"Mark J. Andy" <marka@telerama.com> wrote:
> Having it be a card could kinda suck though... Can't operate standalone,
> can't make it talk to a laptop (and who wants to setup a desktop PC in a
> van?), etc.
That's simple - rack mount it. Far cheaper than a laptop, and far less fragile
too.
If I were to design a dedicated Solo support van/truck (like our region has) I'd
mount the T&S computer in a vibration-isolated cabinet tucked out of the way
somewhere, run the connection wires for keyboard/mouse/display though the
vehicle walls with jacks near where I expected the displays to be mounted, and
have external, weatherproof jacks for the timer heads, PA system, and timing
displays - again, hardwired to the truck and connected to the permenently
connected computer.
I keep thinking of the CP (command post) trucks we had in the Army. The actual
command post was just a big box that mounted on a 5/4 ton 1976 Chev Pickup
(modular - the same boxes were mounted when they upgraded the trucks in 1995).
Inside, everything was mounted using a standardized rack+rail system - you could
configure the box however you liked. Most of the CPs had a radio rack in one
corner (which could act as a timing/computer/PA system rack in our case) a
couple of tables and chairs, and a whole lot of shelving. The whole thing was
designed for cross-country use, so all the shelves had doors on them, the tables
folded flat against the wall, etc - in a matter of minutes everything could be
closed down, and you could could roll the thing and not spill anything.
The radios had an external jack panel, so a CP could run field phone wire out to
local callsigns, and if a sigs truck with a big radio amplifier and ground plane
antenna was handy, the CP could jack into it and run the big radio exactly as if
it was using the vehicle-mounted antenna.
It took no time at all to get this stuff hooked up. By far the longest time was
spent running wire out to the callsign positions through the trees, and getting
the wire up high so people wouldn't trip on it in the dark - problems we
wouldn't have on an autocross course. :)
If this sounds high-tech and expensive, it wasn't. This was the Canadian Army
after all. :)
You could build a similar, non-configurable system using basic stuff from Home
Depot and Radio Shack in a weekend or two for a couple of hundred bucks.
DG
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