Why is OnTrack less expensive than many other dyno systems?
When developing OnTrack one of our goals was to produce an easy to use and accurate system that most racers and tuners could afford. To keep the costs down our software uses hardware that is built into all new PCs. Specifically OnTrack uses the sound card hardware in a PC to perform the dyno data signal inputs and data processing. A PC sound card can process 44,000 data signals per second and by using this we only need data signal sensors and pickups to make a very accurate dyno system at a low price.
Can I input a dyno chart from another dyno?
Yes, you can manually input a dyno run into the OnTrack database. The OnTrack manual input function allows you to draw a dyno chart with the PC mouse or enter the dyno numbers into a data table. Manually entered data is stored in the OnTrack database along with other dyno runs and can then be graphed and compared with any other dyno runs. This can be usefull when you see a dyno run for your vehicle in a magazine and you want to compare it with your dyno runs.
When do I need to use a Digital Data Recorder?
In some situations it is not possible to use a PC or laptop to perform a dyno run in real time. For example it may not be practical to mount a laptop on a kart or motorbike where the bumps and vibration could damage the hard drive. In this case you can use a digital recorder to record the data signals during the dyno runs, then “playback” the data from the digital recorder to a PC for processing and displaying the dyno graphs.
Note: Some new laptops use solid state “disks” and not a spinning hard drive which means they are not troubled by bumps and vibration.
Where can I purchase a digital data recorder to use with OnTrack?
At OnTrack we have used a wide range of digital voice recorders as data recorders for use with the OnTrack software. Digital voice recorders use solid state memory to store data in a precise format and even inexpensive models are very accurate when used to store data.
OnTrack does not sell digital data recorders because we ship OnTrack dyno systems around the world and we think that it is best that customers buy their data recorders locally so that they are covered by local warranty and local service.
To be used as a digital data recorder you can select any digital voice recorder that has a microphone input port (usually 2.5mm or 3.5mm) and a headphone output port (usually 3.5mm). You only need the basic record and playback functions and 30 minutes of recording time is ample for a number of dyno runs along with optional audio comments for each run. In selecting a digital recorder consider how easy the controls are to start and stop recording, particularly if you are wearing groves. One brand of low cost digital recorder is Olympus (www.olympus.com) which can be purchased from a range of retailers, including Radio Shack in the US (www.radioshack.com).
When do I use an OnTrack Data Filter?
The OnTrack Data Filter (Part SF-02) conditions and filters a data signal so that the signal can be fed into a Microphone input. Therefore you use a Data Filter when you input data into the Microphone input jack of a digital data recorder or PC.
What are the PC requirements to run OnTrack?
OnTrack will run on a Windows PC from Windows 98 to Vista. OnTrack requires the PC to have a working sound card to input dyno run data and to have 1GB of hard disk free for the OnTrack software and room for the OnTrack database to grow.
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