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Rally Competition Demands The Best Timepieces, Photo Timers and Alarm Clocks Won't Hack It.
SAYS TIMING EXPERT Barney Feldmar, "We probably have the finest navigational rallyists in the world right here on the West Coast. I mean it...literally. These wizards are able to run a 10 or 12 hour rally with an accumulated error of no more than 11 seconds; sometimes only 8! And, they are known to zero in with no error on certain legs, and that's phenomenal. Other rallyists find that they are competing against people who are getting fantastically fine times and they want to know how it's possible. We can tell them." Peter Bullard, General Manager of Robert Bentley Inc. says, "I don't want to start an East-West Civil War among rallyists, but Mr. Feldmar had better wait until the SCCA's National Rally championship is settled before shrugging off the Easterners so quickly." No matter where you live, you can still have every technique of the rallyist's art worked out to perfection, but if your timing methods are not precise, you're doomed to be an also-ran.
According to Feldmar, there are probably only three systems of navigation being used by winning rallyists today. One instrument is common to all three .and it is indispensable to each of them. It is the Master Watch. It usually is, and it should be, a pocket chronometer. A chronometer is a very, very fine timepiece which has been designed, built and adjusted to perform with ultimate accuracy. It usually is guaranteed to operate in extreme hot and cold temperatures with a daily error of only a fraction of a second. It is timed and adjusted for a wide range of operating positions so that the balance wheel remains perfectly poised in almost any attitude. A good pocket chronometer can be adjusted in one position to lose or gain only two or three seconds per week. A well-adjusted chronometer, even so, may be placed in a position that can introduce an error of the order of a couple of seconds in 24 hours. For rally navigation this is inconsequential. The chronometer is a most excellent timepiece and it should not be confused with the chronograph which, you will recall from the last installment, is a watch -usually of quite good quality -with stopwatch features added. However, a fine chronograph can be "tuned" to chronometer specifications and often is.
Due to rigid Swiss government control, any Swiss watch identified as a chronometer comes with a solemn pedigree that lists and certifies details of its preparation and performance, Among the makers of fine chronometers are Breitling (Wakmann), Longines, Omega and Ulysse Nardin in Switzerland and Elgin and Hamilton in the U,S,A. The American makes and the Breitling are made to the high standards of the U.S. Bureau of Aeronautics. Feldmar favors the 24-hour Hamilton, with its 22-jewel movement and relatively modest list price of $150. Expert Art Peck, co-author with David Hebb of "Rallies, Trials and Gymkhanas" prefers the Longines 145T 17-jewel split-second pocket chronograph in chronometer tune. It lists at $235. The excellent Breitling, widely used for air and sea navigation, is priced at $198 for the 18-jewel model and $170 for the 17-jewel version. One way to beat these high prices is to buy a used chronometer from a reputable dealer. Feldmar sells used Hamilton Master Watches for a nominal $66...when available. You may be thinking at this point that such an outlay is preposterous, when people are winning rallies using alarm clocks and photo timers. But the point is, they are not winning with this equipment, except in the case of, rare fluke. In his fine book, which is a must for every rally enthusiast, Art Peck has kind words for the $8 Eastman Photo Timer....at least for beginners.
We agree with him that this is something of a solution for the impecunious. But it is not enough if you're concerned with being in real contention. Why is optimum timing accuracy so crucial? Exact timing determines who wins and who loses in today's American rallies. The determination of the time-goals for a rally are the responsibility of the rally master. When he lays out a route, he does not do it with a stopwatch, which may err by a great many seconds- 15, 30 or more - 12 hours. He uses a Master Watch and a computer and, perhaps as an aid, a stopwatch. Consequently the entire rally is based and run on Master Watch time and it is run to the second. When you yourself run on anything else, you're giving away odds. The answer is to be just as accurate as the rally master, Use a good Master Watch and synchronize it with the rally masters' watch. Of the three basic systems of navigation by which rallies are being won today, the simplest is the rally master's, This means running the entire rally on a single, fine Master Watch, computing on the basis of true time, and establishing and correcting errors as quickly as possible. The computer used can be a Marschalk, a Stevens or a Blackwell. The latter is not widely used because it does not provide the error-compensation that is required at ten-mile odometer checks. The one-watch system is very hard on navigators. Computing must be done constantly - as often as every 15 or 20 seconds. The navigator is hunched over his clipboard at all times except for the break or check point where he's given a few moments to relax and check out again. A lot of sharp people claim that this is the only way to run a rally and win it.
