[aprssig] APRS Drag Racing

[Bob Bruninga]

I wonder if my use of APRS on the Drag Racing track today was a first?

Between 1800z to about 2100z I was making many runs with my "Solar Prius" at the "Power of DC" annual electric Drag racing event.  I see that APRS.FI captured a few runs right on the track.  Only one was even .1 mile down the track at only 43 MPH, since I was not even thiking about it and so never made sure it sent a posit at the 1/4 mile...

Basically, my car is just my normal stock-commuter (salvage)Prius but with maybe 600 Milliamps of added solar current (added to maybe 150 to 200 amps of normal acceleration).  But since they had the track for electrics all day, I couldn't resist making some runs...

Typically I was getting about 74 MPH at a 1/4 mile in about 20 to 22 seconds with 2 to 4 adults in the car.

But I was getting 59 MPH at the 1/8th mile in maybe 13 seconds.   I don't know nuttin about racing, so I have no idea what other cars typically do...

THe official track timers were off, and the only times I got was from a nephew in the back seat with a cellphone clock.  All of the official times were in the morning before I got there and before the big thunderstorm came though and closed the track.  

ALl the gassers went home when it rained, and they shut down the track.   But since us electrics were here only this ONE weekend a year, we hung around tailgating and later when the sun came back out the owner said we could run all we wanted to, but without any trackside support.

I ran alongside a $100k Telsa several times... Ate his dust.

He set a record for the 1/4 mile in 12 seconds topping out at 104 MPH?  I was just passing the 1/8th! at 59 MPH...

Also ran against an electric Mini... ate his dust too...

But I think I beat most of the other home-brew electrics... or those few still playing...  Amazing to see the power-pole they put in the middle of the field providing several cars 50 amps at 240 volts for chanrging at the same time!

Never thought about APRS till I got home and looked it up and sure enough, had had it on the whole time...  though i was only running my normal commuter 4-minute rate, only one hit showed on the track beyond about 0.1 mile so it only showd 43 MPH...  On the minute rate, it would be rare to catch me even on the track...

Oh well... SOmething different...
Ill post the screen capture from APRS.FI when I get a chance...

Oh you can google "power of DC drag race" and probably find out more about the annual Electric Vehicle Drag Race and Autocross event.

Oh, and since I missed all the official morning events, when the owner said we could just run the track ourselves later, he did NOT mention that there were two pedestrian ropes across the track at the 1/4 mile point where they had let the escaping crowds cross the track when they closed it an hour or two earlier.  

SO when I was the first post-rain car down the track (never been on a track before in my life), you can imagine my horror when at 74 MPH, I see two yellow 1/2" polly ropes stretched across the track in front of me!  Couldnt even see them until I was probably 20 yards from them.  Fortunetely They snapped, but left some nice battle scars across my hood...

Bob, WB4APR