Hot Lap, what's the right height?

[lagrasta]

So as AX Equipment chair, I've run into some new equipment that I am not totally familiar with. One of these is the Hot Lap transmitter/receiver. I noticed at the last AX that the height didn't seem to work for all the drivers. So can those of you chime in with your opinion?

What height should the Hot Lap transmitters be?
And for the experts, what's the range and beam spread so I know har far from the track it can be?

Thanks!

[Kim Crosser]

The Hot Lap transmitters need to be on the passenger side of the track. Usually I try to get the transmitter at about the typical car roof height (say 4-5') and aimed very slightly down. This could cause problems if people mount the receivers on the sun visors, as it might mask the IR beam if the visor is tucked up against the roof. If so, putting the transmitter around 3-1/2' up and aiming straight across might work better. I haven't had anyone come to the trailer and complain about the hot lap units in the past year (unless someone forgot to turn them on!).
As far as distance, the beam is pretty wide and should easily be picked up from a distance of 10-20' from the track. We usually place them over the TLink timing units, so the times are similar between the hot lap and "official" timing.
If the finish is such that cars are coming across somewhat sideways, the receivers might get blocked by other parts of the car - not much you can do about that...

[ChuckS]

Some drivers have them mounted on the opposite side (from other club uses) and rotate them - to look through the car to the passenger side. Others mount them on the correct side, but in a multitude of places. So, the most optimal height (in my opinion) is mid-window height for the average car and level. (a little above waist level)
Also, Kim mentions 10-20' from the track. The issue is that as the batteries wear down, the effective transmit distance (range) decreases. The red light will still be on when the range is down to a very few feet. So, as you do not always know how strong the batteries are, and they wear down over the course of the day, the most reliable distance is as close to the side of the track as is safe, ie cars will not knock them over either directly or by air movement. It also minimizes error due to beam spread. Just my $.02