g o in the "\My Docum ents" fold er on the Pocket PC, and they will b e g in with the word "Run". W e'll com e b a ck to this in a bit. .

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You can cha ng e the values shown b y tapping the d own arrow and then scrolling throug h the list of sensors. N otice that som e sensors can b e d isplaye d in m ore than one rang e. Here, you can se e that “GPS Vehicle spe e d ” c an b e d isplaye d b oth as kilom eters per hour and m iles per hour. The rang e, e.g . [0, 240] or [0,150], are the m inim um and m axim um values correspond ing to the full rang e of the chosen d isplay.

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There are a ctually a total of eig ht scre ens you can watch. There are two b ar chart scre ens, two strip chart scre ens, two X vs. Y scre ens, and two num eric sum m ary scre ens. To cycle b etwe en the scre ens, you use the up/d own or le ft/rig ht b uttons on the front (or som etim es the sid e ) of your Pocket PC. For exa m ple, here is a b ar g raph scre en:

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N ow let's flig ht record som e d ata. W hen you flig ht record , you log d ata from those sensors that were chosen with "Config -> Sensors...". The sensors that are d isplaye d on the scre en com e from the sa m e g roup, b ut you are still log g ing a ll of the sele cte d sensors even if you are only viewing a few.

From any of the eig ht scre ens, you c an m a nually start and stop a flig ht record ing . All you have to d o is tap anywhere in the c enter of the scre en, and this will pop up:

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Hit the "Zero and Start log g ing " b utton and you're flig ht record ing d ata. The scre en will look like this while flig ht record ing . N otice that the text at the upper rig ht and le ft is now hig hlig hte d in re d . This is your visual ind ic ation that you are record ing d ata. The Pocket PC also b e eps onc e when g oing into flig ht record ing m od e.

To stop the record ing , tap the c enter of the scre en a g ain. After a short d elay (d uring which tim e Flig ht is flushing its d ata buffers and closing the flig ht record ing file ), you will he ar a d oub le b e ep and the re d hig hlig hting of the top line text will g o away.

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N um eric Text Sum m ary Screens

In a d d ition to the six g raphic scre ens (Bar Graph A, Bar Graph B, Strip Chart A, Strip Chart B, X-Y A, X-Y B), there are two num eric text sum m ary scre ens (N um eric A and N um eric B). These scre ens sum m arize the min, current, and m ax values from the graphic scre ens. Num eric A sum m arizes the “A” scre ens and N um eric B sum m arizes the “B” scre ens. The “A” scre ens are colore d re d and b lue, and the “B” scre ens are in orang e and g re en.

Changing the Default Filenam e Prefix

The d e fault filena m e b e g ins with “Run”. You c an cha ng e this, for exa m ple to g ive a d ifferent na m e to flig ht record ing s taken on d ifferent d ays or at d ifferent tra cks. In ord er to d o this, chose “File->Set na m e pre fix…” from the m ain m enu. Enter a new filena m e pre fix. You d o not ne e d to a d d “000” to the end of the filena m e pre fix.

By specifying a d ifferent fold er other than “My Docum ents”, you can have Flig ht autom atic ally save to another loc ation, such as a re m ova b le Stora g e Card . This allows for practic ally unlim ite d stora g e.

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Sam pling Rate

The m a xim um sa m pling rate for GPS is lim ite d b y the upd ate rate of the GPS m od ule itself. The MQ-GPS system c om es stand ard with a 4Hz GPS m od ule, which is 1 sa mple every 0.250 second . But the ac cura cy of c alculations such as ¼ m ile tim e c an b e m uch g re ater than 0.250 second (as g ood as 1/100 of a second ), b e c ause the software uses m athe m a tic al interpolation b etwe en sa m ples.

