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thenumber7
8th April 2007, 12:14
Does anyone know if the timing tower will be working at Rockingham this season?

racing59
8th April 2007, 12:20
Do you know an electrician that can fix it then?
:) :) ;)

Dave17
8th April 2007, 12:59
Do you know an electrician that can fix it then?
:) :) ;)

Do you know a scrap merchant that can get rid of it?

SteveA
8th April 2007, 16:36
Do you know an electrician that can fix it then?
:) :) ;)

I wonder if the Spark that does the Santa Pod scoring equipment could fix it. He once had to repair the multi-way cable that supplies the scoring lights on the finish line, after a car hit the barrier (then Armco) so hard that it severed the cable. He had it done in an hour!

I'll make some enquiries.

Chigley
8th April 2007, 20:50
I think any electrician that can resurrect that tower will be classed as a genius. :)

Bought second hand from the States for the Champ car events it wasn't in its prime, then getting a double lightening strike that fried and toasted its innards; plus needing an upgrade to LED lights so anyone apart from those directly in front of it in the grandstand on a dull day can read it, it's a bit of a pink elephant.

racing59
8th April 2007, 21:04
It'd probably be cheaper to put up a Diamond screen showing live timing, and maybe in-car video shots, than trying to fix it after that kind of punishment.

Two lightning hits will have destroyed most of the control electronics, as you say, it's pretty well dead.

Still, it'd be an idea to let someone "that knows" have a look.

Dear Mr Buller, can you pay for a nice diamond screen please.... we'd all really appreciated it.

turn 4 mad
8th April 2007, 21:47
i went past rockingham on the gretton rd a couple of weeks back and the tower was all lit up being tested!

Jamie Brown
8th April 2007, 22:08
i hope it will be working this season

just_smile99
8th April 2007, 22:18
it'd be ace to have it flashing again this season

x

Chigley
8th April 2007, 23:26
i went past rockingham on the gretton rd a couple of weeks back and the tower was all lit up being tested!

If that's correct :) I wonder if it has anything to do with Rockingham promoting the BTCC in 2 weeks time ?

;)

Stuart26
9th April 2007, 11:37
How is this for a cheaper option.
Get some tower scaffolding up the side of the tower go to an employment agency for staff get some numbers printed on cards and have said staff put up cards like a cricket score board

just_smile99
9th April 2007, 18:31
How is this for a cheaper option.
Get some tower scaffolding up the side of the tower go to an employment agency for staff get some numbers printed on cards and have said staff put up cards like a cricket score board

i would love to see people up there constantly changing the numbers...would make me laugh so much

x

JovialJooles
9th April 2007, 22:21
How is this for a cheaper option.
Get some tower scaffolding up the side of the tower go to an employment agency for staff get some numbers printed on cards and have said staff put up cards like a cricket score board

:rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

71minus2
9th April 2007, 22:23
i would love to see people up there constantly changing the numbers...would make me laugh so much

x

If you employ more than 20 people then at least one of them needs to be in a wheelchair. Could make things interesting...........which numbers Plato's car again?

racing59
9th April 2007, 22:27
Why not go to a cricket scoreboard job.

By the end of lap 10, they'll have just caught up with the first lap...

Seriously, it's great to hear that it's been fixed, and seems to have passed the smoke test (it hadn't burned down by this weekend!!)

chrisn
16th April 2007, 07:44
The Timing Tower was the bane of my life while at Rockingham (well one of several actually.......!)

It was not purchased secondhand from the States - it may have worked properly if it had been! - but it was sourced in a real hurry before the first Champcar events. Like several of those things sourced in a hurry (Jet Driers, chicanes, etc etc....) advice from those who had a little background knowledge was ignored and cheaper untried options were chosen.

It always had a restricted viewing angle but constantly had either software problems or hardware problems or expensive anuual service contracts. We had a plan at one stage to tarmac the area underneath (to make an excellent Assembly Area) as this would have solved one of the rising condensation/damp problems. No budget unfortunately.

We did hope that Tanias F16 would take it out and we could claim on the insurance! Pity really that the lightening strikes can only probably be considered acts of God.

Incidentally when I first worked at Silverstone the Scoreboard was manual and the numbers were put on by a bunch of old guys with a runner from the timekeepers. The runner up the staircase was one of the old boys and he had a gammy leg...........