Advocates of the second system point out that the one-watch wizards don't always win and that the highly exacting nature of the first system can be self-defeating. So they add one stopwatch to their instrumentation. It works like this: If you cover the same route that the rally master did and do it at precisely the specified speeds you can compute how long it will take you to travel a given distance or how far you will travel in a given time and, knowing this, you should be right on it - providing you're running with a true Master Watch. Under the second system the single stopwatch is used for timing between speed changes, to determine the error for each interval, do so as promptly as possible, and apply it to the next speed-change interval. Running with just the Master Watch it's difficult to pinpoint your precise stopping point.
Using a stopwatch you hit it right on the button. Reach speed change, hit stopwatch; simultaneously make note of Master Watch time, to the second; compute error; restart stopwatch on the next exact minute and second of the Master Watch; account for this minute in new speed change period. The single stopwatch plus Master Watch system is easier than the one-watch method. In spite of the inferior accuracy of the average stopwatch, the intervals being timed are too short for that to be a factor. And, all stopwatch based calculations are translated immediately into true time, as indicated by the Master Watch.
Rallies are being won with the second system but there are those who feel that it, too, demands an excessive amount of concentrated effort. Hence some successful rallyists consider the third system the easiest and best. It makes use of one Master Watch and two stopwatches. When you come to a speed change you hit the two stop-watches simultaneously, stopping one and starting the other. In this way you know precisely when the last speed change took place and there is no need to worry about noting the exact position of the Master Watch's hands at the instant that a stopwatch was punched. While you're making your calculations all time on the new speed is being registered. You compute the error on the stopped watch and apply it to the one that's running. At the next speed change you hit the stopwatches simultaneously again.
Rallies are being won with each of these timing device combinations and there clearly is no such thing as the system. Don't try to use one that you have to fight with. Choose the one that you can work with most easily because the more easily you can read and compute the more remote the chance of error becomes. We repeat, we are concerned here with the choice and, narrowly, the use of timing instruments. A point-by-point evaluation of stopping the car to zero the odometer, of the virtues of double electric odometers, et cetera, is beyond the scope of this article. In choosing a Master Watch you will do well to get one with a sweep-second hand that can be controlled, because all rallies are run to the second. When you synchronize with the rally master's timepiece you want to be able to zero out to the second; this is common knowledge. When you are marked out at the beginning of a rally you want to be positive that you are in dead synch with the watch that decides the winner. Many chronometers and some chronographs are what the trade calls "hack watches." With these you pull out the winding stem and the balance wheel is "hacked" or braked to a complete stop at that precise point. Say you're due to start on the even minute. You set your sweep hand on zero and your minute hand one minute beyond the time shown on the rally master's watch. Your watch's movement is stopped and you wait until the sweep hand of the key watch hits zero. You press your watch's stem and are in synch with the main timer. It's good to practice this and also to verify, some time before starting, that your watch and the rally master's stay in synch. All watches are somewhat unsteady until they hit astride, a beat, a rhythm. Therefore, synch your watch as early as possible so that it can get its beat and keep it. After synchronizing, put it in the position it's going to be in during the rally and try not to alter that position at any time. In other positions the watch's performance can change enough to cause errors that can confound thoroughly your most careful calculations. This applies to stopwatches as well as to Master Watches.
It's a good idea, with any timepiece that's going to be doing a critical job, to have it timed out on an electronic timer before starting on a rally. Many watchmakers are glad to do this as a courtesy and they often find that a slight adjustment is needed to bring the watch up to snuff. First, decide upon the position in which the instrument is going to be used - the type of board or holder it will be mounted on. Then call this to the watchmaker's attention. By means of the electronic timer he can adjust it in any position. This is the sort of n-th degree preparation that sorts. out the contenders. Art Peck had made an exhaustive study of timers best suited to rally use and he makes specific recommendations. He states that probably the most universally accepted stopwatch among rallyists is Minerva's 107H, ideal for timing 12-hour rallies. Its accuracy is good and its pressure-resistant fly-back pushbutton limits inadvertent clearing of the watch. Minerva's 111H is identical except that its 60-second dial is divided into 1/100ths for those who prefer decimal calibration. For time-of-day readings Minerva's 350R is excellent. It is accurate, very legible, and its sweephand is easy to adjust. One of the most easily-read stopwatches in the industry is Minerva's 107N .It goes far in eliminating the common errors that crop up in the reading of accumulated-time registers on timers of traditional design.
Where only one stopwatch is being used in conjunction with the Master Watch, Peck's favorite for individual leg timing is Minerva's I05PN because it has all of the readability of the 107N and, with the time-out slide, can be cleared and re-started instantaneously with one punch of the crown. Minerva's 1015 clipboard, while made for industrial time studies, is a natural for rally use. With its adjustable plungers it is possible to set up a variety of actions when the lever is pushed. A typical setup is placement of a time-of-day watch on the left, with that plunger disconnected. The center and right hand holders carry watches of the 107N type so that at the end of any given leg the # 1 leg watch is stopped at the same instant that the # 2 leg watch is started ...with one motion of the lever.
