ImmersionRC LapRF Personal Edition User manual

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LapRFPersonalTimingSystem
PreliminaryOperator'sManual
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Rev0.99-May2017
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Specifications
5.8GHzRFDetection
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Frequency
5.3-6.0GHz
ProgrammableAttenuation
0-32dB
Antenna
Customlinearlypolarized(SuitableforLHCP,RHCP,Linearuse)
Channels
Arbitrary(definedbyconnectedapp.)
Pilots
1-8,dependinguponrequiredprecisionandgatespeed
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Mechanical
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Dimensions
L=100mm,W=100mm,H=25mm
Weight
121g
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Battery
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Cell
18650,2600mAh,3.7Vnominal
Consumption
~300mA@3.7V
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Bluetooth
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Standard
BLE,BluetoothSmart
Antenna
InternalCE-compliant,orexternaldipoleforextrarange(upto50m)
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AppSupport
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Platforms
iOSandAndroid
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SoftwareInterface
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Ports
BluetoothWireless,andUSBWired
Protocol
LapRFCommsProtocol(availableuponrequestfordevelopers)
PCSoftware
LiveTimescoringenginelateJune2017
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Introduction
TheLapRFPersonalEditionisthefirstinafamilyofracetimingsystemsfromImmersionRC.
LapRFtechnologyusestheemitted5.8GHzRFfromracequadcopters(orfixedwingaircraft)to
detectapassagethroughthestart-finishgate.
Differentfromotherofferingsonthemarket,theLapRFusescustomtimingreceiverswithspecially
designedantennastoensurethatonlyquadswhichpassthroughthe‘beam’aretimed,andother
sourcesofinterferenceareignored.
AllthatisrequiredtousetheLapRFinaraceistoprogramtheband,andchannelthateachpilotwill
use,placethetimerinthestart/finishgate,andgofly!Notranspondersrequired.
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GettingStarted
ChargingtheBattery
UsingastandardUSBMicrocablechargethetimingpuckforatleast3hoursbeforeuse.
Ok,sonobodyactuallywantstodothis…thebatteryisdeliveredapprox.70%charged,andwon’tbe
damagedifthetimerispoweredup,andafewlapsflown.Donotrunitforlongthoughbeforechargingitto
preventpermanentdamagetothebattery.
App.Download
Searchfortheterm‘LapRF’ineithertheiOSApp.store,ortheGoogleplaystore.
Downloadthefreeapp.andinstall.
PoweringOn
TopowerontheLapRF,pressandholdthepowerbutton,locatedontheundersideofthetimer,for
about4secondsuntiltheLEDslightup,andtheLapRFbeeps.
Topoweroff,repeatthisprocedure.
ConnectingtotheLapRF
iOS:Openthe‘RaceSetup’pageoftheLapRFapp,andselectyourtimer’sID(shownonthelabelon
thebottomofthetimer)fromthelistshown.
The‘StartRace’iconontheRacepageshouldgogreentoindicateagoodconnection.
ConfiguringtheBands/Channels
OncetheLapRFisconnected,clickonthe‘LapRFSetup’iconandconfigureyourbandsandchannels.
Theswitchontheleftenables/disableseachpilotslot,besuretodisableunusedslotsformaximum
accuracy.
Oncethebandandchannelhavebeenselected,thefrequencyisdisplayed.
Usethepowerswitchtoselectthepowerlevelthatyouwillberunning.
Clickthe‘WriteSettingstoLapRF’buttontoprogramthetime.Notethatoncetheseare
programmed,thesettingswillpersistevenwhenthetimerispowercycled.
Finally,Race!
ClickontheRacebutton,andthen‘StartRace’.
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‘GogglesDown,Thumbsup’
JoeScully-Sometimein2015
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Placement
ThelapRF’sintegratedpatchantennaformsabeamwhichemitsfromthetopoftheproduct.
