Car Cameras?

[dman007]

Does anybody have specific knowledge regarding the use of cameras on the cars i.e., do they all have them, and who has access to the feeds? I have noticed that several people have made reference to Michael Schumacher's camera and being able to see the oil that Trulli ultimately spun out in. I do not believe I have ever seen a feed from MS's car. I love the in-car footage of the race, and wish they would show more.

[Spudgun]

Not all the cars have a camera for each race. I don't know what the criteria is for choice, random, sharp end of the grid, or what.. The cars that aren't fitted with cameras still have the camera housings with weight balast as not to disadvantage the cars with cameras.

Mind you, with all this interactive Digital TV stuff, I don't know whether all the cars are being fitted with cameras now..

[paulzinho]

I thought they all had cameras and that most were on digital with around 3 made available for analogue viewers.

[strad]

As I understand it, they ALL have cameras, and more than I get to see. I'm told BernieVision has access to all of them but alas we don't get BernieVision here in the U.S..
Going back to a time when IF you were lucky you got a few minutes of Monaco and maybe one other on ABCs Wide World of Sports, I guess I should be glad to have SpeedChannel.
What I would like is the kind of in car camera work we get from WRC.................

[StuiE]

if there is cameras on every car, use em!

[strad]

Talk to Bernie..for about 60 bucks a month he'll let you watch all the cameras.
Actually I think it's in Germany and somewhere else...Italy?...hasn't got it spread all over yet.
From what I have heard it's an interesting package, but a bit pricey.

[Nicholas]

I know that some cars have dummy cameras.

[DMC]

Some cars have cameras on the nose facing driver as well as cameras in the sidepods and on the wings. I've seen footage from them that I downloaded from the Internet but its only available on BernieTV and I doubt they'd run them in a race

[Fuel]

i would like to see more of dc's car cam, it is so magestic

[Bleu]

I don´t know how much they have cameras but only a few is seen in analog.

In Melbourne, analog cameras were on-board with R.Schumacher, Räikkönen and Webber.

Quite often they have camera on home country´s driver, so maybe in Malaysia we see camera in Yoong´s car.

[paulzinho]

Ralfies on board camera from the start was quite scary don't you think?

[Ian-S]

OK...

All cars carry three on-board camera's one on the top that we can see, one inside the car (usually facing the driver or in the footbox) and one somewhere else, sometimes on the nose, sometimes in one of the mirrors, sometimes looking outward towards the front wheel etc. Also most cars carry a fourth camera facing backwards from the roll bar.

Only trouble for Bernievision is they can only take one feed at a time from each car, the top housing you see on the rollbar has a receiver as well as a transmitter in, this is how the director chooses which of the three camera's to feed from.

Sadly Analogue TV only touches the edge of the technology available on the Digital service, which is now available in Germany, Italy, Spain, Holland, France and the UK.

If you want I can upload some shots from the various cameras, also ask away technically, I worked for a year with one of the original team that invented the system now used, as we're both into racing, we had plenty of conversations about the technology, sadly I can't tell you about the circumstances that lead to Bernie gaining control of the system, as I'd be indeep brown stuff if I did

[Kalevi]

Originally posted by Ian-S

Sadly Analogue TV only touches the edge of the technology available on the Digital service, which is now available in Germany, Italy, Spain, Holland, France and the UK.

Bernie TV is available in Scandinavia as well, I think 2002 is the fifth season. Season ticket 99 euros, not bad.

[strad]

Blows me out how life works...here we are talking about this and low and behold my new Autoweek arrives with this:
BY RUSSELL BULGIN

