PCASDR Noise Regulations

[Amail]

We've taken the SCCA Noise Regulations section and modified it to suit our needs. The plan would be to put it into effect at the April 17 A/X.

Please feel free to respond with comments to the proposed regulations.

1.0 SOUND MONITORING
1.0.1 This policy applies to all events held at San Diego Qualcomm Stadium provided a properly set-up and calibrated sound meter is operating.

1.1 RESPONSIBILITY
1.1.1 The Sound Committee and Event Chair are charged with administering this policy, with specific responsibilities detailed throughout this procedure. All named positions may designate an alternate to act on their behalf in the execution of these policies.
1.1.2 The Sound Committee Chair shall provide a listing to each Event Chair listing all cars, which are subject to any section of this policy.
1.1.3 The Sound Committee shall provide an approved sound meter. The meter shall meet ANSI or IEC specifications for Type 1,2(S)1A, or (S)2A sound level meters. The meter shall be operated per the manufacturer's instructions.
1.1.4 The Sound committee shall oversee the operation of the monitoring station throughout the entire event, including "fun runs". The meter shall only be operated by designated operators. The monitoring station shall be included in course communications.

1.2 PROCEDURE
1.2.1 A 100 foot section of the course shall be selected as the measurement site. The section shall be located where all vehicles will be driven at full throttle, i.e. a straightaway. This must be a defined section of the course. An area 100 feet wide (from course centerline) on each side of this section of the course must be free of reflective surfaces larger than a lamp post where practical.
1.2.2 The meter shall be located 50 feet from the edge of the course, centered in the 100 foot section. The meter shall be level and positioned 3 to 4 feet from the ground. All readings shall be taken on the "A" scale, under SLOW response.
1.2.3 All cars passing through the measurement site shall be listed and monitored on the noise monitoring log sheet. The recorded information shall include number. As the vehicle passes, the highest reading shall be noted. Sound reading and time shall be recorded for cars exceeding 90.0 dBA.
1.2.4 Course communication shall report noise readings 91.0 dBA and above to the noise committee chairman or his designee.
1.2.5 The Noise Monitoring Log Sheets shall be delivered by the club hosting the event to the Sound Committee Chair within 14 days of the event. These shall be retained for the calendar year and will serve as a log of noise violations.

1.3 POLICY FOR READINGS BETWEEN 91.0 AND 93.0 dBA
1.3.1 Notification to drivers of vehicles with readings of 91.0 to 93.0 dBA shall be made as soon as possible.

1.4 POLICY WHEN NOISE LEVEL EXCEEDS 93.0 dBA
1.4.1 A run shall be defined as any time the vehicle enters the track, regardless of specific driver.
1.4.2 Upon completion of any run resulting in a reading in excess of 93.0 dBA, and prior to any following runs, the driver shall be notified of the offense.
1.4.3 Any run that results in a reading in excess of 93.0 dBA shall be disqualified. There shall be no exceptions.
1.4.4 On the first violation the driver shall be required to immediately make an attempt to bring the vehicle within compliance.
1.4.5 On the second violation of a single day’s event the driver shall be given one final chance to bring the vehicle within compliance.
1.4.6 On the third violation of a single day’s event the vehicle shall be disqualified from any subsequent competition, which shall include any additional drivers. This disqualification shall extend until the driver or owner can prove to the satisfaction of the Noise Committee Chair or his designee that the vehicle conforms to the 93.0 dBA limit.

1.5 DOCUMENTATION
1.5.1 All event flyers shall carry the statement: "A maximum noise level of 93.0 dBA at 50 feet for all participants will be enforced".

[Mmagus]

I am curious to know how many cars the SCCA has on the course at once? Is it similar to ours?

[Amail]

They run on the southeast lot for the most part, which is a smaller course. I don't know the spacing they keep between the cars, but I would bet they don't space them as closely as we do. My guess is they don't have as many on course at the same time, but I don't know for sure.

[Mmagus]

Given the cumlative effect of multiple noise, that might be somethng to try to consider if we are bringing their rules over as a whole.

