Eagle Tree Car Data Recorder - Manual (Page 9)

Copyright © 2003 Eagle Tree Systems, LLC
http://www.eagletreesystems.com
Page 9
Event Codes in the “EventCode” field are as follows (the first one is 0). Note that “internal” errors should be reported to Eagle Tree
Systems:
ERROR_BEGINPOINTER_INVALID - internal,
ERROR_ENDPOINTER_INVALID - internal,
ERROR_INIT_POINTERS_INVALID - internal,
ERROR_INITIALIZE_FAILED - internal,
ERROR_CANT_SEND_HEADER - internal,
ERROR_CANT_SEND_ANALOG_PACKET - internal,
ERROR_CANT_SEND_DATA_PACKET - internal,
ERROR_BATTERY_LOW – battery has fallen below a safe level for an extended period of time,
ERROR_BATTERY_DEAD – battery has fallen below a critical level for an extended period of time – recorder will shut
itself down in this case,
ERROR_RESTART – the recorder has been restarted normally,
ERROR_NESTED_INT_DISABLE - internal,
ERROR_ILLEGAL_INT - internal,
ERROR_LOW_BAT_RESTART – the recorder has been restarted due to a brownout,
ERROR_SERVO_GLITCH_MISSED – a servo pulse was missing,
ERROR_SERVO_GLITCH_SHORT – a servo pulse was shorter than 740uSec,
ERROR_SERVO_GLITCH_LONG – a servo pulse was longer than 2.25mSec,
ERROR_MAX_ERROR
Email us if you need more information on the file format.
Happy Racing!!
Troubleshooting
Below is a list of problems that may be encountered, and steps to remedy them. If your particular issue is not addressed by the
below, see the Car Support page
at http://www.eagletreesystems.com/Support/support.html .
Issue: My PC does not recognize the Recorder.
Solution: Try to eliminate the problem in the following ways:
o Disconnect all other USB peripherals from your PC (if possible) and try the Recorder again.
o Try the Recorder on a different PC. If it works, there may be a misconfiguration with your PC.
o Try the Recorder with a different USB cable, if you have one. If this works, your cable has been damaged.
o Try rebooting your PC – occasionally USB support gets disabled with some PCs.
o Try the other USB connector on you PC if it has two.
o Ensure that USB is enabled within your Operating System by checking in Device Manager. You’ll need to see your
Windows™ documentation to determine how to do this on your particular OS version.
Issue: I have a fully charged battery, but the recorder frequently shows “Low Battery Restart” Notifications when playing back data.
Solution: The recorder shuts down immediately if the power goes below 4.35 volts for more than a few milliseconds, and logs this
occurrence when the power returns to above 4.35 volts. Some less expensive car BECs use voltage dividers rather than regulators to
supply BEC power, which means that as the main pack voltage drops, the BEC voltage drops proportionally. Also, some
motors/ESCs draw so much power during acceleration that the BEC power drops below 4.35 volts momentarily. This could also
happen with nitro cars running if the servo movements draw enough power on startup to momentarily drop the voltage below 4.35
volts. See the section in the manual above on installing the optional battery backup harness if this problem persists and affects your
data collection.
Issue: I am seeing servo jitter or observing reduced range during range checking, after installing the Recorder.
Solution:
Chances are that RF interference is being channeled from your engine or other noise source, through your recorder, and to your
receiver. Spark ignition engines have more of a problem with this than nitro or electric, due to the RFI generated by the ignition
circuitry. There are a few possibilities to remedy this.
•
Ferrite cores can often be used to filter out the RF interference. Snap-on RF ferrite cores are available from Eagle Tree
Systems, Radio Shack or other sources. Often a single ferrite snapped around all the wires leading from the engine will
eliminate this problem.
•
If a single ferrite does not remedy the situation, an additional ferrite snapped around all the servo Y cables provides
additional filtering.