Rookie question on mounting AIM Solo

[DK540]

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(phone call to AIM Solo this morning)

Me: Just got this thing; excited about putting it to use. How do I know if the battery is charged?

AIM: Gotta acquire satellites and be near a track before that display shows up.

Me: Oh. Well, that could be more convenient.

AIM: Yeah, we’re begging the software folks for that change so people will stop calling us about it.

Me: Right. So, does everyone mount these things on their steering wheel?

AIM: No. Absolute worst place to mount it. Attach it to your windshield.

Me: Uh, no windshield. Race car with no windshield.

AIM: Oh, right. Well, it’s gotta have line of sight to the sky, so…

So where do folks without windshields mount their AIM Solo unit?

David


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[Supersmile]

Mounted mine on the dash to the side of the gauges (with a small aluminum plate added to the dash for support). It gets reception through fiberglass just fine. The steering wheel doesn't work as it messes up the G-sensors in the unit, unless you only drive in a straight line.

[David Ferguson]

If your goal is just to get laptimes then mounting on the steering wheel works fine. I have several customers with GT cars that use the Solo as a "back-up" lap timer/data system in just this way.

[Chris Elwell]

Mine is attached on the upper right of my dash. I took the steel mount that comes with it, and drilled two holes in my dash to attach the mount to the dash. Then the magnets on the back of the Solo keep it in place. Really easy to pull off and put the Solo away when you leave the car out at night.

[Hamish]

It's the best gadget you'll ever buy!

[romoman]

Mounted mine on the dash to the side of the gauges (with a small aluminum plate added to the dash for support). It gets reception through fiberglass just fine. The steering wheel doesn't work as it messes up the G-sensors in the unit, unless you only drive in a straight line.

The Solo (on anything but the original firmware) calculates G forces from the GPS. On the steering wheel should be no problem. The Solo DL gives you the accel. readings, but still has the GPS calculated values as well.

[Supersmile]

I was told by customer support at AIM not to mount the unit on the steering wheel. Good to know that you can.

[DK540]

I looked online for a while over the weekend and found some remarks from Peter Krause on another racing forum (BMW, I think) in which he said he had several clients who successfully installed and use them on the steering wheel with no issues. For the purpose of allowing line of sight to the sky and if I ever want to glance at the predictive lap time capability (doubtful, currently my plate is quite full at speed), the steering wheel is the correct place. I was glad to learn it would work there.

So, though I may engineer something better in the future, a trip to Home Depot and a couple of galvanized braces and a while with the vise and the hammer and, voila. If those with more experience (at this point, more than 3 total hours behind the wheel is more experience) think this will get in my way somehow, please jump in and let me know.

David

[racerdad2]

Looks good ! Do you have a bit of rubber between the unit & mounting for some vibration dampening ?

[DK540]

Nope, I don't, RD2, but that's a good thought. The instructions don't mention that but I certainly have some thin rubber washers and even a few of those bonded washers (metal to rubber). A thin "schmear" of silicone on the metal brace (left to dry overnight) might also do the trick.