A simple speed trap?

[J Solinger]

I'm trying to come up with a simple speed trap that our club can use. I would like it to be something that can be set up on the shore and uses motion sensors to turn on and off a clock. Any ideas???

 

[impba3548]

Just to measure speed, The easiest & cheapest way is a gps, Garmin Geco 101 is what we use, its 100 dollars or less, radar gun works well also, the timing setup your talking about takes quite awhile to set up, maybe for time trials but not every week use.

mike

 

[Propjockey]

http://www.shapeupshop.com/fitness/running/speed_trap.htm

Try this.....

 

[Pennywizz6]

There is a formula that you can find your speed, its like mark 100 feet time it full speed inside the trap and divide it byt something i dont know the rest but ya! its free but wont give you super accurate speeds. anoher thing is i wonder if those baseballs with the speed reaout would work, simple enough to put it in there go and get the best run. Those are 15$ on ebay. heres a wireless bike one for 50$ http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...3697712110&rd=1

Phil :huh:

 

[Flyin Rat Sass]

the speedo for the bike uses a spoke mounted magnet to trigger the the unit (probably doesn't do 24000 rpm calculations, so dont get any bright ideas) so unless you are using a 24 inch paddle wheel, I would pass on this one. also the baseballs use a shock or accelerator/deccelrator to measure speed it would only work if you run your boat into a brick wall at full speed then recover the ball and view the readout.(perhaps a less than optimal method)

 

[J Solinger]

We've got a Geko but it doesn't fit in the riggers and adds enough weight to throw the speed off. We've used stop watches too but thats a pain. Maby a radar is the way to go. I don't mind spending a couple hundred bucks if the system is simple enough that it doesn't need a bunch of people to run it. I want the boaters to be able to check their boat speed and performance with out assistance from others.

 

[J Solinger]

This unit looks like it has some potential:

http://www.opticsplanet.net/speedcheck-radar.html

It needs to be put some place where the driver can see it.

 

[Don Templeton]

Does anybody out there use the Bushnell Speedster radar gun? Is it any good?

The speed check looks good but you wouldn't be able to put it in front of the driver.

Don

 

[Preston_Hall]

The stopwatch is sort of useless. We use a Stalker. Have you checked Ebay?

We have often wanted our own timing equipment in addition to a radar gun. All we need is an electrical guy to design the counter.

 

[J Solinger]

What I want to see is a design with sensor triggers on the shore about 50 feet apart and an led read out in front of the drivers stand. It's one of thows things that sounds easy enough but maybe not.

I had thought of a floating speed trap that measures about 6 feet from entrance to exit with an openning about 6 to 12 feet wide. I would use some sensors like you see on garage doors to turn the clock on and off. The frame work would be under water and held afloat by innertubes, which would also protect the sensors from crashes. It also needs to be something that can be disassembled and put in a carry bag

Now to find some one with the know how to wire it all up and make it work. I'm not asking that much am I????? :blink:

 

[impba3548]

I built a digital counter/timer just for checking boat speeds back in the 70's, used regular photo cells & spotlight bulbs, it was hard in the daylight to get it lined up & it worked after a fashion, today with the cheap lasers & probably a timer that can be purchased it wouldnt be too difficult, the problem is setup & the time that takes on a weekly basis, radar gun works just as well & is much simpler & theres no setup time involved. I've done both & the radar gun or geco 101 is the way to go........

ps: It is possible to get water into the geco if you dunk at a high enough speed, I hydrauliced mine & it put water in it, that wasnt as bad as getting the water back out of it, those little screws are a bugger, got it dried out & it still works....

mike