I hope that they have got the Timing Tower working because I guess now that there is no other cost effective option likely to be available. Trust me - we did explore most possible alternatives a few years ago.

I hope all keep safe and enjoy the new season!

Chris

Chigley
16th April 2007, 14:25
Hi Chris,

Nice to hear from you again and it's pleasing that you're lurking in the background and still think about the place, what with the luxurious stress free life you're basking in these days.

Thanks for the update on the history of the "totem" pole its even more colourful than I remembered.

Cheers
Ian
:)

chrisn
17th April 2007, 10:11
Hi Ian

Always been a good lurker............

Still think about the place and hope that it can work.

Not sure I recognise the description of my lifestyle here however.........trust me, Dubai = Stress if you work here!

Take care and enjoy

Chris

F150pickup
17th April 2007, 17:43
They are at the moment re writing the software to control the tower from MST Will wait and see what happens at the weekend. Chris it was was due to go to the states but the order was cancelled and Rockingham decided to have it (They would not listen) And i can also remember the scoreboard at Silverstone run by old men I supplied the wind up x army phones. These would still work under a foot of water. By the way they have just removed the old electronic board from the top of my tower at Silverstone. Thats another story

chrisn
18th April 2007, 12:03
Hi Paul!

Bentley Drivers Club manned the scoreboard I believe - phones may have worked under a foot of water but I bet that they couldn't!

If your scoreboard at Silverstone is now defunct perhaps there is an opportunity for us older ones to take their place and climb staircases from Timekeepers and place the numbers on the board - beats the B & Q job you had in mind for your retirement! Mind you I am not so sure I would like the journey from the timing room at Rockingham to the back of the Paddock before the climb!

For the cost of timing tower or big screen I suspect the answer these days is for all spectators to lodge their mobile numbers and the organisers send a mass SMS on a regular basis. Circuit gets the air time for free as a contra for having a mast on site and gets to use the mailing list in future for promotioal purposes. I remember being very irritated by a mobile phone going off in Race Control at Oulton Park one saturday afternoon everytime Man City went another goal down so it must be possible. What would be clever is getting everybodies ring tone changed to "We will rock you"......

Or something by 50 Cent........!!!!! No perhaps thats not so appropraite.

God I am wasted here organising events when I can stream in these sort of ideas!!!

By the way my idea would work extra well here as mobile phone ownership is so high - I was told it was because some of the locals carry a seperate phone for each of their wifes to save confusion........!

Chris

SteveA
18th April 2007, 12:31
Why send SMS messages when many people now have GPRS or 3G (or even WAP) phones and devices, which can view a web page? They just need to keep a low-graphics page updated with real-time data. Very simple I would have thought, and cheap to do.

Chigley
18th April 2007, 12:38
Why send SMS messages when many people now have GPRS or 3G (or even WAP) phones and devices, which can view a web page? They just need to keep a low-graphics page updated with real-time data. Very simple I would have thought, and cheap to do.

Small problem, marshals aren't allowed to use mobile phones on post as a safety issue. ;) :)

Just being pedantic :D

JDPower
18th April 2007, 16:28
For the cost of timing tower or big screen I suspect the answer these days is for all spectators to lodge their mobile numbers and the organisers send a mass SMS on a regular basis. Circuit gets the air time for free as a contra for having a mast on site and gets to use the mailing list in future for promotioal purposes. I remember being very irritated by a mobile phone going off in Race Control at Oulton Park one saturday afternoon everytime Man City went another goal down so it must be possible.s
Clever idea but that would irritate the **** out of me getting a text every few mins. Besides the more time I spend looking at texts the less I'd be seeing of the on track action (hence the reason no-one gets a reply from me if they text during a race :cheese: )

Love Steve's phone web/wap page idea, though given how slow wap can be I can't see it keeping up with PuT real time placings

F150pickup
18th April 2007, 16:31
Chris great idea will talk to MST this weekend, i take it you will want a slice of the action into your swiss account. I aways like the idea when we broacast live feed on channel 65 at the BGP so punters could pick up on their small TV's trouble is not many people could afford the TV

Dan06
18th April 2007, 17:42
Was at Rockingham today talking to a few people about the weekend, whilst I was there the timing tower was all lit up and appeared to working and being tested for the weekend.

