Wheel-Wheel Wireless Live Timing System

[Ron J]

Cool

I had a blast watching live timing last year. Last weekend I did not bring the laptop, I was lucky to get me and the car their. I know next event the crew will enjoy watching it. Thanks for all you do Bill. Ron J

[Dick Karth]

I came in from a session ... qualifying maybe ... and Cathie had the T&S on her smart phone. I could look at it will still in the car! I tried to find someway to "save" a session's results to the phone, but couldn't find it. It appears that each session is lost after a while.

Works slick, like it.

Next phase ....

ECHO ... ECHo .... ECho ... Echo ... echo ... echo ...

[BillMartin]

Wheel-Wheel Internet Live Timing

New and Improved!

Live Timing for Midwestern Council Wheel-Wheel events will now be available on the internet, whenever we can get an internet connection at the track for the Timing & Scoring computer system.

Currently we provide W-W Live Timing data only over a local WiFi network at the track, utilizing the WiFi Repeater that we built into the MC Equipment Trailer. The most popular mobile app to receive the live timing data is Race Monitor, by a company called Karting Coach.

Karting Coach maintains an internet server that can relay the live timing data over the internet to any mobile device that has the Race Monitor app installed and web connectivity. This service is provided at no cost to us or you, except for the purchase of the Race-Monitor app.

The internet data relay is in addition to the local WiFi service, not "instead of". Both distribution methods can/will be used simultaneously. If you are at the track, you can connect to the Live Timing whichever way that you like.

Why would you want to connect using the internet instead of the local WiFi?

The obvious reason is if you aren't at the track, or if you are paddocked out in the boonies out of range of the local "MC-Paddock" WiFi network. Whenever we can connect the Timing & Scoring system to the internet at the track, you can receive the Live Timng anywhere that you can connect your smart phone app to the internet.

Plus the relay service maintains a session "history" for you. Even if you start Race Monitor after the session has started, you can view all of the prior positions and laptimes for each competitor for that session.

As a bonus, we have added the Live Timing feature to the Midwestern Council website. Just go to the MC Home page at www.MCSCC.org and click on the "Live Timing - Wheel-Wheel" link. You will need to have Flash installed, so if you are using an Apple product you won't be able to view the Live Timing on the website.

Look for the MCSCC logo in the Race Monitor Directory on your smart phone, or view it on the MC website.

edit: Sample race no longer being relayed, you'll need to catch one of our live sessions to check it out.
For the next few days we will be relaying a sample race so you can try it out.

We will be relaying the Road America MC event on August 17-18. The RA event should show up in the Race Monitor "Upcoming Events" Directory about one to two weeks prior to the event.

We're working on gaining internet access at the other tracks that we have scheduled.

[gofasttowin]

Nice. I see that the Blackhawk event for Sunday is listed already, and the test race is working fine too.

[BillMartin]

Nice. I see that the Blackhawk event for Sunday is listed already, and the test race is working fine too.

Scheduled but not guaranteed to be available.

Still have no word on the availability of an internet connection at BFR for the Timing&Scoring computer.

[Dick Karth]

Nice job Bill!

Keep up the good work!

[TimingScoring]

Wheel-Wheel Internet Live Timing - Road America

The internet relay of the Live Timing data should be available at the Road America event. Anyone with the Race-Monitor app installed on their smartphone and an internet connection will be able to receive the Live Timing data.

See this thread for more info on the Race-Monitor app by Karting Coach:

http://mcscc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1215

The event is currently available in the Race-Monitor "Upcoming Events" directory.

The information page for the event includes the Groups and Schedule.

[TimingScoring]

Race-Monitor Tip #1

Race-Monitor Tip #1

You can "follow" a Race Series so that the races in the Series are always displayed at the top of the Race-Monitor Event Directory.

• Long-press the "MCSCC Road Race in the Park" Race listed in the Race-Monitor Event Directory.
  
• Choose to follow the "Series: Midwestern Council".

Now all the "Midwestern Council" Series events will always appear at the top of the directory.

[BillMartin]

Race Monitor v2 Released by Karting Coach

Announcing Race Monitor v2 for iOS and Android

We’re thrilled to announce the release of Race Monitor v2 for iOS and Android!

Over the past few months, we’ve performed a visual overhaul of Race Monitor to bring it more in line with the style of iOS 7, and to freshen and liven it up a bit. We’ve done our best to keep the layouts and behavior that everyone’s familiar with, but we’ve given it a great new coat of paint, improved a number of things, and added some new features.

The first major change is that, Race Monitor for iOS and Android is now free to download and use for viewing results and the live timing of free races. We’re moving to a subscription model (available monthly or annually), so that we can provide better service to all of those involved.

There are a lot of people and families that have devices on multiple platforms, and as our various devices age and get upgraded, people often times change their platforms. Every week we receive numerous inquiries about transferring purchases between platforms, which was impossible until now. We’ve added the ability to use your subscription across up to five iOS or Android devices, regardless of what platform you purchased the subscription on.

Those of you that have already purchased Race Monitor will automatically receive a complimentary live timing subscription valid until July 31, 2014.

Another big opportunity that being free-to-download enables is that races now have the ability to offer free live timing to their fans using iOS and Android devices. The directory of races has a new Free Races section of live timing that doesn’t require a subscription. If your event is interested in offering live timing free to your fans, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help you out.

In the area of new features, many users have asked for the ability to have black text on a white background. With version 2, you can now easily change the app style between the standard dark background with white text, to a new light version.

