Race management for dummies

[hrdrvr]

Our company just bought a giroZ for us guys to play with. We are having a little trouble getting set up for actual racing though. Weve got the Zround (or whatever the windows based one is) running, but dont know if we are understanding everything correctly. On our test races we cant figure out how the race is scored. The guy that is finishing first isnt neccesarily scored as first place and what not.

Tha main thing though, is a lack of instructions, at least in english. We recently downloaded firefox so we could try out FlaCo, but are wondering if thats the best thing. The other guy thats helping me looked at the FlaCo this weekend and said understanding it was harder than Zround.

So Ive come up with a few questions:

Where can I see instructions for the software and hardware in english?

What do the numbers mean in the Zround after/during a race?

How does Zround determine a winner?

What race management software is most commonly used and easy to get support?

[arch2b]

congrats on the purchase and welcome to our delema we recently aquired a giro-z system as well and while we like the hardware (flimsy bridge aside) we found the packaged software or combination of software un-intuitive or combersome in general. if for example we could run something simple like crs with giro-z i would easily recommend the system. until then we continue to plod our way thru attempting to use giro-z, the c'vill club in particular is trying to use it now, headed by spoon.

i second the question, can we use something that is well, graphically intuitive and user friendly for race management other than the included software?

[hrdrvr]

When I saw you were the one who responded I was like great! answers.

I hope this system can become something more useful. There has got to be software out there better than what comes with it. Arent people using this system overseas? They cant be using it with the supplied software.

We would be happy running it just to keep up with one race at a time, but cant even figure that out :P Our long term goals are to be able to have some type of season points championships, but thats looking pretty far out. Im pretty sure I could come up with a simple spreadsheet to calculate standings and what not, but how do extract the info from the current software? I dont know. I dont even know where to start looking, other than here.

[arch2b]

this is all i can provide
general info link

software development site

manufacturers webpage

[makina]

Hi from Madrid (Spain).

We have been using GiroZ for a pair of years but we are using the Linux based software (FLaCo/gzround) and it runs almost perfect. Last version can be downloaded from http://www.technicalrp.com/~giroz

FLaCo/gzround was developed by the manufacturer (www.sigiro.com).

With respect to the Windows based program (ZRound), you can get information from http://www.zround.com. As far as i know, last version contains a quick start guide in English.

ZRound was develpped by Jesús Broceño.

Originally Posted by hrdrvr

Our company just bought a giroZ for us guys to play with. We are having a little trouble getting set up for actual racing though. Weve got the Zround (or whatever the windows based one is) running, but dont know if we are understanding everything correctly. On our test races we cant figure out how the race is scored. The guy that is finishing first isnt neccesarily scored as first place and what not.

Maybe you have a race start in "No lemans" mode, this means that every car has its own stopwatch that is started the first time the car goes under the bridge.

Originally Posted by hrdrvr

Tha main thing though, is a lack of instructions, at least in english. We recently downloaded firefox so we could try out FlaCo, but are wondering if thats the best thing. The other guy thats helping me looked at the FlaCo this weekend and said understanding it was harder than Zround.

Manufacturer said that best option, with respect to reliability, is to use FLaCo/gzround combination, i.e. the Linux option. This is so because the core of Linux is better than the core of Windows for managing time.

Nevertheless, we have also used the Windows option and it works right.

Originally Posted by hrdrvr

Where can I see instructions for the software and hardware in english?

What do the numbers mean in the Zround after/during a race?

How does Zround determine a winner?

What race management software is most commonly used and easy to get support?

Follow previous link for ZRound and this one for FLaCo under Linux: http://www.technicalrp.com/~giroz/

Originally Posted by hrdrvr

What do the numbers mean in the Zround after/during a race?

How does Zround determine a winner?

I think the meaning is the usual one, just take care about the race options.

Originally Posted by hrdrvr

What race management software is most commonly used and easy to get support?

I think both, just mail info AT flaco.org or info AT zround.com

[makina]

Originally Posted by hrdrvr

I hope this system can become something more useful. There has got to be software out there better than what comes with it. Arent people using this system overseas? They cant be using it with the supplied software.

We do

I think the problem is the starting learing curve, in our club, a great guy studied the system and now, for us, it is quite simple to manage a race. Give you three or four races to command the programs.

