Anyone else ever had issues with poor GPS quality on Alfano? I tried to research this weekend at the track and found zero resources.
Our weekend at TSRS was painful. A big part of our challenge was poor data acquisition all weekend. Our Alfano would not log laps correctly. The GPS signal was inconsistent and so far off the unit didn’t know where it was on track accurately enough to log a complete lap. The unit ended up logging laps as short as 45 seconds and as long as 3 minutes 45 seconds. Needless to say, it made reading or comparing data session to session impossible.
I wiped all log files, checked for updates, even did a full factory reset. We turned it on before going to grid, we turned it on while on grid. Nothing seemed to help.
Love the interface, but if the data is garbage it is of no use. Searching for Mychron before our next practice session in 3 weeks.
Is there a minimum lap time function? Sometimes if you have the minimum lap time set too high, it’ll cut off laps or combine laps not in that range. I know that’s often a common oversight on Mychrons sometimes too. It makes the GPS confused.
This might sound silly, but hear me out… If you were having problems on this past Saturday or Sunday, there was a G4 (extreme) coronal mass ejection. They can serioulsy mess with GPS signals. I was at NCMP on Sunday as was getting drop outs left and right on my Mychron and I don’t usually.
Not totally sure if that was my issue, but I’m going to blame the sun for now; easier than sending it back to AIM.
Honestly I think going with the MyChron is a good choice. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the Alfano, but it doesn’t seem like there’s any unified support or local understanding of it.
So…when people have questions it goes unaddressed leading to user outcomes like this…
Also Chuck if your teammates use MyChron wouldn’t you want the same device to be able to compare data?
Precisely. We had the Alfano for 2 years with mixed results and occasional frustrations like last weekend. Nothing ever as bad though. Just didn’t want to drop $500 on a data acquisition system if I already had one, otherwise we would have gone Mychron at the beginning of the year when we joined a team. Since we are replacing now, it only makes sense to match the team for data comparison and sharing.
I personally haven’t had any issues with my Alfano other than EGT sensors breaking, but nothing with the unit itself. I really like the Alfano compared to the Mychron myself, but it’s all personal preference. The battery life alone for me makes the Alfano much nicer.