Spec Boxster Build

[thstone]

Originally Posted by jcslocum

Great video Tom!! Going off is never fun :-) It seems better out west tho as there is dirt not grass. Here you go off and once you leave the pavement, it feel like the car is accelerating with the low friction of he grass. Stopping seems a LIFE time!

Keep up the posts and vids, I love and live vicariously thru them.

Yes, the dirt and gravel is much more forgiving than grass and there isn't usually much to hit (Armco's)!

[thstone]

Starting a 3-day race weekend at Willow Springs Raceway! Practice today, two races Sat, and one race Sunday. Thanks to Brad Keegan and Tyson Schmidt for race prep at Pro Motorsports in Burbank, CA.

[thstone]

Today went pretty well!

Qualified for the first race today with a personal best time - but that still put me 5th on the grid (of 11 cars). Dang, its competitive!

I got a good start and followed the car in front of me into the clear while a few other cars got held up behind a car that didn't get a good start. This moved me up to 2nd for a bit but fell back to 4th when a couple of the faster cars caught and passed me. I did put all four wheels off into the desert at the exit of Turn 9 but was able to get it back onto the course and drive it away with out losing any spots.

In the second race, I started 4th and and finished 4th. I had an epic battle with the #318 driven by fellow forum member bkovac who was in 3rd. I stayed on his bumper the entire race and tired to make a pass but couldn't get it done. That is the kind of racing that makes it really fun.

No video today in either race. I just couldn't get it to turn on. Will try updating the firmware tonight to see if that might fix the problem.

One more race tomorrow!

[bkovac]

All i can say Tom is that the front of your car looked so much better in my rear view mirror during the 2nd race, than the rear of your car looked thru my windshield during the 1st race. Great Job, Good Luck today

[thstone]

Another exciting day!

This morning I qualified 2nd. Just before the race, the driver on pole decided to start from the back and work his way up to the front, so that moved me to P1.

I got a great start and was able to pull a short gap on the field and led about half of the race. I faded towards the end of the race and finished 4th.

Overall, it was good weekend having reached my near-term goal of keeping up with the group at the front of the pack. Now, I just need to work on staying out front a little bit longer.

[jsceash]

Originally Posted by thstone

Another exciting day!

This morning I qualified 2nd. Just before the race, the driver on pole decided to start from the back and work his way up to the front, so that moved me to P1.

I got a great start and was able to pull a short gap on the field and led about half of the race. I faded towards the end of the race and finished 4th.

Overall, it was good weekend having reached my near-term goal of keeping up with the group at the front of the pack. Now, I just need to work on staying out front a little bit longer.

Cheers!

[thstone]

This SD card cost me 3 hours of troubleshooting Sunday! (damn those things are small now!)

After not getting any of the three past races on video, I wanted to finally get to the source of the problem. Previously every time that I thought that I had it fixed, it happened again (and again).

I spoke to Brad Roberts and he said to update everything to the latest firmware and then if its still a problem, its the SD card.

Now, I have great respect for Brad but thought it was weird that an SD card that had worked perfectly fine for two years all of a sudden starts to fail? I had never heard of this - SD cards don't wear out (at least not in this type of consumer application). But, what the heck, I wanted to get this working once and for all.

I started by updating the camera firmware and the configuration app to the latest versions. Easy, breezy.

Next, I configured a test setup that worked the same way that the camera is controlled in the car (the camera is supposed to turn on automatically when 5vdc power is applied through the mini-USB connector and turn off when power is removed. The Traqmate data system supplies the power automatically so the video and data is synchronized).

The camera worked fine for the first two rounds of tests (the camera automatically creates an individual 1.1GB segmented video file roughly every 10 mins. I also started and stopped the camera a few times to re-create track sessions).

Close to the end of the second test, it simply stopped recording and lost all of the configuration data so all subsequent attempts to get the camera to record were fruitless. This is exactly what kept happening at the track. I had to re-format the SD card and re-set all of the config settings to get the camera to come back to life.

The good news is that I was able to re-create the problem and it looks like its either the data card or the camera itself.

Then I swapped the old SD card for a new Patriot 32GB Class 10 card and started re-running the tests. Thus far, I've been able to record almost 50GB of video without any problems.

Testing will continue through the week until I feel confident that it will work. Then I'll do some in-car testing this weekend just to make sure.

I think that I'll smash the old SD card with a sledge hammer just to make me feel better.

[seningen]

Flash memory actually does have a wear out time. They are designed to compensate for memory that does wear out by remapping locations and other techniques.

How does flash memory work? - Explain that Stuff

In addition, all semiconductor devices have long term reliability degradation. In the simplest terms, the transistors age and slow down. This is statistically compensated for with increased voltage, but sometimes the increase is insufficient for the aging. Sometimes the wires connecting transistors break down due to electro-migration.
These are all factors that go into the design and working life estimations of electronics

Mike

Originally Posted by thstone

This SD card cost me 3 hours of troubleshooting Sunday! (damn those things are small now!)

After not getting any of the three past races on video, I wanted to finally get to the source of the problem. Previously every time that I thought that I had it fixed, it happened again (and again).

I spoke to Brad Roberts and he said to update everything to the latest firmware and then if its still a problem, its the SD card.

Now, I have great respect for Brad but thought it was weird that an SD card that had worked perfectly fine for two years all of a sudden starts to fail? I had never heard of this - SD cards don't wear out (at least not in this type of consumer application). But, what the heck, I wanted to get this working once and for all.

