Joel,

I spent some time looking into this in the fall before I bought a
Traqmate setup and I think I’ve got it all figured out. Their website
is not terribly clear; we’ll see if I can do any better.

The Traqmate complete comes with the sensor unit (a.k.a., the brain),
the display, a GPS antenna, and some cabling to connect it all. Out
of the box, this gets you speed, GPS position data, and lateral and
longitudinal Gs. The software to upload and analyze this is available
free on Traqmate’s website and should also come on a CDROM.

There are three things you can add:

1.) RPM (this also gets you the gear selected, since it knows your
speed and you tell it your gear ratios)
2.) Synchronized video
3.) Other sensor input (4 analog sensors and 2 digital)

All of this requires buying some extra stuff.

RPM

If you only want RPM, you can buy the TraqTach add on for $50
(store.traqmate.com/TraqTach-RPM-Input-p/890014.htm). This
gizmo plugs into the TraqMate brain. You then must run a 20 gauge
wire from the TraqTach to a wire feeding the car’s tachometer, a wire
coming from the coil to the DME, or the coil itself. You can tap your
chosen wire with a $0.30 vampire tap
(www.v-leds.com/BlinkerWarning-Fix/Warnin...RE-p7420629-1-3.html).
You can buy vampire taps at any auto parts store, radio shack, etc.
They seem like a pretty ghetto solution, but work ok for this purpose.
I can attest that I’ve had a couple of taps in my 951 for almost 8
years and they haven’t failed or sawed through any wiring yet.

Synchronized Video

At a minimum you need to purchase additional software. The options
are Trackvision (www.trackvision.net/) for $195 or Traqmate’s
TraqStudio for $199
(store.traqmate.com/Traqstudio-Video-Download-p/890024.htm).
Both will allow you to overlay a data dashboard with your video and
output video to youtube, a DVD, etc. TraqStudio is probably the
better choice for Traqmate users, since you can actually analyze the
data and video together. I don’t know how well this works in
practice, but it is theoretically seamless if you have a fast enough
computer. The posts I read on various forums were positive on both
software packages.

You can manually synchronize your video with both products. To do
that, you start your own camera, film your session, and then load both
the data and the video into the software. You then advance the video
to the point where your data and video both show you starting to move
and the software will lock the two together. Done – synchronized
video. Clever people will wave a hand in front of the camera as they
tap the brakes on their warmup lap to create a very obvious
synchronization point.

Traqmate can also automatically turn on and start a Sony video camera
or a Chasecam PDR. This creates automatically synchronized video and
spares Linda or a random passerby the hassle of leaning through your
passenger window on the grid and starting the camera for you. It can
also eliminate lots of useless footage of you in the grid, on your
warmup lap, on your cooldown lap, etc. You will still need to load
both the video and the data into TraqStudio or Trackvision on your
computer – Traqmate cannot integrate the video and data in real time
inside the car. The TraqMate just controls the camera setup like a
remote control.

To get Traqmate to control a Sony camera, you must buy the $249
TraqData HD box
(store.traqmate.com/TraqData-HD-SonyHD-An...M-Input-p/890035.htm).
This thing is the size of a small Post-It pad and includes a cable
that connects to almost any modern Sony camera. It also includes the
RPM capability (i.e., you do not have to buy the TraqTach) and the
ability to add additional sensors (item #3 above).

You connect the Post-It pad to the Traqmate brain. You then connect
the special cable to your Sony camera and the Post-It pad. After you
do that (and a minor software configuration), the Sony camera will
turn on when the Traqmate is turned on. When the Traqmate starts
recording, the Sony camera will start recording. When you turn off
the Traqmate or stop recording, it will do the same to the Sony
camera. This is all achieved because Sony cameras (and many others)
use a standard called LANC that allows a remote control (attached to
the camera with a cable) to turn the camera on and off and initiate
recording. The reason that the TraqData HD box is Sony specific is
the cable – one end of the cable uses a Sony-specific connector
because Sony cameras no longer use the standard LANC connector. I
presume that a standard LANC cable from Radio Shack could be connected
to the TraqData HD and some other brand of camera that has a standard
LANC input instead of the Sony plug to achieve the same thing.

Traqmate has tested their setup with only a couple of Sony cameras,
but it should work with any modern Sony camera that uses the new style
plug (i.e., can be controlled by one of these ->
www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/serv...21665304384#features).
Eric and I use the Sony DCR SX40 family cameras. You can buy these
new for ~$230 or less. I bought a virtually new one on ebay with 8GB
of memory for about $160. It worked great last season on its own – I
haven’t had a chance to test it with the TraqMate yet.

Other Sensor Inputs

If you buy the TraqData HD, you can also add one digital sensor (i.e.,
something that just turns on and off, like the brake lights) and 4
analog sensors (i.e., something with an infinite range, like a
throttle position sensor or a temperature sensor). If you want to
skip the automatic video synchronization or do it with a Chasecam DVR,
you can buy the TraqData II instead for $199
(store.traqmate.com/TraqData-II-ChaseCam-...M-Input-p/890031.htm).
If you do not use it to trigger a camera, you get one extra digital
sensor.

The most useful sensors for driver coaching would be throttle
position, steering position, and brake pressure. While most modern
cars (including the 944 Turbo) have a throttle position sensor that
you can tap into with a vampire tap, the 944 N/A does not. You have
to adapt a sensor from AIM that costs about $120
(www.pegasusautoracing.com/productdetails.asp?RecID=5121) or
build your own. Most Spec Miata guys are in the same boat on that
one, so there’s a fair amount written on the web about the art of
rigging one of these up. Steering wheel position requires a similar
sensor below the steering column, usually attached with a cogged belt.
AIM makes these too. Brake pressure requires a sensor that screws
into the brake line, probably near the master cylinder where a 944S or
944 Turbo has a proportioning valve.

You can also tap into the oil pressure, oil temperature, water
temperature, etc. gauges to record those values. Anything that has a
range between 0V and 5V is fair game – you just measure the range and
then tell the software what the units are.

A final mechanical sensor that could be worthwhile is an aftermarket
wide band O2 sensor. The most reasonable choice for this is the
Innovate LC1 (www.innovatemotorsports.com/products/lc1.php).
This tells you the air fuel ratio under wide open throttle and,
combined with the TraqMate’s horsepower calculator, would allow you to
tweak the factory AFM spring. It also keeps you from having to rely
on a dyno operator’s wide band sensor (they vary) and lets you tune
the AFM using the NASA event dyno, which didn’t have a wideband sensor
at Putnam last year. Installation would just require that Nick welds
an O2 bung onto your exhaust. It’s also possible that the LC1 would
screw right into the factory bung – I don’t know the answer to that
one. Spec Miata guys have had good results tweaking the AFM spring
(their car uses a similar system), so this could be worthwhile. I can
attest from having done something similar with an ’88 BMW M6 that
minor adjustments can have a big impact. People do this all the time
in California to pass smog. Don’t ask me how I know.

Anyway…

These are the options as I understand them. I went ahead and bought
the TraqData HD and the TraqStudio software. I knew that I wanted the
software and the RPM input, so buying the TraqData HD only added
another $175 (remember that we get a discount on this stuff from
Apexperformance.net). Over time I might add the throttle position
sensor, or even the steering sensor if I really get interested in the
data. We’ll see. I will tap into the brake light right off the bat
since it’s free and easy.