PA Hillclimb

Has anyone used a Traqmate at the hills with any success? Seems to me there is likely to be some signal blocking due to trees and steep hills.
George

George,
I never used Traqmate, but I have used a GPS on the hills and have had no problem. Usually trees do not present a problem for GPS units.

The president of Traqmate assured me it will work on the hills. It does not need constant satellite contact. The 3 accelerometers can 'map' the progress if and when satellite contact is temporarily lost. This is all theoretical but it makes sense. I have no practical experience with the unit.
Bob D'Amore

Please, keep me informed with your progress.
Dave Y.

I was able to demo the traqmate last weekend at a tt I ran at Beaverun. It was a great tool for analizing my laps and see where I could improve. I also once again realize that I need some more brake power on the tracks. I'm spoiled without having to use the brakes all that hard and for very long on the hills. I'm going to hopefully have one for next season to try on the hills. That is one cool toy to have. I'm sold!

I have used Traqmate at 4 of our events - Pagoda, Giant's, Polish Mtn and Duryea. The results: Would you believe 198.75 MPH at Duryea, or 160.23 MPH at Polish Mountain in 3rd gear? Neither did I, and I got in contact with Glenn Stephens at Traqmate who is working on my problem. Apparently if the GPS signal is lost, the accelerometers cannot crutch it that far and the readings get weird. I also got some 11 mph readings at Duryea (which might explain my times).

Glenn is not sure whether I'm losing the GPS signal because of a faulty antenna or because of terrain shielding. He's sending me a new antenna which I'll try at Weatherly.

I think I got good data at Pagoda and fair data at Giant's. But the data from Polish Mtn and Duryea was quite spotty. I got no course maps at the last two either. Without the maps it's really hard to know where you are on a long course like Duryea.

I will keep you posted. I think Traqmate cares and will work to solve my problems, but for now it is just an entertaining curiosity bolted beneath my cowl.

Brgds,
Bob D'Amore

Thanks Bob, great information. I won't be surprised if it is interferance. Radar had you a little less than 198 mph. I'll wait for your next report.

Dave Y