Forum: General Topics

Is it possible to use the phone as a lap timer with Trackmyjourney?

The function should be very easy. Just save a position, and log the split times between each time the position is crossed.

Hi,

Currently this is sort of possible though it is admittedly a bit fiddly:-

- First off you need to create a route of the entire racetrack (which may or may not be too easy, depending on what sport you're doing). It needs to be fairly precise so that the phone doesn't think you're going off-route and so stops the routing engne.
- Set the Route to be circular, so that when the last point is reached it automatically starts at the beginning again.
- For the routepoint at the start/finish location set the 'Start New Section' option. Activate the route by pressing the [3] key twice.

Now as you travel round the racetrack a new section will be started each time you reach the start/finish routepoint. You can then view the section stats (effectively lap stats) via the Text/TRACK pages. One big issue with this is that the timing won't be particularly accurate as the actual start point for each section will be in a slightly different location, depending on when TMJ decides that you have reached the routepoint. If you're travelling fast, with the GPS only giving a location once-per-second, this could be a significant error. So it'll be best for longer laps, where split second timing is less crucial.

Incidentally, in the next version there is a new Tools/Waypoint Tools/Waypoint Reached action to start a new track section when the selected waypoint is reached. This should make it much easier than the route method above, though it'll still suffer from the same timing inaccuracies.

If there is any demand for it, I could maybe add some option where you somehow define the start/finish as an actual line in space (probably by defining two waypoints for either end). It could then interpolate a more precise point and time when the line is crossed...

Cheers,
Stephen