JDPower
18th April 2007, 18:51
Was at Rockingham today talking to a few people about the weekend, whilst I was there the timing tower was all lit up and appeared to working and being tested for the weekend.
Good news, hopefully it'll stay fixed for more than a couple of meetings.

Sticker Rub
18th April 2007, 20:04
Hope they've installed a lightning conductor :hot:

racing59
18th April 2007, 22:51
I heard they were buyng Chigley a copper hat and posting him on the top (in stormy weather - just in case). :D

Old Stock Nut
19th April 2007, 00:02
Great if the tower is working again, even with the limited view.

Maybe as a fall back and for those in T1 and T4 who cannot see it "they" could have a web feed of the lap charts from the TV system and operate a wifi with it available for people with PDAs and G3 phones. Many free, but limited wifi connections are available at airports etc these days, so the technology is there and I doubt if it is too exoensive. Don't conect it to the Internet proper and then all you need is a couple of wifi routers and a modest web server.

SteveA
19th April 2007, 02:07
Exposing your corporate LAN with an open WiFi network can be done cheaply! If you want to do it securely you need to invest in the infrastructure to support VLANs, which'll push up the cost.

Of course Rockingham could become a BT Openzone Hotspot. They would even receive discounts from BT, however the customers would have to pay to use it (but we're probably talking piddling amounts of data!)

Al_Green
19th April 2007, 05:41
I heard they were buyng Chigley a copper hat and posting him on the top (in stormy weather - just in case). :D


hehehehehe :D

Anyway, back on topic, it'll be good to get the board back if possible, I'm always worried that I've screwed the lap count up and will throw the flag too early (or late) and someone'll lose out or get upset because of it. Fortunately we have the use of the landlines to double-check with RC during the last few laps to ensure the white goes out when it should at the moment, but the tower is a good check, especially during yellow periods.

Al.

Chigley
19th April 2007, 16:07
I heard they were buyng Chigley a copper hat and posting him on the top (in stormy weather - just in case). :D

OK who let the comedian onto the oval? :)

Dear Mr Crompton!!!, there is no need to go on the totem pole to find Rockingham weather just visit us on the gantry when its freezing, blowing a gale and perspiring profusely from the heavens. You won't be racing as only the brave do that in the wet, so there's no excuses. :)

Beware of the drinks bottle filled with Ribena and the new regs have some interesting points about starts and restarts that I'm sure you'll "fall foul of" to the highly experienced biased eyes on the gantry ;) Did you see the smoke from the rear axle of the 59 car Al? definately needs Tech to look at it during a green period :D

By the way have you got your donation ready to be exchanged for a pair of BMMC patches, they bring good luck and protection by the mob in orange.

racing59
19th April 2007, 21:58
OK who let the comedian onto the oval? :)

Dear Mr Crompton!!!, there is no need to go on the totem pole to find Rockingham weather just visit us on the gantry when its freezing, blowing a gale and perspiring profusely from the heavens. You won't be racing as only the brave do that in the wet, so there's no excuses. :)

Beware of the drinks bottle filled with Ribena and the new regs have some interesting points about starts and restarts that I'm sure you'll "fall foul of" to the highly experienced biased eyes on the gantry ;) Did you see the smoke from the rear axle of the 59 car Al? definately needs Tech to look at it during a green period :D

By the way have you got your donation ready to be exchanged for a pair of BMMC patches, they bring good luck and protection by the mob in orange.

I have my thoughts about racing in the wet with the Stockcars (not on the oval of course - or we'll all be doing an impersonation of Mr Plato on the BTCC forum!).

Regarding the starts/restarts - I'm a racing driver, I have been to Mallory Park and W.Bro. Mr D Truman has drummed it into me that only Formula Fords "GO" on yellow (And remember, Formula Ford - Don't do it today!)

Green means stop, wave nicely at Ian and Al, then continue shouting "Kerchow" as I drive along the catch fencing like the wall of death!

And the smoke canisters that you said I had to fit are not for doing a "Red Arrows" style fly-past then? I wondered what the remote control circuits were for.

