On the button

by Robert L. Button

Before I began this first installment of "On The Button", I would like to congratulate everyone at Bracket-Racing.com on the tremendous site that they have created and encourage all of us race fanatics to spread the word. Not only will this site promote all of the great racers and racing action here in the Southwest but it should also allow all of us the opportunity to really show the rest of the country that the Southwest is just as good, just as serious and just as deserving as any place in the country when it comes to quality drag racers, drag racing and its fans!

For my first shot at this "technically speaking" stuff, I thought I would brave the rumor waters and dive head first right in to one of the hottest debates in sportsman drag racing today - the use and legality of data acquisition products or as most would say, on board computers. Now, I know I am combining a bracket racing web site with sportsman drag racing, but technically speaking, they go hand and hand.

As many of the readers may or may not know, I am directly affiliated with Autometer, a major manufacturer of data acquisition products, as a Western Region Representative and Authorized Installer for all of their data acquisition products, covering everything west of the Mississippi, from Mexico to Canada. When it comes to the topic of data acquisition, the main question I field and answer is "is it legal and if so, is it legal for me and my class". Well hopefully I can shed some light on this topic as well as point out the positives and negatives of the whole data acquisition system and its uses.

First of all, I would like to clarify that some, not all, but some of the debate over the use and legality of data acquisition stems from people referring to the system as a computer, instead of its proper name and function, Data Acquisition. To some this might sound trivial, but in its simplest explanation, it is what it is - the ability to acquire data, nothing more, nothing less. On the other hand, a computer system would not only have the ability to acquire data but also the ability to use that data and make immediate adjustments and upload those adjustments, all in the same process, much like the computer chips in our common everyday vehicles do.

Secondly, the ability for racers to obtain data has been around since the earliest stages of drag racing, however, we have been conditioned that the usual is common and anything new must be questioned. What I am referring to is the usual items that are common on every racecar - a tach, fuel gauge, water temperature, voltage gauge and the list goes on. The data acquisition systems are merely a higher-tech version of these long accepted forms of data gathering devices with the added abilities of providing greater accuracies in a wider array of situations, functions and capabilities.

As far as the use and legality of on board data acquisition systems, both major sanctioning bodies of drag racing, the NHRA and IHRA, have approved data acquisition systems in most classes of racing. In bracket racing, depending on the organization and class that you run, data acquisition systems are legal, however, some stipulations do apply, such as being legal for time runs but must be disconnected for eliminations. If you have questions regarding the legality of a data acquisition system for your car and class, the best recommendation that I can make is to simply refer to the rules and regulations of your sanctioning body or organization or call the manufacturer or representative of the system that you are interested in.

Lastly, the ability to use on board data acquisition products to help any racer gain an unfair advantage by intentionally illegally manipulating the system is more of a myth than a fact. Don't misunderstand me, the ability to manipulate any electronic device to produce an unintended and illegal result is a possibility, however, every step and action has been taking to all but eliminate this possibility within data acquisition products, including the Autometer Data Logger data acquisition system. Nonetheless, we all know that their will always be those individuals that feel manipulating electronic devices for unintended and illegal results and advantages is completely acceptable and are completely without guilt or reservation in doing so.

With the legality issue somewhat resolved, lets move on to our next topic of the pros and cons of data acquisition systems and the positive and negative impact that they pose in the world of drag racing.

In the highly competitive world of sportsman drag racing today, every edge and advantage that a racer can have over an opponent is crucial! One of the biggest edge factors and greatest advantages that any racer can have is information. Enter the world of high-tech gadgetry, including data acquisition. The information that data acquisition can provide a racer ranges from weather with weather stations to, in this case, information on track conditions all the way to the amount of g-force a car leaves under with an on board data acquisition system. However, all of this information does have a negative side to it.

With the rising cost of drag racing, perhaps the greatest negative factor of data acquisition is incurring more cost. I can remember twenty years ago how our family traveled to local races in a crew cab truck, towing the car on an opened wheel trailer and eating bologna sandwiches. Our throttle stop was a piece of all-thread and current weather was supplied by the radio! Back then, our little portable black and white television was a big thing! Now days, you go to the track and you're surrounded by $150,000 dollar motor homes, $100,000 car haulers, $45,000 racecars and conversations of how the new motor cost $30,000 dollars! However, with this type of money already invested into a racecar operation, how truly negative can another $2400 to $5000 dollars be?

