| Family Software Newsletter - January 31, 2000 -- What you need to know about Reaction Time Variance -- If your reaction times vary considerably, it isn't always the driver! Don't blame yourself unless you know for sure. Some of us have a light mounted at the back of the car that is wired into the trans brake. When the trans brake is applied, the light goes on. When you release the button, the light goes out. Using a video camera, you can watch frame by frame and determine your personal reaction time very easily and fairly accurately. Just count the frames from when the amber on the tree comes on to when your 'reaction light' begins to go out. You'll know if it's you in a hurry. If it's not you, then what is it? Well, we all know that if you pull a wheel out of the beams, you'll red light by about .03 of a second. But, what if the wheel stays in the beam? Most of the guys are using a very high launch RPM, over 5200. It's easy to tell. These are the cars that chirp loudly when they leave the starting line. The initial launch 'skips' the tire. This is fine if you can do this consistently. But, when the track comes around later in the event, you can dead hook the tire, and your light goes away big time. A .403 becomes a .440 real quick. This is because when you dead hook the tire, time is lost while the rim is winding itself up inside the tire. The car doesn't move forward as soon. If you are a high RPM guy, make sure your RPM is high enough that you don't beat yourself here. Some guys run a low launch RPM, down around 4400. Then you can dead hook the tire all the time. If you have a fast personal reaction time you can get away with this. But, watch out! If you 'skip' the tire later on, your .403 will become a .360 real quick. You'll think you picked up the wheels, but you didn't. What's best? Well, that has to be your own decision, but by all means continue to monitor this variable. Raising your launch RPM by 200 RPM is only worth .008 in real world reaction time. So, if you raise your RPM by 200 and your light picks up by .03, it wasn't just the RPM that was responsible. Think about it. With the Family Software DataMaster Sportsman computer, you get a vehicle reaction time with a resolution of .001 of a second. You can monitor your vehicle reaction time and tell if your hooking or skipping the tire on the launch. No other device is available with this kind of accuracy. You can spend over $4000.00 on a data recorder and be able to read your EGT's and your oil pressure, but you will never know why you can't win a race. There is no other data recorder in the world that gives the sportsman racer the information he really needs. Only the DataMaster. Why? Read on. The DataMaster uses six (6) pickup points on the drive shaft and the software doubles this number to twelve allowing you to see 1/12th of a shaft revolution or about 2 inches of track distance. Also, by using the cumulative totals of these fractions of shaft movement, you can monitor the condition of the track itself. Ever wonder why your 8.901 during time runs becomes 8.883 during elimination's and it wasn't the weather? Hello! All the other data loggers on the market have slow analog channels for measuring temperature, pressure, and other useless information! By wasting the time collecting this useless information, the data recorder is missing what is really important, the engine RPM and shaft RPM. These two factors will tell you EVERYTHING! But, only if these channels are monitored at HIGH SPEED, like 3,000 times per second. DataMaster is the only data recorder with this capability. Why? Because it is an all digital data recorder and watches each channel 3,300 times per second! --
Lower Prices and a Toll Free Order Line -- If you have questions or topics that you would like to see covered in this newsletter, please Email me via the Contact Us link.
-- Bob Kodadek
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