Team Finalgear in the 24 Hours of Lemons

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by I'm not Takumi

Nobody has addressed my donation problems. Paypal and I hate each other, so is there an alternative?

Only other thing I can think of is snail mail, but it's all up to Quiky.

[Quiky]

Originally Posted by Viper007Bond

Only other thing I can think of is snail mail, but it's all up to Quiky.

Can accept Snail Mail, Western Union, Money orders ;P

Big to jayhawk, ttyrants911, and solitudeseraph for the donations.

Originally Posted by celicatoe46m3

I'm not sure how you're going to get an internet connection IN the car, but I can definitely get some hosting or streaming setup so people can at least watch it live, or even watch it after. Let me know.

Possibly a custom laptop mount in the rear of the car, with a wifi link to the pits. I saw that WebcamXP supports Windows Media Streaming, so that could broadcast to a relay server on a 100mbit connection, which people can connect to and grab video. The audio+video are fairly synched up in local testing..

Also, does anyone in the Michigan area have Sprint/verizon and a data-card?

[splatmatic]

Originally Posted by Quiky

Well, I can see what can be done broadcast wise. I have mobile tethering with my Verizon phone, so I may be able to put a live updating cam in the car, or in the pits watching the track. It has about 16KB/sec maximum bandwidth, and a limit of 5gb/month, so that would be a bit tight. Anyone got suggestions on software/relays?

old fashion camera and change the tapes out every other pit stop. Then have someone run back to the hotel and throw in the tape and stream it out.. Yes their would be about a 1 or 2 hour delay, but better then nothing. (Plus you can leech off the hotels connection and not worry about the .75 cents verizon charges you for every MB you transfer for EV-DO) That, or use a digital camera and make a reallllly long pit stop so you can copy all the data off the laptop to another laptop and use the tracks wifi (if it has it). Well those are my thoughts...

Edit: Or you could buy a router or two and place them around the track. use DD-WRT to link them together and then up to the wifi at the track. Not really sure if anything I wrote is readable since its 4:26 right now. I'll send over a small donation once I setup a paypal account.

[otispunkmeyer]

i think a mini-dv cam will be the best option

ok its not live, but then at least you can then edit the stuff to show the good bits, 24 hour races are pretty good if you are there, but i dont think you can watch live for 24 hours...especially at night. its just boring.

or you could just show the start or a few hours here and there live, have it turned off for most of the night becuase the cam wont be able to pick up much in the dark anyway.

[BlitzR]

If I remember correctly the race doesn't run at night, 2 stints across a 24hr period.

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by BlitzR

If I remember correctly the race doesn't run at night, 2 stints across a 24hr period.

That's what I thought too, but apparently this one does:

SCHEDULE (Saturday, 29 September-Sunday, 30 September)

8:30am - noon Saturday: Arrival & Check-In
9:00am - 1pm Saturday: Tech & BS Judging
1:45pm Saturday: Mandatory Driver's Meeting
2:00pm Saturday: Race begins
2:00pm Sunday: Race ends
2:30pm Sunday: Awards Ceremony
2:45pm - 5:00pm Sunday: Cleanup and departure
5:30pm Sunday: Gates closed, lights out

NOTE--THIS RACE RUNS 24 HOURS STRAIGHT!

[MXM]

Originally Posted by BlitzR

If I remember correctly the race doesn't run at night, 2 stints across a 24hr period.

It depends on the event. 29-30th of September is 24h straight. But maybe track is well lit, so no lights are needed?

I don't like the sound of this tho:

WHAT ARE THE PITS LIKE?
Water is available, electricity is not.

So live video broadcast could be difficult to arrange

[Lurch0001]

That is so freakin awesome - great work guys. If I wasn't on the other side of the planet I'd be doing everything I could to assist. As it is, a Paypal donation will have to do.

Best of luck - keep us updated.

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by MXM

But maybe track is well lit, so no lights are needed?

Headlights have to be removed according to this PDF I'm reading, so yeah.

