These operating notes are a supplement to the Terratrip "Fitting and Operating Instructions" included with your unit. For further details on calibration and general installation and wiring, please consult those instructions.
GENERAL OPERATION
When the unit is switched on, it will display the information which was on the display when the unit was last switched off. As appropriate for the 202 or 303 Plus, the unit remembers Time of Day, Stopwatch, Total and Interval Distances, both Calibration Factors and the probe/factor last in use. To zero all but the factors and probe/factor in use, press and hold the Probe/0 key for three seconds.
CALIBRATION
CAL -Press CAL and the calibration number currently in use is shown. After 3 seconds, the display will revert to that showing before you pressed CAL. Press CAL again within the three seconds, and the other calibration number will be shown. If you do not wish to use this number, press CAL again within three seconds to return to the original number. When the display shows the calibration number you wish to use, simply wait three seconds, the display will revert, and that number will be used.
CAL
SET - Display the number
you wish to change, then press
CAL SET. Enter the calibration
number you wish, using the keypad
as numbered, and then press the
lower CLR. If you make an error,
press the upper CLR and the number
will revert to the original number.
If you enter a number less than
100, an error will be displayed
when you press the lower CLR. Enter
a number equal to or greater than
100 and press the lower CLR to
enter that number.
DISTANCE (202/303)
DIS -
When pressed, the display will
show overall distance on the top
of the display and interval distance
on the bottom of the display.
+/- - When pressed, toggles between counting distance up (+) or down (-). When counting down, a minus (-) sign is shown to the left of the Total distance count.
FRZ - When pressed, the displays freeze. "F" is shown to the left of the Total distance count. Internally, the interval distance is zeroed and re-starts counting while the Total continues counting. On the 303 PLUS, the Average Speed is also zeroed. Press FRZ again and the displays count normally.
DIS SET - This allows you to preset a distance in the Total distance display. Press DIS SET and the Total display shows 0.00. Enter up to 5 digits (using the keypad as numbered), then press the lower CLR. If you make an error, press the upper CLR and re-enter the numbers.
UPPER CLR - Press for 3 seconds to zero the Total display.
LOWER CLR - Press to instantly zero the Interval display.
PROBE - Selects probe 1, probes off or probe 2. The display shows the probe status. Pressing this key for three seconds, zeros the Time of Day, Stopwatch, Total and Interval Distances. TIME (303 Only) TIME - Press this key to enter the time mode. The Time of Day, up to 23:59:59, will be show at the top of the display and the stopwatch, up to 59:59 will be shown at the bottom of the display. An internal switch may be factory set to show time in hundredths, as 23:59.99 and 59.99.
TIME SET - This key is used to enter the time set mode. Press TIME SET and the upper display shows : : . Enter up to 4 digits for the Time of Day. Press the lower CLR at the top of the minute entered and the Time of Day will start counting. If you make an error, press the upper CLR and the display will revert to the time shown before you began the entry. Invalid times will cause an error display upon pressing the lower CLR. Press the upper CLR and begin again.
STOPWATCH - 1) Press the lower CLR to start the stopwatch. 2) Press the lower CLR again to freeze the stopwatch. The display freezes but the stopwatch continues counting internally. 3) Press the lower CLR again, and the display shows the current count in progress. Continue pressing the lower CLR to repeat steps 2 and 3 continuously. Press and hold the lower CLR for three seconds to clear the stopwatch.
TSD (303 Only) There are four TSD Modes. Pressing TSD for the first time will put the unit in the TSD1 Mode. Pressing again and holding for three seconds will put the unit in the TSD2 mode, another press for three seconds to TSD3, another press for three seconds to TSD4,and another press for three seconds to return to TSD1 mode.
TSD1 - The upper display shows the Stopwatch which operates in the same manner as in the Time mode. The Stopwatch on this display is controlled by the upper CLR. The lower display shows Interval distance and is controlled by the lower CLR.
TSD2 - As TSD1 except the upper display is Time of Day. TSD3 - The upper display shows Total distance and the lower display shows Speed.
TSD4 - The upper display shows Average Speed and the lower display shows Total Distance.
REMOTE DISPLAY HEAD On the 202 Plus equipped with the Remote Display, the display is controlled by a two position switch on the lower right of the main unit. Either Interval Distance or Speed may be shown. The display shown is independent of the display shown on the main unit. On the 303 Plus equipped with the Remote Display, the display is controlled by a three position switch on the upper right of the main unit. Interval Distance, Speed or Average Speed may be chosen. The display shown is independent of the display shown on the main unit.
DISPLAY TEST Press DIS AND the ‘+/-’ keys (‘9’ on the 303 PLUS and ‘7’ on the 202 PLUS) for 3 seconds to enter this mode. Each segment on the display will be turned on in sequence. After all segments are on, the cycle repeats by turning each segment off in sequence. Press DIS again to exit this mode.
