So you arrive at a new track and they don’t have magnet strips. Maybe they have only one, but you want several splits per lap. Or you don’t want to worry about installing the magnet sensor. Either way, you want to use GPS for timing, and you have never been at this track before. What do you do?
The first time that you add a new track on your Unigo, you will need to have your laptop and Unigo with you at the track. The following steps will show you how to configure the hardware, record the initial track data, export the track data to OCD to set the start/finish line and reimport the data to your Unigo to be ready for use.
Step 1: Make sure the hardware is set up
Setting up the UniGo for GPS is pretty easy. First, make sure you have the latest firmware installed. You can see the current version in the Info menu on the UniGo. You need at least version 1.02.000 for GPS. If you’re missing the latest version, you can get an download the firmware update from our downloads page.
Then, plug the GPS antenna into the back of the device, and mount it in a place that has a clear line of sight to the sky. Zip ties are very helpful for this. The GPS antenna has an adhesive backing, so if you have a large enough flat surface, you can just set the antenna down on it, and it will stick.
The Info menu, showing nine fixed satellites.
Next, we’ll make sure everything is working so far. Turn on the UniGo, and give it some time to find the GPS satellites. Two minutes should be enough, depending on weather conditions. You can watch the current GPS status on the UniGo by going to the Info menu, and scrolling down to “Satellites Fixed” and “GPS Status”. To find the Info menu, go to the Main Menu button, and select the “i” Info button.
Ideally, you want to have at least six satellites fixed, and GPS Status should say “DGPS + 3D”. If you want to look at something while you’re waiting, you can click on the GPS Status menu entry, and you’ll see a detailed breakdown of how the UniGo finds the satellites.
Step 2: Drive the track
This step is always a favorite among drivers. On the UniGo, go to Settings/Track, and set “Receiver” to “GPS”. It should look like this:
The Track menu on the UniGo
If you have an RPM wire installed, you can just start driving now. If not, you have to tell the UniGo to start recording before you start driving. To do that, go to the main menu (press the menu button at the top-right), and go into run mode (
). In run mode, press the menu button, and select “Start recording”.
While you’re driving, the UniGo will not show lap times or split times, because it is still learning the track. It needs at least three clean laps to properly learn a track, but more is always better. When you’re done, come back in the pits, and stop recording. If you have an RPM wire, the UniGo will stop recording automatically 30 seconds after the engine stops. If you don’t have an RPM wire, you can make it stop by pressing the menu button, and selecting either “Go to analyze menu” or “Stop recording”.
Step 3: Set up the track in OCD
In the import window, specify a track name.
To set up the track, start by importing your session into OCD. When you’re importing, make sure to give it a track name. We will need that track name later. Specify a driver, kart, and tags as usual. At this point, you might notice that the entire session is in one lap. That is because we have not created split points yet.
To configure the split points, finish importing, and click Tracks at the top of the OCD window. In the list of tracks, select your track name. In my example, this is “Parking Lot”. Your screen should look something like this:
On the right, you can see various settings for this track. You can adjust many things there, but right now we are trying to set GPS split points. Set the “Receiver Type” to “GPS”, and then click the Edit button next to “Split Points” at the bottom. This will bring you to a new screen where you can configure the split points. For this tutorial, I just did some laps around a parking lot, so I see a very boring track map:
On the left, the window shows the list of split points you have defined. At the moment, no split points are defined, so instead it shows you a message asking you to define the start/finish line. As you mouse over the speed graph, you can see the cursor move over the track map. Click on the speed graph where the start/finish line is to set it. The map and the speed graph will recalculate. On the left, it shows the lap length. You can define several more split points by clicking on the graph. Split points of any kind, GPS or not, work best when they are right before big braking zones, at the end of long straights. That is why we show the speed graph below the map. When you’re done, your window should look like this:
Hit “OK” to dismiss the window. Off Camber Data will ask you whether you want to recalculate the split times for the run you imported. When it does so, confirm by clicking “Recalculate”. This will apply the split points you selected to the imported run. You can now see your lap times and split times!
Step 4: Uploading the split configuration to the UniGo
You can see the times in OCD, but you want to see them while driving. To do that, you have to upload the configuration for the splits to the UniGo. The easiest way to do that is in the Track Management window, where you are right now. When the UniGo is plugged in, there is a button at the bottom of the window saying “Apply and copy to device”. Click it, and OCD will copy the configuration for all tracks to the UniGo.
By the way, this also works when you have a UniKey. Off Camber Data will copy the information to the key. It transfers from the key to the UniGo when you plug in the key and select “Restore Local Setup” from the menu.
At this point, you are good to go for more sessions!
Questions and Answers
1. What if it’s not my first day at this track?
The Load Track menu on the UniGo. Select your track here to use split points you have configured before.
You have already done this for the track you are at, and you want to use the split configuration you have created before? No problem! On the UniGo, go to Settings (
), Track (
), and select “Load Track” to load your settings.
When you load a track this way, and then you choose “GPS” for the Start/Finish Receiver, it will show you the number of splits loaded. This way, you can be sure your configured splits are there.
2. While driving, the UniGo missed some splits. Now my timing is messed up in OCD. How can I fix it?
When the UniGo fails to detect that you went past a split point, it will keep counting time until you get to that split point again. In OCD, you will see one lap that is twice as long as it should be (or longer, if the UniGo missed more than one split point). There is a very easy way to fix this: Right-click on the run in lap selection, and hit click “Edit Run”. A window appears where you can edit various properties of the run. One of the things you can do there is “Recalculate split timing”. Click that button, and all times will be recalculated. In most cases, it will now find the split point, and your laps will show correctly.
If this didn’t work for you, you can use the other way to correct missed splits: In the split time view, find the split that’s too long, right-click it, and choose “Missed Split”. It will cut the split in two, and recalculate all times after it.
If you find you have a lot of missed splits on a track, you may want to re-set the split points from step 3 above.
3. OCD doesn’t let me add another split in the “Set Splits” dialog. Why not?
There are two restrictions on adding new splits in the “Set Splits” dialog. One is that splits have to be a certain distance apart. When they are too close to each other, the UniGo has trouble telling them apart when you drive past them, so OCD doesn’t let you set them that way.
The other restriction is a little more complicated to explain: As you know, sometimes the UniGo can fail to detect that you crossed a split point. OCD can fail to detect a split point as well. When this happens in the “Set Splits” dialog, OCD will let you know that it missed a split by telling you in the list on the left. It is impossible to define a new split point next to a split point that was missed. The mouse cursor in the speed graph changes to indicate that you can’t click there. To fix this, try going to a different lap with the “left” and “right” buttons on the side of the track map.
In this screenshot, OCD missed the second split point. You can see this most easily in the list on the left side. It is impossible to set a new split point next to the missed split point.
As always, let us know if you have any further questions. You can email us at feedback@offcamberdata.com, or simply leave a comment below!
Only two weeks after version 41, version 42 is ready. This is mostly an internal release, with a lot of changes that will make it easier for us work on OCD, but it does have a good number of new features for you as well:
