Weather Station

[QUOTE=fredjohnston;50595]

Originally Posted by crewchiefpro

Wrong.

I write software for Prudhomme and they have ALWAYS used Altalab, same with Kalitta.

I have sold Pro Stock teams weather stations for years, and they are split between both of those weather stations.

All the Top Fuel and Funny Car Teams, as well as most Pro Mods, Alcohol Dragster and Funny Cars, and Comp Eliminator racers use Altalab.

Chief,

you might want to check this again. I spend alot of time in the fuel pits. love nitro.

Fred

Check it again? I spend time in the Nitro pits also, since several use my Nitro Tune Up Software which interfaces with all Trailer Stations ( except Tag ). I also sell most of them their weather stations. I have not seen one top fuel or funny car team with anything other than the Altalab if they have a trailer station. Most teams have 2 of them.

Take a walk at the Winternats and do a count.

I spend 90% of my time with sportsman racers, because that is what I am. Sportsman racers who have trailer stations use Peformaire, Altalab then Computech. There is no wrong answer here folks, they all make great weather stations.

I spend the rest in the Top Fuel and Funny Car pits because they are also my customers. Hot Rod Fuller, Larry Dixon, Mike Ashley, Morgan Lucas and more all use my stuff.

[Angelo DiTocco]

They're all good.... make sure you know how to use it properly

Merry Christmas

[RJ Sledge]

Just want to say that I have had a Performaire 2 for several years and I have just purchased a Performaire Trailer System from Fred at Altronics, Inc. I was most happy with the price that Fred quoted me, he also gave me a previous customer discount that was an added incentive. I couldn't ask for better service.

I am sure all the major brand weather stations will do the job, and agree that the number one priority is learning how to use and download correct data.

Being comfortable with your merchant is another big plus too me.

R J Sledge

[Michael Beard]

- arguing over who's got what is kinda pointless.
- Mr. Bartoli is a smart man. He wrote a Weather Station piece for my Guide to Bracket Racing many, many years ago. Still much appreciated, Fred!
- I use a Computech RaceAir Pro which I bought through Biondo Racing Products.

That being said, I may catch some grief over what I'm about to say for a number of reasons...
Any weather station will do pretty well by you. They are, however, what I would refer to as 'coarse adjustment'. No matter how good the weather station or predictor, there are still going to be variables uncounted for. Use your weather station to put you in the ballpark (and when I say ballpark, I don't mean a big ballpark... weather stations DO do a great job!), and then most importantly, watch what is actually happening on the track before you run.

Real world example: One year at Norwalk, we're all hanging out in the staging lanes, comparing notes. A bunch of us all had different weather stations, which each agreed on predicting our Stockers to run .02 slow. I went to the head of the lanes to watch Hot Rod. Now, figuring that Joe Average Hot Rod racer is set up for an .88, you would expect to see a lot of numbers from .89 to .92, given a margin of error. Most of the runs were in the .94-.98 range! My opponent dialed up .03 from qualifying... and I knew I had won the round.

The thing is, racing has gotten to a level today where you can have the best predictor in the world. If you run dead-on with an 8... in some cases you've left the door open! Dial-in and finish line strategies and abilities are more important today. You'll need them, the weather station of your choice, (plus a few more tools in your bag that I won't get into here) to find your way to the winner's circle today.

We are lucky to have so many racer-based weather station companies. You probably can't go wrong in supporting any one of them.

Real world example: One year at Norwalk, we're all hanging out in the staging lanes, comparing notes. A bunch of us all had different weather stations, which each agreed on predicting our Stockers to run .02 slow. I went to the head of the lanes to watch Hot Rod. Now, figuring that Joe Average Hot Rod racer is set up for an .88, you would expect to see a lot of numbers from .89 to .92, given a margin of error. Most of the runs were in the .94-.98 range! My opponent dialed up .03 from qualifying... and I knew I had won the round.

Exactly correct. Now you know why the iCard technology in our software is so important. We study what each class does each day, this tells us exactly what to expect for our class.

It is amazing to see what time of day the average reaction times change also.

[Pete Beau]

It seems that the two weather stations that we use handle ?normal?, everyday conditions well. The weather station that accurately predicts the night time, dewy, thick air would be the one to get. Why do those conditions cause the weather stations to become inaccurate? Late night at Columbus, Indy, etc. you add at least 5 to 15+ to the prediction.

[Real Racer]

If contingency payments are a consideration in your choice of product, as they should be, read the fine print carefully before buying.
Not all weather stations are created equal in that area.
Don't make a big mistake.

[Sean Kennedy]

Originally Posted by crewchiefpro

Exactly correct. Now you know why the iCard technology in our software is so important. We study what each class does each day, this tells us exactly what to expect for our class.

It is amazing to see what time of day the average reaction times change also.

This is so true. This stuff is below my budget for the most part, but if i end up running more than a national or two a year I am definately buying one.

I was in the lanes in Seattle this year looking at Biondo's Camaro. He has a list of everyones name and number and what their 1000 foot times are on every pass.

He writes them down in real time from the back of the lanes. So he knows how much everyones cars are changing, what all of your runs are, and he can probably dial your car about as good as you can.

You notice how it seems like ALL the hitters are always in the back of the lanes? Just another example of that.

[GaryGoFast]

"He writes them down in real time from the back of the lanes. So he knows how much everyones cars are changing, what all of your runs are, and he can probably dial your car about as good as you can.
You notice how it seems like ALL the hitters are always in the back of the lanes? Just another example of that."

Peter once told me that if your not racing, you should be in the lanes watching racing.

Gary Federico
S/St #11