Car transponders

[Matt W]

This all sounds odd to me. I fitted my X2 at the end of the 2015 season and have never had to reactivate it or even touch it. It worked fine at Oulton a couple of weeks ago.

I have it wired in with the key mounted in the cockpit.

Edited by Matt W on Monday 3rd April 18:07

[BertBert]

I asked mylaps support and just got an answer. They however, answered the question as if is the non-wired version. Quoted the countdown from 5 days to 1 being the charge needed. So I have asked if the same applies to the wired one. I presumed this just fired up when it gets power. I'll relay the reply when I get it.
Bert

[frodo_monkey]

I'd be interested to hear the answer too; mine is the wired version (wired as per the poster above) but when inactive mine flashes red when charged (it flashes at the standard 'one flash equals the amount of days charge left' but in red instead of green).

[Shaun_E]

I think that if it is permanently wired and you leave it connected to the car battery then it remains activated but it will discharge the car battery fairly quickly. As mine is in a Caterham with a 16 Ah battery I have to use the battery cut off switch to disconnect the battery when not in use. The X2 then discharges and when recharged needs to be reactivated.
Like everything in this world, they've moved to a subscription model to keep the money rolling in - the only way they can manage this is to force a periodic reactivation. The only upside is that the upfront purchase cost is much lower (see the price of 2nd hand permanent transponders).

[Henry Fiddleton]

Hi all,

Getting my X2 transponder wired in today.

In terms of location, is under the bonnet the normal/best place for it to be located?

Thanks,
Kam

[BertBert]

So when asked, mylaps support said nothing about reactivating, just recharging from a PC or a charger. Curious.

Regarding fitting (which will happen Thursday), my question is whether you need to be able to see the race key. There's no spare space on the dash, so it'll have to go somewhere else. Does that matter?

Bert

Henry Fiddleton said:

Hi all,

Getting my X2 transponder wired in today.

In terms of location, is under the bonnet the normal/best place for it to be located?

Thanks,
Kam

[Henry Fiddleton]

Hi,

Well the silver data part is getting fitted inside the car on mine (from the kill switch), and the transponder itself is in the engine bay.

Thanks,
Kam

[foz01]

I have an X2 from an LMP2 car that i don't use, if anyone wants it drop me a note..

[88racing]

No matter how many times I visit their "speedhive" site I can't get it to show my results - always just says "There are no results for your account". Glad TSL don't agree.

[Shaun_E]

Racekey can be fitted anywhere - no need to be able to see it from the drivers seat.
Transponder itself has to have a clear sight of the track surface. On the Caterham it is typically mounted on the steering rack bridge.

[BertBert]

Happy to report that it all worked well with no need for any reactivation.
Cheers
Bert

[Bayston]

I've got the X2 Direct power fitted in my car. I leave it connected constantly and also leave the racekey attached too. its been fitted for the best part of a year never disconnected and even been connected with no battery power on it at all for 5 months when I rebuilt it over the winter and it worked perfectly at Donington last weekend, never had to do anything with it.

[BertBert]

I asked them about this. The answer is that it only works if the 'race organisers' use their software to upload the results.

88racing said:

No matter how many times I visit their "speedhive" site I can't get it to show my results - always just says "There are no results for your account". Glad TSL don't agree.

I have no idea if TSL/MST etc are planning on doing that.

Bert

[Soul Reaver]

I would add in here that recently i noticed that the unit on the car started flashing 5 times every second. This is the bit on the M8 connector where the cable goes into it. Multiple little lights round it.

I figured out after much searching that after a while on the car it disconnects from the race key so I took my race key off the car and plugged it into my lappy. It wouldn't connect and then I found out that the USB cable supplied is crap.

Finally got it connected to the laptop and re activated it and then it was all fine.

[mattnoss]

Thought I'd add my brief experience of the new transponders.
Mine has been left permantley connected in the car (but not powered up) and I have done two races now approximately 4 weeks apart and I've had no problems so far, not had to touch anything after the initial subscription, download and registration.

[BertBert]

Is yours the wired or battery version?

Soul Reaver said:

I would add in here that recently i noticed that the unit on the car started flashing 5 times every second. This is the bit on the M8 connector where the cable goes into it. Multiple little lights round it.

I figured out after much searching that after a while on the car it disconnects from the race key so I took my race key off the car and plugged it into my lappy. It wouldn't connect and then I found out that the USB cable supplied is crap.

Finally got it connected to the laptop and re activated it and then it was all fine.

[Soul Reaver]

Mine is direct wired in Bert. when I took the race key off and got it connected it also wanted to update its firmware which i did.

[BertBert]

I guess you didn't test it by just powering up and going racing?

[Zoobeef]

Mines a rechargeable one. I charge it up the day before the race from the wall, check the green lights flashing when its finished and put it back on the car.

How often do they do firmwear updates as I haven't connected it to a laptop since I first got it?

[MR2_SC]

On rechargeable ones, the green lights flash represents the number of days charge left (ie 5 flashes = 5 days).

I charge and fit mine on the Thursday and it's plenty of charge to cover the whole race weekend - still going strong well past the weekend. It doesn't need reconnecting to the laptop either.