Preopened Flight Record ing File

In ord er to re d uce the tim e it takes to start a flig ht record ing a fter pressing “Start Flig ht Record ing ”, Flig ht always preopens a flig ht record ing file. W hile Flig ht is running , if you look in the “My Docum ents” d irectory, you will se e a flig ht record ing with a num eric na m e that b e g ins with the chara cter ‘~’. If a flig ht record ing is starte d , the d ata is store d in this file, and the file is close d and rena m e d when the flig ht record ing is stoppe d . If a flig ht record ing is never starte d , this file g oes away when you exit from Flig ht.

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The Preopened Flight Record ing File and Pit Stops

Som e users save their flig ht record ing s to a stora g e c ard so that the c ard c an b e swappe d d uring a pit stop in ord er to analyze d ata just colle cte d . This is typical in an end uranc e event. The preopene d flig ht record ing file is a prob le m in this case, b e c ause the preopene d file resid es on the stora g e c ard . Re m oving the stora g e c ard while there is a preopene d file on it can c ause Flig ht to lock up.

If you ne e d to swap c ard s d uring a pit stop (while Flig ht is running ), follow these recom m end ations:

• First, ena b le the autom atic Flig ht Record ing Trig g er to b oth start and stop the flig ht record ing autom atic ally. Ensure that the “Stop Spe e d ” and “O ff Delay” are set so that the flig ht record ing is close d b e fore the c ar stops in the pit. For exa m ple, if the pit spe e d lim it is 35MPH and the slowest point on the tra ck is 50MPH, a g ood choic e for “Stop Spe e d ” would b e 40MPH, and for “O ff Delay” would b e 5 second s. If you were to choose 30MPH for the “Stop Spe e d ”, then the flig ht record ing would n’t b e g in to close until the c ar is pulling into its pit. Sinc e it takes severa l second s to close (even of O ff Delay is 0), the flig ht record ing m ig ht still b e a ctive when the stora g e c ard is re m ove d . A g ood choic e for “Start Spe e d ” would b e 25 MPH (b e low the pit spe e d lim it b ut a b ove pa d d ock d riving spe e d ). The flig ht record ing file is opene d when the c ar exc e e d s this spe e d . The c ar m ust then exc e e d the “Stop Spe e d ” b e fore the autom atic stop trig g er is ena b le d .

• Se cond , turn off the “Open b e fore trig g er” option in M axQData Setup. This is found und er Setting s->Ad va nc e d ... W hen this b ox is unche cke d , Flig ht will no long er preopen a new flig ht

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record ing im m e d iately a fter closing a n old one. Inste a d , it will only open a new flig ht record ing when trig g ere d .

W ith this setup, Flig ht will stay running when the c ar is stoppe d b ut will not b e record ing d ata and will have no open file. Then you can eje ct the Stora g e Card a nd insert a second Stora g e Card .

Tim eslips

You can g enerate d etaile d tim eslips from Flig ht b y sele cting “Log ->Generate Tim eslip” from the m enu. Every tim e a flig ht record ing is close d , a new tim eslip will b e g e nerate d . If “Log->Display Report” is also sele cte d , the tim eslip will b e d isplaye d autom atic ally.

You can also g enerate tim eslips from within Chart a fter you open up a flig ht record ing file.

See the section on Timeslips elsewhere in this manual for more information.

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“Chart” Quick Start

Chart is the app you use to review flig ht record ing s that have b e e n g enerate d b y Flig ht. Chart lets you loa d up several files at onc e and view the m e ither ind ivid ually or two at a tim e, overlaid . The user interfa c e is b oth m enu-d riven as well as tap- and tap-and -hold d riven on "hot spots" on the scre en. Here's a quick introd uction.

[Ple ase note that a few of the sensors shown in the following d iscussion are from the full MQ175 syste m a nd d o not appe ar on the MQ-GPS.]

