Brands Hatch track day

[Phil. S]

In the run up to this I posted various queries about tyres camcorder settings, a windscreen for the camcorder, and noise levels, so rather than update each one, I thought I'd gather them all together here, including a clip showing what went wrong with my cam windscreen idea, before my camcorder apparently (but not really) died.

By the way, some people had said that MSV do not allow camcorders on cars during track days. Well they do. All you have to do is sign a form saying you won't use the images for commercial gain.

The static noise test was abandoned for some reason, so despite taking my auxilliary silencer kit, ie, wire wool, chicken wire, and hose clamp, I didn't need it. They still did drive by tests, but I was never pulled in so must be ok. There were definely much louder cars than mine on track. But I still don't know how loud my car is.

I went with the R888s in the end, and had no problem at all, despite the poor conditions and minimal tread. By the afternoon I had excellent grip, and really felt as though I was flying. I managed consistently to put in 59.5 second laps in the afternoon (after some instruction), which I guess wasn't bad for the conditions, but I'd hope to be faster with new tyres and better conditions.

I only managed to record two sessions, but the first one couldn't be retrieved for some reason, and the second one was disappointing. My home made cam windscreen kept the water off the camcorder, but had an unfortunate side effect. (See the vid here)

For some reason I couldn't get the camera to work after the second session, despite putting a new battery pack on. I thought I had wrecked the camera on the first outing. But when I got home it seemed to work fine. I don't know what went wrong there. I'll take it out for  few test runs before using it on another track day. It's a shame, as I felt much faster in the afternoon than in the morning, and was braking much later.

The day itself was fantastic - freezing, but fantastic. Brands is sooo good for 7 style cars. Despite many layers of clothing I arrived half dead from the cold, but sson warmed up. It turned out there were only eight cars in my session, so no traffic problems. Luckily three of us were pretty evenly paced, so it never got boring despite the low number. I had a great tussle with a S2 111S in the morning and even more fun with a 220bhp Honda powered S1 in the afternoon. There was nothing between us for half the session, but the Elise began to pull away in the second half. Good fun trying to keep up though.

[gee_fin]

Set the focus manually (ie. turn off autofocus). Also, the very slight freeze frame zzzt moment at the start normally indicates the camera is having fun with vibration, mic seems to be working well tho  

[lukeyboy]

Can you switch the focus to manual? the auto setting seems to be focusing on the rain / perspex. I was getting right into the vid too !!

Also have you thought of a coat of rainex on it? once the rain starts to bead it should run off.#

Damn, beaten to it  

[Phil. S]

Set the focus manually (ie. turn off autofocus).

But what distance do I set it to? 20' (ish)?

[Phil. S]

Also have you thought of a coat of rainex on it? once the rain starts to bead it should run off.#

Damn, beaten to it  

Ah, that's what it's called. I'll get some and spray it on the screen. I'll also angle the screen back a little more so that the wind blows the water off.

Cheers

Phil

[pistonbroke]

I would set it to infinity  

[The Great Fandango]

The car's going well Phil, and sounds sweet too!

Just an observation but wouldn't an RF Concepts bullet cam be an idea? - They're water proof and provide stonking pictures.

[studbuckle]

hate to say it but ...

QUOTE

windscreen looks good just make sure that the camer doesn't focus on it. They can be confused when the windscreen isn't transparent. i.e. when it gets water/muck on it or if the sun hits it to create a prism within the polycarb. On the Sony cams we use there's a 'landscape' feature that sets the focus at infinity. That's very useful.

told you so

Actually, taking the focussing aside looks like the clamp and camera work well together and certinly dont but the screen down as a bad idea. consider how much water and muck was on the screen that woul otherwise have been on the camera lens. Sort the focus out and you've got a good setup there. Noise is spot on with that mic.

[Phil. S]

windscreen looks good just make sure that the camer doesn't focus on it. They can be confused when the windscreen isn't transparent. i.e. when it gets water/muck on it or if the sun hits it to create a prism within the polycarb. On the Sony cams we use there's a 'landscape' feature that sets the focus at infinity. That's very useful.

told you so

Actually, taking the focussing aside looks like the clamp and camera work well together and certinly dont but the screen down as a bad idea. consider how much water and muck was on the screen that woul otherwise have been on the camera lens. Sort the focus out and you've got a good setup there. Noise is spot on with that mic.

Yep. I should listen to people who know what they are talking about. (I did take note of your advice on placing the mic. I dangled it about 10mm under the dash on the passenger side.)

I've just bought some Rain X to go on the screen, and will angle it back a little so the wind can blow it off. I'll also set the focus as far out as it will go, and will take it out for a test to see how it works.

[TrevP]

For some reason I couldn't get the camera to work after the second session, despite putting a new battery pack on. I thought I had wrecked the camera on the first outing. But when I got home it seemed to work fine.

This might have been caused by the camera getting condensation.

My camera (sony)  stops working if it senses any moisture in the internals and doesnt start up till it has dried.

[gee_fin]

Jeez, don't get me started on that with Sonys Came back footageless from two Rally Barbadii thanks to that gem of Sony's fault. Ended up now having camera in Pelcan box, stuffed with silica bags, all remoted up to bullet cam/LAN-C to get round it. The camera had been back and forth to Sony four times while under warranty because of their moisture thing

[david.c]

Hi Phil

Meant to ask if you managed to do your day, and obviously you did.

Conditions looked awfull..............you're a braver man than me        

Sounds like you had a good time.

Cheers

David

[bhouse]

A couple of additional suggestions:

It looks as if your camera has a silver ring around the outside of the lens. In the unlikely event of a trackday when the sun's shining you'll find it'll reflect horribly in your (rather excellent)  camera windscreen. It might be worth painting the silver bits matt black - model paint works well.

See if you can get a wide angle adapter - it gives a much better sense of 'place', you can see more of the corners you're turning into and it makes everything look faster too!

Welll done  

Brian

[Matt Seabrook]

Car sounds sweet Phil

[Phil. S]

Thanks for all the comments and advice. I'll take it all on board for my next effort, which I'm sure will be a lot better for it.