>My proposal is to recognize that we can't be that accurate and round times
>to 0.01 seconds which represents 5 1/4" at our typical speeds. The rules
>already have a tiebreaker procedure - you take the next best runs and
>compare them. That would reward the consistently fast driver.
I really agree with Glen on this. When people ask me if their Radio Shack
(or some other less than precise mechanism) triggers will work I point out
that there are many factors that affect run times and whatever system they
use is the "standard" and they shouldn't feel like they are not doing an
adequate job. As long as the timing system isn't going out of it's way to
reduce timing integrity, when car "A" beats car "B" then car "A" wins. Of
course, you should get the most accurate hardware as your budget can bear.
Craig, Windows 95/98/NT are "pre-emptive" multitasking systems, so a program
does NOT have to give up control for another to run. Each task gets some
time to do it's job. With Windows 3.1 and earlier you could take control and
never release it if you so choosed. Last time I heard Windows CE didn't have
the the guaranteed interrupt latency to be accurate for our needs. CE is
unlikely to ever see widespread use in the PC market, and since I am trying
to write a program that will run on a "normal" PC I wouldn't develop a
product on it. I still think a VxD could do the job since it runs at ring 0
(i.e. it can do anything). Also, one design goal of Accucros was to make it
easy to learn and use. My experience has been that most clubs don't have
people as dedicated as you to run a complex system, they want to sit anyone
down in front of the computer and have them running the system in minutes.
One factor in acheiving this is to reduce the number of "features" to a bare
minimum. That being said, I am considering a design for a very complete
system that might appeal to your club. Getting the timing done under
Windows95/98 is essential to completing this.
Gary
Gary Poole
GPSoftware
P.O. Box 421
Liberty Lake, WA 99019
Phone/Fax (509)532-1702
E-Mail: gpsoftware@icehouse.net
Web: www.icehouse.net/gpsoftware
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