Launch M axQData Chart. You d on't ne e d to b e conne cte d to the GPS m od ule. You'll se e this scre en:

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W e'll g et to all of the scre en ele m e nts in a m inute. First, loa d up your d ata file using "File -> Loa d ...". You'll b e presente d with a stand ard file loa d ing m enu. Sele ct your file, and you m ay se e a b rie f scre en that shows loa d ing status which we won't b other to d escrib e here. In a second , you'll b e b a ck to this scre en. Here we are viewing a d ata file na m e d “M a ck.m qd ”, record e d at Infineon Ra c eway. N otice that the file has b e e n autom atic ally sele cte d into the “A” and “B” slots. In this exa m ple, the d ata file has GPS track m ap and b e a con d ata, which is also d isplaye d autom atic ally.

"+-20s" re fers to the tim e covere d b y the plot are a (the are a with the crosshairs). In this case, the plot are a will b e showing the d ata 20 second s b e fore and a fter the current tim e in the flig ht record ing . You can zoom in or out b y tapping the “-“ and “+” b uttons next to this.

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The "Sele ct..." text field s in the le ft colum n (thre e of the m ) are tappa b le hotspots. Tap the top one on the “A” sid e. This scre en will d isplay. This is how you view a particular para m e ter (sensor) that was log g e d d uring a flig ht record ing . The “Raw...Sm ooth” slid er is use d to filter out unwante d noise to m a ke analysis e asier. Chose a para m e ter, say "Internal LatG g [-2, 2]", b y tapping it once to sele ct it, then tap "OK".

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Onc e you've sele cte d one of the para m eters, its trac e will show up in the plot are a. Also, the word "Sele ct..." will b e repla c e d with the value of that sensor at tim e t=0, i.e. the c enter of the g raph.

You can scroll the g raph le ft and rig ht thre e ways:

1. Use the big arrow b uttons to m ove one tenth of the scre en wid th at a tim e (2 second s at this zoom fa ctor)

2. Use the sm all arrow b uttons to m ove one hund re d th of the scre en wid th at a tim e (0.2 second s at this zoom fa ctor, for fine a d justm ents)

3. Dra g the plot are a with your stylus.

The current value is shown here as "-0.09g ". That are a on the scre en is also a "tap and hold " hotspot. Tap and hold , and the num b er will chang e to the na m e of the sensor (in this case, "Internal LatG"). Do it a g a in, and the na m e of the sensor will b e repla c e d with the units and rang e (in this case, "g [-2, 2]"). Onc e m ore and you will b e b a ck to viewing the current value. The che ckb ox to the le ft of this hotspot turns that trac e on and off. Also on this scre en: the b lue “+” is the current loc ation of the c ar, and the g re en “X”s on the track m ap m ark GPS virtual b e a con loc ations.

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In this scre e nshot, we've pulle d up the Internal LatG sensor, m ove d the plot to 165.880 second s, and zoom e d in to +- 10 second s. The c ar is just at the turn-in point for turn 11.

The c enter, where it says "t-tA = 165.880s", is use ful for m e asuring tim e intervals. W e're now g oing to m e asure the tim e from this point to the exit of turn 11.

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First, we bring up the "Chart" m enu. W e then tap "Set tA". This sets the "tA" m arker to the current tim e in the “A” file. “Show tA” is also sele cte d autom atic ally.

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“Show tA” d raws a vertic al, d ark g re en line at tim e tA. Here, we've shifte d the g raph to the exit of Turn 11 (the end of the lateral g event). You can se e the tA line m arking the b e g inning of the turn. The total tim e for the turn is “t-tA = 7.222s”.

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In ord er to se e the LatG d ata tra c e m ore cle arly, you can turn off the und erlying track m ap. Tap “M ap” and this m enu will com e up:

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Unche ck “Show GPS m ap A” to d isa b le the GPS m ap for the “A” file. Here is what you g et:

W hat happens if you ena b le “Show GPS M ap B”? The track m ap for the “B” file is d isplaye d in re d . In this case, we have the sa m e file loa d e d as “B”, so the m ap would b e exa ctly the sa m e .

