6 replies to this topic

[engin]

good day

we know that f1 teams comminicate with their drivers via radio frequencies and my question is what kind of frequencies r used exactly ?

and is it possible for a normal radio to catch these frequencies and listen to what team boss says to his driver ?

we all know that in 97 ferrari managed to listen to williams while talking to jv in last race .

thanx.

[Barry Lake]

Last year (or maybe the year before) I interviewed a radio specialist with the Prost team. I had heard they had a new system that couldn't be tracked. It was something to do with automatically switching randomly to a different frequency every time a message was sent.
I think there was more to it than that, also.
But since his English was limited and my French is limited, he was unable to explain it in terms that I could understand well enough to be able to write a story about it.
I gave up on the idea. I would still have the notes somewhere, but I am not sure where.
Since last July, I gave up on pens and note pads.
Now I type everything into a Psion 5mx hand-held computer and e-mail it back to my electronic mailbox via my mobile phone.
Once it's in the computer as a text file I can find it easily.
Much better than searching through filing cabinets, boxes and piles of paper...

[Ray Bell]

Technology! Isn't it marvellous?
I would imagine scrambling would be a part of the plot, too, wouldn't it?
Oh, Barry, can I have your bookshelves when they become redundant because you've scanned in all your books?
And how big is your hard drive?
I'll just bet that last one is misconstrued!

[desmo]

In CART racing, the rules mandate that all communications between the pits and the cars be unscrambled and accessable to anyone who cares to listen. I really like this rule. Fans bring portable scanners programmed to the frequencies used by the teams and it makes the race more interesting to follow.

Whatever CART's shortcomings, they are alot more media friendly than F1. Drivers actually allow themselves to be interviewed after a DNF or any other time during race weekend. I have even heard in-car driver interviews conducted during full-course yellow flags! F1 has a lot to learn from CART in this area.

[Ray Bell]

The Bathurst 1000 telecast pioneered the in-car contact with the TV. It even pioneered the in-car cameras back in the seventies, the technology being sold around the world.
They are brave enough to interview drivers in the heat of battle sometimes, too, but have learned that there are occasional slips in the language.
Of course, we never used to have pace car periods, so all interviews were at race speed - sometimes they would wait till the driver was on Conrod Straight, but it would continue for more than a lap quite often and the driver would be chatting away...

[Barry Lake]

Ray Bell
In the days of Bathurst "race pace" interviews, Dick Johnson - one of the most often interviewed - said talking on the radio didn't interfere with his lap times at all.
His team-mate John Bowe said, "When I am behind him I can always tell when he's on the radio; his pace falls of to b......"

[Ray Bell]

Never slowed Peter Williamson at all...
Was it Bob Morris who dropped the magic word?
I think the scene was lapping a Gemini into the Dipper...