INSTALLATION Many of you may already have a Terratrip Rally Computer installed and some of you may be considering the purchase of a Terratrip Rally Computer for the first time or as an upgrade to your 202 or 303. In any case, these installation tips are for everyone — The first thing you notice when planning the installation of your new Terratrip is the connector on the back. All power and all the signals from the pickups and remote units pass through this connector.
Although the Terratrip is assembled in England with parts mostly from the UK, the connector and all the necessary tools to complete your installation are available as close as your local Radio Shack. I’ve always called this kind of connector a "Molex" connector. Radio Shack calls the connector a "Molded Nylon Connector". Although a connector and the necessary pins come with your Terratrip, you may wish to pick one up just as a spare. You want the 12-conductor Female Molded Nylon Connector with 0.093" crimp terminals, Catalog Number 274-242. The cost is just $1.69 at the time this is written. You’ll also want a pin extractor just in case you get a pin in the wrong hole in the connector. Radio Shack calls that a Pin Extractor for Polarized Connectors, Catalog Number 274-223. This tool costs only $4.99 and is well worth it. There is also a crimper available, naturally called a "Crimping Tool" and the Catalog Number is 64-410. This is the most expensive of the lot at $7.99 but is a great aid in correctly attaching the wires to the pins. So for about fifteen bucks you are ready to go!
The next thing you might notice is the pins are small and that you may have to put 2 or 3 very fragile wires on some of those pins. There is a way to make your installation much easier and much, much more reliable. Run back down to Radio Shack and pick up a 12 point barrier (terminal) strip and a roll of 16 or 18 AWG stranded wire. What you are going to do is make a wiring harness with the Molex connector on one end and the terminal strip on the other. Mount your Terratrip (see Mechanical Installation below) and then find an out-of-the-way, but accessible, location to mount the terminal strip. Cut your wire to length and connect the pins of the Molex and the terminal strip one-for-one — Pin 1 to pin 1, pin 2 to pin 2, pin 3 to pin 3, etc., etc. Before crimping the wire to the Molex pins, you may want to tin the ends with a little solder for a more reliable connection and after crimping, hit them with the soldering iron and a little more solder. On the terminal strip end, make sure you use the right size lug, probably red, and use a proper crimper for those lugs. Ok, so now you have this terminal strip plugged into the back of your Terratrip. What you do now should be obvious — connect all your inputs to the terminal strip. You can easily put two or three wires on a terminal, the fragile wires are out of the way and tied up neatly, and further, you have a convenient place to troubleshoot any problems you may encounter.
Ninety-nine percent of the initial problems you may experience on installation can be blamed on incorrect wiring. If you do nothing else - perform a bench test of your wiring before you install anything in the car. It is far easier to troubleshoot on the kitchen counter than it is to troubleshoot under the dash of your car!!
Hook up all probes to the unit and turn the unit on. For a 202+ or 303+ there is no internal battery so you will have to have power connected. If you are in your kitchen, just use a 9V battery if you wish. For an older 202, 303 or 404, each of which has an internal battery, you should see numbers on all displays. For a 303 or 404, the time-of-day display will be counting time. With no external battery, the only thing that won’t work is the display lighting. Set the factor to 0100 and select the proper probe input. If you have the Speedo probe, spin the armature with a pencil - you should see two counts on your distance displays for each rotation of the armature. If you have a wheel probe, pass a screwdriver tip in front of the probe - you should see one count on the distance displays each time you do this. After you have satisfied yourself that everything is working, install everything in the car.
Insure all of your wiring is routed well away from high-energy ignition components and any other source of RF interference - motors, pumps and the wiring to these sources. Fuse the power input to the Computer at no more than 2 amps. Run the power directly to the battery, not to some dubious source under the dash.
MECHANICAL INSTALLATION - This can be problematic if you are starting from scratch and have never seen an installation before. My recommendation is to get on down to your local Cell Phone Dealer and take a look at the various mounting systems used for in-car Cell Phones. Stay away from the Goose-neck type as they will not hold a Terratrip steady enough in a Rally Car. Check out the more solid articulated mounting systems. Typically they will have a square plate on each end and a couple universal joints you can tighten with a thumb-screw. You can get these in various lengths and in various configurations. What remains is installing the mount to a solid surface in your car and then fabricating a plate to adapt between the Terratrip and the Cell Phone mount. Make sure the Terratrip is mounted convenient to the Co-driver and that the display is within the tolerances allowed for proper viewing.
A DIAGRAM SHOWING THE MOUNTING OF THE UNIVERSAL PROBE CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING HERE.