N ote that this is a “plot b y tim e g raph”. It shows 10 second s on either sid e of the “current” tim e, ac cord ing to the current “zoom fa ctor”, which is “+-10s” in this scre enshot. You can zoom in or out using the “-“ and “+” b uttons. You can also plot b y d istanc e if you have “Distanc e” in your flig ht record ing . To tog g le b etwe en plot b y tim e and plot b y d istanc e, tap and hold on the “zoom fa ctor” field .

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Be c ause this file has b e a con inform ation, we c an g et lap and se g m e nt tim es. The are a where it says "Be a con 3: 139.87s" is another tap and hold hotspot. Tap and hold on it and a context m enu will appe ar:

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Pick "Lap tim es..." off of the b e a con context m enu and you will se e a d isplay like this scre enshot:

This list also includ es se g m ent tim es and statistical inform ation. You can look at the other inform ation b y scrolling throug h and expand ing or collapsing the tre e. You will find “Sum of fastest se g m ents” (theoretic al b est lap tim e ) und er Lap Tim es->Statistics.

Unche cking the “m :ss.sss” che ckb ox at the b ottom c auses all tim es to show as second s inste a d of m inutes:second s.

Use the “Copy” b utton to copy d ata to the Wind ows clipb oard . The currently sele cte d d ata is what is copied to the clipb oard . In other word s, if the “Copy” b utton were presse d while “By lap num b er” is sele cte d as shown, the entire list of lap tim es would b e copie d . If you g o to the top of the tre e and sele ct “Tim ing d etails”, all d ata is copie d . Onc e the d ata is on the clipb oard , you can paste it into Excel or a word processor.

To jum p d irectly to the b e g inning of a specific lap in the d ata file, tap the lap num b er and then tap the “Go To” b utton.

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Com paring Two Data Files

You can overlay and com pare two d ata files at onc e using Chart. To b e g in, loa d the two d ifferent d ata files you wish to com pare. At first, you will se e the first d ata file loa d e d in b oth the “A” and “B” sections of the Chart d isplay. Tap where it re a d s “B)” and sele ct the second d ata file. This puts the second d ata file in the “B” section using re d /yellow coloring , and le aves the first d ata file in the “A” section with b lue/g re en coloring . In this exa m ple, we have loa d e d “M a ck.m qd ” in the “A” sid e and “Rick.m qd ” in the B sid e. N otice that the track m aps are slig htly d ifferent, b e c ause they were record e d with d ifferent GPS syste ms.

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W e’ll illustrate this b y com paring the perform a nc e of these two d rivers throug h Turn 10.

First, we scroll throug h the flig ht record ing until we re a ch a lap of interest. In this case, we’ve scrolle d 366 second s to a point where M a ck (in b lue ) is in the m id d le of Turn 10:

Be c ause the flig ht record ing s were starte d ind epend ently, the start tim es of e a ch file are d ifferent. In this scre enshot, Rick (in re d ) is in turn 6. W e ne e d to m ove Rick forward without m oving M a ck in ord er to pla c e the m b oth at the sa m e point in Turn 10.

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To d o this, we unche ck the che ckb ox und er “A) M a ck.m qd ”, to the le ft of “366.112”. This m e ans “fre eze A)”. W e c an then scroll Rick’s “+” until it overlays M a ck’s:

Im m e d iately, you c an se e the d ifferenc e in the spe e d tra c es. M a ck (b lue MPH trac e ) lifts only slig htly d uring Turn 10 (the sm all spike in the tra c e is noise ). Rick (re d M PH trac e ) d rops a consid era b le am ount of spe e d in the sa m e turn. The MPH tra c es are e asier to com pare if the GPS M aps are m om entarily turne d off.

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Working with Beacons

The MQ-GPS c an sim ulate tracksid e b e a con sig nals from GPS d ata. This is not as ac curate as using re al b e a cons, b ut using GPS is far m ore convenient, and the a c cura cy is still a b out as g ood as a hand held stopwatch.

The Be a con Context Menu in Chart allows you to a d d or re m ove b e a cons a fter a flig ht record ing is m a d e. Se e b e low for a scre enshot of this m enu. Tap and hold on the “b e a con” field to ac c ess the m enu.