The Heads Up Display that is a part of Race Monitor Plus has been updated with a new ahead/behind display that includes the information about who’s ahead and behind the selected racer, and we’ve added a visual lap time indicator to the individual lap times so you can easily visualize long laps (particularly useful for endurance racers).

We’ve also added the ability to toggle the sort mode of results, favorite race results (so they’re easier to go back and find), create racer name alerts by long pressing on a racer in live timing, and a handful of other improvements.

What about Windows 8, Windows Phone, and Mac versions?
We are cutting the prices of the Windows 8, Windows Phone, and Mac versions. The Windows Phone version will be just $1.99 USD, and the Windows 8 and Mac versions will be $4.99 USD (prices may vary by country). The new prices will go into effect as soon as the store's prices are updated. We’re still working out our long-term plans for these versions but are planning to work on improvements for all of them.

Race Monitor Website Improvements
We’ve added a new Results section to our website so that you can browse and search results, and we’re pleased to officially announce the availability of a new API that allows races and third-parties to pull information from the Race Monitor systems. While the API isn’t completely finished, it provides access to information about races and results and we’ll be adding the ability to access live timing data in the coming months.

[BillMartin]

Race Monitor version 2 - FAQ

> Will users of v1 that don’t upgrade to v2 still be able to receive relayed data without a valid subscription? If not, when is the cut-off date?
- Users of v1 that don't upgrade will continue to have access to live timing until at least February 17, 2015, after which we may or may not continue to support it.

> Will users of v2 be able to receive local WiFi data without a valid subscription?
- The direct connection option is available free of charge with the free download of the app

> Are the subscription rates and the Plus upgrade for the Android version priced the same as for iOS ?
- The Android subscriptions are priced the same as the iOS subscriptions. Prices of each may vary by country.

> What is the price of of the subscription to receive relayed data over the internet?
- $4.99 / year, or $0.99 / month

> What is the price of the in-app upgrade to "Race Monitor Plus"?
- $4.99

> Can the subscription be shared among both iOS and Android devices concurrently, or do all five devices need to be on the same platform?
- Short answer: yes, subscriptions can be shared across platforms (e.g., purchase on Android, share with an iOS device).
- Long answer: One of the biggest issues with the old pricing model was that lots and lots of people change device types (e.g., iOS to Android) and had to re-purchase the application. While we do have to build each version from the ground up using the appropriate technology stack, it's really frustrating that a user has to purchase the same application multiple times.

> Can the iOS subscription be shared across iOS devices that don’t share an iTunes account?
- Yes

> Can the Android subscription be shared across Android devices that don’t share an Android Market account?
- Yes

> We include the relayed data for our events on our website. How does the change to the subscription model affect this?
- The new subscription does not impact the use of the live timing on your website. You will continue to be able to offer live timing for free on your website.

> Will Midwestern Council be offering "free events" that do not require the subscription to receive relayed live timing?
- That is unlikely, the cost is not yet finalized but likely to be rather steep.

[Integra111]

> Will Midwestern Council be offering "free events" that do not require the subscription to receive relayed live timing?
- That is unlikely, the cost is not yet finalized but likely to be rather steep.

I am not a user, but I have friends that use this. Am I correct in interpreting the above statement to mean that to receive the timing on a smartphone while at the track will now require a subscription fee of $5 per year (which, compared to the one time price of $5, is rather steep, I agree)?

[BillMartin]

There are two ways to receive the live MC timing data "at the track" using the Race Monitor app on your smartphone.

You can use the WiFi connection on the phone to connect to the MC "paddock" WiFi network. This connection is free of charge with both versions of Race Monitor, but requires that you be in physical range of our WiFi network. Only the MC Live Timing data is available via the WiFi connection. Both versions of Race Monitor (v1 and v2) call this a "direct connection". This connection will always available for any MC Wheel-Wheel event.

Alternatively, Race Monitor can connect over the smartphone's internet connection to the vendor's web server to receive Live Timing data for any event in the world that is "relaying" the timing data to the vendor's web server. At this time there is no guarantee that all MC events will be "relayed" to the vendor's web server, as this requires an internet connection to be available to the Timing & Scoring computer. We currently do not have a reliably available internet connection available to the Timing & Scoring computer.

The Race Monitor version 1 app was a $4.99 download, but could receive the "relayed" timing data free of charge. The Race Monitor vendor (Karting Coach) says that Race Monitor version 1 will continue to be able to receive free "relayed data" at least through February 17 2015.

The Race Monitor version 2 app is a free download. To receive "relayed" timing data via the internet, the version 2 user must have a valid Race Monitor "subscription". The cost of the "subscription" is $4.99/yr or $0.99/mo. Current version 1 users will receive a complimentary subscription for version 2 good thru July 31 2014.

>> Will Midwestern Council be offering "free events" that do not require the subscription to receive relayed live timing?
- That is unlikely, the cost is not yet finalized but likely to be rather steep.

Am I correct in interpreting the above statement to mean that to receive the timing on a smartphone while at the track will now require a subscription fee of $5 per year (which, compared to the one time price of $5, is rather steep, I agree)?

Not exactly. As explained above, under the new pricing model a valid $5/yr subscription is required to receive relayed live timing using version 2 of Race Monitor. An event organization has the option to offer any particular event "free of charge", in other words no valid subscription required to receive the relayed live timing data for that particular event. At the moment the cost to offer a "free event" is $100/event.