Lap timer apps for droid, Any recommendations/thoughts? Options

[Krieger]

I had an old fashioned Hot Lap timer in my car this past weekend and had problems with it. Actually other people had the same inconsistencies. I was looking at a Droid App by Trackmaster. Does video and lap times, speed.

[SirAndy]

The problem with GPS is that at it's best it has about 1m (3 feet) spread. At it's worst, it can be 50 or more meters (well over a 100 feet).

So, the weaker your signals are at the track, the less accurate a GPS based system will be.

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[Matt Romanowski]

The problem with GPS is that at it's best it has about 1m (3 feet) spread. At it's worst, it can be 50 or more meters (well over a 100 feet).

So, the weaker your signals are at the track, the less accurate a GPS based system will be.

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They end up very accurate. For instance, an AiM Solo is usually within .001 of the official AMB loop. I'm not sure about other systems, but AiM also tells you how many satellites the system has locked onto and what the accuracy is.

I used to make the same argument and once I started using a GPS based system, I found out how good they really are.

[ThePaintedMan]

They end up very accurate. For instance, an AiM Solo is usually within .001 of the official AMB loop. I'm not sure about other systems, but AiM also tells you how many satellites the system has locked onto and what the accuracy is.

I used to make the same argument and once I started using a GPS based system, I found out how good they really are.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) It's largely an accuracy versus precision argument. The FCC and military still has ultimate say-so on the precision available to the private sector for any hand-held devices, and all upper-end GPS units have a different set of rules. In layman's terms, they finally figured out that hand-held GPS units aren't precise enough or applicable to be used as homing devices. But they are accurate. As in, the exact location of your point at start/finish may not be exactly where the GPS says it is, but the GPS can repeatedly pickup that point to a degree which is sufficient to satisfy the demands of what we're talking about here. Most modern smartphones have a refresh rate that means they're sampling enough every second that your GPS-recorded time versus the actual time is only an error of less than about .01% (total guess). Of course that depends on antecedent conditions (cloud cover, solar flares, tsumamis, etc) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) At least that's how I understand it all.

[SirAndy]

At least that's how I understand it all.

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I actually work with this stuff on a daily basis (worldwide GPS based fleet tracking) and there is no way that i would replace the race track transponder with a GPS unit if i was at all concerned about accuracy.

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