Personal lap timer
 

Has anyone used the Zeppin lap timer system? Or any other suggestion for personal lap timers for practice?

A friend with a stopwatch timer on his phone works great and cheap.a soda and a candy bar...not bad..

Thanks for the reply......not much help though

There is an app for apple devices called laptimer something (sorry can't be more precise, I don't have my ipad with me).
It works through the device camera, you need to position it in a way that points to a straight sector of the track and it records the passage of the car. Drawback is that you must be alone on the track.
I tried it with my ipad and it works. The app itself is a bit rudimental but it works indeed.

If you can get the track to yourself, laptracker app works great. Iphone only though, not android as far as I know. I built a cradle to hold my phone, plug a speaker into it, and set it in a 180 corner. You can hear each lap as you pass by your phone. Then you can email the run to yourself as well to check out later. Moving shadows can make it count extra laps, but I just move where it's placed at that time. The time is still the same, you just have to figure out your short laps/long laps if it starts counting shadows. That's if you analyze the laps later anyhow.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lapt...691114189?mt=8

You can also download a stopwatch program to your laptop, and get a USB foot-operated push button and count your laps that way. That would work even if there were other cars on the track.

Your laps with the lap tracker app will be exact each time you pass the phone. I find when timing someone with a stop watch I am not perfect each time, but close enough to serve the purpose. Sometimes I just use the stopwatch on my phone and call out laps for my buddies. That works well too if you have a buddy you can trade being time keep with.

Practicing with laptimes can bring the hobby to a whole 'nother level if you want it to. Then you can actually start utilizing the slogan "slow is fast." As well as try different motors and see which works best for your skills. I've raced a 6.5 for years in stadium truck. I never believed I could be as fast with a smaller motor. My jaw hit the floor when I turned my fastest lap of the summer, as well as the best 5 minute run, with a 17.5 this year! Depends on the layout and the traction, but man it can really help those that get "stupid finger" during a race! lol

Thanks!! I just got that app.

Cool, hope you find it as useful as me.

If you decide to email the laps to yourself, use wordpad to open the download. You can then copy/paste it into an excel spreadsheet if you really want to nerd out with it and track things like maintenance or use it to see if you're improving.

I looked all over for a voice activated lap timer for my phone but couldn't find one. I guess nobody ever thought to make an app to do that. I use a left handed transmitter so unless I buy a brands top of the line radio (only ones that swap to left handed and have built in lap timers) I'm left out in the cold.

Richard

Not following. What do you mean voice activated laptimer? I have cheaper radios that have a timer on them, but doesn't count laps, just overall time. Right hand only though I believe. DX3S

Voice activated means when you say "lap" it times the lap and keeps doing it like that until you stop the app. Check out a Sanwa Mt4. Has a button on the side to time laps and will go up to 99 laps i think. will tell you your best lap also. Only problem for me is it doesn't convert to left handed.

That would be handy. I wished the timer function on my radio would let me push the button each lap and save it, but oh well. We'll have to wait and see who puts that function as well as bluetooth in a radio first.. That way you can send the info to your phone or computer. Maybe there's already some that do, or do it with usb, who knows. I buy all my radios used and under $50 anyhow, so not really something that I'll get a hold of for a long time anyhow.

Been doing lots of practice over the summer and have tried various ways to time things. There is an android app call Hands Free Stopwatch that is voice activated, worked ok at home but at the track (next to a major road) there was too much background noise so would keep false counting every 2 seconds.

In the end I worked out that I could just run 10 laps and time the total time taken, divide the total time by 10 and you have your average lap time over the run. Not only does it help you tell if a mod is faster, it also helps you focus on being consistent over the run which is what you really need when racing.

Have a look at this open source project:
http://www.easyracelaptimer.com/

It's from the FPV Racing guys. Basically it uses Infrared Transponders and the software runs on a Raspberry PI. Configuration and monitoring is done using the webbrowser and a local wifi network provided by the Raspberry PI.

I already built a system, however I didn't test it yet at the track. This will be done this weekend. Dry tests on the work bench seem promising. There's even supposed to be an app that announces lap times for you.

I'll tell you how well that system works. At least it's not that expensive.

Andreas

LapTrack works well
 

Hi, I have tested LapTrack app and I can say the app works very well.
Congrats for the developer.
Just keep in mind two things: don't place the iphone or ipad in front of the Sun and move the iPhone with the shadows.

I don't have problems with it being in the sun, but I do end up with false laps when it's in shadows that may "dance" with the wind. It will count moving shadows. Easy answer is put it in an area with no shadows, or a completely shaded area. Love the app. Did 50+ laps with it today :) I'm gong to guess I have around 5000 laps using this app between last summer and this year so far!