I rode with Ralf. I was there, on board, when Schumacher Junior perfected his low-level aerobatic skills at the first turn. I couldn’t believe it.
Then I hung with Michael, in car, as he chased down Jarno Trulli’s Renault. Stuck with Schumacher Senior as he sliced apex after apex—and then watched Trulli disappear through a sphere of tire smoke, spinning into the wall. I couldn’t believe that, either.
Bernie Ecclestone’s digital future arrived in Britain last weekend. Previously available in France, Germany and Italy, Fl Digital + offers interactive pay-per-view coverage of all 17 Formula One races on Rupert Murdoch’s Sky satellite channel. (Right about now, you might link Murdoch to Fox to Speed Channel and wonder about America’s prospects, but we must report those prospects look dim.)
For the equivalent of $16.95 per event, viewers get three days of coverage: every practice session, plus qualifying, warm-up and race. More than that, you control what you see.
For those whose Fl viewing habits are more likely to combine the ambidextrous opening of a nicely chilled six-pack while occasionally prodding a remote control, dealing with eight different screens takes a little getting used to. There’s the master screen, complete race coverage with chatty analysis from 1996 world champion Damon Hill, Brit ex-racer Perry McCarthy and anchorman Matt Lorenzo. These guys can also talk direct to drivers, engineers and team bosses. The super screen gets the same visuals, plus a harder-edged commentary from GP winner John Watson and Ben Edwards. Track A follows the lead dice. Track B monitors battles down the field. The data channel gives you the same timing screen as the pit wall. There’s an in-car feed. A pit lane camera. And a highlights screen, showing a loop of incidents—arrive late for the race, hit highlights and you miss nothing.
Does it work? Absolutely. And the accent is, thankfully, hardcore. You get snatches of driver-team radio on the in-car channel, you hear Montoya complaining “That’s risking the car when we don’t need to...,, as he’s sent out by Williams during a rain shower in qualifying.
You get Takuma Sato’s practice shunt from three angles before Damon Hill calls team boss Eddie Jordan in the pit lane to discover the cause:
Jordan says Sato was on his hottest lap and the automatic downshift cut in too early, flicking the Jordan-Honda into the barriers. There’s a feeling, too, that Fl personnel are somehow obligated to be interviewed by the digital TV crews. If half of qualifying is rained out, there’s no dead air: Hitherto taciturn team bosses come over positively garrulous. You navigate all this from your remote, scrolling over the picture you require and then hitting the “select” button to go full-screen. There’s a plethora of detail: Some in-car shots are accompanied by a tachometer graphic flicking around toward 18,000 rpm. When cars refuel, an on-screen banner shows the quantity delivered and how many laps it is good for. Distances between competing cars are shown in seconds, and meters.
Best of all, you get serious in-car action, race long, if that’s your bag. And thanks, Rail. It was a helluva ride.

[ljakse]

Strad, you're torturing me...

[DMC]

It's pretty incredible what they can do with digital television these days but it'll be quite some time before it comes to Australia, we don't even get live coverage on analog free to air television. Digital television has barely taken off here with only a handful of decoders sold since it came out last year. Channel 10 has been airing slected rounds of the V8 Supercars with customisable camera angles as well as the Gold Coast Indy 300 Champcar race on free to air but thats it in motorsport terms.

[wheelie]

It sounds quite well but for me .... i don't know i use this digital tv-stuff now ,i think for four years,and it's not so easy to find the right moment/camera and so much techinfos ...so i'm happy that i can see the race on tuesday on DSF free TV with different views again !

[strad]

Oh Poor Wheelie. He has too much to watch HAHAHAHAHA.
Just joking Wheelie ,,It sounds to me like you just might be right that it's one of those things where you're watching the wrong screen at the wrong time..but cant you get TiVo or whatever they call it and record all of it?

[Alan Jones]

Jesus, I'm even more jealous than I was before of you guys who have access to Bernies digital wonderland.

[dman007]

Just when I was feeling all proud of myself because I got Direct TV to get the Speed Channel formerly known as Speedvision so I could watch F1. Out here in the Wild West, the only way to get Speedvision was via Satelite. Now I hear about Bernievision. We're way behind the times.

[Ian-S]

don't worry, no amount of digital coverage can save you from a boring race, I fell asleep during several races last year

But, at least you get CART live on Speedvision, which is more than can be said for most euro's (or those without motorised/more than one satellite system)

[nsj]

I think al the cars have provision for fixing up the cameras, but actually some cars are fitted with cameras and some dont. In those cars where in cameras are not fixed, they need to keep the simer amount of weight. is it so...?

[Red]

Yes:

ARTICLE 20 : TELEVISION CAMERAS
20.1 Presence of cameras and camera housings :
All cars must be fitted with either two cameras, two camera housings or one of each at all times throughout the Event.
20.2 Location of camera housings :
Camera housings, when used, must be fitted in the same location as cameras.
20.3 Location of camera equipment :
All cars must be equipped with five positions in which cameras or camera housings can be fitted.
Referring to Drawing 6, all cars must carry a camera or camera housing in position 4, the position of the remaining camera or camera housing will be determined by the FIA after consultation with the relevant Competitor.

Drawing 6 (hope it's clear enough):

[Spaced Invader]

does anyone remember who was involved when a camera fell off one of the cars nearly hitting the one behind? i have a vague feeling it involved Gehard Burger in/and a ferrari. my alcohol soaked brain cant muster the brain cells to remember.

[paulzinho]

A camera fell off Alesic ferrari and hit his team mate Bergers suspension, breaking it. Think it was at Monza.