Kangaroo TV

[pforrester]

Anyone used this at a Grand Prix since being introduced? Is it worth going to the trouble of booking one for $95, or shall I chance on one being available when I get to Silverstone on Friday? Are they even any good? (I've tried listening to the radio for commentary in previous years, and for obvious reasons the sound tends to get drowned out! I can't see how the Kangaroo unit is going to be any different). I like the idea, but can't help but think my £200 ticket is going to go a bit to waste if I spend all race watching some handheld TV thing.

Cheers!

[Suze]

They had trial ones at Le Mans which were good - but that was a 24 hour race and you wanted to be able to see the timing, etc. The picture quality wasn't bad though for something so small.

[Adie]

Anyone here got any experience of using this?

I've booked one for the GP this weekend, as it looks like a pretty good idea.

[maximus]

Try this link

It has a good review about their experience with the handset.

[Novice]

I know someone who used it in Spain and they highly recommend it.

[Aysedasi]

Just make sure you have a big plastic bag for the poo.......

It rated a mention on the Sportscar/GT forum a while back as they tested it at Le Mans.

[sonic]

yeah, I used it in Montreal and also at Magny Cours last weekend.

It is AMAZING and I would never watch a GP live without it now. Apparently they are looking to start selling them soon (to own rather than just rent)

the in car driver selection element is great but The main mixed image feed is frustratingly delayed by a few seconds compared to the circuit big screens - however I tend to only use it for the timesanyway. And the commentary (the in-ear headphones double perfectly as ear defenders) was a real unexpected bonus.

The pit stop times feature is brilliant too - i wish they had that on f1.com live timing or on TV - really useful.

Enjoy!

[strider]

It sounds brilliant to me. The only downside I can think of is having to return it on the day, which might frustrate those people who like to dash for their cars and try to beat the traffic after the race!

[matchfacts]

There's a review here:
http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/article1891.html

If you try it let us know how you find it. I'm tempted to try it at Monza.

[ensign14]

Brilliant concept, isn't it? Fork out £250 to spend 3 hours queuing in a field in Northamptonshire every day for a weekend so you can watch a Grand Prix on telly.

[strider]

Actually, you fork out £50 for a weekend and it's probably most use to people who are there for the whole weekend and don't have to queue to get in every day.

I would be watching the data screen, not the telly. There was another favourable review from Adam Cooper on autosport.com, but I can't find it now.

[pforrester]

Great stuff, thanks for the link to the review. I'm definitely tempted to try it now (especially as, according to the Kangaroo website, the kiosk is behind Woodcote and I'm in the Pit Straight Grandstand on raceday, so return *should* be simple enough). Still tempted to wait until Friday and rent it in person though, rather than book one through the website.

[mac]

I had one in Melbourne.

You can switch to a number of views at anytime. You can switch to the onboard of absolutely any driver in the field if you want - certainly helpful if two cars go side-by-side past you then duck over a hill, and you want to see how it ends up.

It also has live timing.

I think it is worthwhile - particularly if you are there for the whole weekend.

If you ever get shirty with TV editors, this is your chance to prove that you could do a better job.

Probably not as worth it if you are sitting in front of a TV screen at the circuit though.

[Adie]

Cheers - I will certainly let you know how I get on.

See you all at Club corner!!!

[strider]

I thought I'd better put my money where my mouth is (see post #8 above) and I have one for the weekend. The 10% discount for entering (and failing to win) the Autosport competition helped.

So far so good. We're in the middle of second practice and I'm mostly watching the TV picture, but I've chosen Kimi as my favourite driver and there's a bar across the top of the screen telling me he's currently fastest in 1:20.639. Alternatively I can press the Stats button and all the times are shown.

On board with Heidfeld at the moment....

[pforrester]

Okay, first there was no problem renting one first thing Friday morning - in fact, it probably worked out cheaper because I paid £50 and not $95 converted to pounds at some unfavourable rate my bank uses. And there was no hassle returning it today - handed the bag over, handed the necessary piece of paper over, thank you, goodbye.

The 'quick start guide' said everything that needed saying and I was up and running with the unit within minutes. The full range of features - mainly extra timing data - aren't available for the support events, but the unit still improves the spectacle of watching Porsches and GP2 no end. Admittedly some of it is down to luck as to which cars have cameras, but this morning I could enjoy several of the battles in the first 6 to 8 places of the GP2 race by flicking between on-board cameras, then watch the Porsche race on-baord from Richard Westbrook's car. He started 29th and made it up to 9th in about 10 laps, and the main footage missed most of the moves.