Autom atic b e a con trig g ering in Flig ht is config ure d via M axQData Setup and pla c es b e a cons in the flig ht record ing while it is b eing m a d e.

Autom atic GPS Beacon Placem ent in Chart

In ord er to use GPS Be a cons, you m ust have “GPS Latitud e” and “GPS Long itud e” in your flig ht record ing . As long as you have at le ast one lap of d ata that includ es GPS Latitud e and Long itud e, you can use Chart to pla c e virtual b e a cons wherever you want around the track. Here’s how.

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First, loa d your flig ht record ing in Chart. Here we have a flig ht record ing c alle d “Test.m qd ”:

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Decid e where you want to pla c e your first b e a con. Here, we’re g oing to choose a loc ation shortly b e fore the bra king zone g oing into Turn 1. In ord er to help us id entify this location, we’re g oing to sele ct “Spe e d ” as a para m e ter to view. In this scre enshot, we’ve scrolle d throug h the file, skipping the first “warm up” lap and stopping just b e fore the braking zone.

It’s a g ood id e a to pick loc ations where spe e d is not cha ng ing rapid ly for GPS b e a cons. This im proves ac cura cy som ewhat.

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N ow we tap-and -hold where it re a d s “[no b e a con]” to bring up the Be a con Context Menu and sele ct “Ad d b e a con e a ch lap”.

Chart pla c es a b e a con at the current position, and then looks forward throug h the flig ht record ing , pla cing another b e a con every tim e the c ar com es b a ck to the sa m e latitud e/long itud e.

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The trackm ap shows an “X” at e a ch b e a con position. Here we’ve m ove d forward in tim e to the entry to turn 6, where we will a g a in “Ad d b e a con e a ch lap”. .

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Finally, we’ve pla c e d a b e a con in Turn 9. You can pla c e up to ten b e a cons.

You m ay notice that the b e a con “X” m arks are som etim es a little sc attere d . This is d ue to norm al GPS error (notice that the trackm ap here is a little sc attere d , especially in turns 2 throug h 4).

If you place a beacon where the track doubles back on itself (in this case, near turn 7 at the top of the track), sometimes extra beacons will be added because GPS error makes it hard to distinguish the difference between sections of track that are close to one another. This is easy to spot. You should remove these extra beacons manually (see the following section on manual beacon placement).

Once you have placed your beacons, you can view lap times through the Beacon Context Menu.

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Autom atic GPS Beacon Placem ent in Flight

Flig ht will autom atic ally pla c e b e a cons in the flig ht record ing file if you set up the appropriate sensor config uration.

You m ust m ake an initial flig ht record ing a nd pla c e GPS virtual b e a cons using Chart, as d escrib e d in the previous section. Then you “export” the b e a cons. Use the “Export b e a cons...” sele ction on the Be a con Context Menu to d o this. This pla c es the first lap’s worth of b e a con latitud e/long itud e pairs into a file.

Then you run M axQData Setup. Expand “Sensors requiring config uration”, then expand “GPS Be a con tim esta m p”, then “Be a conCount”. You will se e this scre en:

Tap the num b er und er Be a conCount (“1” in this case ) twic e as if to e d it it. You will b e aske d if you want to im port GPS b e a cons from a file. Tap “Yes” and then sele ct the b e a con file you exporte d e arlier. This sets up the correct num b er of b e a cons per lap and im ports the latitud e and long itud e of e a ch.

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In Flig ht, you m ust log the “GPS Be a con tim esta m p” sensor. This sensor continually che cks latitud e and long itud e of the vehicle and sim ulates a b e a con crossing e a ch tim e the c ar passes one of the GPS “virtual” b e a con positions.

You can also log the “GPS Lap count”, “GPS Lap tim e”, “GPS Se g m ent count”, and “GPS Se g m e nt tim e” sensors, allowing you to se e these values in Flig ht while on the course.

