Topic: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

Our New team doesn’t know anything about them.

Can I use the multi Chanel walkie talkies we used in Disney world.?

What should we use?

Can you use ear buds inside a helmet?  Is that safe?



We are doing One hour stints in September in South Carolina.  Do we need cool shirts?


What type of water bottle set up do you use in car?

Former Captain
1996 Crown Vic. #55
Team Racing Cosmo

Re: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

Radios are secondary to headsets.

Get yourself a good headset that works with your helmet, THEN worry about the radio(s). You will find that ~99% of the helmet kits use either an IMSA or NASCAR style plug. These are kind of the industry standard, so if you want to arrive and drive with some other team and / or bring on new drivers to your own team, it's highly likely that one of these two plug styles will be used.

Do a Google search on Amazon for "IMSA Helmet Kit" (or NASCAR) and pick your poison. There are options with speakers that can be permanently mounted in the helmet, or a 3.5mm plug for an in-the-ear style of bud that you put on under your helmet. It's a matter pf preference at this point.

Once you get the headsets figured out, you'll want to buy a "car harness" that connects the headset and a push-to-talk button to a radio. There a bunch to choose from, but the BaoFeng radios are the popular choice. Be careful though, they can be programmed for all kinds of frequencies that will get you in trouble with the FCC.

The Pentastar whisperer

Re: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

Most teams use radios, some use cell phone options and some probably use still use pit boards.

I prefer and recommend NASCAR but others will say the same about IMSA.

Baofeng radios are hugely popular. They are cheap, functional and versatile. You can use regular walkie talkies too which will be on GMRS/FRS frequencies. I recommend Motorola Talkabouts over Midlands for those but still recommend Baofengs over GMRS/FRS radios.

Basic Baofeng UV-5R is $25.00
https://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-UV-5R-Du … amp;sr=8-3

Baofeng UV-5RTP (triple power up to 8 watts) $29.00
https://www.amazon.com/UV-5RTP-Tri-Powe … amp;sr=8-4

Baofeng UV-5R high power is up to 8 watts with high capacity battery for $33.00
https://www.amazon.com/Baofeng-UV-5R-Po … amp;sr=8-6

Simplify Baofeng programming with free CHIRP software and a programming cable: $10
https://www.amazon.com/Baofeng-Programm … amp;sr=8-6

chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home

Roof antennas help too, cheap simple option: $10
https://www.amazon.com/Bingfu-136-174MH … NrPXRydWU=

Cool Shirts are good in hot weather. Ultrachiller is a good option and sold in the Lemons store. Cool Shirt and FAST Shirt are two other major players.

Adding a water bottle with a hose helps drivers too.

Troy

#35 LRE
1973 Datsun 240Z

Re: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

Troy isn't allowed to advertise on here but he's the guy a lot of us use for radios.  Hit him up through the forum mail here or at http://nerdieracing.com/ and he'll school you all you want to know about radios and set you up as needed.

In general, you will find opinions about radios ranging from your an effing idiot if you don't have radios before you drive through a track's front gates to those who just ask race control to black flag their car to get it in.  Radios are great for the driver to say he's pitting or to be called into pit.  Radios can get you in and out of the pits much faster for driver changes or if you don't want to hang out in the hot pits waiting for the car to come in.  But the reality is that for a newbie team, you don't know what you don't know yet so even with radios your stops will be slow.  A big old Flavor Flav sized clock from Target ziptied to the dash works for a lot of people.  You tell the driver to come back at X o'clock.   Some people like to be told lap times.  I don't like the annoyance or the distraction.  I will ask if I want them.  Radios can be distracting.  But when you get to the point where you actually want to compete for whatever class win, you really do need them to have a hope.

1990 RX7 "Mazdarita"  1964 Sunbeam Imp (IOE 2013 Sears Pointless) 2002 Jaguar x-type (Winner C-Class 2021 Sears Pointless)
Gone bye-bye
1994 Jaguar XJ12 (Winner C-Class 2013 Sears Pointless)  1980 Rover SD1 (I Got Screwed 2014 Return of Lemonites)

5 (edited by aaron.vogel 2020-02-17 10:10 PM)

Re: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

https://forums.24hoursoflemons.com/view … p?id=36642

Unless you're doing the entire series worth of Lemons races, my opinions are:

1) IMSA/NASCAR/Whatever connectors are super overrated.
2) Rugged Radios and Sampson Racing are just marked up Chinese radios, so you might as well get the cheapo originals. At least PCI sells the legit stuff...
3) do it right and get yer freaking license and run GMRS. It ain't hard, it ain't expensive. Or at least it doesn't have to be just 'cause someone who wants your money says it is.

Yeah, Troy's got some good gear if you really want to go that way. Otherwise the Amazon idea lists I post in that thread have everything you need for <$250 and they'll last just fine if you take car of it.

Re: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

Troy wrote:

...and some probably use still use pit boards.

Yes, some of us don't use radios and very much still use a pit board or some other object, such as a distinctive flag, that can be waved to get the driver's attention. It works quite well as long as the only anticipated message to be sent is "pit now" and as long as every driver makes a point of checking for it at the agreed-upon location during every lap. But hey, that should be right up there with checking all of the flagging stations during every lap, right?

Only rarely is a pit board or equivalent needed for calling someone in early. Most of the time its use is simply a nice confirmation for the driver at the end of a stint that the rest of the team is also paying attention to the clock and is actually ready to fuel the car and swap drivers.

