I've read about this once or twice, but never really thought much of it - After the troubles I've read about from Ohio, (or maybe because I have a strange attraction to things that have lights, moving parts, or make noise) I was wondering if anyone had considered running a radio in the car w/ an ear bug or two, to monitor radio traffic between RC & the corners.

A mute button, volume control, or on-off switch would be nice, if the chatter was getting distracting, but I think it would be helpful for several reasons.

comments?

 

I was thinking the same thing! It might be nice to hear the conner workers. Anyone sell something like this?

 

Pretty sure its Chris Ingle that's been doing this for years. Sets up the radio to catch the worker communications and says its pretty helpful if you have no crew (or anyone else to man a radio) - downside is when tracks don't use radios but land lines (think I am remembering this correctly). His site might have something on it, not sure (tracktapes.com ??).

You can get some pretty good info from pit lane over a radio as well, just can't see the whole track that way

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 577HondaPrelude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was thinking the same thing! It might be nice to hear the conner workers. Anyone sell something like this?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I would think all you would need is a general-purpose scanner, the proper plug-in ear bug stuff, and the obligitory antenna on the roof, rally car-style. You'd just have to find out which frequency was being used before you went out, and limit the scanner to that one frequency, so the call for yellow in turn 1 isn't cut off by a code 9 on main st. or Farmer earl trying to reach aliens on a CB.

I guess you could also use the same system to listen to someone in the pits, at the same time.

 

For the money invested in such a system I would think you would be better off with communications to a pit person. Unlike a corner worker the pit person will only relay information that is useful to the driver.

For example, if a car goes off track and kicks up a big cloud of dust the pit person can radio an "all clear" or "car dead on track" etc...

Of course the only draw back is the pit person is more susceptible to distractions then a corner worker or even getting someone to be your pit person in the first place.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by phat-S &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">downside is when tracks don't use radios but land lines </TD></TR></TABLE>

im guessing most tracks have land lines between F&C, at least both thunderhill and sears do.

and knowing what goes on thru F&C, it would be very distracting as a driver to listen to all the dribble. it would be best to have someone in pits listen and filter the important and relevent information to you anyway. that would be the ideal situation and what pretty much any professional team does.

 

Can it be done-SURE. Do you want the expense of this-not sure. Our race setup has multi-channel Motorola radios and the crew can tune to the track frequency-if we have it programmed in (which we don't). Did I mention that SCCA's frequencies are published as are those of many tracks-so this part is easy enough. It is the programming of the unit that requires special software. Using one of the units from Racing Electronics (our supplier) would allow up to 200 channels on a scan basis. Running the cables to the helmet from a radio box should pose little trouble. Remembr that by using this sort of setup you may well lose the ability to have a 2-way setup as your ears will be occupied &lt;BG&gt;.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Of course the only draw back is the pit person is more susceptible to distractions then a corner worker or even getting someone to be your pit person in the first place.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think the big draw back would be the fact that a person in the pit can see very little of the track, other than the front strait. The best solution would be to have someone stationed some were, were they can see a large portion of the track, and have them use the scanner to listen to all the flag stations, then relay info to the driver.

If only I had more $$

 

Just and FYI... None of the tracks that nasa VA goes to has land lines to the corners stations.

 

Listening to some of the cornerworkers alot of the stuff they sometimes talk about during a race is not related to the actual race LOL, but good idea none the less

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by phat-S &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Pretty sure its Chris Ingle that's been doing this for years. </TD></TR></TABLE>
yup...

he said it is nice to know about something before you arrive to it.
also you know if your car is leaking/smoking before you get to the black flag station.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by trigun7469 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Listening to some of the cornerworkers alot of the stuff they sometimes talk about during a race is not related to the actual race LOL, but good idea none the less</TD></TR></TABLE>

Wow! Not to sound like a ***** but that's something I would want to know about as a driver. That's way disconcerting to hear. My one time working a corner for a NASA enduro and Pit-Grid w/ the SCCA, I didn't hear any unnecessary chatter. I mean like ZERO. That sounds very dubious that there would be talking about stuff other than what's out there during a green track.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Willard &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yup...
he said it is nice to know about something before you arrive to it.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
Oh good, my memory is working It kind of makes sense. If you choose to not run a race radio w/ someone in the pits, this is at least a good attempt to get an idea what's going on out there. Some things will just not be on a radio but if you have no one to communicate w/, this seems like its not that bad an idea. Downside is you can't get a response to a "what?"

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by trigun7469 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Listening to some of the cornerworkers alot of the stuff they sometimes talk about during a race is not related to the actual race LOL, but good idea none the less</TD></TR></TABLE>

not in SF region. i dunno about your region. the most it every deviates from actual track related information is to reserve a lunch bag at the end of the session before lunch.

 

so what frequency does Race Control and the flag stations typically use? If I were to get a scanner what frequency range is needed.

 

Many grassroots level racers use FRS radios and have a person at the pits and at least 1 or 2 out on the track as spotters.

 

At one point, we had car-to-pit radio and the guy on the pit wall had his set to prioritize listen and send to the driver, but scan the F&C channel. It was really handy and frankly, made it more fun for the crew guy - me.

K

 

FYI, Mid-Ohio has a landline setup - the only radio traffic you'd catch would be to various emergency/tow vehicles. Maybe useful, maybe not.

I use GMRS/FRS radios in my Miata. When you start "back" in the pack a bit (think "middle of 63 Miatas at Road America"), someone calling the green flag for you is good for about 5 spots at the start.

For the most part, the corner stations maintain a very professional demeanor when the track is green. However, once in a while I've known a few people to start a bit of minor chatter. Nothing major, and Control usually puts the screws to it pretty quick....but it does happen. Usually when it DOES happen, the group on the track has about 6 cars in it, and they've somehow managed to space themselves at even 20 second intervals. The chatter is needed to stay awake.

I'm pretty sure there's no idle chatter when any of us are on track....

Jarrod

 

When I used to crew the SRX-7 12 Hour teams at Summit, we had all three drivers running two-way radios to the the crew chief. Then, either the chief or another crew member had a scanner to listen to race control. If something noteworthy came up, we would broadcast it to the drivers.

 

I think it would best to have a crew or pit person listening to the scanner and radio the necessary items to the driver.

SCCA Pro requires the World Challenge teams to have a scanner listening to race control. They publish the frequency in the supps so the teams know. The racing headsets usually have a seperate plug for each side, so you plug the scanner in on one ear and the radio to the driver on the other ear. Seems to be the best way to do it to me.

And while I haven't been to a track that has lines to the corner stations it doesn't mean that the local sanctioning body running the event (SCCA or NASA) has to use that. They might have there own radios and just use them. Though I don't really know. But I do know that if SWC goes to a track that has landlines they'll still use radios so the teams can pick up the frequency.

s

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stevel &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">SCCA Pro requires the World Challenge teams to have a scanner listening to race control.</TD></TR></TABLE>

And they did a 'radio check' (walking pit to pit to make sure that the teams had an ear on race control) this past weekend at Road America.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Willard &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

And they did a 'radio check' (walking pit to pit to make sure that the teams had an ear on race control) this past weekend at Road America.</TD></TR></TABLE>

cool. you're still crewing for Tindol ehhh? Awesome to see Esplenlaub out there again, especially nice seeing him do as well as he has. He's a great guy from the few times I've talked to him and I always root for him. Good job you guys have been doing with those cars.

s

 

i've worked corners at gingerman and grattan. radios are used. excessive chatter is frowned upon if the scca is running the show. i have seen people removed from the radio for excessive chatter. i can see the benefits of listening, but if you have a bunch of rooks out there, it's going to be a detriment.