Where expense is no object, Peck recommends keeping the time-of-day watch in another location, with three 107N watches in the clipboard. Two of these are used as regular leg timers, while the third serves as a five minute pre-set watch for those unpleasant occasions when a speed-change point is reached too late. In the pocket chronograph field Peck has found that Longines' split-second 145T is ideal for his race-announcing and rally work. In wrist chronographs his experience has led to the emphatic selection of the Breitling (Wakmann) 783AV, for accuracy and legibility. He feels that these, plus Minerva's 107N or 105PN, give a complete solution to the rallyist's timing problems. Minerva has been outstanding. in serving the needs of motor sport enthusiasts in this country for a great many years. But in Europe, Heuer has studied and served their interests as no other manufacturer has. Heuer's automotive line is carefully studied, complete, and magnificent in its presentation. All of this firm's automotive timers have black dials, luminous numerals, and are mounted in handsomely machined cases, on mounting plates, with all external metal parts finished in heavy chrome. Their crowns are deeply knurled for easy winding and their pushbuttons are large for easy operation with gloved hands. Heuer's stopwatches have seven-jewelled lever movements and are competitive in quality with other makes having the same specification. Their higher price is accounted for by their finer packaging.
First is the Auto-Rallye, a 60-second, 60-minute timer. It compares with the Minerva 105 and 107 for legibility. Next is the Autavia which is basically of the same design as the popular Minerva 107H, and is also available with tachometer dial with mile or kilometer bases. Next is Heuer's time-of-day watch, the 15-jewel Hervue, with dial and case to match its automotive companions. And then comes the Super-Autavia dashboard chronograph, a high-quality 17-jewel instrument. It is a splendid navigational timepiece. It provides two distinct timing systems: normal and recording. Any interval up to 30 minutes is recorded to the nearest fifth-second by means of a large red sweephand. For recording periods up to 12 hours the outer ring is revolved until the red triangle is opposite the red tip of the hour hand. Elapsed time can be read from the accumulated hour to the fifth-second. It also has the valuable hack-watch feature. For the user with complex timing needs, Heuer offers the most unusual innovation in the, history of stop watches: the Ring Master. Basically it is a standard fifth-second stopwatch. But. it has seven easily interchangeable dials that adapt it to practically all fields of sport, industry and science. Among these are the best timing tools and techniques for rallyists. There is no single, universally-right combination but one of the three systems cited should be the right one for you. With each, accurate timing to the second is possible. Without this, in a rally, you might as well specialize in moonlight drives.
THERE'S probably no sport in the whole wide world as difficult to time accurately as a sports car rally, This becomes apparent when it is realized that even the short Sunday afternoon small-club event utilizes 3 or 4 checkpoints along with the start and finish-and each location must be of equal time accuracy. Then multiply this problem by four for a long, championship-type rally and the problem is staggering-especially when checkpoints are separated by miles, are often located in the loneliest of back-road sections and may operate in the heat of day and then into the cold of night. The job of procuring 20 or so "master watches" is difficult, if not down right impossible. It's no wonder that the best brains of the best rally chairmen have been worked overtime for a way out. The way out has been the utilization of the wireless. While not in the scope of this article, SCI feels that the complete timing story should contain a brief mention of rally-radio. For several years, now, eastern clubs have been placing short-wave receivers at rally control points. With these receivers tuned to time signals sent out from the United States Bureau of standards (WWV) or the Canadian Dominion Observatory
(CHU) , absolute results can be guaranteed as every watch may be kept in perfect synchronization with time-of-day. Rallyists, too, jumped on the beep band wagon and installed short-wave converters (such as the CGS Rally-Verter) on their car radios. Now eastern rally masters so equipped roam rally courses, able to double check all non-radio checkpoints. Frequencies used on WWV are 2.5 mc, 5.0 mc, and 10.0 mc. CHU uses 3,330 kc, 7,335 kc, and 14,670 kc. Conditions vary with the time of day and the part of the country but, in general, the most popular frequencies are 5.0 mc for WWV and 7335 kc for CHU. If the reception is equal on both stations, then CHU is recommended because each minute is identified by voice transmission while WWV only does so each 5 minutes. In these modern rally times, it is now almost automatic that eastern clubs will have radio beeps available, along with the master watch, at the starting line, and in SCCA national rally competition, this is a standard part of the regulations. And so with good watches, backed by the short-wave time signals, the days of "who's time was off" is a thing of the past.
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