From my seat on the pit straight, the viewing angle of the nearest big screen was far from ideal, so the unit really helped. There are one or two very minor niggles - if you're used to the timing data that formula1.com provides then it takes a bit of getting used to. Why? Because though it shows sector times for all the cars, only fastest ones are highlighted, so you have no idea when drivers are setting personal bests (which can often be useful to know during a session).

The 'favourite driver' feature is a touch misleading, if only because the unit doesn't store the driver you select. So you make a selection at the start of every session, and can change it anytime you decide there might be another driver you'd like to keep an eye on. This isn't a criticism, more a clarification!

But most of all, this is why the Kangaroo TV works so well: on Saturday, I decided to sit in the Becketts grandstand for qualifying. The sound from the PA system didn't carry as far as the seating when there was no car noise, and the big screen was so far away you had to squint to make out positions being shown. Basically, you were 'in the dark', which explains why the chap next to me was so pleased when he saw I had a way of seeing some times. As Q3 came to its conclusion, Alonso had gone through and was fastest. Massa was through and had failed to beat him. Kimi was most of the way round his lap and had set a session-best first sector as Lewis started his lap. Kimi completed his lap and went fastest; thanks to the unit it we could see Lewis was through the first sector and down by half a tenth on Kimi. Then he was through the second sector and he'd gained two tenths, and so for those final few seconds, as Lewis went round Priory and Luffield, instead of being completely clueless as to what was going on we could urge him on and urge him on and let the anticipation build and finally, as the green square popped up on the big screen opposite to show the number 1, we could all leap to our feet and roar - as one - in celebration of the fact that the man we all hoped would get pole position achieved exactly that. £50 well spent!

[matchfacts]

It sounds good then, and obviously helped while Lewis was on his last qualifying lap!

Do you think you'd have liked it so much if you'd had acceptable PA and screen positions? Did you listen to its audio feeds - the constantly changing choice of language mentioned in the review sounds frustrating.

[pforrester]

Originally Posted by matchfacts

Do you think you'd have liked it so much if you'd had acceptable PA and screen positions? Did you listen to its audio feeds - the constantly changing choice of language mentioned in the review sounds frustrating.

I think I would, yes. The PA tends to get drowned out anyway as cars go past, and the in-ear 'phones not only kept that audio constant but acted (as I think the review suggests) as some pretty good ear plugs. I mean, I try and savour the noise as much as any fan, but there comes a point when an hour and a half of F1 cars going down the pit straight is going to be a bit damaging, so I'm glad I had some protection!

Also, the main screens don't show timing data (though you obviously have to care about that to find it important), and the ability to pick a car to watch from (like Richard Westbrook) was a nice bonus if the main coverage is missing something you want to watch. The signal delay to the unit (two to three seconds) can actually work in your favour; I could watch a car follow another down the pit straight and make a pass into the first corner, then as they went out of view go to the screen and follow the pass in its entirety through the corner. Also, the signal was strong all the way round the circuit, even at the point furthest away (Stowe corner).

I forget exactly what the review said, but I got no changing of languages. The audio feed the entire weekend was the Silverstone commentary team. One other minor irritation I forgot about (which probably shows how minor it was) is the interruption of that feed for pit/car radio braodcasts, which was only really a problem if they were saying something particularly important and/or interesting. I think there was a way of switching them off, but generally they only occurred maybe four to six times a session (F1 only) so I never really thought about working out how.

One final thing - the unit has a page of weather information (air and track temperature etc) and the schedule of races and practice sessions, which saves rooting round in a bag for a piece of paper or programme and is all easily accessible from a press of the menu button.

[Piglet]

I had a look at one and it looked great.

Strider - you were there and you didn't come to see me?

[MonkeyDeath]

Good Review, I'm thinking of getting one for Monza, but you have just made my mind up for me, i'll book it in the morning.

and i never thought about the support races i thought it would only be the F1, but covering the other races makes it more than worth the 50 quid

[strider]

Originally Posted by Piglet

Strider - you were there and you didn't come to see me?

I was indeed there, Piglet, and would certainly have come to see you, but I suspect you were where my lack of a suitable pass would have failed to take me!

You are right, though, the Kangaroo is great.

[Piglet]

Originally Posted by strider

I was indeed there, Piglet, and would certainly have come to see you, but I suspect you were where my lack of a suitable pass would have failed to take me!

You are right, though, the Kangaroo is great.

Ahh yes, you are correct, although we might have been able to do something about that

I think Ben Edwards was commentating off his Kangaroo TV and I saw quite a lot of FIA bods with them.

Hopefully see you at Brands this weekend?