Radio communications in mechanics area only

Thor34103
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11/21/2019 11:44am Edited Date/Time 11/24/2019 9:02pm
Instead of the NASCAR model where spotters are used, MX and SX could use radios as an alternative to pit boards. Having the coverage only in the vicinity of the mechanics would be a 21st century upgrade to the present archaic 20th century pit boards.

Good idea or unnecessary?
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kb228
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11/21/2019 12:01pm
They tested it at monster cup..

Id be interested to hear how it went. I must have missed it.
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tingo
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11/21/2019 2:33pm
You can't misspell "by" on the radio, and then what would we be left to joke about decades later?
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DJL219
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11/21/2019 3:20pm
Will only happen when the sport is electric Whistling

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Thor34103
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11/24/2019 9:06pm
Nope. Super distracting.
How distracting do you rate having to look over at a pit board?

Strikes me that looking straight ahead while receiving a 2 second update from your mechanic would be safer than current system.
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GuyB
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11/24/2019 9:09pm
DJL219 wrote:
Will only happen when the sport is electric Whistling
When it's electric they can shout as they go by.
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Boomslang
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11/24/2019 9:23pm
Nope. Super distracting.
Thor34103 wrote:
How distracting do you rate having to look over at a pit board? Strikes me that looking straight ahead while receiving a 2 second update from...
How distracting do you rate having to look over at a pit board?

Strikes me that looking straight ahead while receiving a 2 second update from your mechanic would be safer than current system.
At Ironman the mechanics area was located right out of the exit of a sweeping right hand corner. The corner was rough with multiple lines as in deep ruts.

It was chaos. Final 450 motor, John Short lost control coming through the corner and came over the railings, hit a tv screen and almost nailed Will Christien and myself. I doubt many rider where looking at their pitboard while trying to negotiate their way safely round the corner.

Without doubt, they need to look at the mechanic stations...they cannot have them on entries or exits of corners.

Fine to run radio comms but I see the pitboard as the primary sauce of comms going ahead.
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JustMX
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11/25/2019 6:53am Edited Date/Time 11/25/2019 6:56am
Mechanic's areas seem silly anyway. They make our sport look rink dink and it is not going to be good when some guy really cleans out multiple people at speed.

What critical thing is a mechanic really going to tell his rider, I mean, if you are leading keep up the good work, if you are not, then get your ass in gear.

Why is it a good thing that a rider can be told to cruise in third place because he has the overall wrapped up at a triple crown?

All individual radios are going to do is give another advantage to teams with a budget and multiple spotters.

Let the promoters broadcast to riders. they can give safety alerts, top five running order, and laps remaining. Anything else is clutter
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jeffro503
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11/25/2019 7:02am
DJL219 wrote:
Will only happen when the sport is electric Whistling
GuyB wrote:
When it's electric they can shout as they go by.
Steve , wasn't it one of your interview videos around MEC time , where quite a few guy's said they " wouldn't " want to use them? I thought it was here , maybe it was racerx.
Zaugg
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11/25/2019 7:10am Edited Date/Time 11/25/2019 7:11am
The problem isn't using them at the pro level, it's conditioning riders at the amateur level to get comfortable with radio comms.

It's tough to unlearn something you've been taught as a kid. That glance at the pit board is a learned skill just like anything else.

In order for pro-riders to adopt it, they would need to implement at the amateur level first.

Have mercy on mini-kids when mini-dads can scream at them thru a headset. I'll let you decide if that's a good idea or not.
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Regis
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11/25/2019 1:38pm
Wouldn’t hear it.

Most mechanics areas are in acceleration zones.
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GuyB
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11/25/2019 3:07pm
jeffro503 wrote:
Steve , wasn't it one of your interview videos around MEC time , where quite a few guy's said they " wouldn't " want to use...
Steve , wasn't it one of your interview videos around MEC time , where quite a few guy's said they " wouldn't " want to use them? I thought it was here , maybe it was racerx.
There were a few guys who tried it, but some of the ones I asked said they weren't interested.

I think a lot of folks thought because it was being used there it was cleared for the 2020 season and beyond. I haven't heard of any change there...at least yet.
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Thor34103
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11/25/2019 6:57pm Edited Date/Time 11/25/2019 7:05pm
Nope. Super distracting.
Thor34103 wrote:
How distracting do you rate having to look over at a pit board? Strikes me that looking straight ahead while receiving a 2 second update from...
How distracting do you rate having to look over at a pit board?

Strikes me that looking straight ahead while receiving a 2 second update from your mechanic would be safer than current system.
Boomslang wrote:
At Ironman the mechanics area was located right out of the exit of a sweeping right hand corner. The corner was rough with multiple lines as...
At Ironman the mechanics area was located right out of the exit of a sweeping right hand corner. The corner was rough with multiple lines as in deep ruts.

It was chaos. Final 450 motor, John Short lost control coming through the corner and came over the railings, hit a tv screen and almost nailed Will Christien and myself. I doubt many rider where looking at their pitboard while trying to negotiate their way safely round the corner.

Without doubt, they need to look at the mechanic stations...they cannot have them on entries or exits of corners.

