MyLaps website

[Jon]

Chris or anyone,
AMD offers a service with their transponders that has on line access to the racer associated with the corresponding transponder and the event with quick access to his lap times. I've been accessing it for various events that I've done this year and was wondering why the MRA isn't registered with them. It's pretty handy to be able to go on line and get a printout of your times during your various races for the weekend,see if you went faster, slower or stayed the same.
Should we maybe look into this? as far as I know it's free at least to the racer and I didn't have to do a thing. I simple this morning went online to Mylaps.com and there they were. Any thoughts?

[Jon]

103 views and nobodies got a thing to say......as my kids would say, that's just weird.

[rforsythe]

Doesn't the MRA's own website give you laptimes once results are posted, without having to pay extra for an online service? :?

Not sure what the benefit of mylaps.com would be.

[dragos13]

Posted by Chris Dale circa September 2007:

"The MyLaps.com site is an AMB-it creation (the people who made your transponder). For those clubs wishing to post lap times and have no where else to do so, the data files can be uploaded from the computer doing the timing with little more than an Internet connection. However, the MRA does have a great website and the database systems already in place where lap times are posted without too much trouble. For these reasons I've never investigated the possibility of using MyLaps."

[Jon]

Usually takes about a week or so before anything shows up on the MRA website.It's a service that's free to AMD users and seems to me that not using the service is like buying a new car and when it breaks not using the warranty to fix it.

[rforsythe]

It just seems to me like adding workload on staff to upload everything is only going to delay getting results posted (which I've seen posted as early as a few days, depending on how much free time our folks have outside of their real lives). Time spent working on that is time diverted from the results themselves.

If you need to know your times imminently you can also always get them off the results posted at the track, as times are part of those sheets - or just use a laptimer. I just don't see much benefit (other than satisfying curiosity) to duplicating what already exists just to shave a couple days off.

Just MHO Jon, but I think there are enough other ways around waiting 3-5 days to get clickable laptimes that it's not worth the effort.

[Desmodromico]

I know from the WERA board those guys have them posted basically in live time and guys not at the races follow results there, so it makes me wonder if it isn't a faster and easier process than what we do now, maybe a one-click type of thing. I know Chris and the board have plenty of other things to do with their spare time, but maybe this could give them more of it?

[T Baggins]

I'll let Chris Dale know of this discussion... since he knows the most about this.

I think it's changed Jon, and now you have to PAY to register your transponder with MyLaps... and then it does duplicate the work required to get the laps over there.

Depending on what they tell us about whether or not the Decoder can be fixed - we won't be using AMB-it in the future anyway, so it's a moot point.

[dave.gallant]

...and, to top it all off, it all depends on humans actually doing work to make anything possible independent of where they actually get posted.

The delay in posting a result of time is not due to technical issues. 99% of the time it is because racers refuse to check their results within the 30 minute window or "forget" to register a borrowed transponder or..or...or...you get the idea.

The results and times are posted as fast as humanly possible. (Thank you Jen for your hard work.)

[Jon]

All,
I just spoke with Chad at AMD/MyLaps as well as your transponder King, Chris Dale, and let's just say that all the muddiness has been cleared up. As I'm not really an MRA racer, I really didn't mean to bitch or complain, cause even more additional work for our already hard working board and rider reps but I have found the service handy. Now after speaking with Chris (thanks for your time Chris, BTW), I understand that at this time your tracks or organization doesn't have the resources available and if they did they are more than likely better spent elsewhere. All clubs across the country are hurting for our business, believe me I've seen it, and I guess I was as always causing additional trouble for your club, personally, I hope that you will understand that I was curious as much as anything as to why the service was available to the other clubs but not your own.
I apologize to all again, best of luck to you all and I hope to maybe see you later in the season.
JGR

[T Baggins]

Trouble maker! :lol:

Jon, your question was reasonable and valid - and "if" it were free and feasible for us to do it, we'd (al)most certainly be doing it... Certainly no harm in asking, imo.

As I mentioned previously, because of our AMB equipment starting to die off - we may not have the opportunity to use the MyLaps in the future anyway... unless they are able to fix it on the cheap.

Missed you this weekend in STU - you and Shann would have dropped me after a few laps anyway I'm sure - but I would have loved to pump some two-stroke smoke at you for at least a turn or two... :shock:

[Scored51]

I have to laugh a little because the post of '07 that Casey quoted was also from Jon. Thanks for the call Jon, it's always easier to have a conversation with someone than post to the forums.

Since that post I have investigated what the MyLaps site could offer the MRA over our current system. The answer is nothing with the exception of being able to see practice laps in real time. However, this comes at the cost of having to provide Internet access at all of the tracks we attend and would mean every racer would need to buy a laptop to log on to the site. Additionally, every racer purchasing a used transponder would need to pay $50 to AMB to reset the username/password if the transponder had been previously registered with MyLaps.

I'm sure there are more detailed posts here on the forum as this question has been asked more than once, but I'm too lazy to search for them right now.

[TRK]

It is cool to see lap times show up as qualifying takes place

[Scored51]

Yes. Yes it would.

[dave.gallant]

It is cool to see lap times show up as qualifying takes place

With what network connection?

iPhone or just local?

If we had a (few) wireless repeaters, the software to display live laptimes is free as I remember? There are a few other things to overcome, but the technology is available if we could pay Chris more $ so he could quit his day job and take care of this sorta stuff all summer. :)

[TRK]

Local would be cool. Heck just WiFi would be cool with me

[dave.gallant]

Local would be cool. Heck just WiFi would be cool with me

That is what I mean by "local" -- local wifi that doesn't go out to the rest of the world. That is what WERA would do, but the repeaters and the setup nonsense would have to be sorted out before you were able to DL the software (if it is even still free) and pick up the feed. I remember we all did that with WERA for endurance racing...

[Scored51]

... if we could pay Chris more $ so he could quit his day job and take care of this sorta stuff all summer. :)

Where do I sign up! I'm actually working on something that would be at least a running display of practice times, qualifying, and race running order in the race day office. I know it's just baby steps, but I'd rather do a little that works instead of big that doesn't.

We currently use the program that Dave is talking about, but it is fickle and was abandoned some time ago by MyLaps in favor of something better. It requires constant attention between the end user and whoever is running the timing software. I would have liked to hand it out to everyone in the paddock with laptops, but again everyone would be spending more time messing around with the computer instead of concentrating on racing.