Transponder mounting

[Pat]

I'll be competing in NASA time trials for my first time this year. That means I need a transponder. Keep in mind, there are two types of transponders: rechargeable and hardwired. Mine is the hardwired version.
@wheelhaus and I just mounted my new transponder over the weekend, and I thought it might be helpful for some people to see where we mounted it. He found a nice little area that I think provides a good combination of protection, serviceability and stealthiness.
We were hoping to mount the race key in the cabin somewhere, but the wires weren't quite long enough and we didn't want to go through the hassle of making them longer. Therefore the race key just ended up in the engine bay. It's still effective, just not quite as elegant.
Oh, and you can ignore the mess of wires just behind the headlight. Those are for my extra horns and not related to the transponder.
How have you guys mounted yours?

[enivid]

The 86's where I live just have it ziptied to the horn bracket

[enivid]

And I don't have the x2 but on the older model, you can't mount it so it's laying down, has to be standing up and within 2ft from the ground.

[Pat]

That's certainly an easy solution. I didn't want to use zip ties for the transponder, but rather the included hardware plus sturdy rivets.

[Icecreamtruk]

Did you check if the signal is transmitted correctly? I've had luck only mounting the transponder outside of the vehicule (front-grill). Every time I mounted it inside or the trunk (havent tried engine bay), the signal transmition wasnt reliable (i would miss laps). Granted this are old transponders so things probably did change for the better with newer generations, but still I would test it before setting it in for good there.

[Pat]

Thanks for the response, Icecreamtruk. No, I have not yet tested it. The literature says it needs to be no more than two feet from the track, and not have carbon fiber or metal between it and the track. I have followed those directions. In fact, it's about as close to the track as I can get it. Hopefully that helps. That said, I value your input and will pay close attention to it. I think at this point I'm going to leave it where it is for now and just see how it works. But if it's missing laps I'll know why. Again, thank you.

[ka-t_240]

I don't think that is the best location for it. There is a lot of metal and other objects between it and the ground. Try somewhere where it has a line of sight to the ground.

I have ziptied them to the grill, tow hooks, sway bars, etc.

[Pat]

Thanks for the feedback, ka-t 240. There are absolutely no metal objects between it and the ground. The only thing between it and the ground is one thin plastic tray. According to SAE, " The signal will normally transmit through fiberglass and plastic." Hopefully it's placement 6" to 7" from the ground will improve my chances. [crosses fingers]
Regardless, if it fails to register reliably I'll try strapping it to the grill or something. But that's not exactly ideal as this is my daily driven, year round car.

[Pat]

Originally Posted by enivid

And I don't have the x2 but on the older model, you can't mount it so it's laying down, has to be standing up and within 2ft from the ground.

Also, thanks for the tip about it being upright. I'm concerned about that. The 34 page user manual says nothing about this, although now that I search "upright mounting" I see other people say the same thing. I'm going to be pissed if mine doesn't register because of this, as I followed the directions it came with. I don't really have any time left to change it before my first event.

[Pat]

I'm happy to report mounting the transponder this way worked flawlessly. I spoke with someone at MyLaps about it, and he said because it is so close to the ground and there is not metal or carbon between it and the ground, he thought it was very likely to work. I took it out to the track and sho' 'nuf, it's great.