Running neck and neck with cost as a negative factor is the need to now become computer literate. To some people, using a computer might be as second nature as eating, but to others, it could be that one experience that they have never had! Let us remember though, one of the greatest gifts and abilities that we have is the ability to learn and after all, its not like we need to create spread sheets or a powerpoint presentation to reap the benefits of our on board data acquisition system and the information that it will provide! With this in mind, this negative factor should be easy to overcome and conquer.

After this, about the only other negative factor to mention, albeit hard to believe, is the amount of information that a data acquisition can provide. Though it stands to reason that the more information one can obtain concerning their racecar and their racing surroundings, the better at racing one would become. However, sometimes, too much information at onetime can be detrimental and upsetting to ones mental psyche! Again, this too can be overcome by invoking a "moderation" principle, much the same as a new business owner would. Start small and expand slowly, allowing ample time to learn and understand the information, thus resulting in your greatest benefits.

Without being bias, I can honestly say that the weakest positive factor of an on board data acquisition system far out ways the greatest negative factor in multitudes of tens. Why do I say this? Because the statement "the more information a racer can obtain, the better that racer will become" is absolutely, without a single doubt, true.

The Autometer Data Logger data acquisition system allows a racer to acquire a multitude of vastly important information, all of which lead to positive factors and outstanding benefits, pertaining to both car and driver performance. From spinning the tires to knowing exactly where the throttle stop comes on and goes off at, the Autometer Data Logger system can provide the vital information needed to make a racing operation more competitive and successful on and off the track.

Our 17-channel Data Logger data acquisition system comes standard with a single axis accelerometer, engine rpm, driveshaft sensor and software. Each sensor will provide the racer with multiple capabilities, allowing for a wealth of information to be acquired and capable of being diagnosed and adjusted immediately. For example, our single axis accelerometer will measure the actual g-force that a car launches at, dead hooking down track and where the driver got on the brakes, as well as providing other vital information. On the other hand, the engine rpm sensor is capable of tracking information such as launch rpm, stop on and off rpm as well as on and of time, braking, as well as when the driver hit the brakes and how long they braked for.

One of the more unique positive aspects of the Autometer Data Logger data acquisition system is the ability of adding accessory sensors and the ease of upgrading the entire system to a 34-channel system, allowing for the most comprehensive data acquisition system on the market. Outside of the sensors that I have previously mentioned, the system can be configured to fit the needs of the user in areas such as EGT's (up to eight), temperature, shock travel, dual axis accelerometer, rotary travel, voltage, vacuum and pressure sensors. In most cases, once the user starts to add accessories, the typical system usually contains 8 EGT sensors, driveshaft collar and sensor, rpm sensor, shock travel, 25 psi fuel pressure sensor, voltage sensor and in most cases either the dual accelerometer or rotary travel sensor. Once at this stage, a 17-channel system would be complete and if the user wanted even more information they would have to upgrade to a 34-channel system. However, a 17-channel system usually satisfies the need of most sportsman racers and as you can see, provides them with an abundant amount of exact information that they were not capable of obtaining without an on board data acquisition system. Perhaps the most important positive aspect of the entire Autometer Data Logger system is the operating software and the information it alone can provide to the user. The software comes standard with a fully operational log book, track markers, search and find functions and run overlay, along with numerous other functions as well as user-defined fields. Once the information is downloaded from the data acquisition unit into a pc, the user becomes capable of viewing all of the information that the data acquisition system acquired. From this point, the user is able to see actual graphs of the information, where they can track and diagnose the information as needed. If the user decided to use the log book, they would simply log in the information from their time ticket directly into the software and create track markers for that pass, allowing them to actually view where and what the car or driver did at any area of the track during anytime of the pass. Once the user has multiple passes loaded into the system, the run overlay function becomes active and consistency from pass to pass can be examined.

At this time I can only hope that I have provided some useful and productive information concerning data acquisition for all of those that read the article. I would like to thank all of the people at bracket-racing.com for taking a chance and allowing me this greatly appreciated opportunity to write this article. To all of you that took the time to read the article, my deepest thanks goes out to you and again I hope it proved beneficial to you. If any of you would like more information about the Autometer Data Logger data acquisition system, should have any questions, comments, good or bad or just plain want to tell me that I am full of crap, please feel free to email me at On The Button . It is all appreciated and all correspondence will be answered.

Until next time, stay safe, good luck and thank you,

Robert.....

If you're interested in writing an article for tech talk please email bracket-racing@bracket-racing.com We have some great stuff on the way.