Idealplacementisinthecenterofthegate,butthatdoesexposeittostrikesfromlow-flying(high
speed)racers.
Asmallholeinthegroundworkswelltoprotectitforgrasstracks,orwherethisisnotpossible,
eitherprotectthetimerfromstrikesplacingasolidobjectinfrontofit,orplacethetimerata45
degreeanglefromonecornerofthegate.
WhenlayingouttracksforRFtiming,avoidpartsofthetrackwhichcomeclosetothetiminggateto
preventfalsereadings.
Forstartgridpositioning,placeitatleast5mfromthegatetoensurethatthefirstcrossingis
registered.
BatteryCharging
Theinternal18650li-ionbatterymaybechargedbysimplyconnectingthepucktoaUSBpower
sourceusingastandardmicro-Bcable.
Themaximumchargecurrentisapprox.800mA,whichresultsinachargetimeofalittlemorethan3
hours.
Forextendeduse,the18650maybeeasilyswappedoutandreplacedwithafullychargedpack.
WARNING:18650batteriescanbeextremelydangerousifmishandled.Keeping
unprotectedbatteriesinyourpocket,especiallywithothermetallicobjects,canresultinan
explosion,andsevereburns.
Alwaysuseaprotectivecarryingcasewhentransportingthesecells.
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Whenpurchasingbatteries,name-brandcellsfromreputablesourcesarehighlyrecommended.Many
ofthe‘budget’cellsavailablefromonlineresellersmaynotbeassafeasgenuinecells.
BatteryLife
Thesupplied2600mAhcellshouldsufficeforapprox.8hoursofracing.Asthecellvoltagereduces,
thegatewillautomaticallyturnoff,afterbeepingtowarntheuserapprox.5minutesbefore.
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iOSApplicationforiPhoneandiPad
MainScreen
Themainscreenshowsthelaptimes,includingaverage,best,andtotaltimes,foreachactivepilot.
Timesingreenarethebestlaptimesforeachpilot.
Note:Whenatimingsystemisnotconnected,touchingthelargepilotnumberontheleftsideofthescreen
willcreateamanualtime,andcanbeusedtoevaluatetheapp.
Thecolorifthe‘StartRace’buttoncurrentlyindicatesavalidconnectiontothelapRF.Redforno
connection,Greenforagoodconnection.
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LapRFSetup
ThelapRFsetuppageiswherethenumberofactivepilotsisset,plusthebandandchannelthateach
pilotisusing.
Inaddition,thepowerlevelusedfortherace(allpilotsshouldideallyusethesamevTxpower)isset
here,alongwitha‘sensitivitytweak’whichworksabitliketheexposurecorrectiononmosthigh-end
cameras.
Ifyouaremissinglaps,increasesensitivity,ifyouaregettingfalsehits,decreaseit.
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Thisisagoodtimetotalkaboutpilotcount,anditseffectonresolution/accuracy/gatespeed.
Thepersonaltimehasasingletimingmodule,whichscanseachoftheactivechannels.
Whenasinglepilotisenabled,theRFsignalis‘sampled’atthemaximumrate,andsupportsquads
flyingthroughthestart/finishgateatover160km/h.
Whenasecondpilotisenabled,thetimingmodulehastotogglebetweenthetwochannels,reducing
theaccuracyofeachchannel,anddecreasingmaximumgatespeed.
Inpractice,for250sizedquads,withpilotsoftypicalskilllevel,4pilotscaneasilyshareasinglelap
timer.
Forslowerquads,tiny-whoopclassforexample,evenmorepilotslotsmaybeenabled.
Forthebestaccuracyat200km/h+gatespeeds,andupto16pilots,thelapRFEventsystemisa
betterchoice,andshouldbeusedforlargerevents.AvailabilityJuly2017.
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RaceSetup
TheRaceSetuppageiswheremiscellaneousracesettings/preferencesareconfigured.
