Mark Sirota <msirota@isc.upenn.edu> wrote:
>
>Questions:
>(1) What display did your club choose?
Poughkeepsie Sports Car Club chose the RaceAmerica display
to interface with our JA Circuits timer.
>(2) Where did you get it?
RaceAmerica.
>(3) How much did you pay for it?
Whatever the price was on their web site. It was the cheapest
of the three options when we bought it in 1999.
>(4) Are you happy with it?
Absolutely love it!
>Are there any issues we ought to know about?
Our biggest concern was daytime visibility, since it uses
generated light (LED's) versus reflected light (flip-card).
This has not been a problem. You can read the display from
the far end of the paddock on a sunny day no problem. After
seeing ours, most of the other clubs in the region bought one
for themselves.
Another big concern was that the flip-card display is a
mechanical device. New England Region's display had a couple
of "stuck" segments at the 1999 Ayer Tour, and that weighed
heavily in our decision even with the technophobes. The
reliability of the ProSolo shot clock (made by Chronomix?)
whenever it even threatens to rain was also discussed.
One serious issue. If you go with the RaceAmerica display,
don't stare at it while you're playing with it indoors. It's
BRIGHT indoors, and could cause eye damage!
>(5) What software are you using to drive it?
We've got it connected directly to the JA Circuits timer. It
can be driven by any computer program that supports "Chronomix"
display output. (Chronomix makes the display for JA Circuits
AFAIK, and is the third source that we investigated.) I know
that New York Region and Westchester Sports Car Club both
have their displays connected to their timing/scoring PC's,
but don't recall what timing packages they're using off the top
of my head.
>Do you display anything other than times (penalties, countdown
>timer between heats, ...)
NYR sometimes runs a countdown timer to the driver's meeting.
I wrote a Q&D MS-DOS program to make it display the time of day,
but never bothered to actually use it at an event for something.
The display has a built-in clock function, and the program
merely sets the correct time and turns the clock display on.
Hope this gives more than one club some points to consider
when shopping for a display. If you have any specific
questions, feel free to e-mail me privately.....
-Arthur ("Wishes that you couldn't read my times @ 500 feet" edition.)
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