Weather Station Recommendations?

[Lee Valentine]

Crew Chief Pro is the best I've ever used.

[Hacksaw]

Crew Chief Pro a handheld ?

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by Hacksaw

Crew Chief Pro a handheld ?

No sir. I thought I said “software in my laptop”. Type weather data from your weather station & run data from your time sips into Crew Chief Pro software in your laptop. Sorry it I was not clear. I’m old.

[FireSale]

I'm with Ed. I hate hauling a laptop to the track when I'm a "flatbed and tent" racer, but my Altronics was always way off while the same data through Crew Chief Pro was dead on. I just gave the laptop a new SSD so it will start up faster and have better battery life. Hoping for better driving skills this year...

[Mike Pearson]

I am using the Altronics PC trailer based system and have been happy with it. it took a bit to get used to it as I am not real computer savvy. I like the log book feature and the ability to choose the runs I want as the basis for the predictions. I also like the feature to get the weather conditions from your run and automatically up load that to the log book. No need to run in to the trailer after the run to log the weather. I don't have the paging feature but could add it if I choose. All in all I would recommend it. Good value for the cost if you already have a laptop.

One thing about weather stations is good info in and good info out. You have to know how to read the info and interpret how it will effect the cars performance.

[Jeff Kempton]

Thanks to all for the feedback; it's all very helpful.

I don't have a data logger at present and won't be taking a laptop to the track with me until I do, so the Crew Chief Pro option is out for now. A trailer mounted weather station is not in the budget for the time being. I've heard a lot of good feedback on the Computech RaceAir Pro 1000, and it's on my short list for consideration.

Has anybody had any experience with the Performaire PA-2? It seems to have pretty much the same options as the Computech 1000 but how does it compare in quality, accuracy, and user friendliness?

[FireSale]

One thing to keep in mind is that any weather station needs to build a database of your runs before it becomes truly accurate. The atmospheric data will be accurate, but each engine/car combo is going to respond to changes differently. So the machine needs use to learn your setup. It may also give consistent variations to your actual ET and you need to learn to adjust the ET that comes "out of the box". Using a hand-held and Crew Chief helps. Enter the data by hand and it gives a second opinion for a better idea as to an accurate dial-in. There are hand-helds that link to a laptop but it's not necessary. CCPro can be used stand alone with hand held weather data. There are hand held weather data devices that don't predict ET but still could be used for the atmosphere data CCPro wants. The rest is off your time slip.


I just pulled an app for my phone called AirLab that gives weather info including DA using my iPhone sensors. Lots of options for weather.

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kempton

Thanks to all for the feedback; it's all very helpful.

I don't have a data logger at present and won't be taking a laptop to the track with me until I do, so the Crew Chief Pro option is out for now. A trailer mounted weather station is not in the budget for the time being. I've heard a lot of good feedback on the Computech RaceAir Pro 1000, and it's on my short list for consideration.

Has anybody had any experience with the Performaire PA-2? It seems to have pretty much the same options as the Computech 1000 but how does it compare in quality, accuracy, and user friendliness?

That Raceair Pro weather station is what I have. I write everything into my Jegs Logbook.
My car is fuel injected. My FAST XFI ECU has a built in data logger. I realize I don’t know anywhere near everything, but the data I get from that, entered into Crew Chief Pro predicts my car much closer (usually dead on) than other weather stations myself & my friends have. Due to my wife’s illness I have not raced since late 2017. I hope it all still works if I get to go again.
I hope everybody has a great race season.

[Altronics]

All PerformAIRE systems allow for Multi-Run and Single Run prediction capability.

Multi-Run - Requires data base of runs to establish a prediction algorithm between weather variables and your vehicles performance.

Single Run - Uses last "Good" run or time run and standard factors to calculate performance based on weather. Also allows user to enter custom factors for their vehicle.


Using local or phone weather:
Generally local weather is provided by the nearest weather collection station from you current location (Schools, municipalities, airports). This can vary from a few miles to 10's of miles depending on your location. These systems typically update the weather a few times per hour. Although this data can be helpful, it is not as accurate as readings at the track using the SAME equipment. This can definitely add some confusion to your prediction if one reference station is calibrated to a different barometric reference than another!
So maybe if it is mid day and the temperature is stable, getting a local reading twice an hour may work OK, but racing in the morning or late afternoon to evening when the DA is changing 100' every 10-15 minutes if going to prove difficult if you don't have current accurate readings.


WIND Data:
Another important factor when trying to predict ET or Throttle Stop settings regarding weather stations is the use of a Wind Sensor. 50% of your weather prediction can come from the effect of the wind. Neglecting or disregarding what the wind is doing is going to make it difficult to predict your car accurately. Wind is one of the hardest weather parameters to measure because it is inconsistent, but it still effects the performance. Using a laptop based system with streaming graphical weather and wind info and watching the average and gust wind speed is critical to determine what may happen going down the race track. Even having a pager with the last half hour of wind data can help you know what the best and worst case effect the wind will have on your run and your ET.