[Quick Question] Radio communication between team and cyclists.

Unregistered.

Hello all.

I am wondering what technologies are used for the two-way communication between the director sportivé and a cyclist during a race?

kenmc

radio waves.

Cookie_Monster

He leans out the window of the support car and hands the biker one end of this

Encrypted Pigeon

Unregistered.

kenmc wrote: »

radio waves.

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

He leans out the window of the support car and hands the biker one end of this

Sintel wrote: »

Thanks guys. It was a serious question. Are they using cell (GSM/UMTS etc) communication or is it something like truncated radio (what the gardai use) or something else?

Encrypted Pigeon

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/features/?id=toradioornottoradio

this article suggests that the pro teams use something like a Midland G-30, see the yellow paragraphs on the RHS of the page.

Diarmuid

If that article is correct it would suggest PMR446 in Europe. I wonder if that's true though? Performance isn't great for PMR446. Might be good enough for their needs.

C3PO

Unregistered. wrote: »

Hello all.

I am wondering what technologies are used for the two-way communication between the director sportivé and a cyclist during a race?

Shouting out the car window if Mr McQuaid gets his way!!

Unregistered.

So it appears to be a public-use radio frequency? The first article says that for higher power equipment (for longer range) that you need to have a licence. No mention of that part of the spectrum being used for anything else. Or if you have a reserved channel/frequency when you buy a license.

bcmf

Its gotta be short range as I was reading somewhere that when a rider got dropped pat the cavalcade and were effectivley 'alone' on their road as they were out of radio contact with the team car.

experimenter

I would imagine it is using two way radios.

You could use 446MHz radio like the kits in Aldi/Lidl but the performance would be so so and short range, plus it is very easy to listen in on this frequency on a cheap radio scanner.


Plus it is quite easy to jam radio communication using the 446MHz, which would prevent any communications..but this would be regarded as an offence and illegal.

You could also use what the police use which is tetra, this is again two way communication but encrypted, which means that it is almost impossible to listen in on communications.

From what I gather, the teams use NanoTalk radios..which are the size of a match box..

http://www.nano-talk.nl/

morana

We dont allow the use of radios in races here pro or amateur.

I think they are only allowed in World Tour events.

Unregistered.

experimenter wrote: »

I would imagine it is using two way radios.

You could use 446MHz radio like the kits in Aldi/Lidl but the performance would be so so and short range, plus it is very easy to listen in on this frequency on a cheap radio scanner.


Plus it is quite easy to jam radio communication using the 446MHz, which would prevent any communications..but this would be regarded as an offence and illegal.

You could also use what the police use which is tetra, this is again two way communication but encrypted, which means that it is almost impossible to listen in on communications.

From what I gather, the teams use NanoTalk radios..which are the size of a match box..

http://www.nano-talk.nl/

Cheers pal.

Does anybody know what is used for data transfer? i.e. stuff like speed, cadence, heart rate? Something like wimax or 3G perhaps?

Lumen

Unregistered. wrote: »

Does anybody know what is used for data transfer? i.e. stuff like speed, cadence, heart rate? Something like wimax perhaps or 3G perhaps?

The wireless sensors tend to use the Ant+ over very short range (from the sensor to the head unit). I haven't read of any teams transmitting live telemetry.

The "live GPS tracking" in the TDF is not done by anything on the bikes or riders, but by relays from support vehicles.

http://gps.about.com/b/2011/07/02/live-gps-tracking-of-tour-de-france-2011-riders-not-quite.htm

edit: the 2011 RAI used technology from BlackBlox to track rider positions, apparently.

Unregistered.

Lumen wrote: »

Unregistered. wrote: »

Does anybody know what is used for data transfer? i.e. stuff like speed, cadence, heart rate? Something like wimax perhaps or 3G perhaps?

The wireless sensors tend to use the Ant+ over very short range (from the sensor to the head unit). I haven't read of any teams transmitting live telemetry.

The "live GPS tracking" in the TDF is not done by anything on the bikes or riders, but by relays from support vehicles.

http://gps.about.com/b/2011/07/02/live-gps-tracking-of-tour-de-france-2011-riders-not-quite.htm

edit: the 2011 RAI used technology from BlackBlox to track rider positions, apparently.

I was under the impression that heart rate, body temp, speed, cadence etc were all relayed back to the team?

Lumen

Unregistered. wrote: »

I was under the impression that heart rate, body temp, speed, cadence etc were all relayed back to the team?

Ah, there is also the SRMLive telemetry for some teams. Don't think it measures body temp though.

Unregistered.

Lumen wrote: »

Unregistered. wrote: »

I was under the impression that heart rate, body temp, speed, cadence etc were all relayed back to the team?

Ah, there is also the SRMLive telemetry for some teams. Don't think it measures body temp though.

Any idea how the telemetry data is transmitted over the air?

experimenter

Telemetry data can be sent by a radio link...

Maybe sent from the cyclist to a mobile unit...

Have a look at this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dASY0ACG2M