JimR wrote:And no need to pass crayons between registration and work assignment stations. It could be fruit, adult novelties, car parts, etc. Team ATF filter could be on red paper, and team radiator cap could be on green paper.
Natasha thinks we should use Muppets, I feel they might be too rambunctious and wouldn't want to make Animal mad.
Since we have been assigning run groups and flipping morning and afternoon every event, in the software color seems like a good way to differentiate (disclaimer: your class' run group might need to be changed for an event with low turnout). It also give visual clues in the Timekeeper and the Car Queuer roles by putting a colored band on the left side of the entrant's row. This is how Jason H. caught the STR car was in the the wrong heat, and is kind of a last defense against this happening.
Here is an example of this in the Car Queuer role, the red band pops out and lets you know they shouldn't be there:
JimR wrote:According to Dave Whitworth, who sold us our FarmTek hardware, using the live.axti.me option is better when we make the leap to offering live timing for competitors. By offering competitors timing through a WiFi connection, he experienced additional lag.
JimR wrote:Connecting to the T&S network is the hardest part of helping run T&S. Making inputs into the software is the easy part.
I am not a network expert but will try to explain how I understand this to work. Stan, Jay, Paul or Trent once you're done rolling eyes and sighing please feel free to clear this up.
During this initial test weekend were just using a single residental router and we plan to upgrade to a entry level small commercial units (better processor, memory, wireless range, etc.) before the next event. Also we plan on having dedicated tablets to hand to the Car Queuer, Cone Counter, Tech, and Announcer so everyone doesn't have to use their personal device. These OMR tablets will be the only devices allowed to connect via WiFi to the password protected router that connects via Ethernet cable directly to the T/S computer. OMR tablets will be set-up and passed to those T/S roles.
We will plug "no password needed" access point(s) into that router to extend the network so everyone can see the live timing. This supposedly isolates the OMR tablets and Timing/Scoring PC to their own little network and with the extra ummph of the more commercial duty WiFi device allegedly insures that network will be fast.
JimR wrote:I know the iPhone that I used to queue cars yesterday is a real slow bastard about connecting to the web when I'm also remotely controlling my car's Sony action cam via app on WiFi. There may be some crippling network switching with all the roles trying on various devices to find internet while connected to a non-internet timing setup.
Regarding the iOS devices, I find it peculiar that Chris Trailer only ever wrote an app for the Car Queuer role and only for iOS since it is such a web based utility:
From Chris Trailer: This is a companion application that requires the AXti.me RM system. This app will currently allow lightning fast interaction with the Car Queuer role of AXti.me RM. Features:- Swipe to delete a driver- Drag and drop car reorder- Chrono mode support - shows which drivers are on course- Add Driver - Search by car number or driver name - Filter by Run Group - Add a "dummy" driver in those cases a driver could not be found- New or changed registrations are automatically synched
I have no idea if there is something he was trying to work around by offering a native app or maybe he just ran out of time to build more apps. Notice how Chris makes a point to say how this makes for "lightning fast interaction" and since the Car Queuer is the most active remote "role" in Axti.me, maybe the app could have helped with some lagging issues with iOS or Safari? In both heats the Car Queuer used an iOS device, hindsight being 20/20 we probably should have logged in to Car Queuer with the Kindle to see if it was better.
from Dave W wrote:Also, concerning the lags we had on Sunday:
Another thing that is problematic for us, and may be your problem, is the devices themselves trying to switch networks. On Android devices, I have to turn cell data completely off manually and also "forget" any other WiFi networks on site that it may connect to. Otherwise, the phone sees the internal AXTI/me WiFI network but knows it doesn't get to the internet, therefore it keeps trying to connect to other networks that have internet, which kills the Internal one, or slows access down as it switches back and forth. Windows laptops do the same thing, not sure about iOS devices.
JimR wrote:Also, we were likely sitting in range of people's GoPros and other newer action cams as they pulled up to the line. Even if they weren't running a remote app, the cameras were probably broadcasting themselves as potential WiFi connections within range of the whole T&S crew sitting by the trailer. Tech minds: would that help explain why we would run smoothly for a while, then suddenly jam up?
I don't have iOS experience but to fix this on Androids go to the "Advanced" settings and put a check in the avoid bad WiFi connections box (pic below). It will allow you to connect to a WiFi access point that doesn't have internet, causes it to quit pestering you to reconnect to any that do, and you will still be able to use mobile data for looking at something on the web. It has worked great keeping the connection to the Axti.me WiFi during my testing when we had both our home's WiFi and the test router running.
This is a one time setting change, my personal phone is still using it with zero issues, and some devices might come with this box already checked.