1982 MG Metro 1300: IOE 2015 Pacific Northworst GP, Longest Distance 2010 Cd'L Box Wine Country Classic
1980 KV Mini 1: Worst of Show and Fright Pig Supremo 2009 Concours d'Lemons
1978 H Special: Second-Round Elimination 2010 Lemons Pinewood Derby at Sears Pointless
1967 SAAB 96: IOE 2012 Pacific Northworst GP, Organizer's Choice 2022 Hell on Wheels California Rally

Re: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

Radios are a crutch!

Unless you  are at the pointy end of the field (in class, maybe) a distinctive flag (a piece of pink bedsheet, a plaid shirt, etc.) that your drivers actually look for (this part is important... and if they don't, ask race control to black flag them) is enough to tell them to come in (as a reminder once they see that the clock has gone past their allotted time). If you aren't at the pointy end, you might not need to fuel every stint unless you have a v8. Because why are you doing multi(2+)-hour stints if you aren't trying to be competitive (the car can go 3+ hours on a tank, and doesn't burn 5 gallons in the hour-ish long stint because it is a basic car)?

If the car is broken, it will be towed in. If the car is breaking, the drivers should have been instructed to pull over and wait for the tow truck, or so I hear. Either way, you are out 30+ minutes, so it doesn't matter.

That guy

Re: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

Our problem is we have one driver that likes to just showup in the paddock. So it's nice to know when that's coming ahead of time so we can either be ready to fix something, or have another driver dressed to go out.

Mistake By The Lake Racing (MBTL)
88 Thunderbird "THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!", Ex Astris, Rubigo / Semper Fracti
A&D: 2014 Sebrings at Sebring (NSF), 2014 NJMP2 Jurassic Park (SpeedyCop), 2012 Summit Point J30 (PiNuts)
2018 Route Sucky-Suck Rally Miata, 2019 World Tour Of Texas 64 Newport

Re: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

DirtyDuc wrote:

Radios are a crutch!

lol

Lemme guess...you walked uphill both ways to school as a kid?

Re: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

aaron.vogel wrote:
DirtyDuc wrote:

Radios are a crutch!

lol

Lemme guess...you walked uphill both ways to school as a kid?

Hah! No, I did a dumb and joined the army. smile Then I learned that modern and fancy was the opposite of useful*.

Useful meaning "in the worst possible conditions, what will suffice."

That guy

Re: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

Guildenstern wrote:

Our problem is we have one driver that likes to just showup in the paddock. So it's nice to know when that's coming ahead of time so we can either be ready to fix something, or have another driver dressed to go out.

With class c cars way out of contention, radios may have been nice if the rest of the drivers weren't off spectating/canoodling/whathaveyou. As what passes for captain of what passes for a team, I'm happy if the car is still running and people are driving it.

That guy

Re: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

Half the time we use ours to bullshit about stuff. The other half they’re actually useful.

Re: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

I have radios, we broke them, I am not motivated to fix them.  We use a giant clock in the car, and I tell the driver when to come back in.

Spend your money on cool shirts.  There are lots of post on how make your own cooler and shirts.  I have a homemade cooler, which usually works, and we spent money on pre-made shirts.

Team whatever_racecar #745 Volvo wagon

Re: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

The PCI harness I bought was the same as one from another supplier, 40% more and the radio jumper did not work.

I DISCOURGE the "Off-Road" standard PCI and Rugged offer as it just complicated things. Same "IMSA" connector wired differently.

aaron.vogel wrote:

https://forums.24hoursoflemons.com/view … p?id=36642

At least PCI sells the legit stuff...

Troy

#35 LRE
1973 Datsun 240Z

Re: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

Troy wrote:

The PCI harness I bought was the same as one from another supplier, 40% more and the radio jumper did not work.

I DISCOURGE the "Off-Road" standard PCI and Rugged offer as it just complicated things. Same "IMSA" connector wired differently.

aaron.vogel wrote:

https://forums.24hoursoflemons.com/view … p?id=36642

At least PCI sells the legit stuff...

Not at all surprised... i’ve never bought anything from them and never would, I was mostly just looking at what radios they’re selling and whether or not they’re rebranded or original manufacturers.

Re: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

As always I can tell you what WE do and what works for us.  So here we go.


Can I use the multi Chanel walkie talkies we used in Disney world.?

Indeed you can.  Suffice to say more spendy radios will get you more range, but most of the tracks Lemons races on are not that huge.  Even At Road America we were able to get signal most of the lap.

Can you use ear buds inside a helmet?  Is that safe?

Two years ago we switched from speakers to ear buds.  We love the change.  Its more easy to hear, more comfortable, and if the buds have an issue its easy to swap them out, you can get replacements at any local department store. 



We are doing One hour stints in September in South Carolina.  Do we need cool shirts?

 
You said you were looking at hour stints, so I'm tempted to say no.  But thats a tough one to call.  Besides ambient temperature, how good a shape are you and your other drivers??  Is the car easy to drive??  What race suit are you wearing, the cheaper suits are more heavy and breathe less,  etc.   I use them on hot summer races, but I typically go without in the spring and fall events. 


What type of water bottle set up do you use in car?

Just a simple camel back system http://store.24hoursoflemons.com/produc … romate.htm


Hope this helps.

Team Sucker Punch: Winner Class B Doing Time at Joliet 2023 Autobahn ,Winner Org Choice award Were the Elite Meet to Cheat 2015
Chevy Camaro (Tiger striped #38)  (1989-2017 RIP old friend)
Chevy Corvette 1984......and still racing!

Re: Shepard to Lost Sheep. Come in Lost Sheep (Radios?)

My answer remains the same, every inquiry.  Be an innovator...go flag semaphore!