Anyway, as far as i know (i asked directly to the manufacturer) new software is under development because they are planning some (backward compatible) hardware improvements (usb interface, I supposed, and something about the wire in the transponder) and they will launch new software then.

Hope I helped.

[hrdrvr]

makina - muchas gracias! We tried the linux software out last night. The laptop we are using is just really slow and takes a looong time loading with a disk. The set up really seems a lot better. We still didnt get everything running exacly like wed like too (too many people wanting to drive last night ) but I think we can get this figured out. We are headed in the right direction at least, and there seems to be

I guess the main problem was that I wanted to run it out of windows

Ill check thoses link and will be following the windows based software development.

Thanks again!

[makina]

I am following this post, if you need more information do not hesitate posting your questions.

Regards.

[jbroceno]

Hi "hrdrvr", I know ZRound Suite may be hard to use at the begining. I did this soft in order to help to manage championship management, training, etc in our club (Spinodromo/Madrid/Spain). It was really simple with few options at the beginning but you know users always are requesting new and complex features.

You can download a "Quick Start Guide" here.

Originally Posted by hrdrvr
What do the numbers mean in the Zround after/during a race?

How does Zround determine a winner?

What race management software is most commonly used and easy to get support?

To understand the meaning of numbers in ZRound screen you can choose "english" language in "configuration" window. I'm sure it helps a lot.

ZRound has two types of start races: "Staggered" and "Le Mans".
- In Staggered mode each driver has its own clock which starts the first time the car run under the bridge. Usually you choose "staggered" mode in qualifying heats
- In "Le Mans" mode all drivers have the same clock.

This only controls when the drivers time begin.

But, when the time is gone?. This is controlled by two parameters:
- Race duration: You can choose between time (hours, mins, secs) or a number of laps to go.
- Time to complete the last lap: When the clock completes the race time, drivers has this "grace time" to finish their lap. If you don't want to give this "grace time" simply let it to zero.

Now we have how to start the race and when it finish but ¿who is the winner?.

You can setup two ways to decide it:
- Best lap. The driver with the fastest lap will be the winner.
- Number of laps. The driver with a lapcount bigger will be the winner. If two drivers have the same lapcount then the small "total time" to complete it will be used to choose the winner.

You can see you must understand some "concepts" before to be ready to setup/manage a meeting. Really there are few things but it is important to understand them right. It is easy, you can trust me.

Please read the Quick Start Guide for details.

I don't want to bore you with examples and details about using ZRound & ZRound Manager but if you are interested in using them please don't hesitate to mail to jesus@zround.com. I'll be pleased to help you and I'm sure you will become an expert manager.

Jesús.
PD: I've just edited the post to write the right mail address jesus@zround.com

[hrdrvr]

^ Jesus, Muchas gracias!

I will be checking out the new quick start guide. My boss man just gave me some grief the other day because we havent been trying to figure this thing out :lol: We get off early friday and will have quite a few hours dedicated to getting this thing up, running, and managable. Your hints (and the previous ones posted) should help get us headed in the right direction. I will most likely take addvantage of your email adress and directly ask you any further questions we come up with.

[hrdrvr]

Okay guys, Ive got another Question. Im trying to download the newest version of Zround and I cant. My spanish isnt all that great, so I cant tell exactly what its telling me. Ive registered and verified, but it says I dont have permission to download that information. Please LMK what I can do.

Thanks in advance!

[jbroceno]

Originally Posted by hrdrvr

Okay guys, Ive got another Question. Im trying to download the newest version of Zround and I cant. My spanish isnt all that great, so I cant tell exactly what its telling me. Ive registered and verified, but it says I dont have permission to download that information. Please LMK what I can do.

Thanks in advance!

Hi hrdrvr. Please try to login again and to download the soft.

I don't see any username like "hrdrvr" in ZRound site. What's your login name?

If you cant download the installation package send me a private msg (or mail to jesus@zround.com) with your e-mail and I'll send you the file attached.

Best regards,

Jesús.

[hrdrvr]

Jesus, thank a lot. My CPU just wasnt refreshing. I cleared my history then it went right in. I dont like making post about easily answered questions and I especially dont like posting up my own user errors :rolleye:

I did get in and everything is all good now. I just need to get the laptop to listen and we will be in business. Just for reference, my user name over there is 'Landon'.