I started by updating the camera firmware and the configuration app to the latest versions. Easy, breezy.

Next, I configured a test setup that worked the same way that the camera is controlled in the car (the camera is supposed to turn on automatically when 5vdc power is applied through the mini-USB connector and turn off when power is removed. The Traqmate data system supplies the power automatically so the video and data is synchronized).

The camera worked fine for the first two rounds of tests (the camera automatically creates an individual 1.1GB segmented video file roughly every 10 mins. I also started and stopped the camera a few times to re-create track sessions).

Close to the end of the second test, it simply stopped recording and lost all of the configuration data so all subsequent attempts to get the camera to record were fruitless. This is exactly what kept happening at the track. I had to re-format the SD card and re-set all of the config settings to get the camera to come back to life.

The good news is that I was able to re-create the problem and it looks like its either the data card or the camera itself.

Then I swapped the old SD card for a new Patriot 32GB Class 10 card and started re-running the tests. Thus far, I've been able to record almost 50GB of video without any problems.

Testing will continue through the week until I feel confident that it will work. Then I'll do some in-car testing this weekend just to make sure.

I think that I'll smash the old SD card with a sledge hammer just to make me feel better.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by seningen

Flash memory actually does have a wear out time. They are designed to compensate for memory that does wear out by remapping locations and other techniques.

How does flash memory work? - Explain that Stuff

In addition, all semiconductor devices have long term reliability degradation. In the simplest terms, the transistors age and slow down. This is statistically compensated for with increased voltage, but sometimes the increase is insufficient for the aging. Sometimes the wires connecting transistors break down due to electro-migration.
These are all factors that go into the design and working life estimations of electronics

Mike

Thanks Mike - good info!

Still strange that the old SD card is problematic since it only got used about 100 times a year. But with that being said, the new SD card is working fine thus far with almost 100GB written/read without any problems.

Lesson learned.

[thstone]

I tested the camera in the car this morning and no joy.

Started working my way thru the system and ultimately found that the TraqDash unit that controls the camera operation was only outputting 1vdc instead of 5vdc. No surprise that the camera wasn't working!

I went to the TraqMate website and found that they announced in July that they were halting production and unfortunately, they appear to be in the process of closing down. The website said they will still provide repairs and support so I sent them a message explaining the problem.

I'd rather not change the data system, so just in case TraqMate can't repair the unit I bought a 12vdc to 5vdc convertor module. I can tie the input to the 12vdc power going to the TraqMate and then wire the 5vdc output direct to the camera (bypassing the TraqDash).

This should fix the problem one way or another.

[bkovac]

Tom, I have a traqmate I took out of my car 2 years ago

[thstone]

Originally Posted by bkovac

Tom, I have a traqmate I took out of my car 2 years ago

Thanks! PM or text me with what you'd like for it.

[thstone]

There was a recent Spec Boxster racing incident where the 986 engine cover came loose during an incident and allowed fire in the engine compartment to enter the passenger compartment.

Thus, Spec Boxster race cars are recommended to use the 987 metal engine cover that attaches with screwed fasteners to replace the 986 composite engine cover that uses the quick release clips to help prevent the engine cover from becoming displaced in an incident.

The screw is a Torx T30 head.

Here is the OEM parts list:

• 987 engine cover (PN 98751321102)
• Oval-head screw m6 x 16 (PN 99907327902)
• Speed nut M8 (PN 99959186901)

As you can see in the photos, I have everything sitting in my workshop and plan to install next week.

[thstone]

Been working on the data and camera system the past few days...

Unfortunately, TraqMate hasn't been a lot of help. All I get from them is that I need to configure the system properly. Well, I've done that about 15 times and still get the same result - no video!

So, today I installed a 12vdc to 5vdc convertor module. Instead of using switched power, I connected the input to 12vdc constant power and ran it though a dash switch. Then I wired the 5vdc output direct to the cameras (bypassing the TraqDash).

At the same time, I split the output three ways so I can run three cameras simultaneously (one looking forward, one looking rearward, and one looking at me). All three will be controlled (on/off) by a simple dash switch.

This should guarantee video in the future!

[thstone]

Camera install pic's. Cam1 looks forward, Cam2 looks rearward, Cam3 is pointed at the driver.

Bench tested everything yesterday and tested everything in the car today. Lots of video coming at the next race!

Bench testing...


Front and rear cams...


Driver cam... (final mount not installed in photo)

[Chuck W.]

Originally Posted by thstone

Lots of video coming at the next race!

Very Good.... looking forward to it!!

[jaykay]

More Stone movies is a good thing!

[thstone]

The details for the 987 metal engine cover installation can be found here: Cayman or 987 Boxster engine cover on 986 Boxster

[jaykay]

Originally Posted by thstone

The details for the 987 metal engine cover installation can be found here: Cayman or 987 Boxster engine cover on 986 Boxster

Thanks for posting this safety up grade Tom. What is that mysterious black box and strap on your clamshell? I don't think that cover will be popping anytime soon with that serious M8 hardware. We need titanium here!

It looks as if one might be able to mount the speaker box if it is trimmed at the rear edge for the hump. Can't say for sure.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by jaykay

What is that mysterious black box and strap on your clamshell?

If I understand the question correctly, that little black box with the wire is my external GPS receiver for the data system and what might look like a strap is a bracket where the fiberglass hard top bolts through the rear window.