I am looking a picking up a data logger for myself for autocross use. The advice I have received from others generally boils down to: “check out the post processing software for these devices before you buy” so I went ahead and installed a couple of these programs on my computer to test drive them.
The three I have been contemplating are:
Gtech RR - $299 http://www.gtechpro.com/rr.html
This box seems to be oriented towards the drag racer. Yes, I am talking about the RR (road racer) version. The PASS software that comes with this box is the most polished and easiest to use of the three, but it has the fewest features (for the auto crosser). While in the “Road Racer” mode: The plots seem to be limited to lateral Gs Longitudinal Gs and engine rpm, which it claims it can read through the cig lighter. It doesn’t seem to allow the plotting of speed vs time. The device itself may be the limiting factor here, Since it is based on accelerometers and doesn’t incorporate GPS I am suspicious that for an autocross or a road race, the error in speed would build up to unacceptable levels rather quickly. Thus they don’t incorporate it into the results for road race mode.
The Performance Box - $462 http://www.performancebox.co.uk/overview.html
I had the opportunity to borrow one of these from a friend at my local club. The software was slightly less polished than the Gtech software, but it was far more capable. I could generate plots of lateral Gs, longitudinal Gs, speed, and other stuff vs distance or time. I found the interface with the software to be ok, but it seemed as if it was easy to get it to accidentally do stuff you didn’t intend it to do, this would probably disappear with familiarity but it is annoying.
The MQGPS-Quantum 20hz - $499 http://maxqdata.com/Quantum.htm
This seems to be the most capable of the bunch. It’s also the most expensive. The autoalign feature (which helped to align the start of the runs) was nice and handy. The “chart” software seemed to have all of the charting ability of the performance box software. The fact that it animates the runs was also pretty darned cool. If I read the marketing fluff correctly I can also sink external video up with the run data after the fact. Though I did notice the marketing for the “VeQtr” system seemed to bleed over into this area (I think that system is designed to capture and sync the video in real-time)
The only real criticism I can level at the software is that it has the “look and feel” of a windows 3.1 application. Not all of the functions and menu options were labeled as clearly as I would like (it makes learning the software harder than is should). It also didn’t have any help features that would pop up if you hovered over a particular function with the cursor. Considering the cost the crudity of the software is a bit disappointing. I also didn’t get a chance to check out the “flight” software which is supposed to run on a smart phone of palmtop computer.
so finally my questions... sorry for the long post
Are there any other data acquisition devises out there that I should consider? I don’t really want to pay more that $500 for a device. What do the folks at GRM use when testing their projects? Does anyone have any experience with the above devices?
