KartIntelligence Mychron4 Tips

The minimum laptime function is handy for very specific situations, but can cause really difficult problems if you play around with it and forget you did so, like me!

The minimum laptime function sets the minimum amount of time that can pass before the Mychron accepts another split time.  It’s useful for people using infra red beacons, when there are a number of beacons at a track etc, but it’s rarely useful for tracks with magnetic strips or when you use GPS timing.

So, if you are having any problems with your Mychron4 the first thing to check is that your minumum laptime function hasn’t been set too high.  Mine was set at 46 seconds and the default setting is 3.  So if it’s higher than 3 set it back down again.

I never used to have problems with collecting lap times and splits from my mychron until I started using GPS and ebox to data analysis.  Then I noticed that when a magnetic strip was missed it totally mis-aligned my data, which quickly started to do my brain in.

These days I make sure that the magnetic pick up is mounted centrally on the floor tray so that we reduce the chance of missing a magnetic strip.  It seems that on many tracks after a bit of wear and tear the strips sometimes don’t cover the full width of the track, so if you run a bit bit wide you can miss a strip especially if the magnet is mounted on one side of the kart.

So mount it centrally and you should eliminate the problem.  The other solution is to use GPS for all your lap and split times

If you run a Mychron 4 with any attachments at all you’ll find it eats through batteries in no time.  If you rely on the little 9v batteries that run the Mychron 4 unit to power the whole system you will be let down pretty soon.

By far the best solution is to plug your Mychron into an external power source, but I don’t like plugging the data gear into the kart battery in case it drains it and ruins the race.  I’ve also tried using extra little 12v lead acid batteries which seem to get shaken to death!

My latests battery is from a radio control model shop, and so far its been great.  I use a 12v NiMh battery pack, and I carry a 9.6v spare with me all the time.  The battery cost me £20 and a proper charger for it was £15.  That kit has ended all my battery related problems.