INITIAL CALIBRATION - Your Terratrip may be calibrated in one of a number of ways. If you have access to a perfect measured mile or the rallymaster for your event has provided a perfect measured mile - great! In this case, set your calibration factor to 0100 and run the measured mile zeroing your distance display at the start and noting the number on the distance display at the end of the mile. This number is your new calibration factor. Enter this number as CAL 1 or CAL 2 and you are good to go! Most rallymasters however, will provide an Odo check leg which has mileage's between instructions which are not equal to an even mile. In this case, you can do an initial calibration to the stock Odo in your car to get close and then run the event’s Odo check leg to refine the number. Enter 0100 as your factor and run an even mile according to your stock Odo as explained above. Enter the result as your new factor. Now run the Rallymasters Odo Check leg. At the end of the leg, or at each mileage if you want, take the distance measured by the Terratrip and divide it by the distance given on the route instructions. Multiply this number by your current calibration factor, and the result is your new calibration factor.
DISTANCE CALIBRATION ON THE FLY - If you consistently have the wrong mileage displayed on your computer at each mileage in the rally route instructions, you may want to adjust your calibration factor on the fly. The factor for a Terratrip rally computer is basically the number of pulses the computer can expect for a perfect mile (or kilometer for that matter). So if your mileage is consistently OVER, then your factor is too low - it’s not counting enough pulses per mile. If it’s UNDER, you’re counting too many pulses per mile and the factor has to go down. Let’s say the mileage in the instructions is 2.56 and your computer shows 2.90. Divide the computed mileage, 2.90 in this case, by the "Official Mileage," 2.56 . Take the result, 1.1328, and multiply it by your present calibration factor and the result is your new factor. Make the same calculations for your new factor regardless if you mileage is under or over. (Computed Mileage ÷ Official Mileage x Current Factor = New Factor). Always write down every calibration number you calculate and make sure you always have them somewhere handy as you might have to reuse them.
CALIBRATION SUMMARY -
Initial
-
Set calibration factor to 0100.
-
Start at beginning of measured distance. Zero Odo.
-
Run to end of measured distance, stop and note Odo reading. Ignore decimal.
(Generally, it is best if the distance is somewhere between 1 and 3 miles.)
-
The noted number divided by the measured distance is your calibration factor.
On-the-fly
TROUBLESHOOTING
First set the calibration factor to 0100. With that factor, each pulse generated by a probe will register one count on the distance display and make it much easier to troubleshoot. You should do this test before you’ve mounted the probe (s) in the vehicle. To determine which unit you have - the older 202/303 units have two displays and the new 202 Plus/303 Plus have a single large display. For the 202/303, press CAL. The distance displays show CAL and a 4 digit number with one digit flashing. The flashing digit can be adjusted by pressing S. Press F and the next digit will flash and can be adjusted. Continue pressing S and F until you get the number that you want as the calibration number. To get out of the Calibration Mode press CAL again. The distance displays will now show distance. For the 202 Plus/303 Plus, press CAL – either CAL 1 or CAL 2 is displayed in the lower distance display. If necessary, press CAL again until the calibration number you wish to change is displayed. Then press CAL SET within 3 seconds. The number displayed will zero. Then enter the number you wish using the numbered keypad. When the number you wish is displayed, press the lower CLR and that number will be entered in the computer. Looking at the back of the Terratrip Plug the pins are numbered as I’ve shown here. Pin 11 is ground and Pin 7 is +12V Battery. Now if you’ve installed the terminal strip, the first thing is to make sure you have wired it correctly. If so, then you can do all these tests from the terminal strip. Using the Speedometer Probe, the black wire goes to Pin 11, the orange wire goes to Pin 10 and the white wire goes to Pin 2 (Probe 1) or on Pin 4 (Probe 2). Using a multimeter, measure the voltage between Pins 11 & 10 – it should measure on the order of 4 to 5 Volts. Now measure between Pins 11 and the probe input, either Pin 2 or 4. While slowly rotating the core of the speedometer probe, the voltage should vary between 0 Volts and 0.5 to 1.0 Volts. With a calibration factor of 0100, you should also get one count on the distance display. If you get those voltages, then the probe are is than likely good. If the computer is not counting, then the input to the computer is probably fried. Using the Wheel probe, the brown wire goes to Pin 1 and the blue wire goes to Pin 2 (Probe 1) or to Pin 4 (Probe 2). Using a multimeter, measure the voltage across pins 1 & 2 or 1 & 4 as appropriate – it should measure about 8 Volts. Touch the end of the Probe with a piece of metal and the voltage should rise by about 1.0 Volt. With a calibration factor of 0100, you should also get one count on the distance display. If you get those voltages, then the probe is more than likely good. If the computer is not counting, then the input to the computer is probably fried.
NOISE - If the Computer is counting erratically, you may be experiencing noise on the input from the sensor. In many cases, this can be corrected by rerouting your wires away from other wires in the car. If that doesn’t work, install a small power line filter from Radio Shack on the input lead of your sensor. In many cases, I have found the source of the noise to be a fault in a high energy ignition system or poor connections on a fuel pump or electric fan.
- If you have any problems, don’t hesitate to call us at 610-994-3233 for Assistance -
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