SPOTTER

What SPOTTER is

SPOTTER is the voice of Push & Lift. While you race, it announces flags, cars alongside, pits and fuel, weather, damage, advice on your own lap and your rivals’ movements. Some alerts are beeps: gear, shifting, ABS and the braking countdown.

• It has 67 alerts in 9 groups. You choose which ones play. The full list is in the appendix.
• It speaks six languages: Spanish, English, German, French, Italian and Chinese.
• It uses Windows voices and prepares phrases in advance so they play immediately.
• You can edit each alert’s text, use your own recording or a .wav file, and create phrases using race data.

Requirements

• An active Push & Lift licence. If none is found, Windows says that an active licence could not be verified: open Push & Lift, go to Ajustes > Tu cuenta (Settings > Your account), check your account, purchase and connection, then reopen this app.
• iRacing must be open so SPOTTER knows you are on track. Until then the top bar reads ESPERANDO AL SIMULADOR (waiting for the simulator).
• PL MOTOR, the Push & Lift engine, is needed for some alerts: radar, braking countdown against your reference CSV and other session data. The En pista (on track) section shows whether it is connected.

Opening it from the Suite

1. Open the Push & Lift screen from the bar logo.
2. In the left menu, under PIT, click SPOTTER.
3. SPOTTER opens in its own window, named SPOTTER, with its own Windows taskbar button. It opens maximised.

With SPOTTER selected on the Push & Lift screen, you have TRAER AL FRENTE (bring to front) (brings the SPOTTER window to the front) and CERRARLA (close it) (closes SPOTTER). These buttons are shared by all PIT apps and explained in the SUITE manual.

The text “identidad puesta en su ventana: PushAndLift.Spotter” means the window has its own taskbar button.

• SPOTTER opens only once. Opening it again brings the existing window to the front.
• When opened from the Suite, it uses the Suite’s language.

Getting started

First launch: choose your level

The first time you open SPOTTER, you see Bienvenido a SPOTTER (welcome to SPOTTER) with “Elige cómo quieres empezar.” (Choose how you want to start) and three buttons:

You can change this at any time using the top tabs (see 5.1 Levels).

The main screen

After your choice, SPOTTER opens on En directo (live):

The window has four areas:

• At the top, the top bar: levels, status, language, SILENCIAR (mute), MIS FRASES (my phrases) and close.
• On the left, the icon column, which changes the centre panel.
• In the centre, the selected screen: En directo (live), an alert group or Voz y sonido (voice and sound).
• On the right, ÚLTIMOS AVISOS (recent alerts).

Your SPOTTER ready in three steps

1. Choose a level. For a simple start, choose Listo para correr (ready to race).
2. In En directo (live), choose how much you want to hear and the volume. You can select a preset (for example Carrera (race)).
3. Open iRacing and go on track. The top status changes to LISTO PARA CORRER (ready to race) and SPOTTER starts speaking.

What each screen contains

4.1 The top bar

4.2 The icon column

Each icon opens a centre panel. The selected one is orange. Each alert group shows enabled/total alerts, for example “15/17”.

4.3 En directo (live)

Your everyday screen. It contains:

4.4 Using alert groups

All groups work alike. At the top: group name, enabled alert count and description. Below: one row per alert.

• Beep alerts (braking countdown, corner verdict, shift beep, ABS beep) only have ▶: no text or custom voice.
• Text, files and recordings are language-specific: Spanish changes do not affect English alerts.
• In Personalizar, each group shows only its common alerts, followed by Ver también los avanzados (show advanced alerts too), which switches to Avanzado. The count at the top (“3/10”) includes all group alerts, including hidden ones.

Texto del aviso (alert text)

• Enter what you want it to say and click Guardar (save) (or Enter).
• “Vacío = texto de serie” (empty = standard text): clear the field and save to restore the original.
• Cancelar (cancel) closes without changes.
• Saving makes SPOTTER prepare this alert’s voice again.

Volver a la voz de serie (restore standard voice)

Volver a la voz de serie (restore standard voice) removes this alert’s file or recording and restores the standard voice. Cancelar (cancel) leaves it unchanged.

Grabando (recording)

4.5 Each alert group

Each group’s contents. The full list, including what each preset enables, is in the appendix.

Banderas (flags) · 17 alerts

Alerts for track flags: yellow, blue, white, black, red, green and chequered; disqualification, damage, race-control warning, debris, green next lap and starts: get ready, go go, formation lap and rolling start. See the image in 4.4.