As a former member of the BMRMC (as it was in those days), I would be more than happy to bribe, errr I mean support our friends in odinge, without whom, we do not race (and more drivers should remember that)

Rob.
PS: leave the Ribena at home please.

turn 4 mad
19th April 2007, 22:24
Hey Rob Hows The Yellow Peril Coming Along? As You Seem To Be On Here Alot Lately, And With All Them Paint Runs! Ha Ha

Chigley
19th April 2007, 22:55
as I drive along the catch fencing like the wall of death!

Hmmmm, if you're that close to Rockingham's "catch fencing" you're in one sorry pickle and it may be time to think "this one may hurt" :( :D


Green means stop, wave nicely at Ian and Al,

I do hope you intend to start from the back of the grid for this one; or else Ian or Al are going to be reaching for a yellow, Dead Squirrel will be less than impressed at the amount of cr*p to clear up, your bank manager won't be sending Xmas cards, and Dave Pierre will be chewing "59" tush for hours. ;)

:D

Old Stock Nut
19th April 2007, 23:33
Exposing your corporate LAN with an open WiFi network can be done cheaply! If you want to do it securely you need to invest in the infrastructure to support VLANs, which'll push up the cost.

Of course Rockingham could become a BT Openzone Hotspot. They would even receive discounts from BT, however the customers would have to pay to use it (but we're probably talking piddling amounts of data!)

I was not suggesting a connection to any corporate LAN - I wouldn't even trust VLANs to give any separation for that because you would still need to jump the gap across the VLANs at L3 to pass traffic - you would need a reasonably big and clever firewall/IPS to cover that risk. Thus, I was suggesting a very small standalone wifi network with a special web server with the lap timing data feed to it. I am all in favour of the KISS approach to these things - always works best!!

racing59
20th April 2007, 07:58
Hey Rob Hows The Yellow Peril Coming Along? As You Seem To Be On Here Alot Lately, And With All Them Paint Runs! Ha Ha

The yellow peril is doing fine.

The runs as you call them are aerodynamic aids to stabilise the car at speed.
I shall be adding to them on the nose of the car due to the amount of yellow paint removed during rookie training. Talk about shot blasted!

The chimney is now ooooo so quiet (shhhhh!)

Just the panhard rod to sort, and a spanner check. Which I'm starting this afternoon.

racing59
20th April 2007, 08:02
Hmmmm, if you're that close to Rockingham's "catch fencing" you're in one sorry pickle and it may be time to think "this one may hurt" :( :D



I do hope you intend to start from the back of the grid for this one; or else Ian or Al are going to be reaching for a yellow, Dead Squirrel will be less than impressed at the amount of cr*p to clear up, your bank manager won't be sending Xmas cards, and Dave Pierre will be chewing "59" tush for hours. ;)

:D


You obviously didn't watch Cars then? I need to get some of those flexible sidewall variable diameter Lightyear racing tires!

I think the back of the grid is inevitable with me being the only rookie in the field. My bank manager would be sending me christmas cards, with "pay up or else" written in blood underneath a crossed out "Merry Christmas".

JovialJooles
20th April 2007, 11:23
You obviously didn't watch Cars then? I need to get some of those flexible sidewall variable diameter Lightyear racing tires!

I think the back of the grid is inevitable with me being the only rookie in the field. My bank manager would be sending me christmas cards, with "pay up or else" written in blood underneath a crossed out "Merry Christmas".

Nah, you're bank manager would keep the Merry Christmas; he'd love the irony! :p

PapaJuliet
20th April 2007, 18:42
Just the panhard rod to sort, and a spanner check. Which I'm starting this afternoon.

Is that to check that you haven't left any in the truck, strategically placed to drop out during the race and REALLY annoy deadsquirrel?

:rotflmao:

LessThanSte
20th April 2007, 19:34
Hope they've installed a lightning conductor :hot:

Wouldnt it be more amusing to make it out of rubber.

We'd have a bendy timing tower on hot days :)

Mark in Oshawa
20th April 2007, 21:51
First off, forgive me for intruding on a series thread that isn't one I follow, but it isn't a "timing tower" it is a "scoring tower." Timing towers would keep track of times but from what I have read here, this was just for positions.