Fine to run radio comms but I see the pitboard as the primary sauce of comms going ahead.
Your Ironman example makes the case of why the present mechanics area is outdated from a safety standpoint. I don't get your "Without doubt" comment. Radio communications just in the mechanics area would eliminate having to look anywhere and would allow the mechanics to be further away from the racing line which increases safety substantially.
Thor34103
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11/25/2019 7:03pm Edited Date/Time 11/25/2019 7:55pm
Zaugg wrote:
The problem isn't using them at the pro level, it's conditioning riders at the amateur level to get comfortable with radio comms. It's tough to unlearn...
The problem isn't using them at the pro level, it's conditioning riders at the amateur level to get comfortable with radio comms.

It's tough to unlearn something you've been taught as a kid. That glance at the pit board is a learned skill just like anything else.

In order for pro-riders to adopt it, they would need to implement at the amateur level first.

Have mercy on mini-kids when mini-dads can scream at them thru a headset. I'll let you decide if that's a good idea or not.
The topic pertains to updating professional SX and MX mechanic signalling. I am not concerned about amateur issues, having to unlearn anything issues and mini bike dad components at this point but I like that you're thinking ahead. Maybe in a few years this will be as common as lap times and automated scoring is today. Speech to text system could sense when the bike comes by the mechanics area and current position and lap times could be given. Personally I think I would just want to hear position and faster/slower feedback on my lap times.

I completely agree with JustMX's point that the current mechanics area does make the sport look rinky dink or being as polite as possible. there has to be a better way than the current system. Let's make changes before a cartwheeling bike does serious damage to a mechanic or TV crew member.
Last Braaap
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11/26/2019 2:48am
GuyB wrote:
When it's electric they can shout as they go by.
Wouldn't that increase noise pollution? They could use sign language instead of a ...sign *ba dum tsssss*

I personally would prefer transponder based communication, a.k.a. when your rider crosses a marker entering/leaving the pit area the communication is allowed/ended. If your transponder is fudged than you have time to contemplate the poor quality of electronics that comes from forced labor in china for next 30 or so minutes.

If you just go by distance it can cause some funky midlap transfers depending on the layout of track.
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Boomslang
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11/26/2019 3:31am Edited Date/Time 11/26/2019 3:34am
Thor34103 wrote:
How distracting do you rate having to look over at a pit board? Strikes me that looking straight ahead while receiving a 2 second update from...
How distracting do you rate having to look over at a pit board?

Strikes me that looking straight ahead while receiving a 2 second update from your mechanic would be safer than current system.
Boomslang wrote:
At Ironman the mechanics area was located right out of the exit of a sweeping right hand corner. The corner was rough with multiple lines as...
At Ironman the mechanics area was located right out of the exit of a sweeping right hand corner. The corner was rough with multiple lines as in deep ruts.

It was chaos. Final 450 motor, John Short lost control coming through the corner and came over the railings, hit a tv screen and almost nailed Will Christien and myself. I doubt many rider where looking at their pitboard while trying to negotiate their way safely round the corner.

Without doubt, they need to look at the mechanic stations...they cannot have them on entries or exits of corners.

Fine to run radio comms but I see the pitboard as the primary sauce of comms going ahead.
Thor34103 wrote:
Your Ironman example makes the case of why the present mechanics area is outdated from a safety standpoint. I don't get your "Without doubt" comment. Radio...
Your Ironman example makes the case of why the present mechanics area is outdated from a safety standpoint. I don't get your "Without doubt" comment. Radio communications just in the mechanics area would eliminate having to look anywhere and would allow the mechanics to be further away from the racing line which increases safety substantially.
Without doubt comment refers to most of the Nat event's mechanic's locations area Using pit boards and stopping area.


"Without doubt, they need to look at the mechanic stations...they cannot have them on entries or exits of corners"


By comparison, look at the MXGP mechanics. They all have their own booth or pit stop area located down a long straight. No disrespect intended to the US series but I do believe this is one area where the US series is lacking. Be it pit boards or radio comms, the pull- in / signaling area needs to be on straights. Furthermore, some may prefer radio comms but a pit board can show in detail the important info without a long dialogue via comms.

We get a small a area where convenient. We looking at 40 pit boards plus the bigger teams have 5 + guys down there with Mules / side x sides...

I do believe there is room for big improvement in this regard. Maybe DC can chime in here?
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Thor34103
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12/4/2019 8:36pm
Boomslang wrote:
Without doubt comment refers to most of the Nat event's mechanic's locations area Using pit boards and stopping area. "Without doubt, they need to look at...
Without doubt comment refers to most of the Nat event's mechanic's locations area Using pit boards and stopping area.


"Without doubt, they need to look at the mechanic stations...they cannot have them on entries or exits of corners"


By comparison, look at the MXGP mechanics. They all have their own booth or pit stop area located down a long straight. No disrespect intended to the US series but I do believe this is one area where the US series is lacking. Be it pit boards or radio comms, the pull- in / signaling area needs to be on straights. Furthermore, some may prefer radio comms but a pit board can show in detail the important info without a long dialogue via comms.

We get a small a area where convenient. We looking at 40 pit boards plus the bigger teams have 5 + guys down there with Mules / side x sides...

I do believe there is room for big improvement in this regard. Maybe DC can chime in here?
Thank you for the without doubt explanation as I took your words in the wrong context. I agree there is room for big improvement. It is the 21st century and riders getting the pit board information delivered over a headset in the helmet would be much safer. The riders can focus on the track in front of them and the mechanics can be slightly further off the racing line which is a win win to me.

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