If a m om entary GPS outa g e occurs (for exa m ple, if the view to the satellites is ob structe d ), your lap and se g m ent tim es will b e a ffe cte d . Flig ht atte mpts to correct for this when the next valid b e a con position is passe d . The lap count will b e correcte d , and Flig ht will put an extra b e a con in the flig ht record ing im m e d iately a fter the valid b e a con position. This extra b e a con represents the m issing b e a con. To g e nerate valid lap and se g m ent tim es, this extra b e a con m ust b e re m ove d and you m ust pla c e a b e a con m a nually to ac count for the m issing b e a con.

Manual Beacon Ed iting in Chart

If you d o not have GPS Latitud e and Long itud e inform ation, or if you wish to a d d or re m ove b e a cons at arb itrary loc ations, use the Be a con Context Menu.

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To a d d a b e a con, position the flig ht record ing at the point where you want a b e a con and sele ct “Ad d b e a con” from the Be a con Context Menu.

After a d d ing a ll your b e a cons, sele ct “Config ure...” from the Be a con Context Menu and enter the num b er of b e a cons per lap. If this num b er is not correct, your lap and se g m e nt tim es will b e incorrect.

To re m ove a b e a con, position the flig ht record ing just past the b e a con that you want to re m ove and sele ct “Delete b e a con”. This d eletes the last b e a con encountere d b e fore the current position in the flig ht record ing .

If you m ake a m istake, sele ct “Und o last chang e” from the Be a con Context Menu.

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Tim eslips

Both Flig ht and Chart c an g enerate tim eslips from flig ht record ing s. Here is a tim eslip:

In a d d ition to the tim eslip, an entire web pa g e is g enerate d with m ore d etaile d g raphs and tim ing inform ation. Also, an Excel spre a d she et and text file are g enerate d .

Here are the require m e nts for tim eslip g eneration:

• Flig ht record at le ast the “GPS Vehicle spe e d ” and “GPS Distanc e” sensors. You m ay also flig ht record “GPS Long G”.

• Do a cle an run that b e g ins with a stand ing start and a c c elerates “continuously” until the end of the run, then d e c elerate. You can also b e g in a run from a non-zero spe e d , b ut b e sure to hold spe e d ste a d y for a few second s b e fore b e g inning your ac c eleration.

In Chart, to g enerate a tim eslip, loa d a flig ht record ing , then sele ct “File->Export...” from the m a in m enu. Tap on the filena m e, sele ct “Tim eslip” for the Export type, and tap “Export”.

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In Flig ht, you can autom atic ally g enerate a tim eslip as soon as a flig ht record ing closes. Check “Log->Generate d Tim eslip” on the m a in m enu. If you want the tim eslip to b e d isplaye d autom atic ally, also che ck “Log ->Display Report” (Flig ht will still run in the b a ckg round ). If you have ena b le d the autom atic Flig ht Record ing Trig g er, you can d rive around g enerating tim eslips on d e m a nd all d ay.

The software g e nerates a stand ing start tim eslip b y looking for the hig hest spe e d in the file, then looking b a ckward s from that tim e to find the tim e when the vehicle was at a stand still. In a typical d ra g ra c e sc enario, it is recom m end e d that you start the flig ht record ing when you enter the b urnout b ox, or even e arlier. The m ove m e nts of the c ar d uring the b urnout and sta g ing will not b e counte d in the final tim eslip calculation.

Statistical testing has shown the 60’, 330’, 1/8 m ile, 1000’, and ¼ m ile tim es to b e c alculate d g enerally within a few hund re d ths of a second of the a ctual tra ck tim ing syste m. The MPH num b ers at 1/8 and ¼ m ile are slig htly hig her (e.g . 1% ) than what the tra ck tim ing syste m will report. This is b e c ause the MQ-GPS reports the instantaneous MPH, where as the track tim ing syste m m e a sures the avera g e over the prec e d ing 66 fe et. The tim ing inform ation is insensitive to any slope in the roa d , althoug h of course any slope in the roa d will have a re al e ffe ct on the spe e d of the vehicle. Poor GPS rec eption, cause d b y tre es or poor GPS m od ule pla c em ent, can re d uc e this accura cy. Errors inherent in the GPS satellite system c a n re d uc e a c cura cy in rare cond itions, for exa m ple if the GPS satellites are positione d poorly in the sky.

