Mychron 4 GPS reliable?

Andre Eriksen · Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 11:35 pm Post subject: Mychron 4 GPS reliable?

I had all the Mychron 4 stuff money could buy a few years back but especially the GPS stuff never worked reliably (even AIM themselves could not get it to work as it should) so I ended up returning it and I am using another GPS based system now myself.

However, I am building two karts for my kids and is not willing to spend the kind of money that I did on my own system, so I would like to hear from users of the Mychron 4 GPS system (that use it for lap times as well as line analysis) if it works reliably now, with different tracks, different start/finish lines etc?

Or will it still not pick up lap times form time to time as well as displaying the driven lines all over the place?
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Juan D Gomez · Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 5:32 am Post subject:

The GPS05 has worked great for me. I only had a problem once when it would not pick the split in a track where the threes covered the track. (it still picked the line) I just reset the splits where it was clear of threes and problem solved. for all the information it provides for a single gizmo I think it is the best value for the money.

Byron Rothenhoefer · Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 6:04 am Post subject:

I stopped using the GPS feature on mine. For an example in a 20 or so lap race after 6 or so laps it would get stuck on lap 6 for the remainder of the race. Did it to me several times. I never checked for an update regarding the freeze up, but getting mph is nice.
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Geoff Wise · Joined: 22 May 2009 Posts: 117

I have the older GPS, not the GPS05.

Stopped trying using the lap timer on the GPS just because it was easier to use the beacon.

The GPS overlays generally work ok so long as you're comparing laps from the same session. They're not inch accurate, however.

If you want to borrow it for an early morning session on October 13 before the 14th RLOKC race, let me know.

Jordon Musser · Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 3:12 pm Post subject:

new GPS05 works pretty well.

Andre Eriksen · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 6:20 am Post subject:

Geoff, Byron,

Thanks that is similar to what I have seen before. Geoff thanks for the offer, if I got time for it that day (kind of tough with myself and two kids running) I may take you up on it.

Jordon what does "pretty well" mean? Do you do analysis on your lines, and of so does it work reliably? Also are you using at different track(s)/lay out(s), and does it always pick up lap time reliably?

Thanks!
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Gary Osterholt · Site Admin Joined: 18 Jul 2001 Posts: 2769

I've used the Smarty Cam with GPS. And wasn't really happy with it. Didn't try to use laptimes, just figured it would be easier to use the beacon.

Another reason, with the GPS. I think the satellite are not always in the same position from week to week. So comparing data could be hard in my opinion.
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Andre Eriksen · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 10:29 am Post subject:

I tried the GPS05 and Mychron 4 this weekend. Absolutely still a joke! I went out for the first session, put down a start/finish line and 4 splits.

Worked flawlessly for the rest of the session and I was impressed. From that session on it never worked again. It would count a 30 second lap (true laps were around 50) then it would not count for the next many laps and do a 8 minute lap and so forth. 100% unreliable and exactly as I experience a couple of years back.

All firmwares (Mychon/Key/GPS/Expansion module) updated to latest version.
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Matt Dixon · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 10:50 am Post subject:

If you have 4 or 5 splits did you have your minimum lap time set at 3 secs?

My works flawlessly at Infineon and every track we go to
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Andre Eriksen · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 12:16 pm Post subject:

Don't remember but it worked for the first full session with no problems. After that when I looked in the setting it had at least 8 satellites and it said "Track OK!"
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Matt Dixon · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 2:38 pm Post subject:

Just leave it set at minimum which is 3 secs. You don't have to worry about picking up other beacons with the GPS.
But if its longer then your programmed splits it will mess it all up.
If that doesn't work call Josh at Aim.
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Andre Eriksen · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 2:44 pm Post subject:

I do not think it is a set up error, again because it worked perfectly for 18 laps.

I had Josh involved a couple of years ago, they could not solve it and I ended to returning $10K of equipment for a refund. That is not the purpose of this thread though, but I have been down this alley before...
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Matt Dixon · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:02 pm Post subject:

Andre Eriksen · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:20 pm Post subject:

The purpose of the thread is/was to see if it works better now than a few years back. So far the conclusion is that it does not.

The purpose of the thread is not to rant about what happened in the past, that was just FYI.
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Bill Boxell · Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 6:37 am Post subject:

I have been using the GPS lap timing since 09. Does it work better now then years ago, yes it does. There have been several firmware upgrades along with the GPS05 hardware upgrade, all of which have improved the systems reliability. Is it perfect, no, does it ever miss a lap or sector yes, but it works 99% of the time.

The fact that the timing worked once and never again does not mean that the settings are optimum. As mentioned in an earlier post, set the minimum lap time to 3 seconds. Verify that the track width and number of beacons are set correctly. Andre, you said that the status showed “Track OK” and 8 satellites when in the pits but did you look at the NSat channel in the test while on track? This could indicate a problem with GPS mounting, voltage being low or some sort of external (trees, hills, cell towers, ect.) interference issue.

Assuming that your settings are correct and the minimum number of satellites while on track are ok, use GPS Manager to see what’s going on. You can upload the map (coordinates saved) from the gauge and lay them over a GPS (.gpk) file from a test that didn’t work. You may find that the timing points need to be shifted a bit for reliable operation. You will want to use GPS Manager to set your systems up as well because it will allow you to have the same start/finish and sector points for both your kids.