[rshon]

Wow, some of us won't be in a position to make the car "quieter" at an AX right on the spot. Most of the newer cars would require a complete muffler change to make any difference (hard to do in a parking lot). If the rules are going to be that strict, maybe Mark's idea of having a "Sound Test Day" is not such a bad one. Since I was measured as "over" back in October (admittedly suspect readings, but my car is not whisper quiet), I'd be hesistant to become the poster child for "What Happens to You If You Don't".

p.s. The sound issue hasn't kept me away from AX's, but the proposed 3-strike enforcement sure does give me pause if I don't know if I'll pass or not...

[ttweed]

I am curious to know how many cars the SCCA has on the course at once? Is it similar to ours?

The SCCA runs in the west lot too, but they tend to throw shorter courses than we do, utilizing part of the lot north of the trolley tracks for the pits, staying entirely out of the southwest lot (as we had to do when the southwest lot was being utilized by someone else recently). They use an approx. 20-second interval between cars, roughly the same as we do, but since the course is shorter, there may be one or two cars less on it at any one time.

Just for comparison purposes, here are the 2010 SCCA Solo National Tour sound regs: http://scca.com/documents/Solo_Rules/National_Sound_Measurements.pdf They specify a 100db limit, and have different DQ procedures. Note that they do not override any local regs--when the National Tour comes to San Diego, they run under the SDR Supplemental regs.

My most immediate concern with these regs:

1.4.6 On the third violation of a single day’s event the vehicle shall be disqualified from any subsequent competition, which shall include any additional drivers. This disqualification shall extend until the driver or owner can prove to the satisfaction of the Noise Committee Chair or his designee that the vehicle conforms to the 93.0 dBA limit.

How does one "prove" to the Noise Committee Chair that your vehicle conforms?

A minor nitpick:

1.2.5 The Noise Monitoring Log Sheets shall be delivered by the club hosting the event to the Sound Committee Chair within 14 days of the event. These shall be retained for the calendar year and will serve as a log of noise violations.

Unlike SCCA, which has 5 different clubs hosting events at Qualcomm, we have only one, so the wording "the club hosting the event" is not really applicable.

TT

[Greg Phillips]

As a previous sound chair, I will try to add a little to the discussion.
One big difference between PCA and SCCA is that we have mostly practice runs and then timed runs at the end as opposed to doing timed runs first and then fun runs at the end.

So if you have a marked area of testing, those with louder cars will lift past the meter to keep their noise down in practice and then go back to full throttle elsewhere

Only in timed runs will they go all out and be noted, but probably too late to have the desired result of keeping the noise down for the neighbors.

I would sometimes set up more than one area for testing, or even a stealth testing site (sorry Ron and Steve), a trick I learned form a previous autocross chair Greg Smith.

It is also true that atmospheric conditions have an effect on the sound readings, along with the surrounding walls and buildings, but there is not much out there to reflect off of besides the lamp posts as most of our tracks try to avoid the walls and other structures.

I also thought it made most sense to include this function under the auspices of the Corner Worker chairs and set it up as another corner station to be manned if you are going to go for full enforcement, otherwise there could only be spot enforcement when the Sound chair or committee is available to be at the meter.

Greg

[Don Middleton]

...Since I was measured as "over" back in October (admittedly suspect readings, but my car is not whisper quiet), I'd be hesistant to become the poster child for "What Happens to You If You Don't".

p.s. The sound issue hasn't kept me away from AX's, but the proposed 3-strike enforcement sure does give me pause if I don't know if I'll pass or not...

Russell, I feel the same. My car registered "over" last year, but it was definitely a questionable measurement. Still, the new enforcement rules make my future attendance questionable until some of these "kinks" are resolved. I'd like to know the car's status before registering for another event. Or, having registered, I'd like to know if the car is going to fail (perhaps during Tech?) and before a frustrating day of trying to run under the limit.

[Tim Comeau]

The club has already been thru this noise issue before and it appears there's been enough time and turn over of club members so that the experience was lost.

In 1993, the year before I was AX chair, there was a complaint regarding our event noise levels at the stadium from a resident of Normal Heights named Ira Cohen. The City was going to make us drop our max noise level to something like 86 Db. After much discussion and testing, the 92 Db was settled on. We don't want to lose the only place we have to play with our cars do we? Let's work to keep our end of the bargain so that doesn't happen.

A party next door is ok, but not if it gets too loud, right? It can get shut down if it's too loud. Kim is right about the stadium being surrounded by condos now. Play it smart for the good of the club, with respect to the fun that AX'ing represents, but also to the income that it brings our club.