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Tim eslip Files

For a d ata file na m e d “Run000.m qd ”, the following files are cre ate d :

? Run000-Tim eslip.htm : we b pa g e with d etaile d perform anc e inform ation ? Run000-Tim eslipSum m ary.png : g raphic tim eslip im a g e, suita b le for e m a iling or posting to

newsg roups (stand ard .png file form at, sim ilar to .g if) ? Run000-Tim eslipTim eGraph.png : larg er g raph of spe e d and a c c eleration vs. tim e ? Run000-Tim eslip.txt: text file of results ? Run000-Tim eslip.xls: spre a d she et of results

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Sensor Reference

Following is a d escription of the sensor d rivers supporte d b y the MQ-GPS. N ew sensor d rivers m ay b e availa b le for d ownloa d . Check with M axQData if there is a sensor d river you ne e d that isn’t liste d .

Flig ht record ing trig g er This “sensor” is use d to start and stop the d atalog g ing process in “Flig ht” autom atic ally. Be sure to sele ct “Flig ht record ing trig g er” along with the other sensors b eing record e d in “Flig ht”, otherwise it will only respond to m anua l com m and s. Calib ration values:

? Start Spe e d W hen the vehicle spe e d exc e e d s this value, flig ht record ing b e g ins autom atic ally.

? Stop Spe e d Onc e the flig ht record ing has b e e n starte d autom atic ally, it continues until the vehicle spe e d first g oes a b ove the Stop Spe e d , then com es d own b e low the Stop Spe e d and stays there for m ore than the tim e specifie d b y O ff Delay.

? O ff Delay This sets the d elay b e fore the flig ht record ing is autom atica lly turne d off. The value is the num b er of second s for the d elay. Typically, this value would b e set to 2-4 second s. W ith such a d elay, m om entary b rake lockup will not turn off a flig ht record ing .

Depend encies:

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? Depend s on the “GPS Vehicle spe e d ” sensor. Stand ard GPS values The d ifferent GPS values are ena b le d when a user-supplie d GPS m od ule is atta che d to the GPS port. The GPS m od ule must output stand ard N MEA-0183 sentenc es. Values are taken from the “$GPGGA” sentenc e. This includ es the following piec es of inform ation:

? GPS Latitud e ? GPS Long itud e ? GPS Altitud e ? GPS Satellite count

Num b er of satellites use d to com pute the GPS position fix. Should b e at le ast 4 for g ood results.

? GPS Se cond s past m id nig ht UTC Base d on g lob a l GPS tim e. N ot a d juste d for loc al tim e zone. W atch this value for a quick che ck to se e if GPS is conne cte d . Also a g ood way to che ck the exa ct tim e b etwe en d ifferent runs.

? GPS Tra ck m a d e g ood 0 d e g re es is d ue North, 90 d e g re es is d ue East, etc. N ote that this is the d irection the vehicle a ctually travele d , not the d irection it was pointing .

? GPS Vehicle spe e d ? GPS HDOP

This value (“Horizontal Dilution O f Precision”) is a m e asure of the quality of the GPS fix. It

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is b ase d on the position of the satellites use d to g enerate the fix. Good HDOP values are b e low 2. Flig ht will d isre g a rd a new GPS d ata point if its HDOP is a b ove 10.

? GPS Fix quality This value is either 0, 1, or 2. 0 m e ans no satellite fix, 1 m e ans stand ard GPS fix, 2 m e ans DGPS fix (only when using a DGPS-ena b le d unit). Flig ht will d isre g a rd GPS d ata points where this value is 0.