[YF19pilot]

Originally Posted by Viper007Bond

That's what I thought too, but apparently this one does:

It's the original California race that isn't run 24 hours, due to noise pollution ordinances, which prevent any races being run after 10 pm, iirc.

Quiky, pm me your address and I'll send a Money Order + a sticker I want you to use. Don't worry, it's just one from my school.

[IceBone]

Originally Posted by Quiky

Well, I can see what can be done broadcast wise. I have mobile tethering with my Verizon phone, so I may be able to put a live updating cam in the car, or in the pits watching the track. It has about 16KB/sec maximum bandwidth, and a limit of 5gb/month, so that would be a bit tight. Anyone got suggestions on software/relays?

my 10 mbps up phat pipe will be happy to be a hub for the broadcast.

EDIT: and i think i can part with around 30 euro a month for the cause. But then you better arrange good broadcasting!

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by IceBone

my 10 mbps up phat pipe will be happy to be the main hub for the broadcast.

Hell, by then, this server will be on an unmetered 100mbit line. I'm sure we'll have room on the pipe.

[IceBone]

HAW! I guess i could at least put up a european mirror then or something.

[simracerworld]

I remember reading an article somewhere about making a Wifi antenna with 5 mile range out of a standard USB wireless thing...I'll have to find that, you could stream to any network within 5 miles with no loss of signal.

[Quiky]

It appears as no cell carriers have the up-stream bandwidth to handle a video feed. We need at least 35KB/sec, and none of them provide more than 14KB/sec..

Using a big wifi antenna might work as well..

[Thraxes]

Originally Posted by simracerworld

I remember reading an article somewhere about making a Wifi antenna with 5 mile range out of a standard USB wireless thing...I'll have to find that, you could stream to any network within 5 miles with no loss of signal.

Those are directional antennas, no good on a moving vehicle.

Getting a live WiFi link to the car is possible but would require a substantially greater investment than for the car itself! You could put access points with high gain antennas around the track and a omni-directional high gain antenna at the in car computer, the problem though is:

Cost - getting the routers, access points and antennas
Logistics - No power at the location so you need your own generator and power lines
Wear and Tear - The in car system better have a solid state drive or it will be busted before the race is over

The solution with a cheap miniDV cam and streaming it afterwards with a delay of 1-2 hours is actually the best you can get. Although I fear that the tape drive may give up before the race is over.

Sad part is, I now the right people to set up a wireless net in such a wide area, I have a generator and a whole bunch of old laptops that could be made solid state with ease... but we are nowhere near Michigan (Germany actually ).

On a side: Does anybody know any banger-racing events in Germany or neighbouring countries? I want to give my '96 Escort a proper send-off next year - it's done me good and I'd rather have some fun with it one last time than sell it for pennies to eastern europe or africa.

[JD.dk]

I do believe we have bangerracing in denmark.. i'll try to find out more!!

I would like to participate in the hasselhoff-"tribute" as well !!!

[splatmatic]

Ok after reading a little more, the track is only a 1/4 mile oval.. I normal wifi router could cover this area if it was up high enough. For power if im not mistaken, arent these the same type processor that is found inside my PPC? Car battery + addapter = looonng battery life.


Edit: I think just waiting till the end and editing a miniDV camera would be best. I mean we only need action packed clips with quiky spinning out the competitors. Chances are most teams will not make the full 24 hours due to the cars being Lemons and crashes.

[Quiky]

Originally Posted by splatmatic

Ok after reading a little more, the track is only a 1/4 mile oval.. I normal wifi router could cover this area if it was up high enough. For power if im not mistaken, arent these the same type processor that is found inside my PPC? Car battery + addapter = looonng battery life.


Edit: I think just waiting till the end and editing a miniDV camera would be best. I mean we only need action packed clips with quiky spinning out the competitors. Chances are most teams will not make the full 24 hours due to the cars being Lemons and crashes.

Yeah, much simpler.. less to break.

Next step: Find a mini-dv/Digital8 cam with decent quality..