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RaceStartDelay
Configurethedelaybetweenhittingthe‘StartRace’buttonandtheracestarting.Useittogivetime
togetyourgogglesonbeforeflying.
StartTimeFrom
FPVracesareusuallyeitherconfiguredtostartfromthetone(startgridispositionedafterthe
Start/Finishgate),orfrom‘FirsttoGate’,wherethestartgridispositionedbeforeit.
Withthelatter,laptimesareforfulllaps,includingthefirstlap.
RaceType
Forraceswithafixednumberoflaps,select‘LapCount’,andsetthenumberoflapstoberaced.
Forraceswhicharefixed-time,select‘FixedTime’andbesuretoentertheRacetime.
ForPracticeevents,select‘Practice’,theracewillcontinuetorunandrecordlaptimesuntilyour
LiPoscroak.Notethatonlythefirst8timeswillbeshownontheRacepage.
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Diagnostics
Thediagnosticspageshouldn’tnormallyberequired,butcanbeausefultoolduringdebugging.
TheRSSIlevelofeachconfiguredpilotslotisshown.Poweronvideotransmittersandwalkthem
throughthegatetoensurecorrectconfigurationofthelapRF,andthevideotransmitteritself.
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Bands,Channels,andFrequencies
TheapplicationswhichsupportthelapRFdefinethebandsandchannelsthatareavailableforarace.
Allofthecommonlyusedbandsarepresent.
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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
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L
5362
5399
5436
5473
5510
5547
5584
5621
LowBand*
F
5740
5760
5780
5800
5820
5840
5860
5880
IRC/FS
R
5658
5695
5732
5769
5806
5843
5880
5917
RaceBand
E
5705
5685
5665
5645
5885
5905
5925
5945
BandE
B
5733
5752
5771
5790
5809
5828
5847
5866
BandB
A
5865
5845
5825
5805
5785
5765
5745
5725
BandA
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Note:Thebandthatwerefertoas‘LowBand’isnotlegalinmostcountriesworldwide
withoutanappropriatelicense.Inmanycountriesaspecialeventlicensemaybeobtainedfor
officialracesinareaswhereinterferencemaybeminimized.
Pleasecheckwithyourlocalradio-communicationauthoritybeforeusingthisband.
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IncreasingBluetoothRange
Theinternalbluetoothmoduleusesaself-adhesivedipoleantenna,fixedtotheinsideoftheproduct.
ThisantennausesastandardU.FLconnector,whichmayberemoved,andreplacedwithanexternal
antenna,bymeansofa10cmU.FLtobulkheadSMAcable.
Whendisassemblingthecase,asmallplastic‘blankingplate’mayberemoved,toopenupthehole
throughwhichtosecuretheSMAconnector.
Fortheantenna,theFatShark2.4GHzdipoleworkswell:
http://www.getfpv.com/2-4-ghz-2-5-dbi-antenna-tested.html
Andfortherequiredcable,U.FLtoSMA:
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/amphenol-rf-division/336313-12-0150/ARF2362-ND/
5417988
Note:ImmersionRCwillbesupplyingakitwiththerequiredantennaandcableinthenearfuture,butinthe
interestofspeedtomarket,theabovecombinationwillworkwell.
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Certification
TheCE,FCC,andothercertificatesfortheintegratedBluetoothmoduleareavailablefromhere:
https://www.immersionrc.com/fpv-products/laprf/
Notethatthesecertificatesonlyapplywhentheinternalantennaisused.
FirmwareUpdate
- Installafullychargedbattery
- PressandholdtheBindbutton,whilepressingthePowerbutton
- RuntheImmersionRC‘VortexConfigurator’application
- PresstheFlashFirmwarebutton,andpointtothefirmwarefiledownloadedfromthe
ImmersionRCwebsiteproductpagefortheLapRF.
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Troubleshooting
Problem:LEDsarewhiteonpower-up
Solution:IndicatesanissuewiththeprogrammingoftheuniquedeviceID,pleasecontactsupport.
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