GPS Be a con tim esta m p You c an use GPS to sim ulate tracksid e b e a cons. You m ust first m ake a flig ht record ing of a lap of the course, and then in Chart you m ust pla c e b e a cons where you want the m around the tra ck. Then you export the b e a cons, which saves the first lap of b e a con positions to a file. After that, g o into the GPS Be a con Tim esta mp c alib ration and m od ify the setting for Be a conCount. This will b ring up a d ialog that will ask you if you want to im port the b e a cons from a file. Answer “Yes” and then sele ct the file you exporte d from Chart. This will populate the b e a c on count and loc ations autom atic ally. You will have to chang e the b e a con setting s when you g o to a new track, so save the b e a con export files. N ote: you d o not ne e d to use GPS Be a con Tim esta mp in ord er to pla c e b e a cons in Chart, b ut it d oes save you from having to a d d the m later, plus you g et a lap tim e re a d out while d riving the course. Calib ration values:

? Be a conCount The num b er of virtual GPS b e a cons in one lap. (m axim um 10).

? Be a conXXLatitud e/Be a conXXLong itud e The latitud e and long itud e of the specifie d b e a con.

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Depend encies: ? GPS Latitud e ? GPS Long itud e.

GPS Tim e Sinc e Last Here This provid es a way to com pute lap tim e “on the fly” from GPS inform ation only, without a tracksid e b e a con. As the c ar d rives around the track, the flig ht record er constantly watches GPS position. It se arches b a ckward s in its record ing to find the m ost rec ent tim e that the vehicle has b e e n at the sa me spot on the track. Then it com putes the tim e d ifferenc e. If you look at this value every tim e you cross the start/finish line, you will have lap tim e. But it’s a bit m ore powerful than that. If, for exa m ple, you lose a couple second s in the m id d le of the track, you will se e “Tim e Sinc e Last Here” g row rig ht away without having to wait until you hit a b e a con. You d o not ne e d to flig ht record “GPS Tim e Sinc e Last Here” in ord er to c alculate lap and se g m ent tim es in Chart. “GPS Tim e Sinc e Last Here” d oes not g enerate virtual b e a con tim esta mps. Calib ration values:

? N one Depend encies:

? Depend s on GPS Vehicle spe e d GPS Long G M e asures long itud inal a c c eleration b y c alculating the cha ng e in velocity over e a ch sa mple period . Calib ration values:

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? N one Depend encies:

? GPS Vehicle spe e d GPS LatG Lateral a c c eleration c alculation b ase d on spe e d a nd turning rate. Calib ration values:

? N one Depend encies:

? GPS Tra ck m a d e g ood ? GPS Vehicle spe e d

GPS Roa d power Estim ates horsepower output b ase d on the weig ht of the vehicle, how fast it is g oing , and its ac c eleration. N ote that this is net horsepower, which is consid era b ly less than cra nksha ft horsepower b e c ause of losses d ue to wind resistanc e, transm ission and tire losses, etc. Calib ration values:

? M ass Set this to the weig ht of the vehicle in pound s.

Depend encies: ? GPS Long G ? GPS Vehicle spe e d

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Ab out MaxQData M axQData system s are d esig ne d to b e rob ust, hig h value d ata a cquisition solutions. They are use d b y enthusiasts, a m a teur and professional ra c ers, and professional vehicle d evelopm ent te am s. M axQData is proud to b e a technolog y le a d er and a n e arly a d opter of a d vanc e d technolog ies such as PDAs, GPS, OBD-II, and a ng ular rate sensors. The M axQData prod uct d evelopm ent strate g y focuses on using inexpensive yet powerful Pocket PCs as in-car d ata stora g e a nd d isplay d evic es. This takes cost out of the d ata a cquisition m od ule itself while provid ing m ore total com puting power. M ass m arket availa b ility of Pocket PCs ke eps their costs d own and ensures re g ular rele ases of incre asing ly powerful d evic es from several d ifferent vend ors.