V2 of the Beeline mount is finished.  It relocates the display from the face of the dash to the top of the scuttle, where it's in direct line of sight while driving.  To make this location work while maintaining the design brief of being quick to mount/unmount without leaving a trace, it was clear the magnetic clamping system required a big redesign.  After straining my few remaining brain cells looking for the right solution, I eventually opted to change from a large standalone magnet that clamps to a thick steel washer embedded in the mount, to a two-part mount with several smaller magnets embedded in each section.  This smaller footprint allows the mount to fit on the leading edge of the scuttle where it overhangs the top of the dash.  I had initially dismissed this location as an option for anything other than a screw or spring clamp given the overhang is less than an inch at the top and quickly reduces to nearly zero due to the rake of the dash, but this just fit.

To add a little more friction and to protect the paint, the bottom of the base is covered with 1/32" thick neoprene sheet.  This setup has proven even easier to mount/unmount and store in the glovebox than V1; it literally takes just seconds.  Although a short test drive revealed no movement issues, a proper blat is still required before calling it done.  If there is movement, the plan is to stick with this design but invest in higher quality magnets to increase the clamping force.

Two weekends ago, I drove the Caterham followed by the Westfield.  That second drive confirmed the MOG seats are definitely more comfortable for me, but I also noticed they are slightly more reclined, which is a contributing factor.  Subsequent experimentation with rake revealed an additional10mm lift in the front of the Caterham's seat is my sweet spot for comfort and driving position; that's the equivalent of one Tillet spacer. Rather than use those spacers, which only achieve partial contact with the seat base given the base isn't parallel to the runners when tilted, I decided to print spacers designed to fit.  Certainly not necessary, but it soothed my OCD.  

​An 80-mile blat Sunday confirmed this seemingly simple change has made a noticeable difference to comfort.  For me, the MOGs are still a better fit, but that difference is now far more tenable.  I can live with this.

That drive was also a great test for the Beeline.  It proved that while it isn't perfect, it's still pretty damn good.  The biggest glitch occurred when approaching a street on the right, that from memory, was the direction we needed to take.  However, the Beeline indicated the next right turn was still over 8 miles away.  As I passed the street, the blue LEDs suddenly flashed twice, indicating the next turn was 50 meters ahead.  The display then immediately showed "rerouting" and a few seconds later instructed me to make a U-turn.  It felt like an indecisive backseat driver was telling me how to get somewhere, but at least it ultimately got it right.

The other issues are really just annoyances.  It appears the Beeline treats a waypoint as a direction point, counting down the mileage until reached and flashing the blue LEDs when 50 meters away indicating you're "almost at the turn."  That's fine when a waypoint is actually intended as a stop, but when not, it can be a little confusing for the perpetually paranoid; OMG did I just miss a turn??  There were also a couple of occasions when extremely tight turns resulted in the same behavior.  I suspect the road names changed at these points, but it was still a bit confusing, particularly when it's a blind corner and my paranoia tells me there must be a street immediately after the apex.  

The magnetic mount worked great with no movement from g-forces.  The display position is fine, although I may experiment a bit with a redesign that would place it above the top of the dash and therefore directly in line of sight.  Although more optimal for visibility, I'm not sure I want the Beeline to stand out quite that much.  With the current dash mount, it looks like some type of permanently attached gauge, and not something for a mouth-breather to opportunistically steal while the car is temporarily parked out of sight for an on-tour meal.  Regardless, the original design brief of an easily removable mount that leaves no trace will remain.  I have a couple of ideas though and may print some test parts this week.

Smart phones are amazing devices. By simplifying many tasks that were previously considered complicated or time consuming, they bring convenience to our daily lives. But when that same convenience makes you accessible to the office 24 hours a day via email, texts, Teams, Zoom, etc, it quickly loses its luster. Particularly on those occasions when you're trying to decompress from work. And nothing helps me decompress from the daily grind more than driving an engaging car down a back road for no other reason than to bludgeon corners into submission. That means looking at my iPhone for navigation while on a blat in the Caterham presents a contradiction.  

Enter the Beeline Moto II. Beeline combines a navigation app optimized for planning fun-to-drive routes, with a small device that leverages your Smart phone's GPS, but streamlines the directions into a small 37mm diameter screen that provides just the information you need to get from point A to point B. It's a simplified map display that shows both the distance to your next turn and the direction, as well as the current speed limit and how far into your journey you've travelled. Additionally, a small LED blinks once when you're 200 meters from the next turn, and twice when you're just 50 meters away. There are other screens available such as a compass mode that always points towards your destination, speedometer, journey progress, and battery levels of both the Beeline and your phone. Bottom line, it packs a lot into a small space while allowing you to keep your phone in your pocket where it's less of a distraction.  

​The Beeline is also light. Obviously, this weight is incremental to your smart phone, but at just 42 grams, the Beeline doesn't present the same type of load to its mounting system as a phone. This matters when you are bludgeoning corners into submission. Just ask anyone whose phone went left while their car went right.

For my installation, I 3D printed a small mount angled to face me and embedded a 3mm thick steel washer into the base. A fishing magnet located at the back of the carbon fiber dash grabs onto the washer and holds the mount in place. It's very secure when underway and very easy to mount and unmount, leaving no trace upon removal.

After years of threatening to update my website, I have finally done it.  My initial intention was to use a real HTML editor to create an attractive, easy to update website, but after looking into it, and remembering how long it took me to build the original version in FrontPage, I  decided I simply didn’t have the time to relearn enough to do it right.  So instead I decided to take the easy route and use Microsoft Office Live Small Business.  It is a free web hosting solution that includes tools to quickly and easily build a professional looking website.  As the name implies, the service is aimed at small businesses and includes a host of additional features such as a private site built on SharePoint that I don’t need, but hey…it’s free!  I hope to keep this blog reasonably up to date and will use it to cover all the cars, however, the Westfield will likely be the most common subject.  It is after all, the never ending project.