Radar · 10 alerts

“Coches cerca: lo más crítico de todo.” (Nearby cars: most critical.) Car left/right, clear, middle, three wide, clear one side, still there and approaching.

En pista (on track) · 7 alerts

Braking countdown against your reference CSV. Three specific settings appear at the top:

Alerts: braking countdown 3·2·1 (beeps), lift at a corner, upcoming corner briefing, metres, gear, corner verdict (high beep for a gain, low beep for a loss) and lap time.

Muro (pit wall) · 5 alerts

Pit-wall messages: box box box, pit window, litres to refuel, total stops needed and pit board. At the top: Margen de gasolina (fuel margin), in laps (see 5.13).

Coach · 3 alerts

Lessons from your own lap: the one thing to correct, corner verdict and qualifying target.

Clima (weather) · 3 alerts

Only current events, never a forecast: rain starting, track condition (dry, mostly dry, damp, wet) and time until sunset.

Daño y Dojo (damage and Dojo) · 2 alerts

Pending repairs and spoken briefing from your latest DOJO report. Below is the button ↻ 🔊 último briefing (latest briefing), which finds and reads the latest PL DOJO briefing aloud. If none exists: “Sin briefing de PL DOJO”.

En el coche (in the car) · 12 alerts

Gear, shift beep, ABS beep, both pedals together, limiter on/off, DRS, water/oil temperature, fuel/oil pressure and stalled engine. Only shown in Avanzado.

Rivales (rivals) · 8 alerts

Positions, pits, gaps and fast laps of nearby drivers: position gained/lost, car ahead/behind or leader pitting, gaps, rival’s fast lap and incidents. Only in Avanzado.

4.6 Voz y sonido (voice and sound)

4.7 Recent alerts and latency

• ÚLTIMOS AVISOS (recent alerts), on the right: the last 20 spoken alerts, with time, newest first. Before any alert: “Todavía no ha dicho nada”.
• Tarda (latency), below the centre: time until the last alert played, in milliseconds. Before any measurement: “sin medir”.

4.8 Mis frases (my phrases)

With MIS FRASES (my phrases) you create alerts using race data. The example above is “quedan {combustible} litros” (fuel remaining) when “combustible < 5”.

A conditional phrase plays when its condition is met and repeats no more often than every 30 seconds while the condition remains true.

Variables

Invalid phrases show the reason when added: empty phrase, unmatched { } brace, unknown variable or more than 200 characters; conditions may report a missing operator (< > <= >= == !=) or unknown variable.

4.9 On-screen warnings and errors

Two types of box may appear above the centre:

• Warning (⚠, yellow): useful information that remains while the issue persists:
  • Missing Windows voice: install it in Windows Settings > Time & language > Speech. Another voice is used meanwhile.
  • Last alert took … ms; press ↻ to regenerate voices. Appears above 400 ms.
  • “Canal ADVANCE cerrado · puerto ocupado” (ADVANCE channel closed · port busy).
• Error (⚠, red): the action that just failed. Disappears shortly afterwards.

Possible errors: “Necesita PL MOTOR” (engine required), “CSV no válido” (invalid CSV), “Sin briefing de PL DOJO” (no briefing), “Formato no admitido · solo .wav” (only .wav supported), “Grabación fallida · sin micrófono” (recording failed, no microphone), failure to open the file picker (close and reopen SPOTTER; contact us if it persists), or failure to save text because the file is busy (try again). Remedies: 7. Common problems.

Settings, option by option

Changes are saved automatically, except SILENCIAR.

5.1 Levels

Switching to LISTO PARA CORRER resets any alerts you enabled or disabled manually.

5.2 How much you want to hear

To stop all speech, use 🔇 SILENCIAR (mute).

5.3 Volume

Slider from 0 to 100%, with the value beside it. Applies when released.

5.4 Presets

A preset enables its alert set and disables all other alerts:

See each preset’s alerts in the Presets column of the appendix. Manually changing an alert removes the preset highlight.

5.5 Language

The six top flags change interface and voice language. Opening from the Suite applies the Suite language. Custom texts, files and recordings are language-specific.

5.6 Voice

List with La recomendada (recommended) and your PC’s Windows voices. Changing voice clears and rebuilds the prepared voices.

5.7 Speed

Slider from 100 to 260. Default 185. The value is shown alongside.

