Weather Station

[Fred Bartoli]

In 15 years I have never commented on a forum to try to promote or argue about any of my products and I am not going to start now.

But I feel that it is important to bring something to the attention of the racers so they can make a more educated decision. Certain cheaper priced handheld devices are not licensed by my patent and calculate a standard aviation "textbook" Density Altitude. These units are made for various uses such as hiking, mountain climbing, biking, etc and work great for that. Internal combustion engines do not care about the true density of the air. Racers are not trying to calculate how much lift can be generated on the wing of an airplane, they are trying to determine the effect the available atmosphere will have on the performance of a motor. Engines burn OXYGEN with fuel. The "density altitude" and correction factors calculated in a racing weather stations measure available OXYGEN and WATER content. Water content contributes to the air's density or weight, but does not add to the performance, and can adversely effect performance. These differences may be subtle, especially when the atmosphere changes slightly, but then again, how many times have you lost by less then 0.01?

So before purchasing something that is not designed for you application you might more wisely spend a little more and get something that will work for you.

Fred Bartoli