bmerdoc Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Hello, I'm soon to be joining the TT cars on the track and was wondering where to find an affordable even used transponder. I'm a poor wanabe spec e30 racer. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 ebay various messageboard classifieds etc It'll still be a few hundred though - stupid AMB monopoly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obzezzed350 Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Yep, they hold their value pretty well since its the only game in town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nasaregistrar Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Hello, I'm soon to be joining the TT cars on the track and was wondering where to find an affordable even used transponder. I'm a poor wanabe spec e30 racer. Tony There is no such thing.... A racer here has a new one he wants to sell. It will be at registration this weekend at VIR. It is NIB. I sucked it up and bought one for myself this year too.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmerdoc Posted February 17, 2010 Author Share Posted February 17, 2010 Thanks for the input! I had a feeling this is another aspect of HP driving that can not be attained cheaply, kinda like safety equipment. Gotta pay the piper. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weston Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Thanks for the input!I had a feeling this is another aspect of HP driving that can not be attained cheaply, kinda like safety equipment. Gotta pay the piper. Tony Safety equipment at least has no-frills, but SFI/FIA compliant, options like G-Force, so you can save a few bucks. Transponders and spec-class tires are where the monopolies come in. AMB is great and all, but it doesn't do much more than transmit a serial number a foot or two to the ground... Their profit margin has got to be pretty big on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmerdoc Posted February 19, 2010 Author Share Posted February 19, 2010 I already know about the tire sit. I'm running BF Goodrich R1s and as soon as those fade away I will switch to Hoosiers. It would be great if all drivers had to worry about was tires, brakes and gas. I'm sure you are all ware of the saying , " nobody rides for free!" Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slammed_93_hatch Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Thanks for the input!I had a feeling this is another aspect of HP driving that can not be attained cheaply, kinda like safety equipment. Gotta pay the piper. Tony Safety equipment at least has no-frills, but SFI/FIA compliant, options like G-Force, so you can save a few bucks. Transponders and spec-class tires are where the monopolies come in. AMB is great and all, but it doesn't do much more than transmit a serial number a foot or two to the ground... Their profit margin has got to be pretty big on that. Thing about up front costs though. Going to pretty much every track in the US (world maybe??) digging up a 2'x 20'-30' section of track. laying in the transmitter, and then repaving that section/filling it up. (maybe they use the trenchless/no dig stuff but its still expensive) Plus the software that everyone uses (nasa/scca/grand-am), and the IT stuff to setup and keep the site running with the database of all the times and races and such. $300 doesn't seem to bad when it has to cover ALL of the expenses listed above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getfast Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Tracks pay for their AMB-compliant loops and sanctioning bodies pay for their AMB-branded decoders. Not to mention the AMB-created computer program that makes it all happen. Also redundant parallel laptops, printers, cables, trackside internet access, etc. If you think transponders themselves are expensive you should price all that stuff sometime... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpanther Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Yep. Tracks pay for the digging & loops. Organizations pay $8000 for the decoders. Organizations pay $3000 for the software. Somebody is getting rich, but I'm not sure who. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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