Prepared voices use a fixed speed. Changing it invalidates them: Voces preparadas drops to 0 and PREPARANDO EL AUDIO appears. Press ↻ in Voz y sonido to prepare them at the new speed; otherwise they rebuild next time SPOTTER opens.

5.8 Microphone

List with El del sistema (system default) and your PC’s microphones. This records alerts with 🎙. With no microphone, “Sin micrófono conectado” replaces the list and 🎙 buttons are hidden.

5.9 Audio output

List with La del sistema (system default) and your PC’s audio outputs. With none available: “Sin salida de audio disponible”.

5.10 Prepared voices

SPOTTER records the selected language’s standard phrases in advance for immediate playback. “Voces preparadas: 37/37” means all are ready. Preparation runs at startup if needed, after a language/voice change or text edit. While working it shows “generando …/…” and ↻ cannot be clicked. Click it yourself if alerts are slow to play.

5.11 Reference (CSV)

In En pista (on track). Your braking-countdown reference CSV. Click elegir (choose) and select a .csv file. Requires PL MOTOR connected. SPOTTER remembers the CSV and reloads it when the engine connects.

5.12 Radar alert

In En pista (on track). When to warn about a car alongside:

• en paralelo (alongside) (default): when the car is already alongside.
• al acercarse (on approach): earlier, as it approaches.

5.13 Fuel margin

In Muro (pit wall). Reserve laps, 0 to 5 in half-lap steps. Default 1. Adds this reserve to the recommended refuelling amount and brings the pit-window warning forward.

5.14 Each alert

Enabled/disabled, text, .wav file or recording: set within each group, as explained in 4.4.

Common tasks, step by step

6.1 Preparing for a race

1. In En directo (live), select the preset Carrera (race) (or Resistencia (endurance) for long races).
2. Under CUÁNTO QUIERES OÍR, select todo (everything) or normal (normal).
3. Adjust VOLUMEN.
4. Open iRacing. The top status changes to LISTO PARA CORRER.

6.2 Enabling or disabling an alert

1. Switch to Avanzado (advanced) (or Personalizar for common alerts).
2. Select its group in the left column.
3. Click the row’s checkbox. Green means enabled.

6.3 Editing an alert’s wording

1. In its group, click ✎ on the alert’s row.
2. Enter the new text and click Guardar (save).
3. Click ▶ to hear it.

To restore the standard wording, clear the text and save.

6.4 Using your own voice

1. In Voz y sonido (voice and sound), select your MICRÓFONO.
2. In the alert’s group, click 🎙 and speak: it records 3 seconds.
3. The button turns green. Click ▶ to hear it.

With a file: click 📁 and select a .wav. Only .wav is supported.

To remove it, click the highlighted button (🎙 or 📁) again, then Volver a la voz de serie (restore standard voice).

6.5 Creating your own phrase

1. Click MIS FRASES (my phrases).
2. Enter text in FRASE. To insert data, click its variable on the right. Example: “quedan {combustible} litros”.
3. In CUÁNDO, choose the data, comparison and number. Example: tank litres · less than · 5.
4. Check “Sonaría: …”. To hear it, click Probar (test).
5. Click Añadir (add). It appears in TUS FRASES.

To delete it, click its ✕ in TUS FRASES.

6.6 Using the braking countdown with your CSV

1. Check PL MOTOR is running: in En pista (on track) it must show ● conectado (connected).
2. Under Referencia, click elegir (choose) and select your CSV.
3. Keep “cuenta atrás de frenada 3·2·1” enabled.

6.7 Muting temporarily

Click 🔇 SILENCIAR (mute). To restore speech, click 🔊 EN SILENCIO · ACTIVAR VOZ (muted · enable voice).

6.8 Hearing your latest DOJO report briefing

1. Opens Daño y Dojo (damage and Dojo).
2. Click ↻ 🔊 último briefing (latest briefing).

Common problems and remedies

Appendix: all alerts

All 67 SPOTTER alerts by group, retaining their Spanish on-screen wording with a translation. Numbers and names are examples.

• Default: yes if enabled by default with Listo para correr and Spotter clásico. These also appear in Personalizar.
• Custom voice: yes for text, file and recording support; beep if it only has ▶.
• Presets: presets that enable it.

Banderas (flags) · 17

Radar · 10

En pista (on track) · 7

Muro (pit wall) · 5

Coach · 3

Clima (weather) · 3

Daño y Dojo (damage and Dojo) · 2

En el coche (in the car) · 12

Rivales (rivals) · 8