I am a timing and scoring official over here ( more or less getting out of it, but that is another story ) and these things attract my attention. That said, what happened there is a similar story to the tower at Mosport. It was built by the long time owner of the track and was done on the cheap. The company that built it used to make scoreboards for hockey rinks, so while it worked initially, they didn't use stuff that was shielded and of sufficient quality to withstand Canadian winters and lightning strikes. Needless to say, it barely worked after 3 years, and in timing and scoring, we had to try to make numbers pop up on it that made sense. I hated the thing. Under the new ownership, they replaced all the wiring, put in a new control module, and gave us a keyboard to operate it with that didn't require a PHD in electrical engineering to keep running. Things are better now.....and as for text messages to fans, over here, they have a system with NASCAR that NEXTEL has that gives you a running score on a little TV screen device. ALMS has a gizmo you can plug into a Nintendo that gives the running order and times.....it all just involves money...something that I gather that the SCSA series maybe isn't ready for yet....

F150pickup
21st April 2007, 11:29
Hi It is working at the moment

The White Lady
21st April 2007, 12:53
Just wanted to say hi :) to our Canadian cousin who has taken time to peek at our forum. Nice to know we still attract interest from over the pond.

And hi to F150pickup - will there be a competition to guess how long it lasts?? :cheese:

See you all on the 29th.

F150pickup
21st April 2007, 15:10
Still working

Might a good idea White lady Might give away some tickets tomorrow for next weekend so listen out to 1602

Mark in Oshawa
21st April 2007, 16:54
Thanks Whitelady...I am always interested in series that spring up that don't "fit" with the culture...that is North American Stock racing springing up in Europe. When one thinks of stock racing, we don't think of it as an European thing. I suspect most Americans have no clue of what the SCSA is all about.....

F150pickup
21st April 2007, 17:36
I will have 5 pairs of tickets for SCSA to give away tomorrow Sunday between 0900 to 1000 if all goes well So listen to the PA or 1602 mw if you are coming to TOCA meeting for the questions You might need a program for the answers

Dave17
21st April 2007, 21:22
Yes the tower is working and no you still can't see it unless you are directly in line, have perfect eye sight and the sun is'nt shining!!

JovialJooles
21st April 2007, 23:19
Yes the tower is working and no you still can't see it unless you are directly in line, have perfect eye sight and the sun is'nt shining!!

:rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

Couldn't see a thing from my post all day!

tin-top fan
22nd April 2007, 11:21
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thefilbertfox/467530275/in/set-72157600103971279/ confirmation that the tower is now working :up:

Dave17
22nd April 2007, 20:15
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thefilbertfox/467530275/in/set-72157600103971279/ confirmation that the tower is now working :up:

I can see a red blur down the side of the white numbers.....

Eeyore
22nd April 2007, 21:16
I can see a red blur down the side of the white numbers.....

I agree Dave, but I had the advantage of a TV in a Hostility Suite for the lap counter and positions. Plus the added advantage of a 10 second digital delay on Setanta Sports.....watch the action on track and then see the incident on TV :D

Jamie Brown
22nd April 2007, 21:38
i couldnt see a thing on the tower

LessThanSte
22nd April 2007, 22:29
I had an idea. Take a photo of it, then goto the display mode and zoom in. Worked a treat.

Somewhat time consuming though :P

Lovely if your right infront of it though!

Jordygirl
23rd April 2007, 00:41
We had a fantastic view of the tower from Post 19 :s pin: It looked wonderful

Sticker Rub
23rd April 2007, 11:36
We had a fantastic view of the tower from Post 19 :s pin: It looked wonderful
We had a fantastic view of the tower from Post 12. It looked off. :p :

mbr
23rd April 2007, 18:02
Well i could'nt see the numbers on the scoring tower even with the aid of a decent set of binoculars!!!!!!!!!!

Jamie Brown
23rd April 2007, 19:15
there my binoculars by the way

The White Lady
23rd April 2007, 19:22
there my binoculars by the way

Did you tell him to take the lens covers off? :cheese:

SteveA
23rd April 2007, 21:06
mbr - you have to look through the small end!

Al_Green
23rd April 2007, 22:37
I hope the towers working at the weekend - my lap counter broke yesterday while I was evading the dust and stones from Formula 3 cars throwing themselves in my gravel trap at Donington :(

(o/t - if you thought the BTCC cars were fun getting round the hairpin, wait for the F3s in September. Catch net anyone???)

Al.