Speedfest Bumpercam Video

[bobbrand]

Here's a fun video of me chasing John Simone around the Speedway. John is running two or three seconds faster, but at this point in the weekend he's still a little conservative on the banking which helps me keep him in sight.

Warning to dialups, the video is 40MB

Everyone asks about the camera too. The camera is a cheap security camera that I bought on sale at fryes. It plugs into the camcorder video input. The price on the box is $40, but I think I payed $19. It's mounted to the tow hook on the right side of my front bumper.

Note the shortcut that I found to the pits. I don't recommend using that one though.

As they say on SpeedChannel, "Turn up the volume and enjoy"


http://www.ironcreek.net/~rbrand/brandsimone05.mpg


* - Thank you to Andre for hosting the video

[martinreinhardt]

This is cool, it gives a better view of the line than an in-car camera. Does it turn off the sound recording when you plug in the external camera to to video recorder?

Thanks for sharing the video, this is a keeper.

[mnettles]

OK. That was really good. Thanks for the lesson

mj

[lowyder993s]

Nicely done...looks like I have some competition in the cinema dept
I'm already working on my Tribute vid in my mind

[kary]

Bob, very nice video. Can you share with us how you wired the camera through the car to the camera and where you mounted the camera?

Also, I was viewing the video on a machine without sound so if this question is stupid let me know. What was the cause of your off track journey? It seemed that you might have come in wide (to the right) at entry to the chicane and then could not come back once the car moved left, though that might just be the camera angle. Hard to say from my perspective.

Thanks for sharing!!!

[Jad]

Very cool video. Impressive how smooth the video stayed while using your special chicane route

By the way, was that your fastest lap, off in the chicane, through the pits to start finish to trip the timer?

Were you ever able to confirm your top speed? Was it really 156 on your GPS!!! I don't think I ever reached much over 140 mph according to my GPS (limited runs)

[kary]

Very cool video. Impressive how smooth the video stayed while using your special chicane route

By the way, was that your fastest lap, off in the chicane, through the pits to start finish to trip the timer?

Were you ever able to confirm your top speed? Was it really 156 on your GPS!!! I don't think I ever reached much over 140 mph according to my GPS (limited runs)

Wow, 156mph!!! On my speedo the fastest I ever got was 147mph going into the brake zone toward turn 3. Not sure if my speedo is accurate but I do not have any reason to believe otherwise. Normally I would consistently come throug there at 142 to 144mph depending upon my launch onto the front straight and traffic through turns 1 and 2.

[jrgordonsenior]

Wow, 156mph!!! On my speedo the fastest I ever got was 147mph going into the brake zone toward turn 3. Not sure if my speedo is accurate but I do not have any reason to believe otherwise. Normally I would consistently come throug there at 142 to 144mph depending upon my launch onto the front straight and traffic through turns 1 and 2.

Cary,

Do you have factory gear ratios, and consequently do you go through turn 2 in 5th or 6th at that speed? Competitive, inquiring minds wish to know.....

[bobbrand]

Wow - lots of questions. I will try to address.

1. Sound on camera.
The camera has a microphone, but I don't think I would want to use it with the camera on the front of the car. The A/V input of the camera has a connection for audio, but I think it does not expect mic level, but rather something like line out on a stereo. I tried hooking a powered mic to the line, and it didn't work. The external mic jack does not work while in A/V input mode. So, I have not figured out how to get quality audio through an external mic using this. Thus the need for music

2. How its mounted.
I sort of explained. I made a bracket that attaches the camera to the tow hook. Previously, I had used duct tape. I run the wire into the hood in front, and out the hood at the back corner on the passenger side, then I tape it down over the A-pillar. Then I attach it to the camcorder which is sitting in its normal camera mount. A cleaner solution would be to run the wire through the wire grommet in the "firewall" or whatever it's called in front.

3. Why did I go off.
I've got no excuse other than a lapse of concentration, and not getting the car over fast enough. I don't think it was entry angle. I just didn't turn fast enough around the tires. I realized that I was going to put a wheel in the grass, and decided that rather than try to pull it back onto the track and risk being flung inside that I would just keep it straight and drive off. I remember that there is a lot of room there to go off, but that it was wet, and when your brakes are not working too well in the grass, you question the distance to the wall in the background about 100 times before the car comes under control.

4. 156 on GPS
It is true that I had a reading of 156 max speed on the GPS on one run session, however, in subsequent runs, I didn't see anything close to that. As Jad was saying, high 130's to low 140's was more typical. I think it may have been a glitch if that's possible. One thing is for sure, there was no other opportunity for the GPS to be going that fast. So, it was either a glitch, or a fluke run. That said, I trust the GPS over any speedometer. My speedometer was reading 10mph faster than the GPS last time I looked at it.

[Mike]

Thanks, Bob, Neat camera location, makes for good video. Felt like one of those motion rides.
Either you can have the camera in the car so you can see what you are doing or you can put the camera where you did and make really good video for your friends to watch.
Try another lipstick camera on the rear bumper and use a screen splitter/ picture in picture for the ultimate.

[Jad]

1. Sound on camera.
The camera has a microphone, but I don't think I would want to use it with the camera on the front of the car. The A/V input of the camera has a connection for audio, but I think it does not expect mic level, but rather something like line out on a stereo. I tried hooking a powered mic to the line, and it didn't work. The external mic jack does not work while in A/V input mode. So, I have not figured out how to get quality audio through an external mic using this. Thus the need for music

On my camera, the sound comes from the video camera and the picture from the lipstick camera. Works OK, except my turbo is so quiet, you mostly hear the wind or other peoples engine, not my engine, even though I have the video camera mounted by the shift knob right next to the engine. Maybe an external microphone in the engine compartment is needed, or open headers .

[Dan Chambers]

On my camera, the sound comes from the video camera and the picture from the lipstick camera. Works OK, except my turbo is so quiet, you mostly hear the wind or other peoples engine, not my engine, even though I have the video camera mounted by the shift knob right next to the engine. Maybe an external microphone in the engine compartment is needed, or open headers .

Hey Jad, I've got that really "cool" sounding Dansk muffler, if you want that "racey" sound. It's all yours!!