Last note: I remember testing using the "C" scale (same meter?) and the fact that standing directly behind the meter can affect the reading - causing it to read higher.

[Amail]

Russell,
I understand your concern about not knowing if your car will pass the noise regulations. I suspect there are shops out there who can do a quick reading for you. I have seen folks arrive with an elbow they hose clamp to the end of their exhaust to direct the sound downwards or otherwise away from the detector. Some people put steel wool in their tail pipe secured with bailing wire to knock down some decibels.

Greg,
Thanks for your input. It's great to have the perspective of someone who's dealt with this in the past!
Our plan is to find a suitable section of track to place the sensor. It needs to be 100 feet long with no obstructions for 100 feet on either side of the course, and it should be on a straight. There will usually only be one or possibly two places where this is possible, so I think a stealthy approach (under these rules) would be tricky.
Given our recent experience of too few corner workers, this puts an additional burden on an overworked corner worker chair. I'm hoping we can find a way to swap folks thru that station without impacting the corner worker pool, but we'll see how it plays out.

Tom,
Thank you for your feedback. We can re-word 1.4.6 to read "...until the driver can demonstrate that their car is within the noise limit at W.O.T. thru the testing section." This should remove any subjectivity from that part of the regulations.
I didn't know that the SCCA had different clubs hosting events! I figured 1.2.5 would serve to include D.E. events and Driving School events, and that turning in the monitoring log to the Sound Committee Chair means that the chair may not actually be at every event.

Everybody - There has been a noise restriction rule for car events at Qualcomm for a long time, and it's been no secret. I'm sure everyone can look back to previous events and thought "Hmm - that car's pretty loud". If you know your car attracts that kind of attention, this is a wake-up call – make sure your car is in compliance. We have been living on borrowed time for far too long. It wouldn’t take much to have our plug pulled by a disgruntled neighbor complaining about the noise, especially if we have no policy and procedure in place to police it ourselves.

[Amail]

Tim

Thanks for the benefit of your experience. What you're describing is exactly what we're trying to avoid.

Look at it this way - there are rules stipulating what tires you can run, what suspensions components you can have, etc etc ad naseum. We all play by the rules there (don't we, boys?), so this is just another set of restrictions for us to comply with. All the other rules keep it fair for one another, and the noise rules keep it fair for the neighbors.

[Amail]

Don,

We considered putting the sound meter at Tech so that people would know first thing if they've got a problem. We dismissed it at the time for logistical reasons, but looking back on it I can see some benefit. I think we can have a separate sound test station for those who are concerned. It would be a static test, not a "flying lap" test, but it could be a good indicator of whether or not you've got a problem. The only caveat is that the results of this test does not guarantee you will be in compliance on the track. I do not want to get in a situation where someone complains that they passed at tech but not on the track. It's the on-track monitoring that counts.

[gulf911]

Tim

Thanks for the benefit of your experience. What you're describing is exactly what we're trying to avoid.

Look at it this way - there are rules stipulating what tires you can run, what suspensions components you can have, etc etc ad naseum. We all play by the rules there (don't we, boys?), so this is just another set of restrictions for us to comply with. All the other rules keep it fair for one another, and the noise rules keep it fair for the neighbors.

Apples and Oranges.... Your class designates what you can run, and you dont get booted out of an event if you have a better suspension. We had a complaint in 1993?? 17 years ago??

If additional cars on the track are compromising the accuracy of the readings that isn't fair to anyone. It doesn't sound like we have an accord quite yet...

[Mmagus]

I still am in favor of a sound qualification day / station that gives me a card (if I pass) to show compliance, similar to having my helmet checked and stickered. When I go through Tech I show the card. If I make changes to the vehicle its up to me to have it retested. It might even work to let new drivers that come in sound tech their car at track set up on Friday eve. Just an idea.

Mark

[Don Middleton]

I still am in favor of a sound qualification day / station that gives me a card (if I pass) to show compliance, similar to having my helmet checked and stickered. When I go through Tech I show the card. If I make changes to the vehicle its up to me to have it retested. It might even work to let new drivers that come in sound tech their car at track set up on Friday eve. Just an idea.

I'm with you, Mark. But, Andy has already shot that down - in his words "...it's the on-track monitoring that counts".